Jose Mourinho sees the League Cup as platform for success... the Man United manager is a four-time winner and has added silverware after each triumph

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It is probably a source of bemusement for Jose Mourinho that so much debate surrounds his cherished League Cup.

With only four trophies up for grabs each season — okay, five if we include the Community Shield (and we know Mourinho does) — the Manchester United boss is one of the few who appreciates its merits, and how well that has served him.

Four times now he has won the competition, and on each occasion he has added silverware before the season is out.

Jose Mourinho's Manchester United side are hoping to retain the Carabao Cup this season

Mourinho holds aloft the trophy after leading Man United to triumph in his debut season 

Triumph again this season and he will become the most successful manager in the history of this oft-derided tournament, surpassing the achievements of Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Perhaps when rival managers take a glance at that roll call — Mourinho, Clough, Ferguson — they will begin to respect its value. After all, winning breeds winning.

Do not forget the significance of Ferguson's FA Cup victory with Manchester United in 1990. 

When Mourinho arrived on these shores in 2004 his first shot at silverware was the League Cup. He duly won it and, by the end of the season, Chelsea were Premier League champions. 

He sees it as a platform for success, instilling a winning mentality and fuelling hunger for more.

When he again won the competition in 2007, an FA Cup followed. 

He won the cup in debut season and Chelsea also finished term as Premier League champions

When he again won the competition with the west Londoners in 2007, an FA Cup followed

Returning to Chelsea in 2013, his side made it to the last eight before regaining the trophy 12 months later with a 2-0 victory over Spurs. Mourinho famously celebrating by lying on the Wembley turf with his legs and arms in the air as his players danced behind him. 

Within two months they had won the league title. A pattern, then, had clearly emerged.

Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell later revealed that, at the onset of the season, Mourinho would tell the players that the League Cup was their easiest route to Wembley — five games and you are in a final. The squad knew the regard in which he held the competition from the off, and that was evidenced in his team selections.

So when he took charge at Manchester United in 2016, his first goal — after winning the Community Shield, of course — was to reclaim the League Cup and so send out a message that Mourinho the habitual winner was back.

What followed? Another trophy, it always does. Come May they were Europa League winners and Mourinho celebrated with three fingers, reminding everyone of his trophy haul in what was his first season at Old Trafford. As Mourinho once said, 'Finals are not for playing, they are for winning'.

On Wednesday night, at Bristol City, Mourinho will be bidding for a place in the last four of the Carabao Cup, as it is now known.

Portuguese boss celebrates with trophy in 2015 after winning it for a third time with Chelsea

Mourinho and John Terry hold firmly onto the silverware after beating Tottenham in the final 

His starting XI will be strong, it always is. Against Burton Albion in the third round, his front three consisted of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard. Each of them scored in a 4-1 win. Tellingly, they followed that up with a gritty 1-0 victory at Southampton three days later. Winning, remember, breeds winning.

In the fourth round they won 2-0 at Swansea — Martial, Rashford and Lingard again the attacking triumvirate — and by the end of the week they had beaten Spurs 1-0 in the Premier League.

In September Mourinho was asked if English teams would fare better in Europe without the commitment of a second domestic cup competition. When he said 'maybe', it made headlines.

But it remains and so does his desire to win it. To write off the League Cup, in Mourinho's eyes at least, it to forgo momentum. A football match is for winning, not just for playing.

And here is a thought to finish with… How many of the other 91 League managers have won the League Cup? Answer: none. You would not be surprised if that number remains the same beyond this season. 

Mourinho will surpass achievements of Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson if he wins this year