Football: Ditch the League Cup?

With an ever-increasing fixture list and a desire to prioritise the Premier League over all other competitions, there are  rumblings in some quarters that the country’s top clubs should stop competing in the League Cup.

Now called the Carabao Cup after a Thai energy drink, the cup is the next most important domestic trophy after the Football Association Cup but even the FA Cup’s significance seems to have been eroded in recent years.

After being shuffled around the calendar the FA Cup has been moved back to its rightful place as the end of season finale, raising the suggestion that if a competition that has brought as many great memories and defining moments in English football as the FA Cup can be messed with, then why not the League Cup?

The decision to remove replays from the League Cup by concluding fixtures on the night with extra-time and penalties is a positive one but Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has still described the competition as a “waste of energy” and he is not alone in his lack of enthusiasm.

It can provide a boost relatively early in the season for clubs that do well, as the final is held in late February. Some Premier League sides have recently taken a filip from the experience, with Chelsea counting it as part of an impressive double two years ago and Jose Mourinho making a lot of noise earlier this year about marking his first season at Manchester United with a “trophy triple”, including the League Cup, Community Shield and Europa League. The Community Shield, the season opener between the previous campaign’s winners of the FA Cup and the Premier League, is not a huge priority for most of the big clubs but Mourinho will never knowingly underplay any of his own achievements.

Grab the Silverware

So is the League Cup a waste of energy? The top sides will often field weakened teams as early as Round 3 and even the mid-tier Premier League outfits and teams from the lower leagues will change their starting line-ups. Are they fixtures teams could simply do without? Quite often – as in many situations in football – a club’s attitude towards the cup tends to fit a self-serving narrative.

Take Merseyside for example. Everton has just had a nightmare start to the season with heavy losses to Manchester United, Spurs and Chelsea in recent weeks.

Beating Sunderland in the League Cup was just the pick-me-up that Everton needed to restore some confidence, even if the win did come against a Championship side. But on the other side of Stanley Park, Liverpool fans – who would desperately love to win a trophy – reacted with as much relief as dismay when they lost to Leicester in the League Cup.  Many Liverpool supporters are convinced that it is good news to be out of the competition, as they can now focus solely on their real priorities, the Premier League and the Champions League.

But for every Guardiola, there is a Mourinho. The Portuguese manager won the League Cup in his first spell at Chelsea as part of a domestic double, and sees it as a chance to gain some valuable momentum on the basis that success breeds more success. While it is as valued as the Premier League, Champions League or FA Cup, the competition is undoubtedly a useful springboard for many clubs, including the top ones.

More importantly, when you ask players what they’d rather achieve in their career, a top four place or a winner’s medal, 99% of players will opt for the silverwear.

 

by Zahid Lalani

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