Disposable League Cup gives finalists free hit at glory
6 min
Both finalists would view English football’s lesser trophy as an important mark of progress, yet neither will lose much sleep over a defeat this weekend.
By Lars Sivertsen, Football Expert for Betsson
Here’s a fun idea for a fun game in the run-up to this weekend’s League Cup final: Every time a broadcaster or pundit of some kind mentions that winning the League Cup kicked off Jose Mourinho’s trophy-tastic reign at Chelsea, everyone put some coins in a jar. By the time we get to Sunday night you should have enough money put aside to take your family out for dinner next week. And the week after that. And the week after that.
Because this is the strange position the League Cup has in the landscape of possible successes and failures for the wealthy elite of the English game: Winning it is less an achievement in itself, and more a sign that things are moving in the right direction. It’s a start. Something that can lead to something more important. Lifting the trophy at the end of the day may help foster that most nebulous of concepts: “A winning mentality”.
The lesser trophy
All of which is strange, really, seeing as how winning things should be the most fundamental aspiration of any football club and there aren’t that many things out there to win. Yet no self-respecting “superclub” sets out to win the League Cup at the beginning of the season. The early rounds are seen as a useful opportunity to give competitive minutes to promising youngsters and eager backups, and it’s only really in the semi-finals that things get serious. At that point you are, after all, just a two-legged tie away from a big day out at Wembley and a chance to add some silverware to the cabinet.
Still, as every manager of a big club knows by now, winning the league cup doesn’t do much for your job security. The manager of a top Premier League club is far more likely to be replaced over the summer if he wins the League Cup but fails to qualify the team for the Champions League, than the other way round. Arsene Wenger was widely ridiculed for saying that finishing fourth in the Premier League was “like a trophy”, but the money and prestige that comes with qualifying for the Champions League clearly has a bigger impact on a club’s short to medium-term prospects than winning the League Cup. It may still be an anathema to many fans that finishing 4th in the league is a bigger deal than lifting an actual trophy, but it is what it is.
But still a trophy
And it is also a bit of a shame. Big communal experiences are a big part of what makes football great. One of my favourite memories from covering football for a living was attending the 2013 League Cup final between Swansea and Bradford. Not because it was an amazing game as such, but because when spending time with fans from both sides before the game you got such an overwhelming sense of occasion. Everyone was delighted to be there, doubly so because it was likely a once-in-a-generation occurrence for everyone involved. Ideally this is what a cup final should be all about. But in 2021, when Manchester City made their sixth league cup final in eight seasons, you could forgive their fans for feeling a bit blasé about the whole thing. That final was played in front of a heavily reduced capacity at Wembley, but if it hadn’t been, could you really have blamed some City fans for deciding not to brave the myriad horrors of the English rail network so they could witness the club compete yet again for the least important trophy of their season?
But here’s the thing: For all of the League Cup’s faded glory and diminished importance, it’s still a trophy. And for very different reasons, whoever wins it this weekend are going to see it as a big moment for the club. Because like with all things, context matters. Jose Mourinho once said that winning the Europa League would be “a big disappointment for him”. But when he lifted the Europa Conference League with Roma last season, he insisted in the aftermath that “this, for us, is our Champions League”. Because things change and context matters.
All about context
And the context for this weekend’s finalists is clear: Fuelled by Saudi wealth, Newcastle United are a rising force in English football. If the ownership’s willingness to spend continues to match their ability to do so, then only rank incompetence can stop Newcastle from becoming regular challenges for silverware in the not too distant future. But you have to start somewhere, and winning the League Cup this weekend could be just like Jose Mourinho kicking off his glorious run with Chelsea back in the day. And more to the point, few Newcastle United fans will have seen their club win a trophy in their lifetime. They may have their sights set on bigger things in the future, but that future remains hypothetical and this chance for success is here right now.
Manchester United, on the other hand, have shown signs this season that they could finally be on the right track again after going through a bit of a lost decade. Manchester United remain one of the most financially powerful football clubs on the planet, and their underperformance in the decade since Sir Alex Ferguson retired is an aberration in modern football history. There is almost no precedent for a club spending as much as United has and achieving so very little. But under Erik ten Hag’s leadership the team is looking increasingly competent on the pitch, and a welcome show of pragmatism in the January transfer window suggests the club may have learned some lessons off the pitch as well. If this kind of progress continues then Manchester United will soon be challenging for football’s top prizes again. And what better proof of progress, what better way to mark this improvement than by winning the league cup? For Erik Ten Hag it would be a bit like when Jose Mou… Drink! Or don’t.
So the outlook before the final is clear: For whoever wins the result will be validation of the progress the two clubs have made this season, a tangible sign of progress and a hint of further glories to come. For whoever loses, well, it’s just the League Cup, and they both have their sights set on more important targets anyway. It should, if nothing else, be a recipe for a terrific day out for both sets of fans. A free hit at glory, a day when something significant can be gained, but not that much can really be lost.
Last updated: June 8th, 2023
