Gary Lineker criticises ex-Manchester United star Gary Neville for his scathing Chelsea comments

Gary Lineker has disagreed with Gary Neville's fiery comment about Chelsea following their loss to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final, branding it 'quite harsh'.

During Sky Sports' coverage of the match, Neville, who was co-commentating, called Chelsea 'blue billionaire bottle jobs' after they couldn't beat a Liverpool team missing many of their best players. Although Chelsea had opportunities to take the lead, they were constantly thwarted by goalie Caoimhin Kelleher.

Despite coming so close to winning the game late on, Neville showed little pity for Mauricio Pochettino's team, claiming that they could have clinched the game in extra time as Liverpool's younger players began to tire.

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Reacting to Neville's harsh words, Lineker said on The Rest Is Football Podcast: "I thought Gary Neville was quite harsh. What was it, 'the billionaire blue bottlers'? It was a bit strong. They could easily have won that game. I thought Cole Palmer was the standout for Chelsea again." Joining this discussion, Micah Richards said: "It was a great line, but it was a bit over the top!"

Pochettino responded to the criticism about his team by saying: "I don't hear what he said. If you compare the age of the two groups, I think it's 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."

He also mentioned making changes during the game: "Of course, we made a few changes with [Conor] Gallagher and [Ben] Chilwell in extra time, it is true we didn't keep the energy of how we finished the second half."

Pochettino expressed pride in