Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino claims Gary Neville's 'bottlejobs' comment about his side is 'not fair'.
Neville made the jibe after Liverpool scored a late winner in extra-time in Sunday's Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
Liverpool scored the only goal of the game in the 118th minute when captain Virgil van Dijk headed in Kostas Tsimikas' header.
The Dutchman had a goal controversially ruled out by VAR in normal time but had the last laugh when he headed cross Djordje Petrovic in front of his adoring fans.
Chelsea news: Mauricio Pochettino hit back at Gary Neville's comments
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Liverpool went into the match severely depleted, with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai all missing from the squad.
Jurgen Klopp was forced to name a number of youngsters on his bench and the German called upon five of them late in the game.
Chelsea looked stronger in the closing stages of regulation time but they were unable to take that momentum into the extra 30 minutes.
Manchester United legend Neville was scathing of the Blues on-commentary and let rip once Van Dijk scored.
He blasted: "In extra-time it's been Klopp's kids against the blue, billion-pound bottlejobs."
Neville was referencing the £1billion spent by Chelsea owner Todd Boehly since he bought the club in May 2022.
Pochettino says he has a good relationship with the former England right-back.
But he disagrees with his opinion and says it is wrong to compare his Chelsea team with Liverpool.
Asked directly about Neville's comments, Pochettino said: "I didn’t hear what he said, but if you compare the age of the two groups, I think it is similar.
"I have a good relationship with Gary and I don’t know if that’s how I can take this opinion. But I respect his opinion.
"Of course, we made a few changes with (Conor) Gallagher and (Ben) Chilwell in extra time.
"But it is true we didn’t keep the energy of how we finished the second half.
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Chelsea news: Mauricio Pochettino's side suffered a late defeat against Liverpool
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"I don’t know how you can describe this situation. But for sure I feel proud. I feel proud of the players, I think they made a big effort.
"We are a young team and (it is) nothing to compare with Liverpool (just) because they finished with also a few young players. I think it’s impossible (to compare the two sides).
"He (Neville) knows, he knows the dynamics are completely different. I think it’s not fair to talk in this way, if he said that.
"But I think we are going to keep strong and keep believing in this project and see what we can do in the future."
Pochettino was aiming to win his first piece of silverware in English football after trophyless spells at Southampton and Tottenham.
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The Argentine was in pain at the result, adding: "My emotions, it is the same as the players. I am so disappointed, it is so painful.
"I am an older guy that has less time to win titles, they are younger than me and for sure they have time.
"But in football always it is about when you have the opportunity. Now we need to move forward. But the players need to feel the pain. We played for a trophy and we didn’t get it.
"They need to realise we need to work more, we need to do better things, we need to improve."
