How do you fix the League Cup? With clubs resting players and some teams seeming not to care, should we scrap it, make changes or just leave it as it is?

  • Manchester City and Arsenal reached the Carabao Cup semi-finals on Tuesday
  • Wednesday sees Chelsea v Bournemouth and Bristol City v Manchester United
  • The first trophy of the season has been marred by troubled draws this year
  • Big clubs and even Championship sides have made rafts of changes to teams 

After four quarter-finalists made 33 changes between them on Tuesday, with more to come on Wednesday, questions about the League Cup are inevitably flaring up.

In a season when energy drink Carabao have sponsored a competition marred by botched draws and Far East gimmicks, many have questioned the continuing existence of this 57-year-old trophy.

So should the League Cup be revolutionised, pulverised, or is it alright as it is? Sportsmail's team of reporters give their view on the best route forward.

Manchester United celebrate winning the EFL Cup in February of last year at Wembley

Manchester United celebrate winning the EFL Cup in February of last year at Wembley

 

IAN LADYMAN


I actually think it's too late to fix the competition.

The only way to do that would be to reduce the size of the Premier League - a good idea that will never ever happen - or vastly increase the prize money for advancing in the League Cup, which will not happen either.

So all we are left with is the hope that our managers will approach it with a better attitude. It remains a competition that is very much worth winning and one that supporters will buy in to if they are encouraged.

But until managers realise that a cup win will more often than not help league form rather than get in the way, we are stuck with what we have. It's a little sad, really. 

 

OLIVER HOLT

I think the problem is with us, not the competition.

We need to accept that it's bottom of the list of priorities for the elite clubs and if they want to use it to rest established players and give young players a chance, that's just the way it is.

If we go to League Cup games to see the biggest stars, we're going to be disappointed. It's about managing expectations. 

Fans got a chance to watch Reiss Nelson (left) and Domingos Quina as Arsenal faced West Ham

Fans got a chance to watch Reiss Nelson (left) and Domingos Quina as Arsenal faced West Ham

 

MIKE ANSTEAD

It's time to kill it off.

Spain, Germany and Italy only have one cup, so why do we need two? When your biggest clubs don't care, you have a problem. When the Premier League's mid-table teams also don't care, then you've really got a problem.

The same issue is spreading to the FA Cup, too. We are too nostalgic in this country about cup 'romance', but those days are increasingly rare in the 21st century.

I would merge the two competitions. Call it the FA Cup. Scrap all replays. Start it earlier in the season. Play it midweek if necessary. Oh, and only hold the final at Wembley. 

 

SAMI MOKBEL

I fear the League Cup is a lost cause.

The prizes at stake elsewhere, be it trophies or staying in the Premier League, are far more important. 

Pep Guardiola has other priorities that are more important than the EFL Cup for Man City

Pep Guardiola has other priorities that are more important than the EFL Cup for Man City

 

CHRIS WHEELER 

Leave it as it is.

You only had to witness Manchester United's win over Southampton at Wembley last season to know there is still a place in our football calendar for the League Cup.

If clubs want to use or abuse it, that's up to them - you can't legislate for that in any competition. But, as the attempts to widen the cup's appeal by holding the draw in the middle of the night in the Far East demonstrated, there is no quick fix.

 

DOMINIC KING 

It is a difficult question. I had felt the competition was going through a renaissance a couple of years ago but the folly this year was the choice of sponsor.

People haven’t known when the draw was being made, who was playing who and, frankly, it sounds awful. If the sponsors can’t get their act together, why should the clubs follow suit?

I have always felt it is a brilliant trophy to win but with clubs getting so much revenue from elsewhere now, it is no longer a priority. Leicester should be ashamed of themselves for throwing that opportunity away on Wednesday night. 

The Carabao Cup has had its critics this season - including over a draw held in Beijing

The Carabao Cup has had its critics this season - including over a draw held in Beijing

 

JACK GAUGHAN

I'd leave it how it is.

