Wembley Stadium is considered one of the homes of worldwide soccer because it has been the site of the most dramatic domestic and international matches. On Sunday, fans were treated to one of the latest episodes when Liverpool faced Chelsea in the Carabao Cup Final. The backdrop to this clash is that both teams played each other nearly three weeks ago, and Liverpool cruised to an easy win at home. However, entering Sunday’s game, the Reds faced an injury crisis with ten first-team players unavailable. Therefore, Chelsea was a slight favorite to win the game, given the relatively good health of the squad and experience at their disposal. Instead, Liverpool overcame inexperience, fatigue, all adversity and won the match at the death, with captain Virgil Van Dijk heading the winner in the 118th minute of extra-time. In this article, we will discuss three things we learned from a pulsating final at Wembley.
1. Klopp’s most impressive title-Jurgen Klopp shocked the football world on January 26, 2024, when he announced this season would be his last season as Manager of Liverpool Football Club. The immediate sentiment among fans and pundits was that it would be fitting that Klopp end his tenure by adding to his seven trophies. Sunday presented the 1st of four opportunities to achieve this goal. The game was in balance with shots hitting the post, brilliant saves by goalkeepers, and goals ruled out based on offenses. Entering extra time, it felt Chelsea had all the momentum, and Klopp was forced to bring on youngsters with at least six players 21 years or under to finish the match. Yet in the huddle, Klopp was inspirational in how encouraged these players who never played at such a big stage in their footballing careers. He told them to be “cheeky like a kid but defend like a man”, and without making excuses, his team found a way against all the odds. Klopp himself admitted that due to the circumstances, this title ranked in the “top shelf” category. It’s hard to argue otherwise with his assessment.
2. Captain Fantastic Virgil Van Dijk-in January 2018, Liverpool received widespread criticism for spending 75 million pounds to acquire Virgil Van Dijk. Yet, there is an argument that he was the most important signing in the Jurgen Klopp era. In a team that attacks relentlessly by hunting the opposition in their half, Virgil has been the bedrock that stabilizes the defense, and it allows his attackers to thrive. On Sunday, Van Dijk walked onto the Wembley pitch for the first time as captain, and with so many senior players missing needed to lead from the front. Van Dijk did just that by restricting by blunting Chelsea’s attack and scoring twice. The first was ruled out after VAR alleged that Wataru did an illegal block impeding Levi Colwell in the 60th minute. However, when it seemed the game was heading for a penalty shoot-out, Van Dijk expertly executed a set-piece corner by glancing a powerful header past Djordje Petrovic. The Dutch number 4 was named the man of the match based on his influential play. Van Dijk’s confidence boosted Caoimhin Kelleher’s performance in goal to produce two or three world-class saves as a backup goalkeeper.
3. The Blues sing the same sad note-Chelsea has lost six straight domestic cup finals, and the last three of them have been against Liverpool. Of the three matches, this match will sting the most for the Londoners, given that Liverpool was compromised and wounded. The team continued their season-long struggle in front of goal with Kelleher making good saves, but they can be viewed as failures to convert in one-on-one situations. Todd Boehly would have been bitterly disappointed given the failure to capture a title despite spending a billion dollars on transfers since 2022 when he purchased the club. It would have been difficult to watch his nearly 300-million-pound midfield getting outplayed by youngsters. Moises Caicedo even deserved a red card for a rash challenge on Ryan Gravenberch. The win would have been a vindication for Mauricio Pochettino, who has now coached 388 games in English football without a title. He will now face greater scrutiny from the fans as the man to lead the resurgence of the Blues. Time will tell whether he gets the chance to make things right.