In recent years I have
allowed myself to believe that the League Cup had become like the
BAFTAs. A nomination for the glamorous finale meant a jolly good day
out and if ultimately successful, a prize that wouldn't look bad in
the cabinet. However, it isn't recognised as the highest form of
achievement by those who truly matter and ultimately, isn't as good
as the Oscars.
Thankfully, the
fixtures that have taken us through to the quarter-final stage of
this year's tournament have acted as an epiphany to help me break
away from what modern football wants me to believe. The League Cup
may not be able to compete with the more glamorous trophies on offer,
but it has a great deal to offer to those involved.
Before I present my
theory, it is important to remember that there have been times when
the League Cup has been considered hugely significant. It wasn't all
reserve teams, sacrificed ties and half-empty stadiums. Ask fans of
Oxford United, Luton Town, Middlesbrough, Leicester City, Stoke City
and even recently, Birmingham City. League Cup victories matter and
form an important part of the history of many victorious football
clubs. Those who mock victory have either known too much success or
have never been fortunate enough to know how good it feels.
I'll admit, this theory
isn't going to change your life and it might take a little empathy to
understand. Until your team experiences one of the key factors, the
concept may remain alien to you. However, I am not going to worry
about saying it in fear of what the big boys who get to play in
Europe may think. I really enjoy the League Cup.
One reason why the time
feels right to confess my fondness of the competition is the glut of
goals that we were treated to this week. On Tuesday afternoon I was
complaining about Sky Sports'
choice of live fixture. Reading were hosting Arsenal's second string
while elsewhere, Swindon Town were taking on struggling Aston Villa.
My birth certificate and the badge upon my chest dictate that I don't
like Swindon, but even I could see why it was the more attractive
fixture for the neutral viewer. We can see Reading play Arsenal twice
this season anyway. Who wants to watch it again?
As
it turned out, all of us did. Football matches are never the same and
if the Capitol One
marketing team could have asked for anything from this year's
competition, it would have been that it embraced the downright barmy
to entertain us all. The Tuesday night fixture forced those of us who
are interested in shape, formations and controlled football to rip up
our data sheets and just enjoy the game for what it was; glorious
mayhem in front of a captivated audience. The game in Wiltshire
wasn't too bad either and when combined with Wednesday's extra-time
fun at Stamford Bridge, the cup has enjoyed a productive week.
So
there's the first thing to remember. When there are fewer perceived
consequences of defeat, utterly crazy and brilliant things can
happen. A game of football can be exciting whether it is in the park
on a Sunday or at the Etihad in May. A football match doesn't need a
direct consequence to be enthralling and if we are determined to not
enjoy 90 (or 120) minutes of the game that we love because of our own
perceptions of the competition it is in, we've gone wrong somewhere
along the line.
If
any type of club understands the concept of enjoying the League Cup
for what it is, it is often the clubs in League Two. Below what
worldwide fans see on the television every weekend, there is a world
of football. It doesn't stop at the bottom of the Football League
either. There are people right down the football pyramid going to a
ground on a Saturday afternoon to watch a game. The non-league clubs
obviously don't fit directly into the theory until the FA Cup comes
around, but for these clubs and fans, the League Cup can still be
very special.
I
wouldn't change a thing about my time supporting Oxford United,
despite our extended foray into the Conference, for this very reason.
When you have done a Friday night in Barrow or stood on the
unprotected terrace at Grays Athletic in the cold January rain, you
gain a great sense of perspective. After promotion to the Football
League, I was excited about visiting Northampton Town, let alone
clubs at the top of our game.
This
is where the second point comes in. The League Cup isn't all about
the Premier League and if anybody who supports a top division club
complains that the competition is an inconvenience, excuse the
thousands of fans of clubs below you who will happily not give a
damn. One of my favourite Oxford memories in recent years was
visiting Upton Park in this competition. We lost in the last minute,
but to pack an away end of a big stadium with yellow shirts to watch
our players take on their top-level counterparts was special.
When
Bradford host Arsenal in the quarter-finals of this year's
tournament, it will be a great game for their club. They may not have
been away from the top flight for all too long, but when you are at
the bottom, it feels like a million miles away. There are some
passionate supporters down there who don't receive the same level of
exposure as their bigger counterparts. If we are going to begrudge
the smaller boys a potentially club-saving pay-day because it's a
trophy that feels inconvenient, it may be time to visit a lower
league game and rediscover that sense of perspective.
That
part of the theory was a little intense, right? The little man's
attacks on the big establishment will become a feature on these pages
where I'm involved, but this was supposedly going to help you to
enjoy football again. So, as Helen Lovejoy once said in The
Simpsons, “won't somebody
please think of the children?!”
Whichever
club you support, there few things more enjoyable than seeing a young
player break into the first team. Sadly, the cut-throat nature of the
Premier League has made it even harder for young players to break
through. There's obviously the impact of players coming from abroad
to contend with, but when a manager can lose his job for four bad
results, you can understand why the trusted pros often get the nod
over the raw youngsters. With managers worrying about overworking
their first eleven, the League Cup has become a platform for the
young players to impress.
Tuesday
night provided the perfect example of this. Unless you are an avid
watcher of U21 football, the name Thomas Eisfeld may have been new to
you. Eisfeld is 19, signed for Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in
January and doesn't have a huge profile. After replacing Emmanuel
Frimpong - a player with a self-driven profile that vastly outweighs
his ability – the German put on a 60 minute exhibition of his
talents. His movement was intelligent, his touch exquisite and his
passing accurate. His team were in a hole and when they needed a
boost, it was the teenager who was at the heart of it. Suddenly
Andrei Arshavin came to life, Arsenal were passing through Reading's
defensive lines and the entire match changed.
If
Thomas Eisfeld makes a Premier League début this season, the League
Cup will have been worthwhile. Managers never know how a player is
going to react to a first-team match environment until they have been
there, but if they embrace the opportunity, it can act as a
fast-track through to the Premier League. Just ask Liverpool. Suso
and Andre Wisdom were so impressive in the third round victory at
West Brom that they have been starting in the Premier League ever
since.
By
the same token, Liverpool's defeat to Swansea last night may have
been the last chance for Joe Cole to turn his Anfield career around.
It was an opportunity that he didn't take. If the League Cup is
ensuring that the brightest young talent is allowed to play in
prominent club competitions ahead of those who are on the slide at
the end of a career, it is a competition that is worth embracing.
To get something from
the League Cup experience, you have to buy into it. For too long the
competition has been viewed as an inconvenient road to nowhere by the
modern football fan. But is it really? This season it has
entertained, given the lower league sides their day in the sun and
provided the opportunity for youngsters to show that their time is
now. If we love football, we should love that.
It may not have the
non-league narrative of the FA Cup, the glamorous European nights of
the Champions League or the multi-million pound making three points
of the Premier League, but it is far from being obsolete. If
anything, it is a tournament that is discovering a new purpose in the
modern game and for that, I think it's terrific.
