Is the Carling Cup a Load of Shite?
Yesterday’s Carling Cup ties threw up a bunch of surprising moments but the end results were quite predictable:
Arsenal never stepped out of second gear against a mediocre Sheffield United side, Liverpool grabbed a win after a Stevie G winner while even Spurs, who have a habit of faltering against lower teams nicked a comfortable win at home to Blackpool. Chelsea were the team that played in yesterday’s match filled with shocks; they only just sneaked a 4-3 win over Leicester after a Frank Lampard hat-trick.
While there were twists and turns during the course of yesterday’s matches, they did end up as expected, so here I will ask you the question- is the Carling Cup a valued competition, or is it just a load of shite?
Manchester United fans will probably agree with the above; their reserves have faced two lower league sides and after they were woefully inadequate unlucky on the day, they suffered the ignominy of being knocked out. The team I support, Arsenal on the other hand have used the competition to breed players such as Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner in recent years; all three look to play a major part in the Gunners‘ future battles. Liverpool have tended to continue with their rotational policy for the Carling Cup while Chelsea generally play a full strength side with a couple reserves; as for the other teams in the Premiership, even a few of them have rested major players if they are drawn against lower league teams.
So a lot of the Premiership teams do rest their players in the Carling Cup. Would it be better then, if the Carling Cup was a competition excluding the top four?
Whilst the competition offers plenty of opportunity for shocks, it tends to go the way of the big teams- in the last five years, only Middlesbrough have taken the trophy outside the top four; the rest have been picked up by Manchester United, Chelsea (x2) and Liverpool. Out of ten finalists in those five years, just three have been from outside the top four, with Wigan Athletic (who were thrashed 4-0 by Man Utd) joining Bolton and Middlesbrough. Those stats would have been expected; which is why quite a few football fans have questioned the value of the Carling Cup, especially when it does not have the history or the glamour that the FA Cup does.
For me as an Arsenal fan, I’ve seen the Carling Cup as a useful way to catch a glimpse of the next Henry, the next Vieira or the next Bergkamp, however fans of other teams in the top four, as well as those lower down the Premiership may see it as a waste of time. I’ve only spoken to a few people about this, and have received widely contrasting views; most of them have been Arsenal fans though so slightly biased.
What about you? Do you see the Carling Cup as a decent way to play the reserves and get them facing some real competition, or is it just another set of games in an already overcrowded league calendar?
- The importance of the Carling Cup to the ‘Big Four’
- Carling Cup 3rd Round Draw (2007/2008)
- Should Premier League teams stop playing in the Carling Cup?
- Tottenham 2-1 Chelsea - Carling Cup Final - Goal Videos
- Soccerlens Polls
Discussion - 18 Responses
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i actually think that carling cup is a great opportunity for the reserves and the lower division teams. i think that without this tournament, reserves would probably never get to play or lower division teams would never win anything worth it (not that they ever do but at least they have the chance. they also have chance to meet some of the world’s best soccer players) I think that most clubs actually take this tournament seriously. (well, at least the lower division teams)
No, no, no, no, no & no. Leave it be. Who cares if its slightly more sedate than the Premiership match-ups or the FA cup? Its a chance for ALL teams to keep players fit & ready, for the managers to stay on their toes tactically speaking & for the fans to STILL be able to see their teams play during the week.
If some managers choose it to field a majority of their reserve players isn’t that a good thing for the fans to see the new up-&-comers? If some managers choose to field full strength teams isn’t it a chance for first-team players to boost their morale thrashing lower rung teams? Or conversely, have tight contests & upsets to keep THEM on their toes?! Plus lower rung teams would relish the prospect of improving themselves by playing against the best in the country. Isn’t that one of the ways that a lower rung club can improve?
There’s no need to tinker with a well established system that a HUGE majority of the clubs agree with. There’s more than enough exciting football to watch, inside & outside of the Carling Cup.
I like seeing young players but i think you have a very good idea there (exclude the top four) it would be a very entertaining competition.
