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From today's Times (paywalled, so no link):
James McMath
Published January 28 2015
Nigel Clough has criticised top-flight teams who fail to take the domestic cup competitions seriously. The Sheffield United manager will aim to cause another upset tonight when his side attempt to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg at Bramall Lane.
Mauricio Pochettino, the Spurs head coach, made nine changes to his team on Saturday, when they were beaten in their fourth-round FA Cup tie by Leicester City, who are struggling at the bottom of the Barclays Premier League. Elsewhere, Chelsea were beaten by Bradford City, Sheffield United’s fellow Sky Bet League One side, Manchester City lost 2-0 against Middlesbrough of the Championship and Manchester United were held to a goalless draw by Cambridge United, the League Two club.
Clough, 48, twice won the League Cup as a player, in 1989 and 1990, and is an unabashed traditionalist when it comes to knockout competitions. During his tenure as manager, Sheffield United have lost only two of 19 FA Cup and League Cup fixtures and reached the FA Cup semi-finals last season before losing to Hull City.
“It’s all down to the Premier League lads not taking the cups as seriously as the other players,” he said. “The cups are so important to lower-league players and lower-league clubs and I don’t think that’s matched in the Premier League. I don’t think they regard it with the same importance, even when they put a full side out.”
Manchester City’s Cup defeat, at the Etihad Stadium, came a day after the squad flew back from a warm-weather training camp in the Middle East and Clough believes that is indicative of how the elite clubs regard the competition.
“Whatever Man City want to do is their business but to have a seven-and-a-half-hour flight the day before a game . . . I wonder if they’d do that for a Champions League game or Chelsea next week,” he said. “Would they fly back on Friday from Abu Dhabi before they play Chelsea next Saturday?”
This season, Sheffield United have seen off top-flight opposition in West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers and Southampton in cup ties. Clough is likely to name the same starting XI to the team who played in the first leg at White Hart Lane, where Andros Townsend scored from the penalty spot to give the London club the advantage.
Clough believes that a weekend of shocks in the FA Cup will have sharpened Tottenham’s senses for tonight’s fixture, which will be played in front of 30,000 supporters in south Yorkshire.
“Saturday’s results put everyone on high alert,” he said. “Anyone now who is facing a lower-league team, if they didn’t know it before, knows they’re in for a game. Don’t take them lightly because, on their day, they can do things like Saturday.”
Sheffield United have never lost a home cup-tie under Clough, but having lost the first leg, the manager knows that avoiding defeat will not be enough.
“We need a goal but can’t concede. If we concede, it becomes very difficult,” he said. “ That’s going to be as important as scoring. You’ve got to hang on in there at 0-0 and then one in the last five minutes gets us to extra time. We’ve got to balance our approach. We don’t want to go hell for leather because they can hit us on the break, you’re 1-0 down and the game’s over.”
James McMath
Published January 28 2015
Nigel Clough has criticised top-flight teams who fail to take the domestic cup competitions seriously. The Sheffield United manager will aim to cause another upset tonight when his side attempt to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Tottenham Hotspur in the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg at Bramall Lane.
Mauricio Pochettino, the Spurs head coach, made nine changes to his team on Saturday, when they were beaten in their fourth-round FA Cup tie by Leicester City, who are struggling at the bottom of the Barclays Premier League. Elsewhere, Chelsea were beaten by Bradford City, Sheffield United’s fellow Sky Bet League One side, Manchester City lost 2-0 against Middlesbrough of the Championship and Manchester United were held to a goalless draw by Cambridge United, the League Two club.
Clough, 48, twice won the League Cup as a player, in 1989 and 1990, and is an unabashed traditionalist when it comes to knockout competitions. During his tenure as manager, Sheffield United have lost only two of 19 FA Cup and League Cup fixtures and reached the FA Cup semi-finals last season before losing to Hull City.
“It’s all down to the Premier League lads not taking the cups as seriously as the other players,” he said. “The cups are so important to lower-league players and lower-league clubs and I don’t think that’s matched in the Premier League. I don’t think they regard it with the same importance, even when they put a full side out.”
Manchester City’s Cup defeat, at the Etihad Stadium, came a day after the squad flew back from a warm-weather training camp in the Middle East and Clough believes that is indicative of how the elite clubs regard the competition.
“Whatever Man City want to do is their business but to have a seven-and-a-half-hour flight the day before a game . . . I wonder if they’d do that for a Champions League game or Chelsea next week,” he said. “Would they fly back on Friday from Abu Dhabi before they play Chelsea next Saturday?”
This season, Sheffield United have seen off top-flight opposition in West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers and Southampton in cup ties. Clough is likely to name the same starting XI to the team who played in the first leg at White Hart Lane, where Andros Townsend scored from the penalty spot to give the London club the advantage.
Clough believes that a weekend of shocks in the FA Cup will have sharpened Tottenham’s senses for tonight’s fixture, which will be played in front of 30,000 supporters in south Yorkshire.
“Saturday’s results put everyone on high alert,” he said. “Anyone now who is facing a lower-league team, if they didn’t know it before, knows they’re in for a game. Don’t take them lightly because, on their day, they can do things like Saturday.”
Sheffield United have never lost a home cup-tie under Clough, but having lost the first leg, the manager knows that avoiding defeat will not be enough.
“We need a goal but can’t concede. If we concede, it becomes very difficult,” he said. “ That’s going to be as important as scoring. You’ve got to hang on in there at 0-0 and then one in the last five minutes gets us to extra time. We’ve got to balance our approach. We don’t want to go hell for leather because they can hit us on the break, you’re 1-0 down and the game’s over.”
