With us having no European football distractions this season(boo hoo)we all agree we need to concentrate on the Premiership.Might it be advisable to therefore, for once, emulate the Arse and take the opportunity to play a very much second string side in the cups?
The test of whether Harry is thinking along these lines may be borne out by the strength of the eleven he decides to field in the Carling Cup second round away game against Doncaster Rovers.This will be his first chance to give any such idea serious consideration.
The counter arguement is of course that we should never put all our eggs in one basket and always field our strongest side in case we should fail to qualify for the Champion’s League or Europa by virtue of our league position.Given our 100% start to the season however, although it is admittedly very early days, the odds of a top six finish currently look a distinct possibility.
Conversely one of our fifth placed finishes under Martin Jol was achieved, and probably bolstered, by the fact that we were knocked out of the cups in the very early stages, leaving us with fewer games to play and being able to concentrate solely on our league form.
Of course Harry’s selection alternatives are forced to some extent by the injuries sustained to some of his key players such as Gomes, Jenas, Bale, Woodgate, and Dawson, and in having to rest Ledley King’s knees in between Premier League matches.He is also hampered by the fact that by rubber stamping the extinction of his reserve side he has been forced to loan out quite a few of our bright young things to lower league clubs to provide them with the luxury of competitive matches.
However, with a strong squad at his disposal it would perhaps seem a shrewd move on his part if he allowed some of his bench contingent to have a run out to deter any murmurings of discontent and to give his consistent performers a much needed breather.Button, Hutton, Chimbonda, Naughton, O’Hara, Bostock, Boateng, Bentley, Crouch and Pavlyuchenko could all desperately do with game time to raise their fitness and sharpness levels.
Qualification for Europe once again is a priority in order to boost finances and attract the better players to the club to ensure our continued gradual development.Sole concentration on the Premiership in that case may prove not to be the wisest move as both the Carling Cup and FA Cup provide entry onto the European stage for the winners as well as the bragging rights of silverware helping to fill the trophy cabinet.
Perhaps one solution could be to compromise by playing a full strength team in the FA Cup matches, and when the youngsters return from their temporary loan spells with their various clubs, allowing them to represent us in the Carling Cup competition provided we are still very much a part of it.
We have won the Carling Cup recently and got to the final last year, so it would be nice for a change to have a concerted crack at the FA version.It’s quite a while since we hoisted that trophy aloft, and I am sure Harry would love to win it again.It would also have the added bonus of helping to wipe the smile off the faces of those who have attempted to deride our recent great achievements in that other competition.
We have to begrudgingly admit that blooding youngsters in these type of games has done wonders for our North London neighbours and fiercest rivals, but we should never be too proud to take a leaf from their book, especially if their blueprint may one day help us to catch and eventually overtake them.
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