Pochettino has to be worried about three Chelsea players after Liverpool defeat
It wasn't so much the Liverpool starting XI which struck you on Sunday afternoon at Wembley. It was their bench.
Sure there was Joe Gomez, such a key player in the 2019-20 Premier League success, and Kostas Tsimikas, an often reliable backup left-back who had his own Wembley moment against Chelsea when he scored the winning penalty in the FA Cup final shootout two years ago. There was even Adrian too, now No.3 goalkeeper after Caoimhin Kelleher's rise. As for the rest, well experience wasn't on their side.
Jarell Quansah has admittedly had a superb breakout season that no-one saw coming, but the likes of Bobby Clark and James McConnell have scarcely played any senior minutes, while Jayden Danns' first ever in his career came against Luton last Wednesday. Lewis Koumas, son of Jason, hasn't had any, and nor has the 16-year-old Trey Nyoni, born in June 2007.
What would have most worried Jurgen Klopp was that he had no senior attacking options on his bench having so impressively juggled those resources all season. The Reds boss usually has five superb attackers at his disposal but three - Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota - weren't available here, meaning he wasn't going to be able to freshen things up from the bench in the manner he usually does.
Chelsea had no such worries in their attacking ranks though, and that is what should concern Mauricio Pochettino, and indeed Todd Boehly, the most about this limp defeat.
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Chelsea's attacking subs failed to make an impact (Getty Images)None of Chelsea's injury absentees were attackers, and so as Liverpool's side became weaker, on paper anyway, Pochettino had the tools at his disposal to win the game from the bench in a manner Klopp has often done this season.
On came Christopher Nkunku midway through the second half, then Mykhaylo Mudryk just in time for extra-time and then Noni Madueke midway through the first extra period. Reports on transfer fees vary but Chelsea spent around £160m on those players. That should be enough to win you a game against tiring, inexperienced opponents.
But Chelsea were awful in extra-time, allowing Liverpool to gain momentum, grow in confidence and ultimately win the game. Pochettino has to feel let down by his changes who simply didn't impact the game, ultimately ending in their meek defeat.
The manager can't do much more than give Nkunku, Mudryk and Madueke the stage to make their names, but as Chelsea's replacements cowered they were ultimately beaten by Liverpool's fearlessness.
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