Klopp says criticism of Chelsea 'bottling' the Carabao Cup final are unfair as the Liverpool boss praised his young players for how they handled Sunday's showpiece.
An injury-hit Reds side started the game with 11 first-team players sidelined
As extra time beckoned, Klopp sent on academy hopefuls Jayden Danns, Bobby Clark and James McConnel
Gary Neville labelled Mauricio Pochettino's men as the "billion-pound bottlejobs" for how they were unable to navigate their way to a trophy against a young team decimated by injuries.
Klopp, though, says that is inaccurate as he hailed his inexperienced players for how they stood up to the task
Klopp
"I understand that people have to talk about it, but I was in the other seat as well, losing a final,"
"And people say a lot of things about you that you don’t like to hear. In my case, some of them were true, some were not true, just guessing what might have happened.
"I’m the one who knows what it’s like to lose five or six finals in a row. I can imagine how it was for Chelsea, everybody tells you ‘by the way, you lost the last five and that’s a new record’. It’s not nice, and like I say, I really felt for them.
"They didn’t deserve to get all the blame [because] they played a really good football game, in a final where nobody plays their absolute best football.
"You just have to beat the opponent, and that’s what we did. That’s why this ‘bottling’ thing is really not [an opinion of] mine.
"I really don’t understand it. They wanted it badly and didn’t get it, and I saw in the faces of the players and Poch (Pochettino) after the game that it felt horrible.
"I don’t think anybody deserves these kinds of feelings but in finals it is like that, that one feels like that and the other one is happier. Tricky, but it is the world we are living in."
Klopp added:
"I might be their favourite manager at the moment, to be honest! It’s cool. It’s a wonderful story, what can I say?
"It was so wonderful that I really felt a little bit for Chelsea, just because it’s such a surprise, what we could do, that the other side must be like ‘oh my God!’
"It’s really not part of the game that we need to make these discussions.
"It’s a very young side for Chelsea, different project, and when Poch says after the game that they were young in the beginning and younger at the end, he’s right.
But it’s not about comparing; we have our situation and they have their situation. It’s all not easy, and we somehow made it happen.
"But what it meant to us was immense. I wouldn’t have thought it, couldn’t believe it when we scored the goal.
"The whole extra time was so special for everybody. What I really loved most about it was that our people obviously have a sense for situations.
"We realised that in the second half against Luton, and we realised that for the whole game at Wembley, but especially in extra time.
"After the last 15-20 minutes when Chelsea had big chances, Caoimh Kelleher had to make big saves, and probably a lot of people thought it could be a long 30 minutes.
"And then we started playing again, and that was the most wonderful thing I saw for a long, long time, because the boys just ignored the fact that they have absolutely no experience in the circumstances. It’s a lesson for life; it’s about how you deal with things.
"The boys ignored the right things, used the right things and trusted the process and the way we play.
"That was really cool. They are in a good moment, I would say. They are pretty happy, and now let’s make sure that they stay like that!"
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