‘Really tired’… Mauricio Pochettino said two Chelsea players were shattered during Liverpool defeat

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Chelsea stars Conor Gallagher and Ben Chilwell were both absolutely shattered during Sunday’s defeat to Liverpool in the League Cup final.

That is according to Blues head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

Chelsea had their hearts broken yet again at Wembley Stadium this weekend, losing a sixth straight domestic cup final.

It looked like today’s game was heading for a penalty shootout, but Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk headed in an 118th minute winning goal during extra time.

We’re predicting a huge backlash from supporters after the 1-0 Carabao Cup final defeat, especially as they completely folded in extra time.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino did name senior duo Conor Gallagher and Ben Chilwell as two of his players that were physically very tired. As a result, they were both substituted off during extra time.

“The players feel the disappointment because we were so close to winning the game after 90 minutes and we feel a little bit to lose our energy,” Pochettino told Football.London.

“Some players like Gallagher and Chilly start to feel really, really tired and maybe use different players to go with and help. We need to change Gallagher after five minutes and then in the start of the second 15 minutes, I think Chilwell. The team started to feel that maybe the penalties will be good for us.”

Conor Gallagher and Ben Chilwell shattered

You can’t fault box-to-box midfielder Gallagher for covering every blade of that Wembley grass on Sunday. Unfortunately, he’ll be remembered for missing some fantastic chances to score, which ultimately did cost his side.

Likewise, left-back Chilwell had a pretty average performance , like so many of his teammates.

While Liverpool received a lift from their brave young substitutes today, Chelsea’s high-profile players off the bench had the opposite effect.

This feels like a match that the Blues let slip through their fingertips.

Speaking via X straight after the cup final, Jamie O’Hara described Chelsea’s performance in extra time against Liverpool as “shocking”.

We’re intrigued to see what kind of line-up takes to the field next Wednesday for the important FA Cup tie at home to Leeds United. We’d anticipate several changes based off the energy used on Sunday.