Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has hailed his side’s FA Cup Final heroics, labelling them ‘mentality monsters’ as they emerged winners of the 2021/2022 English FA Cup in Wembley.
The German praised both Liverpool and Chelsea for being “mentality monsters” after an epic 6-5 FA Cup Final penalty shoot-out, which gave the Reds their eighth crown in the competition’s history and first since 2006. He said: “We are mentality monsters but there were mentality monsters in blue as well – it was one penalty.”
Liverpool completed a clean sweep of the domestic cups with another dramatic win over Chelsea on penalties at Wembley, as Kostas Tsimikas struck the decisive spot-kick after Mason Mount’s effort was saved by Alisson.
Liverpool’s success was shadowed by injuries to Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah and Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk, which could potentially damage their hopes of an unprecedented quadruple, with their Premier League pursuit set to continue on Tuesday at Southampton and their Champions League Final with Real Madrid on May 28th in Paris.
The defeat for Chelsea meant a third straight FA Cup final defeat for the club and a second cup final loss this season after Liverpool’s Carabao Cup victory in similar fashion in the month of February.
Blues coach Thomas Tuchel said: “Like in the last final, in the Carabao Cup, it’s no regrets. I told the team I’m proud. We were sure that we would be competitive and make life very difficult for Liverpool. We did it again. We struggled in the first 15 minutes but then we were excellent for the whole match.
“We got to zero-zero against maybe the best attacking team in the world and we also created a lot of chances. We deserved it, as they deserved it as well, but again we lose on penalties. We are very disappointed of course. We are sad but at the same time proud. I was sure we would win today. I was sure before and I was sure during the match that momentum was on our side. I was sure until the very last minute but unfortunately I was not right.”
“I have to digest it and keep on going. That’s life in sports. We have everything it takes to win trophies, we proved it. We have a Club World Cup and a European Super Cup and I don’t feel sorry this was at the beginning of the season and in winter. We were good in Champions League, strong in both domestic cups, we can produce peak performances and we have the mentality in the club to shape the mentality of the players, but Man City and Liverpool have shown you need this on a consistency.”
Apex Football News 