The League Cup has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance over the last few years in terms of exciting ties and when big clubs do rest their top players it gives us a chance to see some of the fringe or younger options in their squads.

Big clubs across Europe do the same in their own domestic cup competitions too.

Paris Saint-Germain celebrate winning France's EFL Cup equivalent, the Coupe de la Ligue

Paris Saint-Germain celebrate winning France's EFL Cup equivalent, the Coupe de la Ligue

 

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI 

I'm not sure it can be fixed.

Economics dictate that the Premier League will always rule, to the extent that even a competition like the FA Cup suffers massively. What hope is there, then, for the next bauble down, the League Cup?

You obviously can't incentivise it with a Champions League place, but perhaps a rule limiting the changes to the previous side used in the league. A maximum of seven changes for top-flight sides, for instance.

That would enable rotation and wouldn't seem like such a mockery as a full XI swapping over. 

Jose Mourinho has shown respect for the League Cup, winning it four times while in England

Jose Mourinho has shown respect for the League Cup, winning it four times while in England

 

CRAIG HOPE

How do you 'fix' the League Cup? You can't. It is what it is.

Some years we love it, some years we don't. In 12 months' time after a round of high-scoring ties featuring the stars of tomorrow we'll be celebrating the competition...

That's the nature of football - some good, some bad. So either scrap the League Cup completely and stop the debate, or leave it as is and see what it throws up. 

 

ADAM CRAFTON

I can't get my head around what Leicester did on Tuesday night.

Their league position is secure, so go and give the fans a day to enjoy at Wembley. It was especially odd as Claude Puel came so close to lifting the trophy with Southampton.

I would not do anything to change the competition. If it is good enough for Jose Mourinho to treat with respect, then it should be good enough for the rest of them.

 

JOE BERNSTEIN

I have wanted to abolish the League Cup for years.

It would ease fixture congestion, heighten anticipation for the FA Cup which is a magical English institution and reduce the need for a winter break which would ruin winter for me.

I know it creates revenue for the Football League, simply order the Premier League clubs to hand over that money, they've got enough, and let's stop all these meaningless games.

Arsenal won the FA Cup last season, and anticipation for that competition could be heightened

Arsenal won the FA Cup last season, and anticipation for that competition could be heightened

 

KIERAN GILL

Stop changing the name for one... no man wants to tell his grandchildren he won the Carabao Cup.

I don't blame the clubs with Premier League priorities, such as Manchester City or West Ham, for making their changes.

As for Leicester, the money on offer per position in the league will always make it a priority. Football is a business remember, and clubs are run as such.

Besides, scheduling a League Cup quarter-final in between an abundance of Christmas fixtures doesn't do it any favours. 

 

OLIVER TODD

Guarantee the big sides an away draw with a seeding system to liven up the early rounds.

The League Cup semi-finals tend to produce some great two-legged affairs but there is little appetite for a lower-league club's doomed trip to Old Trafford or the Etihad early on.

Forcing the Premier League giants away from home, and out of their comfort zones, would do something to liven it up.

There is little desire to see smaller sides easily beaten by second-string teams from the top tier

There is little desire to see smaller sides easily beaten by second-string teams from the top tier

 

ADAM SHERGOLD

The League Cup has long suffered from an identity crisis but that doesn't mean anything needs to be changed.

The competition should be cherished by managers as an opportunity to keep fringe first-teamers happy and introduce young players to a higher intensity of football. It also gives the fans a chance to see some different personnel and many fans their only chance to watch their team live at all.

The claim that big clubs don't take it seriously is clearly false when this year's semi-final line up is likely to be Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. It merely illustrates how strong their squads are.

I also feel the League Cup is being taken increasingly seriously by the big guns - the last four winners have been City, Chelsea, City and United. Jose Mourinho has always valued it as a trophy worth winning and so do others. Arsene Wenger will be really keen to win it this season to justify carrying on last summer.

With City running away with the Premier League title, winning it has greater value than ever this season.

 

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