Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola follows rival Jose Mourinho in criticising EFL Cup

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has delivered another blow to the Carabao Cup by declaring the maligned competition to be a “waste of energy”.

Guardiola’s comments carry a certain irony, as the competition is sponsored by an energy drink manufacturer. He spoke after Jose Mourinho, his Manchester United counterpart, suggested that English clubs in Europe should be allowed to opt out of the competition.

The cup has been under increasing scrutiny this season, with organisers criticised for allowing last month’s third-round draw to be held at 4.15am UK time, as it took place in Beijing.

Having been created as the League Cup in 1960 to take advantage of the fact that floodlights had increased the possibility for midweek football, the tournament became a central part of the English football calendar during the 1970s and 1980s. However, its importance has gradually diminished over the last two decades, beginning when Sir Alex Ferguson, then Manchester United’s manager, began fielding reserve and youth players in it during the 1994-95 season to keep his senior professionals fresh.

In an attempt to keep the bigger clubs interested, the Football League, now the EFL, has allowed English clubs playing in European competition to be exempt until the third round since 1996, while replays were scrapped in 1997.

Yet Mourinho, the current United manager, suggested on Wednesday that English clubs in the Champions League and Europa League should be allowed to opt out of the Carabao Cup altogether. Guardiola has supported those comments, as City bid to navigate a crowded run of games.

The City manager made eight changes for Wednesday’s 2-1 win at West Brom in the third round of the Carabao Cup, to rest players before Saturday’s Premier League home game against Crystal Palace.

They then host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday before travelling to Chelsea for a league game the following Saturday.

Mourinho guided United to win the competition last season, but Guardiola does not believe it was worth the effort. The City boss has suggested that it was victory in the Europa League, rather than the domestic cup, that made Mourinho’s first season at Old Trafford a success.

“We have a lot of games. If you have to play in a competition you have to play in it. It’s good for the players you don’t use a lot. It’s a prize where, when you win, it’s OK, but after that the people don’t give too much credit.

“I think the prize is good when you win another one. But you waste a lot of energy. You can imagine going against a Tony Pulis team and playing 90 minutes in those conditions, then you spend three or four hours on the bus.

“Then three days later, it’s Crystal Palace, three days later, Shakhtar Donetsk, three or four days later, Stamford Bridge. So for the managers, there’s a lot of wasted energy. But we knew that before, so it’s not a complaint in those terms. If we have to play, we have to play.”

City and United go into the weekend joint-top of the Premier League, each with 13 points from five matches and an identical goals record.

Guardiola’s team are on a run of five successive wins, and have defeated Liverpool 5-0 and Watford 6-0 in recent weeks.

That has made them favourites to beat Saturday’s opponents Palace, who are bottom of the Premier League without a point or a goal.

But their new manager Roy Hodgson guided them to a midweek Carabao Cup win over Huddersfield, and Guardiola has warned his players to be wary.

He said: “The team are not pulled by strings. One little detail down and everything is down. You have to be careful. They have to know we can lose the game tomorrow. They have to know that. They have to go to sleep tonight and know that tomorrow, we can lose that game. If that happens, we will be closer to winning that game.”