26 February 2024 , 13:36
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Before the dust could settle on Chelsea 's dismal Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool, an apparent incident involving Blues manager Mauricio Pochettino and co-owner Todd Boehly started making headlines.
After a header from Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk made the difference deep into extra-time, Chelsea's players and coaching staff had to drag themselves up the Wembley steps to collect their silver medals. That included Blues boss Pochettino, whose glum face told the story as he reflected on his side's abject 1-0 loss.
Stood in the executive area of Wembley was Boehly, who as Pochettino approached looked to be putting something inside his coat pocket while preparing to shake the Argentine's hand. At first glance, it appeared to fans that Pochettino had bizarrely ignored Boehly and went straight to shake the hand of Chelsea's other co-controlling owner, Behdad Eghbali.
If you look closely at the footage, however, Pochettino and Boehly share a brief moment of acknowledgement, with Pochettino using his left hand to shake Boehly's and his right hand to greet Eghbali. That, of course, didn't stop social media from becoming awash with posts claiming: "Pochettino ignores Boehly!" But it wasn't the case.
Pochettino continued to shake hands with various executives and sponsors before it was time for Liverpool to lift the trophy. Both the former Tottenham manager and Boehly have come under scrutiny in the aftermath of Chelsea's defeat, as they were beaten by an injury-hit Liverpool side who had to rely on a raft of youngsters all the way up until the 120th minute.
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It was Pochettino's third defeat in a cup final as manager of an English club, with his two previous heartbreaks coming with Tottenham. The 51-year-old now wants his Chelsea players to learn from their failure.
"They need to feel the pain," Pochettino said. "We played for a trophy we didn't get. Now it's the same, what can you tell me to feel better? Nothing."
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"We are very competitive and now we need to move forward. They need to feel the pain like us. They need to realise that we need to work more, do better things. We need to improve and compete in this level against a side that in the last five, six, seven years has competed for big things.
"It's about arriving here first and then feel what it means to play for a big trophy. I remember after three, four years [Liverpool] lost the Champions League [final], they lost the Europa League [final].
"They keep believing in the project and in the next season [got] stronger until they got what they wanted. That is a good example, Liverpool. We want to challenge a team like Liverpool. [We should not be] frustrated today because we didn't get the trophy. We need to keep believing as that is the most important thing."