It’s official: I’m in love with the League Cup.

I’m surprised after Wednesday’s League Cup defeat that Gerrard didn’t accuse Swansea of playing like Barcelona- James Calvert

For a while now I have suspected my feelings towards this competition – the Capital One Cup to give it its proper name – ran deeper than mere casual affection.

This week, after some of the best football matches you could possible hope for, those suspicions were confirmed.

For many years, if not from the moment it was conceived, the League Cup has been viewed as the poor relative of all the other knock-out competitions. People, me included, have often referred to it as the Mickey Mouse cup.

It doesn’t have the fame and fortune of the Champions League or the history and tradition of the FA Cup. It’s not even as trendy or popular as the Europa League, which is saying something.

But I have now realised it has one crucial thing that all those others have either lost, are losing or never had to begin with: magic.

How else could you explain Arsenal coming from 4-0 down to win 7-5, Manchester United and Chelsea taking part in a nine-goal thriller and little Bradford City knocking out Premier League Wigan Athletic?

Or how about Norwich City beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 despite going into the last few minutes trailing 1-0 and Spurs missing a penalty right at the death?

Those sort of quirky results just don’t happen in other knock-out competitions any more. Although more glamorous, lucrative and popular, the other cups are comparatively boring and predictable.

Of course people point to the fact that few teams in the League Cup bother to play their strongest sides, which is undoubtedly true. But so what?

If choosing teams made up of reserves, fringe first teamers and players returning from injury means we get 37 goals in eight games, then I think we should be embracing this practice rather than criticising it.

Ironically, it is the very fact that clubs have, for a sustained period of time, been treating the League Cup with such disdain that has actually turned it into one of the most exciting contests around.

Had United and Chelsea, for example, put out their first choice teams on Wednesday, then the game would probably have finished 1-0. They didn’t and it finished 5-4. Magic.

The draw for the quarter-finals has thrown up a couple of sweet ties. Leeds United vs Chelsea is a game with plenty of potential, considering the history between them and the fact that Neil Warnock’s side have already disposed of Everton and Southampton in this competition.

And Bradford vs Arsenal is going to be a real David and Goliath clash, although which one is which could change from one half to the next.

Being the League Cup, however, I won’t even begin to think about predicting who is going to get their hands on the trophy.

No, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy this most delightful and enthralling little competition which has earned my respect and my love in equal measure.

Tweet of the week

Tweet of the week goes to Lauren Moyes, daughter of Everton manager David.

When Luis Suarez did his infamous fake dive in front of David during last Sunday’s Liverpool derby, Ms Moyes was on Twitter quick as a flash.

“Very surprised my dad didn’t just nut Suarez,” she said, providing a rather interesting insight into life in the Moyes household.

In her father’s defence, although he didn’t look best pleased when Suarez threw himself to the floor, he did admit after the game that he would probably have done the same in his position.

I think we all would.

Opening mouth before engaging brain

Talking of the Merseyside derby, Steven Gerrard made himself look more than a bit silly with his angry post-match comments.

Still fuming that his side had been denied a perfectly legitimate winner – which they were – he tore into Everton accusing them of playing direct, long-ball football and comparing them to Stoke City.

“Every single time they get the ball to the goalkeeper it comes in long. There was only one team who came to play football and that was us,” the Liverpool captain whined.

Sadly for Stevie, his claims were not backed up by the facts with the match statistics painting a rather different picture: Everton had more possession, made more passes and completed proportionately fewer long passes than Liverpool.

Gerrard has since apologised to both Everton and Stoke, who he managed to indirectly insult in his little tantrum.

I’m surprised after Wednesday’s League Cup defeat he didn’t accuse Swansea of playing like Barcelona…

On the record

Like you, I have no idea if Mark Clattenburg is guilty or innocent of using abusive language towards a Chelsea player.

There are no more than three or four people who know what was really said and you can bet your bottom dollar they will all recollect it differently.

However, there is an incredibly simple way of making sure this type of incident doesn’t happen again: record the officials.

Most referees are already miked up in order to be able to communicate with their assistants. It would take nothing more than minor technological tweak or two to have their words recorded for posterity.

Not only would that eliminate anybody being able to point an accusing finger at the match officials in the future, it might also make players think twice about flinging abuse at the men in black.

In fact, why not go a step further and give the fans the option of listening in to the microphones while the game is in play?

A similar system is used in rugby to great effect. The fans can pay to be linked into the referee’s microphone via special headphones at the ground.

Not only does this add another level of depth to the match for supporters, it also has the added benefit of making players hold their tongues when they know thousands of people are listening in.

Footballers, and referees too of course, might need a few months to get used to the idea and during that time we may be exposed to some rather colourful language.

But eventually only good can come out of it. I bet Mark Clattenburg wishes he had had his every word recorded during last week’s match.

Then again, maybe he’s glad he didn’t…

Everything to play for

Logic suggests you can’t just throw a bunch of good footballers together and expect them to be a good team.

And for the most part that theory is a good one: to get the best out of a squad it should be grown, nurtured and developed over time.

Apparently, however, that isn’t always the case, as Portsmouth are busy proving down in League One.

Just a few months ago the club, which is in administration, had no senior players on its books. They turned up at Bramall Lane on Monday night with a squad made up of players on one-month contracts and a smattering of loan signings, one of whom had just joined the club that morning.

Yet despite this being a team born out of desperation rather than as part of a grand plan, they still managed to play some excellent football. They looked like they had been playing and training together for years, not weeks.

And I have a theory as to why the current, cobbled together Portsmouth team are doing all right for themselves – because every single one of them has something to play for.

The loanees need to prove they are good enough for regular football back at their parent clubs while those on the short-term contracts are playing for their very livelihood. There are no cushy, three-year contracts for these guys to fall back on. Don’t perform and you are out of work come the end of the month.

There’s nothing like actually giving a player something to play for to get them to perform.

I’m sure there’s a clue in there for other teams….

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade