Remember what it was like to play sports as a kid and at the end of the year everyone got a trophy?
Well welcome to the Capital One Cup; England’s version of a consolation trophy.
If one was to rank all the possible trophies available to EPL teams, the two most important would clearly be the EPL and the Champions League. Some teams may say the league title is most important while others would argue a European title is more prestigious. Below those two championships, there is the Europa League, the FA Cup and finally, way down at the bottom, is the runt of the group, the Football League Cup.
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This week was the third round of matches in the Football League Cup, now known as the Capital One Cup, the first round in which the top Premier League teams participated. The seven EPL teams which are participating in European competitions (Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City) got to skip the first two rounds (all other EPL teams’ got to skip only the first round).
Clearly missing from that list of top EPL clubs is Manchester United. Since United for the first time in well, basically forever, is not competing in Europe.
Of those eight teams (seven + United), half of them are still alive. Spurs, Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool all survived the third round of the Capital One Cup. The other teams were sent home early. Arsenal, Hull City and Everton all loss to other EPL teams while United lost in the second round to MK Dons 4-0.
So the question is: Is it a big deal that these teams lost so early in the Capital One Cup?
Let me answer this question with another question: Does anyone really care?
Can you tell me who won the Cup 5 years ago? How about 2 years ago? Last year?
I’m sure there is an Arsenal or Everton fan out there who really wanted to win the Capital One Cup this year, but those fans are few and far between. No fan is going to rush to the team store or go online to order a Capital One Cup Championship t-shirt. It just doesn’t matter that much.
(Note: This clearly does not apply to the bottom dwellers of the EPL or the teams competing from England’s lower division.)
Each of these teams set goals at the beginning of the season and I can almost guarantee that winning the Capital One Cup was not very high on that list of goals. Arsenal is looking to contend for the EPL title and secure a top-4 finish. Everton is hoping to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2005 while Manchester United is hoping to return to the UCL. Hull City would love to finish in the middle of the table and avoid any relegation drama.
All of these goals are much more important than the Capital One Cup and each team is better off for losing early and avoiding having to play in additional matches. Matches which could lead to greater fatigue and injury. In my opinion, it’s just not worth it.
So to sum it up, the biggest winners of this week’s Capital One Cup are… the losers.