If teams took them seriously they would play their A teams against the Aston Villas of the world in the middle stages rather than risk an upset. I think it's clear most top teams do not prioritise the domestic cups very highly.
Mid table and lower do because it means more income.
its the opposite.
Top team go further in cups using quality squads while mid tbale and lower teams dump the cups asap. (like spurs do)
Last 10 league cup winners
2009 Manchester United
2010 Manchester United
2011 Birmingham City 2–1 Arsenal
2012 Liverpool
2013 Swansea City
2014 Manchester City
2015 Chelsea
2016 Manchester City
2017 Manchester United
2018 Manchester City
(admittedly theres a couple blips in league cup but it is of lesser importance)
Last 10 FA cup winners
2008–09 Chelsea
2009–10 Chelsea
2010–11 Manchester City
2011–12 Chelsea
2012–13 Wigan Athletic
2013–14 Arsenal
2014–15 Arsenal
2015–16 Manchester United
2016–17 Arsenal
2017–18 Chelsea
Theres only one blip there.
Big teams all the way.
Tell me again how big clubs like city and cheslea don't give a stuff?
The fact is the top team clean up. Liverpool have just been **** and are well over due trying a leg in these competitions.
I must ask out of 20 trophies i see cheslea won 5, arsenal 3, city 4, utd 4 and us 1... along with wigan, swansa and brum.
No spurs... why? focused on 4th place. how many times have the got 4th place in 10 years? 5.
Who thinks spurs are all that? nobody.
Only big clubs win things.
We need to win things.
look at the roll of honours:
League cup:
Liverpool 8
Manchester United 5
Aston Villa 5
Chelsea 5
Manchester City 5
Tottenham Hotspur 4
FA cup:
Arsenal 13
Manchester United 12 1
Chelsea 8
Tottenham Hotspur 8
Liverpool 7
Aston Villa 7
If you'd asked these in 2009 the table would be different. If you ask again in 2023 will LFC be further down the list again....
LFC NEEDs to win things.
end of story. 4th is meaningless in the grand scheme.