The Carling Cup or League Cup to give it its more traditional title has suffered in the last 20 years more than any other competition due to the growth of football in England and the growing wealth of money available to successful teams in the Champions League.
As teams strive for success and glory in Europe - certain teams attempt to win four seperate titles - alas one competition has to take a backseat in terms of affection. After the League, European and the tradition of the FA cup - something has to be given short shift.
Reserve sides, youth players, second XIs have all been picked by major sides most famously Manchester United and Arsenal - who use early round games as a chance to breed fringe players and give second choice goalkeepers a full game in case injury thwarts the first choice. While these two sides have been criticised, they have nevertheless still reached major finals and even won on occasion; while for other teams it is seen as an opportunity to win a major piece of silverware in an otherwise disastrous season - Birmingham City, last year who surprised Arsenal.
Yet this week the Carling Cup is back in the spotlight owing not to negative team selection but poor scheduling by the governing bodies. We have reached the quarter final stage and there remain 5 of the top 7 sides in the Premier League (Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea) and Cariff v Blackburn along with Crystal Palace.
Oddly, Blackburn who are suffering under the stewardship of Steve Kean are one game away from a cup semi-final;are they like Birmingham did last year going to have a day out at Wembley. You expect Man Utd for all their poor finishing of late to still see off the challenge of Championship Palace.
However, the intrigue lies in the other two matches: Chelsea v Liverpool and Arsenal v Man City, less than 48 hours ago Liverpool played Manchester City to a 1-1 draw at Anfield on Sky Sports. Both teams have had to travel to London for their respective quarter finals, both managers Kenny Dalglish and Roberto Mancini have bemoaned the fact that they have been subjected to poor scheduling whereas Man United who played Saturday afternoon have an extra day of rest and preparation.
Mancini has more reason to moan as this would be his team's third match in a tricky week which started with a defeat in Naples which jeopardised progress to the Champions League knockout phase - and due to suspension he is without Gareth Barry and Mario Balotelli. Back ups and reserve players will get a runout amongst them - Costel Pantilimon, Owen Hargreaves, Denis Suarez, Karim Rekik and Stefan Savic.
Liverpool however are not playing European competition so the Carling Cup should be seen as a real incentive for a team and club in need of some glory. To ask his squad to play another game is not so much a big ask - the problem has been the travelling south to London which would have occured on Monday morning, they may well have stretched and run out late afternoon and rest until late morning today to wipe cobwebs. Liverpool are capable of fielding a competitive side with Jamie Carragher expected to get a first start in a month; Dalglish is pretty miffed by the whole thing.
What must be remembered is that the League cup is not the property of the Premier League it is run by the Football League the governing body of the Championship and its two lower tiers and the 72 clubs that play in those divisions. Yet they invite the Premier League clubs to play as they need the exposure and allure of these clubs to take it seriously, otherwise the competition would become a bigger version of the Johnstone Paints Trophy.
Solutions would be to distinguish set dates for the competition, luckily none of the Europa League teams (Spurs, Fulham, Stoke, Birmingham) made it to this stage as they would have had to have their games rearranged to next week, which would have made further headaches. Another would be to reduce the teams in the Premier League to 18 and therefore less games in total per club, this would mean more money from television deals yet the Football League would not like more teams to drop down to the lower divisions.
The solution must be sought by better dialogue between the Premier League clubs and the Football League body otherwise this will not be sorted and will just happen again; as for Dalglish's threat of playing youth players, someone should tell him that never hurt the progress of Arsenal or United players in gaining experience.
Showing posts with label Roberto Mancini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roberto Mancini. Show all posts
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Monday, 26 September 2011
No Surprises for Man City
Following on from their first dropped points at Craven Cottage last week, when throwing away a 2-0 lead at Fulham last week, the first team needed to come back with a win as the minimum requirement at home to Everton.
The foibles of the Premier League and the power of television in terms of scheduling means it will be rare that both Manchester clubs play at the same time on the same day, save it when they play each other. So City this week got the benefit of going out there knowing that if they win they will be top for all of four hours. Luckily, their city rivals United lost their first points of the season at Stoke City in the evening game meaning that there is a tie at the top of the table after six games. City will feel a bit chirpier, United a little worried.
But should United feel bad about dropping points at Stoke City, a place that is becoming harder and harder to leave with a win. Liverpool lost there already and Chelsea were lucky to escape with all three points. Yet Stoke have built up the Britannia as a fortress that has solidified their Premier League status.
Manchester City were playing Everton on Saturday lunchtime. Now Everton are becoming a strange anamoly as a team who win games without a noted striker on the teamsheet. A few years ago, as a matter of necessity following a bunch of injuries Tim Cahill was employed in the lone striker role. Cahill was again employed in that familiar role for himself, but Louis Saha stews on the bench begging to start.
