For Moyes and United, a successful season already unachievable

David Moyes is overseeing probably the worst Man Utd season since 1988-89. In every season since then – excepting 2001-02 and 2004-5 – the Red Devils have contributed to the trophy room; in both those intermediate seasons without sparkles, the club finished third in the table.

With a 2-1 home loss to an understrength Swansea culminating in elimination from the FA Cup, the rancor surrounding David Moyes’ viability the club’s manager increased. After surrendering another injury-time goal today to lose at Sunderland today in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final, it might be best hold place the official Manchester United Twitter feed under 24-hour guard.

With the team in seventh position in the league, a Cup victory now a precarious proposition, the team almost completely devoid of central midfielders and unpromising Champions League hopes, there are influential voices suggesting Moyes and United must win the League Cup to ensure 2013-14 is a campaign the club doesn’t want to scrub from the annals.

The fact is that for United, this is already a disappointing season and a League Cup victory would do nothing to change that. As enjoyable as it might be, wins over Sunderland and Man City wouldn’t paper over the holes Moyes has to fill. Unless there is a remarkable sprightly second-half turnaround any reasonable goals for the season will remain unfulfilled – therefore, the season has been a disappointment.

Now equipped with half a season of hindsight, achievable aims for United would have been the provision of hope for the future – with a bonus coming in the form of a title challenge or Cup win – due either to player development, squad refreshment or a masterful new tactical system that saw the club entering the post-Ferguson/Gill era with hope.

Red Devil fans have seen none of this, and no amount of success – and for clubs like United, League Cup victories only marginally count – can hide how deficient their squad is.

Despite its respected position, the League Cup has no place in defining a successful season for a club the size of United. The old axiom that success begets success is somewhat true in football. Trophies – and sometimes, the money they bring – can attract players to your club that otherwise might sign elsewhere. But it’s unlikely Arturo Vidal (or other similarly-talented players) would be enticed to Manchester on the strength of League Cup silverware – and thus United, winning this competition is merely a bonus and completely unintegral to defining this season’s fortunes.

Were United to win the League Cup playing outstanding football, or with a lineup featuring Nick Powell, Wilfried Zaha, Alex Buttner and a revitalized Anderson – that would be a fine platform on which to build the next great United XI. Such a scenario is so unlikely as to be practically impossible.

The Champions League? Player-to-player comparison of United with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, City and even Atletico and PSG is an unfavourable exercise. Any hopes in this competition now rest with a Great Escape similar to that of Chelsea’s of 2012, in which an inferior squad managed to hole up against superior opposition in three straight rounds. Possible, sure – but highly unlikely.

This coming offseason looms as another of great change at Carrington. It needs to be, as the club continues to tread timidly, turning often and conspicuously to the image of Grandpa, retired and safe but still a presence in the Director’s box.

And they say (League Cup) romance is dead...

Not only do Cups competitions make for interesting subplots to seasons that run as long as eight months, but they also pit different league levels against each other.  This gives Millwall fans a pleasant (and utterly nonviolent) away day at Manchester City, or the Glovers of Yeovil Town a lucrative home fixture against Chelsea. 

Smaller clubs are offered a puncher’s chance against larger, rather more talented teams.  When a titch takes on a bigger rival, the results are usually quite predictable.  However, sometimes they’re not – this is called “sport” – and the nebulous concept of romance is subsequently thrown about by punditry at large to describe acts of giant-killing.

The romance or glory associated with a lengthy domestic Cup run is perhaps somewhat overstated; or at least much more so for larger clubs.  Of 76 inter-divisional matches in this year’s League Cup competition, thirty were won by the club in the lower division, through luck, tactical genius or most often probably they had more to gain.

The allure of an enduring – and profitable Cup run – is still very appealing for small fries.  Cross-league pollination is the lifeblood of many smaller clubs and often keep competing in the face of mounting costs: apparently the prize money received by third-tier Oldham Athletic for defeating Liverpool in the FA Cup will allow them to keep their youth academy from closing.

But no matter that pundits cling to the hope of a Rocky-style underdog victory, that floaty feeling isn’t usually associated with ultimate victory.

The history books say that lower-tier teams rarely take home the chocolates when it comes to finals.  Since the institution of the League Cup in 1960-61, only twenty-four teams outside the top flight have competed in a League or FA Cup final.  Two of these teams were victorious, the 1975 iteration of Aston Villa (against fellow second-division club Norwich City) and, most recently, Sheffield Wednesday.

That Wednesday won in Ryan Giggs’ debut season (1991) hints at how rarely the outsiders win.

