The Carling Cup - Part 2

      I have already wrote on this blog about how teams will fail in this competition and how daft it is here.  But last nights performances from Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City has made me want to talk about it again but hopefully in a different way as not to repeat myself.  Liverpool fielded a side which contained no of the starting eleven that played against Manchester United, City also fielded no players from the starting eleven that beat Wigan 2-0 at the weekend and Chelsea played two, Ferrira and Ramires, but they also played Terry for the first half.
     What I want to talk about is how Newcastle and West Brom beat the second teams from Chelsea and Man City.



       West Brom beat Birmingham 3-1 at the weekend with a very good second half performance but like every Premiership side they wrung the changes for the Carling Cup.  Nicky Shorey was the only man on the pitch from either side that played at the weekend.  Newcastle came into their match against Chelsea after a good away win at Goodison Park and I might of thought they would try to keep the momentum going but they also made ten changes with Coloccini being the only Newcastle play who played at the weekend.

      The second teams Chelsea and Man City played were not lacking star players either.  Chelsea had Anelka up front, Ramires and Benayoun in the middle and their captain Terry at the back, back from injury.   Man City had Given in goal, Viera and Adam Johnson in the middle and Santa Cruz and Jo up front.  These are all players that would easily get into the first team of West Brom and Newcastle but I believe it is down to team morale.

      In sides like Chelsea and Man City there are a lot of players with big egos, players that were bought for a large amount of money and then don't even play for the first team.  It has got to be damaging to the squad morale, where as Newcastle and West Brom have both made good starts on their return to the Premiership and with these second team performances it is obvious that team morale is high.  They are playing for places in the first team but they are still playing for the team and not themselves like the Chelsea and City players would be.

     Well after a very exciting third round of the cup over and done with and four top clubs out of the competition, the anyone who is not Man United or Arsenal may be taking this tournament a bit more seriously.  If Man United or Arsenal get drawn against each other at any point some other team stands a very good chance of making the final and when in a final who knows what will happen, maybe someone interesting will be in Europe next year.