Time to scrap the League Cup?

It used to be that the League Cup was the only genuine opportunity for clubs to lift a trophy with the League title and the FA Cup just being out of reach for many teams. Nowadays though, it seems as though the League Cup is only of interest to a few teams, some for additional money and some because it is the only excitement that will really come along in a dreary season. The big teams have their eyes focused on the league and the Champions League, so much so that even the FA Cup is not as held in the esteem it used to be but the League Cup is now seen as more of a hindrance.

Newly promoted teams don’t care

This attitude can be shown in the teams selected by newly promoted EPL teams Norwich City and QPR. Norwich City made a whole raft of changes to their line-up for the home game against MK Dons and the attitude of the team was clearly not on progressing in the tournament. A 4-0 home defeat is not something that is good for any team but you can imagine that Canaries boss Paul Lambert is probably secretly satisfied at what unfolded at Carrow Road. This now frees his club from any other midweek cup fixtures, allowing them to place all of their focus on staying up. The FA Cup will roll around in January but from now until then, it is all about the league for Norwich City.

QPR happy with defeat

The exact same can be said for Queens Park Rangers, another team who don’t seem too upset about exiting the cup at such an early stage. QPR boss Neil Warnock seemed almost elated to be out of the cup although that may be a bit of a bluff to make up for a poor showing. Regardless of the state of affairs, being able to fully concentrate on staying up will definitely be the aspect that these teams are focusing on.

Arsenal are not involved in this round of League Cup games as they have a game against Udinese this week but even then, Arsenal wouldn’t take it too seriously. They should do because they haven’t won a trophy since almost forever but there is a sense that it is better for Arsenal to avoid getting to finals and embarrassing themselves once again like they did last season when they faced Birmingham.

With very few teams having genuine love and ambition for the League Cup, is it time for the rule-makers of the English game to bring in some sweeping changes?

Please consider sharing this article if you enjoyed reading it.