Is the League Cup still worthwhile?

The second round of English football's shunned cousin has just finished, signifying the introduction of the genuinely big teams (no offence, Fulham) into the third round draw.

As is the way with these things, there's no standout glamour tie. Your eyes are probably drawn to Manchester United vs Newcastle United as the first two cubes out of the tub, but even that clash between two of last season's top five will most likely be a letdown for whichever poor bunch of mugs pick it to screen on tv.

In years past, it was Man United who were seen as 'ruining the Coca Cola Cup' and 'not giving it the credit it deserves', but that seems to have changed to a degree as they've won three out of the last seven finals. Indeed, if you look at the recent winners, since Middlesbrough's win in 2004, 10 of the 16 finalists have been from the top six of the Premier League, and the winning sides have been United (3), Chelsea (2), Spurs, Liverpool and Birmingham.

If it wasn't for Arsenal's appalling capitulation to Birmingham in 2011, you're looking at a roll of honour arguably better than that of the FA Cup in the same timeframe, considering the glorious old trophy was sullied by Portsmouth's name in 2008, after a final that, quite frankly, football should be ashamed of in both its participants and for the quality of the match itself. Indeed, of those teams outside the top six, Spurs make up two of them in 2008 and 09, and last season's final accounts for another two.

Anyway, enough stats, time for a reasoned argument. My point it, it would appear that any 'big' club that decides it wants to win the League Cup in any given season can pretty much do so at will. All it took United was playing Dimitar Berbatov, for Christ's sake. And while the Ferguson-inspired trend for playing fringe players does continue, it's not only the title chasing sides doing it now, but seemingly everyone from the Premier League, and even some from the Championship.

It used to be that the League Cup was a handy route into Europe for teams that had no hope of making it on the merit of league position. Blackburn in 2002, Middlesbrough in 2004 and Liverpool in 2012 all made it into the UEFA Cup or Europa League through this least noble of non-Intertoto routes. But even those midtable chancers aren't pulling their weight now.

Take that Man U v Newcastle game, for instance. Alan Pardew has already come out and said that the Europa League and Capital One Cup are not a priority, and even Stoke were at it, making six changes that would ultimately contribute to them being knocked out by Paolo di Canio's Swindon. Surely this is a competition made for Stoke to get some glory and weasel their way into Europe again to give Tony Pulis some fixture congestion to moan about after Sporting Lisbon are forced to be tested on a wet Thursday night at the Britannia.

The point is, nobody seems to take this competition seriously any more. Attendances around the country are down on League Cup nights compared to midweek league games. I pointed out that the big clubs seem to be coming back into dominance, but that's seemingly just because everyone is putting their second string out, and you'd fancy City, United or Chelsea's bench to be better than Villa, QPR or Wigan's any day of the week.

Even the incumbent sponsors don't want that third handle being shown.

So with nobody really caring about it, and the aforementioned fixture congestion an ever-increasing cliché in every football manager's press conference repertoire, what should be done with the League Cup, or whatever sponsor-driven name it's masquerading as this year. Well, in my humble opinion as a revered football blogger and armchair management genius, I say to the FA, just get rid of it.

Yes, it started in 1960, so it's got Over Fifty Years Of History tied to its three ridiculous handles, but what does history REALLY mean in football? In 1960 Wolves were a dominant force in world football, so shall we give them a bye until the fourth round in reverence? No, don't be ridiculous. They put out their second string against Northampton in the second round, anyway. And lest we forget that teams with a lot more than fifty years of history have been allowed to rot away into oblivion by an FA who prefer simply to sit back and apply a 10-point deduction rather than offering much-needed assistance.

Perhaps the focus for the history brigade should be that the FA Cup also seems to be taking a backseat in many managers' priorities. That is a competition that should have its integrity preserved, and if removing the League Cup from the schedules of teams, so be it.

Perhaps, since it's used as such anyway, and with the recent introduction of the Under 21 Premier League suggesting a focus on helping younger players progress through the ranks more effectively, the League Cup should be replaced by an official, higher-profile Under 21 cup, and the European spot be re-allocated to the league finishing positions again.

Whatever it is, I'd say something needs to be done to stop the League Cup becoming even more of an afterthought, and to stop it dragging down more important things with it. Because as it stands the cup shows no signs of becoming anything more than a waste of everyone's time.