The need for Cahill playing up front lonesome, was so Everton manager, David Moyes could flood the midfield and disrupt the flow of City's forward momentum. Yet this sort of tactic needs a more clear cut gameplan, on this occasion Everton did not intend to make shooting opportunities and instead sit back and attempt to not lose the match. However, no team can withstand an onslaught of attacking prowess for 90 minutes or a slightly skewed referreing performance that favoured the home side and their millions.
Some critics are indicating that Manchester City's eventual 2-0 win thanks to goals from substitutes Mario Balotelli and James Milner (his first for the club) meant that City had passed a test or an obstacle on their way to Premier League glory. However, when a team sets up like Everton did against a star-studded team it asks for trouble. Yes it is negative and yes it is in some ways anti-football, but Manchester City have far too much talent to overtake a stubborn Everton defence.
The removal of Aguero for the goalscorer Balotelli, was not a risky strategy is was Mancini having one eye on the Champions League encounter versus Bayern Munich on Tuesday night and he is nursing Balotelli very well. He scored in midweek against Birmingham City in the Carling Cup, that sort of goal can do wonders for a lost soul such as the young Italian; albeit a goal that took a huge deflection off the lunging Phil Jagielka that Tim Howard (always excellent) could do nothing to prevent.
The bench of City in comparison to Everton's was a huge difference. If Mancini, did not want to use Balotelli he could always use Tevez.
For Manchester City to win the Premier League they need to not drop points at home and have as few surprises as possible; they need to win games like this against teams that simply do not match up against them. The odd points dropped away from home at Fulham and Stoke will not hurt any team nor damage title credentials.
Credit will be given to City once they start going to Stamford Bridge, Emirates, Old Trafford and Anfield and win convincingly - winning a lunchtime game against a striker-less Everton will never set the world alight. It should not even bother wasting the matches.
The foibles of the Premier League and the power of television in terms of scheduling means it will be rare that both Manchester clubs play at the same time on the same day, save it when they play each other. So City this week got the benefit of going out there knowing that if they win they will be top for all of four hours. Luckily, their city rivals United lost their first points of the season at Stoke City in the evening game meaning that there is a tie at the top of the table after six games. City will feel a bit chirpier, United a little worried.
But should United feel bad about dropping points at Stoke City, a place that is becoming harder and harder to leave with a win. Liverpool lost there already and Chelsea were lucky to escape with all three points. Yet Stoke have built up the Britannia as a fortress that has solidified their Premier League status.
Manchester City were playing Everton on Saturday lunchtime. Now Everton are becoming a strange anamoly as a team who win games without a noted striker on the teamsheet. A few years ago, as a matter of necessity following a bunch of injuries Tim Cahill was employed in the lone striker role. Cahill was again employed in that familiar role for himself, but Louis Saha stews on the bench begging to start.
The need for Cahill playing up front lonesome, was so Everton manager, David Moyes could flood the midfield and disrupt the flow of City's forward momentum. Yet this sort of tactic needs a more clear cut gameplan, on this occasion Everton did not intend to make shooting opportunities and instead sit back and attempt to not lose the match. However, no team can withstand an onslaught of attacking prowess for 90 minutes or a slightly skewed referreing performance that favoured the home side and their millions.
Some critics are indicating that Manchester City's eventual 2-0 win thanks to goals from substitutes Mario Balotelli and James Milner (his first for the club) meant that City had passed a test or an obstacle on their way to Premier League glory. However, when a team sets up like Everton did against a star-studded team it asks for trouble. Yes it is negative and yes it is in some ways anti-football, but Manchester City have far too much talent to overtake a stubborn Everton defence.
The removal of Aguero for the goalscorer Balotelli, was not a risky strategy is was Mancini having one eye on the Champions League encounter versus Bayern Munich on Tuesday night and he is nursing Balotelli very well. He scored in midweek against Birmingham City in the Carling Cup, that sort of goal can do wonders for a lost soul such as the young Italian; albeit a goal that took a huge deflection off the lunging Phil Jagielka that Tim Howard (always excellent) could do nothing to prevent.
The bench of City in comparison to Everton's was a huge difference. If Mancini, did not want to use Balotelli he could always use Tevez.
For Manchester City to win the Premier League they need to not drop points at home and have as few surprises as possible; they need to win games like this against teams that simply do not match up against them. The odd points dropped away from home at Fulham and Stoke will not hurt any team nor damage title credentials.
Credit will be given to City once they start going to Stamford Bridge, Emirates, Old Trafford and Anfield and win convincingly - winning a lunchtime game against a striker-less Everton will never set the world alight. It should not even bother wasting the matches.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)