Norwich vs. Liverpool: Kangaroo Cup, 19:45 Tue 21st September 2021

It’s on DAZN 2:45pm here in Ontario

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Wow, they did pay money for this shitty cup, thanks! I would have missed that.

This competition is awesome.

I honestly don’t understand all the “shitty cup comments“

On our list of priorities it is bottom, but in reality there are 4 cups we can win each season.

It’s not too long ago we would have been taking this thing seriously due to years of not winning a trophy.

Plus we have a big enough squad to be able to play and beat 50% of the premier league whilst leaving the big guns out.

I take on board peoples comments about the PL and CL being more important but to call it a shitty cup is a tad disrespectful IMO

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Although is usually won by Man Shitty.

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The league cup champions receive GBP 100k in prize money. That’s how much one mediocre player in the top 6 makes in a week.

It’s great for lower league clubs who get experience and attendance money but for PL Clubs its pretty shitty.

Isn’t the prize money (of £100k) just the winnings for the final. I suspect there’s more to it than that - every round that you progress means more money. TV money, seats sold etc.

For clubs that aren’t the Top 4 “big clubs” it represents a real chance at Silverware. For the big clubs it provides a chance to blood youngsters.

What they need to do is get the stupid things like 2 legged semis (that’s gone now right?) and the FA Cup replays to fuck.

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It’s bottom of the priority list for good reason. But it’s a good opportunity for squad players to get some game time and for some youngsters to get some first team football.

It’d be nice to put a run together but I’m not arsed if we don’t. Pep seems to like winning it as it’s an easy trophy to pick up. In reality, most PL clubs aren’t arsed. It’s not enough for the top clubs to care about. The middling clubs don’t have the squads to rotate heavily and still compete and the bottom clubs only care about survival.

Based on Klopp’s record it seems the FA Cup and League Cup are equally bottom. Since we are now challenging every year for the PL and CL, I don’t think too many of us shed tears over the inevitable 4th round exits

I would argue that it’s not in fact a good way to blood players. The team is usually a mix of academy, U23s and backup senior players. they’re not set up for success and it’s not a taste of how the best XI plays. We’ve had much more success in rotating youngsters in the best XI for PL and CL games or sending them out on well planned season loans.

I’m not too bothered about the prize money, it’s a shiny thing to stick in the cabinet at the end of the season.

I get the prize money helps but not to to be bothered about it because of the prize money is such a shitty view of a trophy that is a huge part of the clubs history

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I would disagree with this. The main reason why they’ve been a ragtag team at times is because of injuries. Otherwise, when we could, we normally put out a team of mostly backup players, with a couple of youth players who would be playing a specific role.

However, at times we end up exiting because injuries in particular positions end up with some players playing out of position, more kids than we would like, and in the end, no one really got significant time playing with each other to get to know each other better.

Otherwise, when we go deeper into the competition and come up against better sides, we do put up more first teamers, just like against Chelsea a couple of season ago.

The only thing I would change now would be to address the playing together part so that the team dynamic is better, integrating the youth team players into the match preparation earlier.

The problem with the league cup is the fixture pile up. It’s really the worst of all worlds if you get knocked out in the Semi or lose the final it can really fuck your winter from a congestion point of view.

I’m happy to go out at the first opportunity.

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Yes sir!

I’m even leaving work early, going to the pub and watch it.

Our dear @Alright_Now used to accuse me of going to the dentist as an excuse on days such as this. I would never do such a thing.

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Guess it depends on defining success?? Is mins on the pitch, even if they lose, still important? Look at the LC the last 3 years. Chelsea, Arsenal and VIlla have knocked us out. The kids that played those games learnt a lot didn’t they?

I do agree, loans can be more fruitful, but then we lose squad cover, which is the point at which most look over the fences at Chelsea, City and United, before looking over at FSG and saying we lack depth.

Pep L said yesterday that players playing games in these comps is important as they play with the same approach to the most important games also.

Truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

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Champions £100,000
Runner-ups £50,000
Semi Finalist £25,000
Quarter Finalist £25,000
Round 4 £15,000
Round 3 £10,000
Round 2 £7,000
Round 1 £5,000

While it’s definitely not financially rewarding, but if we are going to go for that particular benchmark, why not ESL?

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Is it about the silver things or £ @Iftikhar ?

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The way I see it, it’s about options. If we accept that an additional fixture could be beneficial for the club as a whole, even during the expected periods of fixture congestion, then I think we would prefer to have that option. We might even end up playing teams that are majority youth players, but if it can benefit their development, I’m all for the additional games.

I thought the manager’s words regarding Origi in the pre-match press conference before the Crystal Palace game quite illuminating. It seems that during the international break, Origi got a chance to demonstrate more to him that gave him the confidence to use Origi against Milan. Who’s to say that the League Cup games can’t do the same for some of the younger players, who may then get their chance earlier, or even just get the chance to exceed the expectations we have of them and boost their first team chances? Even if they don’t get the start, they might well show something in training that catches the manager’s eye and makes him think differently about them as an option…

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In an ideal world you get a City style route to the final and can play your B team each and every round but it feels like we get Premier League opposition almost evey round every year.

We certainly shouldn’t be prioritising the competition, but we should use the opportunity to give minutes to those who have barely made it off the bench so far or giving opportunities to youngsters knocking on the door.

Try our best to win each game, but if we don’t then don’t worry about it.

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Man City League Cup games

20/21: Bournemouth, Burnley, Arsenal, Man Utd, Tottenham

19/20: Preston, Southampton, Oxford, Man Utd, Aston Villa

18/19: Oxford, Fulham, Leicester, Burton, Chelsea

17/18: West Brom, Wolves, Leicester, Bristol City, Arsenal

To be honest these aren’t ridiculously easy, on paper, what makes City find them easy are that the likes of Bournemouth and Burnley use rotated squads in the League Cup while City rock into town full strength for a competition Guardiola has somehow convinced himself is vitally important.

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End of the day I don’t want to lose any games but I won’t lose sleep if we don’t win.