Next year's league cup

[Brisan123]

In essence, yes.

And we might actually do better for it.

For me the league is our bread and butter, followed a close 2nd by the EL. It offers UCL qualification and if we could get to the last 16, a very real prospect of winning it. If we were in Man Utd's position, I would be very confident of us winning it now.

Given how difficult it will be to improve on 7th anyway, I would be very happy to finish 7th again next year if it meant winning one of the cups. Ideally that would be the EL and should be our main priority outside of the league.

I agree
A lot depends who gets knocked out of the group stages of the CL
United were lucky that no really big teams went from CL to EL this year.
With CL for the winners if the CL goes to plan it could be a realistic target if we are lucky enough

 

[Groucho]

We need to play to win every competition we are in.

Otherwise there's no point.

We will need a large quantity of incoming signings though.

 

[lancs blue]

the league cup has become pointless. the equivalent of zenith data cup from old. whats the point when teams constantly field weak teams. the under 23s have the johnstone paint trophy, as was, to worry about now

 

[everton2004]

An assault on the top 4 is our priority next season - everything else is gravy. We need CL togger to start attracting the big names.

 

[blueloon]

Pitching in too many youngsters into one game rarely works well in these competitions. We've done it in Europe too in dead games and again it rarely works well. Similarly the history this season of other teams playing lots of youngsters in FA cup games was not good. I think using 3 or 4 youngsters, those around the first team , often on the bench but not playing, is the maximum, but they would have to be part of a decent team of first team regulars . Giving games to players who can't get first team games as well as mixing in youngsters is a recipie for disaster.

 

[Woolly Blue]

We'll competing in 4 competitions next year. Obviously the league comes first, then either Europe or the FA cup, with the league cup last.

With our all conquering U23 squad, and golden generation, should we just treat the league cup as a U23 showcase and go as far as we can with the mighty Toffee yoof?

Not for me mate, I'd take the League cup seriously and play the kids in the early stages of the Europa.

 

[johnnydawg68]

Not for me mate, I'd take the League cup seriously and play the kids in the early stages of the Europa.

Interesting. I value the Europa more than the League Cup. But I truly believe that a side made up mostly of the u23's (Dowell, Williams, Kenny, Pennington, Feeny, Connolly, Evans, Sambou, Walsh, Charsley, Baningime etc) with a few Senior players sprinkled in would do very well in that competition (the league cup).

 

[AndyC]

Not for me mate, I'd take the League cup seriously and play the kids in the early stages of the Europa.

Likewise, take the League Cup seriously.
After all, go all the way and win it in eight games and you're straight into Europe for the following season, taking some pressure off the current EL campaign... And that might allow the squad to relax and do even better than we might ordinarily do.

 

[barneygumble]

The last time it happened.

We had a run of something like

United (a), Krasnodar(a) , Liverpool (a), Swansea (a), and quite frankly, the League Cup was a tough game against Swansea, and it wasn't in my interests because United and the Derby were the league, we'd been keen to impress in. In regards to Europe, it was crucial for us to get something from what was a very challenging group, against an extremely good testing team in Krasnodar.

So really what i'm saying is... lets have a bit of luck, and a few favourable home draws, non-distance european games and then we can assess it, get through the first couple of stages unscathed, where we can play a few U23, and then we've reached the point where European Groups have finished, and we can consider that.

My order is always going to be

1. League
2. Europa League
3. FA Cup / League Cup.

 

[DanEFC92]

Go for the quadruple.

 

[Aar_the_Toffees]

League is first (need to make top 4)
Europa League is second (in my opinion) - it's still Europe and players from abroad are likely to find "Europa League Winners" a much better prospect than "FA Cup Winners"
FA Cup is third- important competition but would really like us to end our trophy drought in style. That being said I would gladly take this trophy too.
League Cup is fourth - I don't care about it. It's not anther trophy to me, it's irrelevant. Win any of the first three and I'll be ecstatic. Couldn't care less bout this one.

 

[LydiateLee]

Nah. Need to win it.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

I'd go for a mixture of first teamers and youth for the League Cup

Maybe play 3-4 kids to ease some of the burden on the most over worked first teamers and then play 7-8 regular first teamers as well

 

[Raino85]

I think the league cup is an important competition. mourinho always goes out to win it as its a piece of silver wear out of the way and it is good practice to build a winning mentality

Having said that i did say to my mate the other week, if these kids are as good as Koeman/Unsy says they are.
Treat the league cup like an u23 tournament. Even using Unsworth as coach etc etc.

No "stars" on the bench in case its going wrong, no barry's or Besic's or Mccarthys to give them game time.
An all or nothing if you must.

Let the fans know this before hand and that way it generates a bit of excitement for these kids etc.

 

[hallamblue]

The trouble with the League Cup is that you are almost guaranteed to play Premier League clubs in every round. This is why one of the "big" clubs usually win it these days. Every club plays a second string, but the second strings of Chelsea and Man City are stronger than those of the other clubs.