Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson believes he can pinpoint why his club have been able to successfully overhaul their squad to return themselves back to Premier League contention – and why defeated Carabao Cup finalists Chelsea have failed in that endeavour.
Virgil van Dijk was the extra-time match-winner for Jurgen Klopp’s Reds at Wembley on Sunday, but much of the rest of the side on the day were either playing for other clubs or plying their trade in the club’s academy just a year or two ago.
That League Cup triumph comes with Liverpool sitting top of the Premier League table and still in contention to add further silverware in the form of the FA Cup and the Europa League.
Chelsea, meanwhile, ran Liverpool close in the final, but their overall position could not be more different.
Mauricio Pochettino's side are once again labouring in mid-table and could most politely be said still to be in transition from the side that won the Champions League in 2021 – despite an eye-watering outlay on new players since Todd Boehly led a takeover of the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022.
Robertson told the Liverpool Echo ahead of the game: "I think we were slightly different to Chelsea. They’ve had a lot of turnover in players in the last 12 months or so.
“We had a transition in the summer, when we lost a few players and replaced them with four or five. But the change here hasn’t been as big as it has been at Chelsea.
“It’s a difficult task piecing it all together. We had the advantage of having a few players who have been here a long time, the same manager, and we have just tried to take the new lads under our wing and show them the way while they’re settling in.
“Now we are reaping the rewards. The new lads have done so well, especially over the last few weeks when Macca (Alexis Mac Allister) and Wata (Wataru Endo) have been different class. Then the young lads have stepped up as well.
“We’re going to have to keep dipping into the squad, that’s for sure. You could see how young our bench was on Wednesday. We’re a bit depleted but we will go with everything we’ve got on Sunday and we go there full of confidence.”
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