I think Arsenal will take this a bit more seriously having been dumped out of the FA Cup. Hard to know what team we will put out, but it will probably be close to the one named above.
As for the overall merit of the League Cup, it has definitely lost its lustre.
I am fully on board with dumping the two leg semi final. That’s the least that should happen. Beyond that, I would be ok if we only had one domestic cup competition and binned it altogether, or made the League Cup for Championship teams and below.
OR
Make the domestic cups more worthwhile with more money, or some sort of European reward.
With all that said, now that we are here, and its a semi final against Arsenal, bring it on! But in the cold light of day, it all needs reform as there are too many games in a congested calendar, especially for the upper teams, and the League Cup ain’t what it used to be. Still, if we win it, the prize money will cover Mo’s salary from Monday-Wednesday, so that will help!
You may be right. Top four is obviously the biggest thing they have got going on, and it looks like it will be between Spurs and Arsenal, with Man Utd and West Ham probably there or thereabouts too.
I really hope you’re right but I was also hopeful Leicester would field a weakened team against us in the last round, then go strong against Shitty and look how that turned out.
It’s also their last hope of a trophy.
This has been my argument since reading the article in the Athletic about the Burnley/Watford postponement.
If there are “guidelines” in place for postponements, and the clubs are following these guidelines, what’s to be investigated?
There are none. So to that end, every club that’s requested to be postponed should be investigated.
Quite hilarious it takes Liverpool asking for a postponement to generate faux outrage and calls for “investigation”. This is some hard hitting journalism, instead of investigating the leagues actual guidelines and policy, let’s investigate a club. I wonder if these dipshit writers and “watchdogs” have any capacity whatsoever for critical thought.
I actually don’t see what we would get out of postponing we now play away in the second leg, if those tests were never positive we would have had the same players we had on Sunday.
Suppose they got an extra days training when Kirkby reopened on Saturday.
What would you do if you were Arteta and you have a depleted squad?
On one hand, you have three difficult games against two superior opponents to win a trophy that carries little weight. On the other hand, you can focus on winning the CL spot next season that has a huge financial impact on future rebuild.
Arsenal don’t have the squad to go for four things, but they can go for two. Now that they are in the semi I expect them to take this a bit more seriously since they are out of the FA Cup. A bit more seriously. Emphasis on bit.
It still remains their second priority, by a distance.
Getting top four is their top goal. Still 18 games to go in that, with a lot of twists and turns to come. They are closer to the League Cup, as it’s the semi. I expect a slightly stronger team than normal League Cup against us, then the best side they can put out against Spurs.
