the league cup revival

thebaz

ok i'm a bit biased , but the FA cup seems in serious decline , half empty stadiums , weakened teams by not just the top dogs ,to be overtaken by the once fallen League cup -- 2 cracking semis - i smell some silverware coming home to Goodison

eirebhoy

If every premiership manager treated the FA cup with a lot more importance it'd be a lot more prestigious. Mourinho was good for that. He'd field his best team if he was playing premiership team in either cup. The opposition manager would then usually do the same (Wenger aside). That spreads to the players and the fans.

Third_Echelon

thebaz wrote: »

ok i'm a bit biased , but the FA cup seems in serious decline , half empty stadiums , weakened teams by not just the top dogs ,to be overtaken by the once fallen League cup -- 2 cracking semis - i smell some silverware coming home to Goodison

I'd have to agree baz, carling cup has had some cracking ties this season. The FA cup is really only 1 round old at this stage, so there could be some good ties along the way, but I hope you are right about the silverware coming to Goodison!

Noelie

Remember when United didn't want to play the FA cup so they could play the World Club cup. I think that was the start of it.

In fairness to Arsenal, Wenger has always played the second string for the League cup and only puts in a first team player if needed. It seems to be his policy to play the second string throughout and considering Arsenals second string can beat most prem teams i don't think they can be considered to be demeaning the cups.

leninbenjamin

I think we'll gradually see the League cup overtake the FA cup, mainly as the ties happen earlier in the season. The FA cup's big games occur when everyone is too busy trying to consolidate their spot in the Prem (or achieve things in Europe for the rare elite). To me it just makes more sense to have the main cup earlier in the season, the FA cup is just dwarfed by the Prem and Champions League.

PHB

The Carling cup is good imo. What happens is the top teams don't care, so they field second teams (bar Chelsea). The second tier teams see it as their best chance for a trophy, so teams like City, Spurs, Blackburn, Everton all give it their all, which means its a fairly equal competition.

The FA Cup is kinda worse, because the top teams want to win it, so one of them will.

Galvasean

I'm an Arsenal fan so my take on things is probably a bit different to most. For the last 3 or so years I have been loving watching Arsenal in the CC, as an opportunity to see if I can spot any potential new talents (Fabregas anyone?). One can hardly say Arsenal don't care about the CC, since they have reached at least the semi finals two years running now, beating some quality teams along the way. Where else can youngsters get competitive match experience for a big club?
The FA Cup has been entertaining, seeing so many Premiership teams beaten in the early stages, although everyone does love an underdog.

Benedict XVI

Noelie wrote: »

Remember when United didn't want to play the FA cup so they could play the World Club cup. I think that was the start of it.

If I recall Utd had little choice in the matter, it was the FA who wanted them compete.

eirebhoy

Galvasean wrote: »

I'm an Arsenal fan so my take on things is probably a bit different to most. For the last 3 or so years I have been loving watching Arsenal in the CC, as an opportunity to see if I can spot any potential new talents (Fabregas anyone?).

I can imagine. I even get excited looking at the teams on Sky Sports Score Centre to see how many young Irish players are getting their chance.

Thanx 4 The Fish

You must love watching that scottish footy then.

eirebhoy

Nah we tend to get the weaker Irish players in the SPL.