Cinderella being written out of March Madness
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND Many of the top coaches in English soccer have long viewed the League Cup as a hindrance in their pursuit of grander goals during the season.
The oft-maligned mid-week competition — historically regarded as inferior to the world-famous FA Cup — is mostly used as an opportunity to field fringe players or give academy prospects a run-out.
Jose Mourinho has always taken a different view.
Since first arriving in England, Mourinho has seen winning the League Cup — the first piece of silverware to be handed out each season — as a potential catalyst to success in other competitions.
He won the League Cup in his first season with Chelsea in 200405 and went on to capture the Premier League a few months later. It was also the first trophy he won in his second stint at Chelsea in 2015, and again he won the league the same season.
So it has been no surprise to see Mourinho go all out for the League Cup title in his first season at Manchester United. In a Manchester derby in the last 16, for example, Mourinho put out a full-strength team whereas City manager Pep Guardiola made nine changes. United won 1-0. The team has lost only two of 27 games in all competitions since.
With United facing Southampton in the final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, Mourinho has the opportunity to become the first United manager to win the trophy in his first season at Old Trafford.
“I have so many good things in my career,” he said, “that I wouldn’t be influenced by a little detail.”
Don’t be fooled, though. This means a lot to Mourinho, a serial hoarder of trophies.
Mourinho acknowledges he finds it hard to choose between competitions — mainly because he simply hates losing — so he invariably puts out strong lineups in most matches. Last week, he spoke of his regret at “throwing away”an FA Cup match during a busy period of the season during his first spell at Chelsea.
“For me, that was a lesson,” Mourinho said. “For big clubs, a competition is a competition. You are in them to try to win.”