As we head into tonight’s 1st leg Carabao Cup semi final at Stamford Bridge there is a lot of talk that the game doesn’t really matter that much, we should focus on the Prem and/or the Champions League etc…… Now, whilst I do see some of the logic in this argument, I think it is fatally flawed.
Before I elaborate, it should be noted that this is not a new subject. Let’s be honest our record in the League Cup under all its sponsors is nothing short of atrocious. We have only won the thing twice, the most recent being over 30 years ago in 1993 and in fact we’ve only been runners up six times, so a total of eight finals since the competitions inception in 1961. For a club of our standing that is beyond unacceptable.
So back to why we need to do better, starting this season.
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Firstly, it is a genuine tier one domestic trophy, of which there are only three and we haven’t one any of these for six years now. It easily outranks the two minor ‘Leagues’ invented by UEFA – the equivalents of The Football League Championship and L1 – and if you doubt that, consider this: How can a competition have any real value if your main reward for winning it is not having to play in it the following season?
Secondly, success breeds success! This may seem like a trite Americanism to our older fans, but it is one of the facts of this footballing life. We have built an amazing squad now, but how many have actually experienced that winning feeling – not many at all and only the manager and our Starboy have actually lifted a trophy with us. The first trophy is always the hardest to win and this squad needs (and deserves) that first bit of glory. From there great things will follow.
So get behind the boys tonight and in the return leg and help them shift the monkey of our backs. It won’t be the be all and end of of our season if we win the League Cup this season, but it might just be the springboard we need to go on to greater glories this season and for many seasons’ to come.
Images courtesy of Reuters/Action Images