By Sunday evening, the second trophy of the English season will have been awarded at Wembley Stadium. Manchester United won the first, lifting the FA Community Shield back in August, and now Jose Mourinho is desperate to add the EFL Cup.
Had that sentence been written five years ago, United fans would have scoffed. The Community Shield was seen as little more than a glorified friendly, with the main advantage being that it allowed upward of 60,000 fans to get into Wembley with an ease that usually evades so many at a cup final. More than 31,000 will be in the official United section this weekend, paying between £40-£100 for their ticket, though there will be far more elsewhere among a 90,000 crowd.
When the club was at its most powerful under Sir Alex Ferguson, the League Cup used to field young professionals and squad players. From Adam Eckersley to James Chester, there are numerous players whose only taste of first-team football for United was in this competition. Ravel Morrison’s three United appearances all came in the League Cup, as did Paul Pogba’s debut.
Sometimes, the youngsters did well and, while Ferguson introduced bigger names as the competition progressed, United’s squad continued to be rotated. In the 2009 final vs. Tottenham, for example, 18-year-old Danny Welbeck and 21-year-old Darron Gibson, were starters, while Richard Eckersley and Rodrigo Possebon were substitutes.
But, still, League Cup success wasn’t a huge deal. When fans spoke about the 1999 treble, nobody was too disappointed that it wasn’t a quadruple; it simply wasn’t an issue. Indeed, when Liverpool won the competition, as well as the FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001, the achievement was sneered at as being a treble-lite.
United supporters have since had to swallow some pride; three years of underwhelming mediocrity has seen to that. A top-two finish in the Premier League and annual Champions League qualifications are no longer taken for granted. Reaching any European competition is now appreciated, while the EFL Cup has provided many a high during this season, with home wins against Manchester City and West Ham the pick of them.
Sunday’s opponents Southampton didn’t expect to reach the final and their own coaches thought that they’d do well to come away from Liverpool in the semifinal second leg with anything but a defeat. But they met faltering opponents at Anfield and, if one club knows being huge underdogs in big cup matches need not prevent you winning, it’s Southampton.
In 1976, as a second division side, they met Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley. Nobody gave them a chance.
“The bookies had made us the shortest-priced favourites for years and Southampton were not given a prayer,” recalled former United player Lou Macari. “With the game 0-0 at half-time, doubts started to enter our minds. We couldn’t see ourselves scoring.”
“We were overwhelming favourites, but Southampton were no mugs,” added United captain’s that day, Martin Buchan. “They were full of hard-bitten professionals with Lawrie McMenemy in charge. He was a good man manager rather than a master tactician.
“Every time I see a clip of their goal,” continues Buchan, “Bobby Stokes gets further and further offside. Was he offside? I don’t know. There was only one camera, you don’t have nine or 10 angles like now.”
United’s players drowned their sorrows in England’s capital after that shock 1-0 defeat, on a night that many of them remember as being better than when they won the cup a year later against Liverpool. Whatever happens on Sunday, excess partying is unlikely; the team are returning to Manchester immediately, rather than staying in a London hotel as they have in the past.
Mourinho is justifiably concerned about the demands of the fixture list which, after next week, could see United play two games each week until the end of the season. Though United are still sixth in the league, they have excelled in the cups, winning 14 and losing three of 17 matches across three competitions.
The busy schedule also causes fatigue and increases injury risk. and United’s latest cup win, at St Etienne in the Europa League on Wednesday, did not come without a cost. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Michael Carrick both limped off and, though Mourinho said on Friday that Carrick, as well as Wayne Rooney, should be available, Mkhitaryan has been ruled out of Sunday’s game.
Friday’s Europa League round-of-16 draw also drew groans at the Carrington training ground and Mourinho made his feelings clear when talking about the challenge of getting to and facing Rostov, which represents just about the most complicated destination United could have been given among those left in the competition.
The city, which has a population of one million, is 150 miles northeast of Moscow and will host games in next year’s World Cup, is a six-hour flight from Manchester. Or 12 for those fans who have to take connecting flights via London and Moscow. And all of that is if they can get visas in time.
The first leg is in Russia on March 9 and takes place ahead of an FA Cup quarterfinal tie at Chelsea, though it is true that the Stamford Bridge game being on a Monday will at least give United’s players an extra 24 hours of rest they might not have otherwise had.
For the fans, cup draws offer an added challenge at this stage of the season. United will take 6,000 to Chelsea, most of whom will travel from England’s northwest. The schedule, agreed upon by the English FA and TV rights’ holders, will require those who attend to take at least an afternoon off work. They then won’t return home until the early hours of the following day.
But first comes Sunday’s final, which is a game and an occasion to be savoured. And one which, hopefully, will result in that second trophy of the season.
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