Are You Ready For “The Mickey Mouse Cup?”

By Zain Alvi | 16th February 2009

Are You Ready For "The Mickey Mouse Cup?" | read this item

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Tottenham Carling Cup Victory Less than two weeks remain until Wembley Stadium witnesses Carling Cup holders Tottenham Hotspur’s title defense against reigning Premier League and European Champions Manchester United. Unsurprisingly, fans across the world are actively debating the importance of this Cup final.

Unlike the FA Cup, which is universally acclaimed as arguably the most prestigious club cup competition, the League Cup has earned itself the notorious nickname of “The Mickey Mouse Cup,” referring to its minor, if any, importance in many circles of football. In fact, I came across an even more derogatory reference to the competition when someone in London once told me that the Carling Cup is as good for Premier League footballers as a souvenir champagne cup manufactured by Carling.

However, regardless of what these skeptics have to say, the Carling Cup is massive for any team, especially one that is poised to finish outside the top six spots in the Barclays Premier League. By now, you must have guessed that I am referring to the most lucrative benefit of the Carling Cup – an appearance in the following season’s Europa League (the revamped UEFA Cup).

In addition, any team (regardless of its league position) can benefit from being in the Carling Cup final by getting the prestigious opportunity of piling its supporters in the stands of the remarkable Wembley Stadium. Believe me when I say that having been to the new Wembley once, I am already craving to revisit that incredibly surreal atmosphere.

Of course, on top of the aforementioned benefits, the winning team gets to add an important trophy to its cabinet that it can proudly defend the following season. Ask Juande Ramos and he will tell you why he still bizarrely refers to his disastrous spell as Tottenham manager as ”successful:” winning the Carling Cup last season. Therefore, I argue in favor of the Carling Cup and explain by it is indeed an important trophy to win.

For starters, the timing of this Cup final (with at least two months to go in the season) can lead to both positive and negative implications. On the positive side, a struggling team like Tottenham can suddenly boost its morale and be referred to as the first trophy holder of the season. On the negative side of things, this victory can create distraction, as demonstrated by the Spurs’ horrific performance for the tail end of last season.

However, I should quickly add that only an incredibly inconsistent Tottenham side could pull off such a poor finish to their season after receiving such a massive boost in the form of the Carling Cup itself. Hence, in my opinion, winning the Carling Cup should definitely be a great lift for a team as it plays out the remainder of its season. Some may argue that even the losing team can end up being strongy motivated as the agony suffered in February or March can bring the best out of the squad by the time the season ends in May.

For most losers, however, failure in the Carling Cup has proven to be a disastrous curse in recent years. Take the example of Arsenal. Arsene Wenger has never led the Gunners to a Carling Cup title and he might need to win it fast since the Carling Cup always manages to collapse the remainder of Arsenal’s season with it. For example, when Wenger’s extra-youthful Gunners lost 2-1 to Chelsea a couple of years ago, they were resigned to fighting aimlessly for the fourth place for the remainder of the season.

Last year, Chelsea suffered even worse as manager Avram Grant’s job security came under question the moment Jonathan Woodgate headed Tottenham’s winner seconds before the final whistle. Furthermore, the Chelsea squad was panned so heavily in the press for losing to a determined Spurs side that this harsh criticism led them to lose their nerve in the FA Cup as well. The result: Barnsley knocked the Blues out of the FA Cup merely weeks later.

Many believe that despite their brave challenge for the BPL and the UEFA Champions League till the final day of the season, Chelsea’s season had collapsed the moment they were demoralized by Tottenham in the Carling Cup final. Imagine playing an extra five or six games in your season only to get to the final and lose. Couldn’t that easily be considered a great waste of a Premier League club’s time and energy? Therefore, I hope that I made my point very clear here: Regardless of how much you detest the Carling Cup and challenge its importance, you do not want your team to be the one that loses on March 1.

Who will win the Carling Cup this year? Have your say in the Premiership Talk Forums!