It seems appropriate that with just a few days until the beginning of the new Premier League season, the start of this year’s Capital One Cup has slipped under most people’s radar.
The seemingly age-old debate of whether or not the League Cup is a worthwhile trophy to win, or even enter for that matter, will inevitably rumble on this season.
For the elite sides who already enjoy regular Champions League football it has increasingly become a competition in which to hand opportunities to youngsters.
Unusually for Manchester United, they may not necessarily fall into that category this season after a disastrous campaign under the stewardship of David Moyes to begin life after Sir Alex Ferguson.
With no European football to compete in, new boss Louis van Gaal must view the cup as the perfect opportunity to get the Reds back on track and seal the season’s first trophy.
Barring one or two World Cup hangovers, there should not be any concerns over fatigue this season and Van Gaal therefore has the opportunity to go all guns blazing with his strongest side in the domestic competitions.
The colossal rise in television and prize money for competing in the Premier League certainly has not done any favours for the FA Cup and League Cup.
Indeed, last season’s bottom club Cardiff City banked a handsome £63.7million after being relegated in their maiden Premier League season.
The eye-watering figure is only truly put into perspective when considered against the previous season’s champions – Manchester United – who were awarded around £60million for their title-winning season in 2012/13.
Once considered the most prestigious domestic competition in world football, the FA Cup has suffered slightly, and the League Cup has slid even further down in the list of priorities as a result.
The story is same for the region’s lower league sides – particularly Oldham Athletic and Wigan Athletic, both of whom will play in the first round of the Cup this week and both of whom will also have aspirations of returning to the top-flight to enjoy the riches the Premier League now offers.
There is, of course, the incentive of Europa League football to whoever goes on to win the Capital One Cup.
A further carrot has been dangled this year, with the added bonus of the winners of Europe’s second best prize to be rewarded with a place in the following season’s promise land of the Champions League.
But the money pouring in from the Premier League will undoubtedly prove too much of a temptation for many top-flight and lower league clubs again this year.
And with congested fixture lists for last year’s top six Premier League sides, Van Gaal could go a some way in filling the huge boots of Sir Alex Ferguson by snatching his first United trophy come March 1.
Main image courtesy of The Football League via YouTube, with thanks.
