Liverpool will be happy with a bigger prize this season and Manchester City players have their eyes on more than a cup final
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Manchester City against Liverpool earlier this season
Manchester City against Liverpool earlier this season
Another bad week for Manchester City was accompanied by a rare disappointment for Liverpool. The runaway Premier League leaders would have to suffer the mother of all collapses to end without a trophy this season, but anyone giddy enough to start talking up a famous Quadruple has been well and truly silenced.
A much-changed team went out of the FA Cup to Plymouth last month as Arne Slot prioritised other competitions, only for the past days to see a Champions League exit at home to Paris Saint-Germain and defeat to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final. If Pep Guardiola didn't have problems with his own team to sort through, he would appreciate even more how special City have been in the past to win what they have.
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Eddie Howe will never have to buy a drink in Newcastle again as he cements his reputation as a top coach, and while it may be jeered at, Liverpool will soon forget this disappointment if it leads to fans celebrating a first ever Premier League title with the team come May. Going out of every other competition means this Liverpool side will not be remembered by neutrals - there's a strong argument to say they are weaker than several Jurgen Klopp sides that didn't win the title - but the title, to borrow a phrase, means more on Merseyside.
Where teams stand on the preference of cup success or another prize depends largely on what they have seen. Newcastle were in the Champions League last season yet the last time they lifted a trophy in this country was 70 years ago in 1955, so little wonder that a cup win feels worth so much more than European qualification.
Winning the FA Cup in 2013 meant more to Wigan Athletic fans than another year of trying to survive in the Premier League would have done, which is a good job given they were relegated days after their Wembley triumph. Nottingham Forest is a club steeped in a glorious history of the European Cup, yet many fans would rather win the FA Cup this season rather than clinch a top-four spot (although FA Cup vs any European football may be a tougher debate) to end their 35-year trophy drought.
City were in that position not so long ago, clinching the 2011 FA Cup for their first piece of silverware in 35 years. A year later, they used it to win their first league title in 44 and banish the mocking clock in the Stretford End and after more than a decade of dominating English football cups are secondary to the league and the Champions League.
Asked last week if the FA Cup could salvage their season, Ederson said it was hard to say. Asked if securing Champions League football for next season would be a success, the answer was unequivocal.
To give the broader answer: "I think that our main objective considering our season is to qualify for the Champions League. The players win with this, the club wins with this, everybody wins with this.
"It’s more money for the club, it’s more prestigious to play in this competition, it’s completely different. So I think that is our main target for the rest of the season.
"So we’re fighting for Champions League qualification and of course, with still being in the FA Cup this can be an escape to save our season in terms of trying to win a trophy.”
City will still aim for that Wembley escape and if they get it they will hope to perform better than Liverpool did against Newcastle. However, Nico Gonzalez spoke after the Brighton draw about the talk in the dressing room of 'nine finals', referring to the league matches left to secure Champions League football.
Winning a cup can make lifetime memories for supporters who have never experienced anything like it but as Slot's men dust themselves down to return their focus on a bigger prize for them there is no question what City's priority is between now and the end of the campaign.