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The Carabou Cup – what is it good for? Absolutely nothing? The top nine league cup winners Team Wins R/up Years Years R/up Liverpool 10 4 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2012, 2022, 2024 1978, 1987, 2005, 2016 Manchester City 8 1 1970, 1976, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 1974 Manchester United 6 4 1992, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2023 1983, 1991, 1994, 2003 Chelsea 5 5 1965, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2015 1972, 2008, 2019, 2022, 2024 Aston Villa 5 4 1961, 1975, 1977, 1994, 1996 1963, 1971, 2010, 2020 Tottenham Hotspur 4 5 1971, 1973, 1999, 2008 1982, 2002, 2009, 2015, 2021 Nottingham Forest 4 2 1978, 1979, 1989, 1990 1980, 1992 Leicester City 3 2 1964, 1997, 2000 1965, 1999 Arsenal 2 6 1987, 1993 1968, 1969, 1988, 2007, 2011, 2018 All hail King George If it wasn’t for George Graham we wouldn’t even have the two miserable League Cups we have in 1987 and 1993. And if it wasn’t for the Heysel stadium tragedy which meant English clubs were barred from European competition maybe George would have had his priorities elsewhere. It might be just the one. Coca Cola Cup? Why not, George? Do you know we are ninth in the table of league cup winners? Tottenham are above us on four. And everyone knows what Tottenham are. They won it twice before us and twice after that. What does that make us? Shitter than shit? City win it as a warm up Pep, the standard to which Mikel is compared gets a win there most seasons. City have picked up six since 2014 and Pep has five since then. City have eight in total. They can win the league and league cup, why can’t we? Pep likes a League Cup Liverpool won it twice under Klopp so he cared about it. And Liverpool won it four times in their glory years in the 80’s. Chelsea won it three times under Abramovich so he also saw value in it. Ferguson won it four times in his glory years. Arsene could never win it and maybe Mikel will be the same. It is good to be beaten so we concentrate on the League and CL? I have shown that teams can win the league cup and the title even if not necessarily in the same year but in the same time frame. It is no barrier to success. Yet I have heard every year that we go out since Arsene’s time that it is best we were beaten so we can concentrate on the league or the Champions League. How come the other big teams don’t think the same? Alex Ferguson also liked the League Cup Because the league cup gives the squad games so they can come on and do a job if necessary and that has certainly been a weakness in the latter Wenger years and the recent Arteta ones. The squad gets beaten. Which means it is not good enough. Guardiola set his stall out for 2 strong teams right from the start and City had the financial nous to get it for him ( I wonder legally?) Pep brings on players and you wonder are they better than the guys he takes off. The squad players shine in the cups? We have not really been able to do that under Arteta. Eleven players get flogged unmercifully every week because he needs to win. But now? We have gone to a team in North London and won without Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, two of our very best. I feel we have two teams now although our second choice goalkeeper is now unproven without Ramsdale. Still a keeper’s job in a Carabou cup may not be too strenuous. Raya could stay to give them maturity. Jorginho, Zinchenko, Jesus, and others need full games badly. We could probably put out a second string that a midtable team would like to have. Martin Odegaard - we do need a back-up playmaker I still feel that we are vulnerable to injuries as we cannot really do without key players too long. If the squad players step up in the league and FA cups it will give us all far more confidence. I would love to see them destroying teams so that we say let’s play them instead. Where are we at this season? So what have we learned so far this season? I think one thing is that Martinelli should start as he wears out the full back and Trossard can come in and score whereas Trossard doesn’t leave the full back almost dead on his feet if he starts. He plays a different game but he can be bundled off the ball a bit too easily. Trossard sub for me but a starter in the cups. He has an eye for goal and the ability to do the unpredicted. A good player to have. Could Bolton be our first step towards a long-awaited Carabou Cup? Timber looks class. He seems the right mix of pure talent and competitiveness to be a winner. Calafiori also will improve the team. I feel he will get many chances although defenders don’t get subbed so often. Merino seems to be one that has improved with age. Partey has done well but he doesn’t seem to have the legs for 90 minutes. If Merino takes over I feel that will be a step up. Danger with Odegaard? Odegaard may be the problem unless, say, Nwaneri steps up. Smith Rowe could come in and do a job in the past but he is now performing great for Fulham so we hope Nwaneri could be the guy. Heaven and Skelly will surely get their chance against Bolton and we need them to shine. They must be on the bench for a reason. I would like to see Arteta have a definite team for the Carabou Cup and to go on and win it with them. Yes, play them in the final. All the top teams except Wenger’s have got plenty of titles alongside it. We need this boy to be a teenage sensation Go on, Mikel, show us what the youngsters and a few veterans are made of and win it for us. And follow it up with the title or the Champions League as well for good measure. We won’t complain.