Right now all the League cup is, is something for managers to put on their list of honours to avoid the sack
I’ve never understood the disdain for the Carling Cup. It produces a lot of exciting games! Sure, matches featuring the youth squad may not be as technically accomplished as late-stage Champions League ties, but who cares? A 4-3 game in which Leicester almost knocks out Chelsea is a lot of fun to watch no matter what the circumstances. It’s not as though the Carling Cup is getting in the way of other competitions, so why not just enjoy it for what it is?
It is a very very useful competition, the standard of play isn’t crap, it’s a bit more gung ho and I for one would like to see it remain for a long time to come. The comedy element of it all will never go away, calling it the coca-cola, worthington, panda pops, carling and whatever you wana call it as long as you pay us cup makes sure of that.
It it aint broke, why fix it?
I like it. Gives us supporters midweek matches to have some fun with. Clubs and players make money, and more people can get out to see a match. And you can have some quality matchups between old rivals or sides that are in different leagues that you would only see in the FA Cup.
It also provides that great opportunity for young players to play with the first team squad in a real match opportunity. Leave the Carling as it is.
i suppose it is football
and it is useful. i think the question to be asked is. What clubs would find this cup as a good acheivement? I mean the likes of Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea wont consider it a big time victory but clubs that dont make it into europe should find it a good competition.
Most of the people i know think its either a good place to look at some of the reserve team or they think its an entertaining competition and a good chance for silverware. It all depends on who they support, one of the so called ‘big four’ or not.
I agree with the author on this article, though i’ll still follow Liverpool’s progress it doesn’t have the same importance to me as the EPL or CL. Its not shite but due to the CL i see it more as a pleasant distraction than a must win trophy
Brian (#4): Actually, if you cut out the extra matches the Carling Cup brings in, we might be able to squeeze in a winter break for the Premier League.
The Carling Cup is a great competition, and it’s a knockout competition and therefore much more interesting than the crap early stages of the ‘champions’ league. Where else can you enjoy Manchester United getting tonked by Coventry?
If you were going to question a competition then ask why the CL contains one champion from each league and 3 other also-rans?
The result is a load of farcical two leg games where the home team attacks and the away team parks the team coach in front of goal. It seems to take ages to get to a stage where the games mean something.
I’d prefer it if the winner of each league goes into a straight knockout competition for the European Cup. To win the cup you must win EVERY game making you rightful champions of europe.
The remaining teams in the league would scrap it out for the two attainable bits of domestic silverware - Carling Cup and FA Cup, whilst the higher league positions (say, 2-6) should get some UEFA cup action - this means the quality of footy in the Uefa cup improves too, but again too many 2 leg games just get annoying
stevey has played 6 matches in 18 days wtfi bet theres other players too that have played that amount in that time! Winter break instead of the carling cup?
I remember back in 2001 when my team Blackburn were on the brink of relegation. We had a nice easy run in the Worthington Cup and got to the final. Spurs were the opposition and we were expected to get battered. We won 2-1. The atmosphere was electric and it was one of the happiest days of my life. It also turned our season round and we surged up to 10th in the table! So no, the Carling Cup is not worthless!
I like it.
Lets be honest, even if you took out the ‘Big Four’, most of the smaller sides still don’t stand a chance. So what have we achieved? We’ve taken away any chance of a little league side being able to welcome a League Champion to their stadium, we’ve taken away the chance for youngsters at the big sides to make their debuts and impress, and we’ve lowered the quality of the Cup.
The Carling Cup is worth it. OK, so the big sides have dominated recently, but surely that is just a sign of depth? If the managers truly thought it tin-pot, would they field such strong sides?
Liverpool_Fan - Its a good test of depth for most managers as well. I don’t care if it means Gerrard has to play 6 games in 18 days, Liverpool should be carrying the depth to not have to rely on one player.
tomsharp Alonso, Masherano were injured for that match and Sissoko was sick so 3 cms are out we have 5 of the best CMs in the world how is that not sqaud depth?
im mean really wat club in the world can say their 5th best CM is captain of the under 21 brazilains? (say Liverpool
)
5 top CMs and crap wingers. Great transfer policy mate
yeh i know not my fault im not the manager!
sometimes i think a fan could do a better job than Benitez though
……at tranfers that is