Life must be very confusing right now if you’re a Chelsea exec. You’ve spent $1bn buying kids and found yourself ridiculed for it and then you go and lose 1-0 in the Carabao Cup final to a load of Liverpool’s kids and somehow everybody’s praising them for it.
Yet even by the end of extra-time, by which point Liverpool seemed to have raided the club creche in search of bodies to chuck into the fray, the XI that Chelsea had on the pitch had a combined age 16 years lower than that of Jürgen Klopp’s. It was Liverpool, though, who were hailed for believing in youth, while Chelsea were derided as bottlers who had wasted a great opportunity. But that’s the difference between exigency and what might loosely be described as the plan. Klopp was rightly praised for having faith in his young players – the 19-year-old midfielder James McConnell in particular stood out for his presence and composure on the ball – but he was using them only because of injuries.