Review - Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 Demo (PS3)

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 is available as a demo, PlayStation Store and XBox 360 Marketplace and Games for Windows. The full game is released on PS3, XBox 360 and PC on September 20.

Let me get something straight right off the bat. I haven't owned a PES game since the 2008 edition, the one that had Michael Owen on the cover. I've always been a FIFA fan, largely for licensing reasons (I like having atrocious Korean sides to destroy when choosing random teams), although that's not to say I'm an   EA fanboy. I did switch to PES for a few years when it undeniably produced the superior gameplay, to the point where I put up with meticulously changing club names and kits and even player names.

Yes, I'm a bit obsessive.

Anyway, while perusing the PS Store earlier I came across the new PES 2013 demo and thought I'd give it a whirl. After all, maybe Konami had found the motivation to kick back to the top of the pile and avoid becoming something of a Blackburn figure, briefly topping the league but slipping back into obscurity and, yes, ridicule, while casting envious glances at the Manchester United of FIFA.

So, has it outdone FIFA? Well, I haven't played FIFA 13 yet, but I think the safe answer is a resounding no.

Now, don't get me wrong, FIFA isn't perfect. Its physics engine, in particular, is just short of woeful. But playing PES genuinely feels like playing a PS2 game. And not a good one. Something like This Is Football or Red Card. The gameplay is just bizarre. It's a lot quicker than FIFA generally is, which is nice when it gives the game a good flow and keeps the excitement up. But it's let down by the appalling control of the players and the sheer clunkiness of the passing and movement.

You pick up the ball from a pass, back to goal and a defender up your jacksie, and rotate the analogue stick expecting a swift spin around the centre back towards goal. Instead, your player moves a step away from the defender before pulling a 90 degree turn, then another 60 degree turn as the attempt to leave his opponent standing. Inevitably, you plough straight into him.

You probably like this fella as much as I like this game

And as for getting it to the striker in the first place, the passing system seems precise, yet amazingly haphazard. Sometimes the ball runs straight to your team-mate's feet, others it's just sort of  'over there', with no obvious reason why one or the other has occured. This particularly irks me since I like to get the ball on the floor and play a slick passing game, and I played as Italy to give PES the best chance to allow it to happen. If Pirlo can't manage a decent pass, something's badly wrong.

The games themselves are hard to judge, since the demo only gives you a 5 minute match, but I only played on Professional difficulty (the third highest, behind Superstar and Top Player), yet conceded 9 goals across three games with only 2 in return. Most of which were simply down to the awkward controls meaning my defence parted at the slightest hint of impending Lukas Podolski.

And then we get the biggest thing that struck me. 2 of the 11 goals scored came from comedy deflections, leading to the always brilliant stat of "Shots on target 0 - Goals 1" at half time of one game. These deflections plagued my whole experience. It's like Konami have just learned that they could actually make deflections happen and have drawn attention to it by making them as ludicrous as is possible. Or indeed impossible.

To go back to the defenders, they didn't help matters, either. The AI just seems so dim-witted. I brought my keeper out on one occasion just to have him plough through the onrushing striker with reckless abandon. There's no accomodation for dodging out of the way of a ball coming at you that's clearly not meant for you as there is in FIFA, which mixed with the inbred AI encourages even more of those freak deflections that ruin an already unpleasant gaming experience.

I should probably end on a positive note, which is that the licenses it does have (for the demo this stretched to England, Italy, Germany, Portugal and four Brazilian sides in a Copa Liberatadores mode) are very well represented, as are the players themselves, although Wayne Rooney is a notable absentee from the England side. Ostensibly this will probably be down to him not playing in the game the default lineup was based on, but it's more likely because of his strong links with the competition.

Graphically, the standard match view is good, although the steady pan from right-down-on-the-touchline to standard hovering camera at the kickoff is somewhat disorientating, but the real gem is the replays, which have just enough motion blur to look dead on lifelike while still showing off the level of detail. Ultimately, I can't help but think Konami need to focus less on presentation and get the gameplay right again. They've shown they can do it, but somewhere along the line it's slipped and just... broken.

Overall impression: Do not buy this game. Even downloading the demo is a waste of energy.

How Wembley ruined the FA Cup.

If Wembley Stadium is the spiritual home of the FA Cup, then Wembley FC is the antithesis of that same spirit.

