League Cup is a waste of energy, says Guardiola

MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola has called the League Cup “a waste of energy” as the Manchester City manager joined old rival Jose Mourinho in questioning the worth of the competition.

The League Cup was created in 1960 to take advantage of the fact that floodlights had increased the possibility for midweek football.However, the tournament has always been seen as secondary to the FA Cup in England, and its importance has gradually diminished over the last two decades as the top sides started to rest their key players until the latter stages.

In an attempt to keep the bigger clubs interested, the Football League has allowed English teams playing in European competition to be exempt until the third round since 1996.“We have a lot of games. If you have to play in a competition you have to play in it,” Guardiola said on Friday.

“It’s good for the players you don’t use a lot. It’s a prize where, when you win, it’s OK, but after that the people don’t give too much credit.“I think the prize is good when you win another one. But you waste a lot of energy.

“You can imagine going against a Tony Pulis team (West Brom) and playing 90 minutes in those conditions, then you spend three or four hours on the bus.“Then three days later, it’s Crystal Palace, three days later, Shakhtar Donetsk, three or four days later, Stamford Bridge.

“So for the managers, there’s a lot of wasted energy. But we knew that before, so it’s not a complaint in those terms. If we have to play, we have to play.”City and United go into the weekend joint-top of the Premier League.