This week’s round of Carabao Cup fixtures could not have arrived at a worse time. With English sides gearing up for their final league games before the World Cup, the last thing players and managers needed was a tie in the early rounds of a secondary domestic cup. But then again, when isn’t the EFL Cup portrayed as a whipping boy? If the FA Cup is devalued, as we keep being told by lazy phone-in pundits who specialise in outrage over insight, then the League Cup is not really valued at all.
But is this fair? Should a tournament that pits every league side country against each other really be considered meaningless? After all, regard the recent winners of this supposedly-second rate tournament. Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea have all lifted the trophy in recent years. This is a competition that the country’s biggest clubs count amongst their achievements. But is that part of the problem?
READ MORE:
The four winners listed above date all the way back to 2014. The reason for that is that City have won six of the last nine EFL Cup finals. Their dominance of the competition should be applauded, but also speaks to the disconnect many feel with the FA Cup’s even-more-unloved cousin.
The idea of resting your best players in the Carabao Cup used to be the subject of much phone-in frothing from fans gutted at their team’s elimination. But now it is commonplace, with even teams outside the top flight deciding the risk-reward ratio just isn’t worth it. This creates an environment where two teams each field lineups composed of back-up and youth players. By their very nature, top Premier League sides will have a deeper well of such talent than those lower down the table or in the leagues below.
For example, City have one of the most expensive and prolific academies in world football. They also have talent like Aymeric Laporte, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez who aren’t regular, week-on-week starters. Manager Pep Guardiola can put together a team that could arguably challenge for a European spot without fielding any of his usual starting eleven. Is it any wonder they have swept the board in a competition that pits so many second-string teams against each other? This selection antipathy leads to stagnation. The smaller clubs don’t see the competition as worthwhile while the big boys can walk it with the reserves out.
The other issue, perennially but in particular this season, is scheduling. With more money at stake than ever before either for a higher Premier League placing, or to gain entry to the top tier for teams below, means games outside the league are seen as an inconvenience. The same financial arms race has also eroded the FA Cup’s place as a central part of the English footballing landscape. With every league place worth seven figure sums more than the one beneath it, every match is crucial. In a football world governed by cold hard cash, the comparative pittance on offer in the cups is meaningless.
The flaws in the League Cup model have been laid bare by its poor placement ahead of the World Cup. The timing coupled with the proliferation of all-Premier League ties makes for a particularly limp exercise. But what’s the solution? The games needed playing sometime. Short of abolishing the competition, there’s really no way around that fact.
There have been various suggestions on how to fix the troubled cup. Some have advocated for Premier League teams to skip it altogether, but then you erode the little prestige that remains. With the best will in the world, an all-EFL tournament would not garner anything like the interest of the current format.
Another suggestion is allowing Scottish teams to take part. The novelty of seeing Rangers, Celtic and others face off with the cream of English football would be fascinating, at least for a while. The performance of the Scottish teams would dictate how long this would be a viable solution. If they meaningfully challenge for the trophy then you might have an exciting competition on your hands. If they get dumped out early doors then we’re back where we started.
With a World Cup on the horizon and a round of Premier League fixtures to play, the Carabao Cup was always going to get short shrift this week. The real test of the competition’s enduring appeal will come when international matters are settled. But it seems unlikely to evoke much magic in its current form. In a world with endless silverware to play for, the 62-year-old trophy just doesn’t carry much weight.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
