Gary Neville admits he ‘feels bad’ for Chelsea ‘billion pound bottlejobs’ jibe but insists Blues ‘shrunk’ in extra time of Carabao Cup final defeat against Liverpool youngsters

Gary Neville has admitted regret after describing Chelsea as ‘billion pound bottle jobs’ in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool, but claimed the Blues ‘cringed’ when they had the chance to win the match.

Neville was in the commentary box for Liverpool’s eventual League Cup victory at Wembley and took a swipe at Chelsea when Virgil van Dijk headed in the only goal of the match deep into extra time.

The former Manchester United and England full-back produced a now iconic reaction as the goal went into the back of the net, using Chelsea’s lavish spending under co-owner Todd Boehly against them.

Chelsea have spent almost £1 billion on transfer fees since taking over Boehly/Clearlake Capital in 2022, often paying high fees for young players with potential who have largely fallen short so far.

Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino responded to Marcel’s damning analysis during his post-match press conference and Marcel has now provided further explanation on the meaning behind his initial statement.

Neville aimed the jibe at Chelsea after their extra-time defeat to Liverpool

Neville was furious at Chelsea’s unwillingness to attack a Liverpool side full of young players

‘Now I feel bad. I’m not going to sit here and say it was an instinctive commentary moment. It was instinctive because I didn’t know what was going to happen in extra time, Neville told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.

“But Peter (Drury) did about 35 seconds after the goal, Carra did about 25 seconds and I was getting angrier and angrier. If you hear my comments during extra time, from the first minute of extra time until two minutes to go, I got angrier with Chelsea, because I could smell the fear in Chelsea, from the very first minute of extra time when I said: ‘Why sit them next to it? Why are they letting these young guys grow?” Carra just mentioned it.

‘Then Jürgen Klopp started to grow. I remember there was a chorus, a song, that Liverpool fans sang for about five minutes because they could smell the blood and fear in those blue shirts.

He continued: ‘And I came at half-time of extra time and I said that somehow Mauricio Pochettino or those players have to think that if they got into this position at the start of the season and said to themselves that they were 15 minutes against Liverpool who only have two players who would normally make their starting XI, namely (Luis) Diaz and (Virgil) van Dijk, who they would cut off their hand, take this opportunity, do not regret.

“I just came from a playing perspective, and didn’t want to have any regrets about a team that didn’t take advantage of the day and the moment and didn’t take the opportunity. Chelsea has shrunk – and I use the word shrunk – and maybe “bottle” is a very strong word. But playing with absolute fear, freezing, whatever you want to call it, that’s what we saw in extra time yesterday.

Neville gave an even deeper explanation for describing Chelsea as ‘bottlejobs’, suggesting they were afraid to attack in the extra 30 minutes as the side confirmed their intentions.

Marcel’s critical comment was in reference to Chelsea’s lavish spending under co-owners Todd Boehly (left) and Behdad Eghbali (right).

Neville gave his scathing review as Virgil van Dijk’s header found its way into the back of the net deep into extra time

The 49-year-old also added that there was an ‘instinctive’ element to his words, saying: ‘I’m not going to say words like ‘man up’. But there is an element to it: football at the highest level, where you have to perform under supervision.

‘And actually, Dave, at the end of the game I was in a position where I thought, ‘It’s a harsh word, bottled,’ and I was just referring to the last thirty minutes of the game because I thought Chelsea were the best did well’. in the first 90 minutes.

‘But when I heard afterwards Mauricio Pochettino saying he felt his team were playing for penalties, it almost reinforced the thought in my head that they were stuck. Because whoever, in a team playing against such a weakened Liverpool, with three kids on the pitch who, to be honest, found it very difficult in the last minutes of normal time, why did they do what they did? Look, does it make it harder? That’s not the point of why I said that yesterday.

‘I’m actually here to work for Sky Sports and deliver lines that I’m instinctively passionate about.’