For many, the best thing about the FA Cup is the minnows getting their moments of glory, giant killings and plucky underdogs getting one over the big boys.

But what if one of these underdogs were funded and their side warped by the big boys, the competition's big-name sponsor Budweiser? An underdog like Wembley FC?

For those who don't know, Budweiser have started backing Wembley and, as part of the deal, have installed Terry Venables as manger and brought in ex-stars such as Graeme Le Saux, Ray Parlour, Brian McBride and an ever effeminate-looking Claudio Caniggia and will star in an ESPN documentary.

While it's a bit 'mid-90s fantasy football', if this was a regular arrangement, as weird as it may be, it may be fair enough but it isn't. Terry and co can only take part in FA Cup games.

Aside from it smacking of a publicity stunt, this is also unfair on a footballing level. Regular players who toil away for Wembley FC in the league will miss out on taking part in the greatest domestic cup competition in the world through no fault of their own, at the expense of a bit of revenue and publicity.

That's not even taking into account these paid-for stars directly influencing the competition itself. In Wembley FC's FA Cup opener, against Langford FC, Caniggia scored in what turned out to be a 3-2 win. One goal that could have been the difference between Langford picking up some much-needed prize money. Prize money that, to Wembley, would just be a bonus on top of what Budweiser are already supplying them with.

It happens in Sunday League games up and down the country, every so often a team will turn up with a couple of semi-pro lads in tow who don't normally play. You know they shouldn't be there, they know they shouldn't be there but they are and you get on with it, probably raking a couple of studs down one of them as  you do.

There's even an exceptional episode of The Simpsons where the nuclear power plant Homer Simpson works for has a works softball team. The plant's owner, the mega-rich and dark-hearted Mr Burns, is so desperate to see the side, made up of blue collar workers, win the league that he dispenses with his regular team in favour of bringing in ringers from Major League Baseball.

(N.B. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you do. Not just because it is one of the best comedy episodes ever made, but it will be highly useful in understanding the wonderfully witty comparisons about to be made.)



But this isn't Sunday League or The Simpsons, this is the FA Cup. Genuine dreams and stories could be scuppered by a plastic, gimmicky publicity stunt.

Yes, it's about as likely that Wembley will get to Wembley as it is Graeme Le Saux will develop gigantism through guzzling Ken Griffey Jnr's nerve tonic; Ray Parlour ends up clucking like a chicken alongside Roger Clemens and Claudio Caniggia is more likely to end up being kicked off the park by some Cameroon-inspired Combined Counties League centre-half than get kicked off the team for not shaving off his Don Mattingly-esque sideburns but it is clear that in an attempt to spice-up the FA Cup, Budweiser have made it into a joke straight from The Simpsons.

Only it's just not funny.

One down, 37 to go... but what does it mean?

One of the favourite tricks of football pundits is trying to guess how a season will pan out based on nothing but pre-season form. Here at HTO, we refrain from such shoddy attempts at trying to sound smart. Instead, we prefer to jump to wild conclusions after the opening round of league games have been played.

Sometimes, the first few games of the season can be a fairly good indication of what to expect for the next nine months. Strikers who get themselves off to a flying start will quite often carry that form through the rest of the season. Look at the impact Papiss Cisse made at the start of his Newcastle career earlier this year.

But equally, you really cannot trust the first results. Defences are still dopey after the summer break, strikers are still pouring Caribbean sand out of their shooting boots, and referees... well, would we actually notice if they were any worse? However, despite my determination to avoid the obvious pitfalls of hyperbole (which I'll get to in a minute), there are some small truths to be found hidden amongst the pent-up excitement and frustration.

Sensationalisms 1 & 2: Man United won't even make Europe because they lost to Everton, who will be in the Champions League!

We know for sure that United struggled much more than they usually do on the opening day. But lest we forget 1995, when United lost 3-1 at Villa Park on in the first game. Alan Hansen remembers it well.

But to suggest this one blip (and face it, it is a blip) is indicative of United's ultimate fate is to miss some crucial points. Firstly, Kagawa still needs bedding fully into the side to reach his full effect, and Robin van Persie was hardly used at all. Second, United had two fit defenders. Two. Admittedly it was a Man of the Match performance from David de Gea that kept Everton down to one goal, but you can't expect a cobbled together back four to go to a notoriously tricky away game and keep a clean sheet.

