25 February 2024 , 07:00
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Mauricio Pochettino will aim to emulate Jose Mourinho by beating Liverpool in the League Cup final to claim his first Chelsea trophy on Sunday.
The Special One spoke in February 2005 about the importance of lifting his first silverware in English football. And his Roman Abramovich-funded team went on to win six trophies during his first spell at Stamford bridge.
In 2024, former Spurs boss Pochettino is seeking to win his first cup in this country with a young Chelsea team which has been overhauled by £1bn of spending by their new American owners.
Mourinho also started his bitter relationship with Liverpool fans when he was ordered to the stands for making a shushing gesture in front of the Reds support at the Millennium Stadium after Stevie Gerrard’s own goal levelled the score at 1-1. The Blues boss later claimed he was telling the press to be quiet over criticism of his side.
But there can be no doubt about the importance of the 3-2 win for a side which went on to claim the Premier League by 12 points.
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"It's very difficult to win for the first time and for these players it is the first time so it is important," said Mourinho. "We now have the first title and almost for sure we will have the second one – and the second one will be the big one.”
Frank Lampard added: “For us as a group of players it was massive because it was the start of winning things. We'd done a lot of talking, but until you actually get one in the bank, there's no reality to it."
Jose Mourinho won the EFL Cup in his first season as Chelsea manager (AFP via Getty Images)
Jose Mourinho won plenty of trophies during his time at Chelsea (Sunday Mirror)After Abramovich took over in 2003 and saw Chelsea finish second to the Arsenal Invincibles in his first season, the arrival of former Porto boss Mourinho was followed by a spending spree which saw the signings of Petr Cech, Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben, Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira of Porto for over £70m.
These proven stars - Carvalho and Ferreira had won the UEFA Cup and Champions League in the previous two seasons with Mourinho’s Porto - went on to win the next two Premier League titles.
The spending of Chelsea’s current ownership group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital has been even bigger since their takeover in May 2022 without the same results.
After the dismissals of Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard, Pochettino took over a hotch-potch squad - including two £100m-plus holding midfielders and no top-class striker - last July and has struggled to establish any consistency. This is not a team about to dominate English football like Mourinho’s side.
Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final this weekend (Getty Images)The West London club are now down in 10th place in the Premier League and the cup competitions - they host Leeds in the FA Cup fifth round on February 28 - are Chelsea’s best hopes of salvaging the season. And instead of starting a dynasty like under Mourinho, success will buy more time for Pochettino to shape his squad into
The League Cup played a big role in the Portuguese’s English career as he was sacked by Spurs in April 2021 just six days before losing to Manchester City at Wembley.
Pochettino also never won a trophy at Tottenham but did take his side to the 2019 Champions League final where they lost to Jurgen Klopp ’s Liverpool. Sunday at Wembley will be the Argentine’s chance to make his own history for the Stamford Bridge club.
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