Feel free to use the word “romance” as often as you choose.  But be aware it’s more likely the temporary infatuation inspired by celluloid rather than something more substantial.

What League Cup win means for Birmingham City

After their 2-1 League Cup defeat of heavily favoured Arsenal, it is fit and proper for Birmingham City to celebrate. Behind the opportunism of Obafemi Martins, the calamity of Wojcieh Szczesny & Laurent Koscielny and the Scots' management nous of Alex McLeish, the Blues have won their first silverware since the old Division Two (now League 1) title in 1995. In all probability this is the biggest win in club history and the first time the side have won the League Cup since 1963.

McLeish must take the much of the credit, just as Wenger cannot be totally absolved of blame. City last year finished ninth in the Premiership on re-entering the division after a year in the Championship. This was their highest league position for over forty years as veterans such as Barry Ferguson and Lee Bowyer combined with a breakout season from Joe Hart to vault the Brummies into the top half. When Hart returned to parent club Manchester City, McLeish replaced him with the able Ben Foster to maintain a defence now reputed for stinginess. By combining several senior Premiership players with the cream of the Championship - chiefly centre-back England aspirants Roger Johnson and Scott Dann - and classy loan signees Aliaksandr Hleb, David Bentley and Obafemi Martins, the rednut Scot has built a squad with both the strength to operate in Birmingham's long-held defensive posture, but also the outrageous talent needed to generate those moments of magic requried to upset the big boys. In theory, anyway. The Blues haven't done so this season and are only two points above the relegation zone and far from safety. Foster, though good enough to be England's second choice isn't of the same blue chip quality as Hart and has played well, but not in the same "I'm in the zone all year" fashion that earned Hart his current, deserved rep.

And if McLeish takes - quite correctly - the credit for masterminding this triumph, then he should also take a portion of the blame for the Brummie plight. The team has spent considerable, but not award-winning, sums in introducing reputed class to surround an uncompromising spine; an exercise which could not be judged as a complete success. Even so, this title ensures McLeish receives a passing grade for this season and also for no other reason than he seems like he's trying to make positive changes. During both summer and winter transfer windows, McLeish confirmed a plethora of new bodies were asked to relocate to St Andrews but were unwilling to journey to England's infamously grim second city. Though this triumph - like Tottenham's in 2007 - may provide a springboard for a more positive last third of the season, the victory could also distract them and further complicate avoiding the drop. The workmanlike approach favoured by several City players makes this an unlikely option but still possible.

Though it was injury, youth and inexperience which cost Arsenal this title - Szczesny is 20 and it's Koscielny's first year with the Gunners - Arsene Wenger now may be willing to consider the possibility that his constant refusal to reinforce a notably shaky backline could be a flawed policy. Walcott's pace and Fabregas' needle-threading aside, Szczesny is a debatable second-stringer - albeit one with enormous potential - who has played well in recent outings and although Koscielny cost a reported €8.45 million and came off his best performance of the year against Barcelona, several Emirates cognoscenti don't view him as either an adequate or long-term centre-back candidate. The problem between the two was a simple, (probable) one-time communication dysfunction which allowed Martins his "easiest goal". Though Wenger wasn't on the pitch and selected a team capable of defeating City, he was selecting from the best players he had available: no Mark Schwarzer or Gary Cahill - two players linked heavily with a move to North London during summer - among them.

For City, the results are curious. Entry into next year's Europa League and a trophy to end the drought that's plagued the club for long stretches of it's existence are wonderful results for the season but are not necessarily first priorities. Individually it's a great achievement, but one which would be tarnished should the club finish the year in the drop zone. Craig Gardner's season has been one of quality and lucky underpants and the man whose name must always be prefixed with "Giant Serbian striker", Giant Serbian striker Nikola Zigic, has since New Year found the net more regularly than in his disastrous first half-year in the midlands.

With the midseason arrival of Martins, the club has reasons for optimism beyond European jaunts next year but the path home isn't horrible: their next seven matches should be considered "winnable", coming against WBA, Everton, Bolton, Wigan, Blackburn and Sunderland before two big four clubs. Then follow Wolves, Newcastle and Fulham before finishing the year at Tottenham. There are several clubs with much harder runs home and the bounce hopefully provided by their Cup win should see them through. Although local rivals Wolves have picked up recently, as have West Ham, Wigan's terminal slide into the Championship coupled with West Brom's seeming inability to stay in the Premiership for more than one season at a time should mean that one relegation spot is available and an unwary Brum may yet fill it.