On the other side of the coin, some, myself included, have noted that if Everton are actually bothering to turn up for the first dozen games of the season then they might just outdo their seeming rut of finishing just off the Europa places. If we can't trust this result one way, we can't the other either. What we can take from it is that Fellaini, when he's bothered, is near unstoppable, and that Everton are good at shutting down top teams at Goodison. Both of which we've known for years. More noticeable for Everton was that they're still limited to playing one striker and a few attacking mids because of their, well, one striker. After sitting back and thinking I'm not convinced they've replaced Cahill. Expect a solid 7th from them for now, and a title challenge from United.

Sensationalism 3: Man City should have made some signings and won't win the league, they only just beat Southampton!

Ah yes. It's true that City haven't signed anyone (Jack Rodwell notwithstanding) but their squad is half decent anyway, and at the risk of sounding cliché, Tevez being there for the whole season will be like a new signing in itself.

Also to be considered is that Southampton have clearly been watching videos of Blackpool. They didn't hold back, and as a result very nearly got something from the game. It should be noted that this ballsy manner of play did eventually get Blackpool relegated, something everyone seems to gloss over.

But enough about Southampton, it's City we're focusing on. Perhaps we should look more closely at the Chari Community Shield, where City bossed the game in the second half against Chelsea. Or even just hold on until they've been to Anfield this Sunday. And bear in mind they won the league after one of the worst displays against QPR I've seen from any team, never mind just City. 

Sensationalism 4: Fulham and Swansea will be top half for sure! And did you see that Michu? Signing of the season!

Get a grip. The only thing that those two games proved is that QPR and Norwich both have defences more than capable of going to pieces. Honestly, it's like you people have forgotten everything that happened last season already. Yes, Swansea played some nice football under the Laudrup that wasn't at Rangers, but they did last season under Brendan Rodgers too. And QPR folded to any form of nice football. 5-0 was a bit of a false reflection, but they put their chances away, which is the main thing to focus on.

Swansea's new striker is certainly an imposing presence

As for Michu (pictured above), while I did cite the instant impact and subsequent imperiousness of Papiss Cisse before, don't forget that for every Papiss there's a Djibril, and also don't get carried away with him scoring two when his first was yet another episode of 'Simple Things Rob Green Fails At'. Fulham's Petric had a better game for his two goals, but as I said before, the defence fell apart with alarming ease. The only thing Fulham need to worry themselves with is making sure Clint Dempsey doesn't get tempted out of their mid-table obscurity to go to a Big Club. Like...

Sensationalisms 5-183: Liverpool are doomed, Brendan Rodgers should be sacked, Suarez has gone off the boil, Carroll needs to leave and when will they buy someone from a proper club rather than picking the bones of the lower half of the Premier League?

Calm down, calm down. Yes, Liverpool were awful at the Hawthorns. And yes, they do only appear to have signed players that Brendan Rodgers has worked with before. But Liverpool had lots of dreadful games last season, with a squad as small as theirs it's a risk you have to live with. And it's hard to improve that squad when they're not exactly flush with cash (comparatively, anyway), so they can't afford to take another Carroll-sized risk in the transfer market. Rodgers was brought in to get the side playing the way he wants, and the best, safest and probably cheapest way to do that is to go for players he knows. Almost zero risk of picking a dud, and no time needed for the boss to adjust to how the signing needs to be used.

But don't think I'm jumping blindly to Liverpool's defence. Rodgers has been unacceptably stubborn with Andy Carroll, practically freezing him out despite seriously limited attacking options. And as much as they might be getting used to poor performances, there is surely a limit to the number of times Liverpool fans will accept those performances. It was undoubtedly them that caused Roy Hodgson's early departure, and on the other hand it was their blind support for King Kenny that led to them accepting his flaws and erratic signings.

Liverpool do clearly have a big task on their hands, but the fans need to not get too ahead of themselves with organising the firing squad for Rodgers. They should also prepare for a home defeat at the hands of Manchester City this weekend. Brendan Rodgers needs time, it's simply a case of whether the Kop will afford it to him.

Well, that's that. Hopefully I've managed to put a damper on most of the wild emotional swings you lot of nutters have had since the start of this fledgling season. I fully expect to have to have this talk the same time next year, but for now, just wait a few months until you start actually paying attention to the table, ok?