Newcastle United have lost steam after the early months of the Saudi Arabia-led takeover. Tottenham, meanwhile, stumble too often to maintain a cup run all the way.
One Premier League legend believes the two clubs ought to change their focus.
Alan Shearer believes neither Tottenham nor Newcastle are chasing cup trophies with enough intent
In a recent appearance on “The Rest is Football” podcast, Alan Shearer expressed his frustration over Newcastle United and Tottenham not putting enough efforts in cup competitions to end their respective trophy droughts.
The former Magpie was asked as question regarding the two sides’ apparent lack of interest in pursuing domestic silverware, to which he responded:
“No I agree, totally agree. I do find it frustrating at times.
“I understand it to a certain degree from the manager’s point of view, because he’s got to keep all of his squad happy and finish higher in the league, which is then more beneficial to the chairman and the football club, which is a huge bonus as well.
“So I understand all those things, but I’m of the same opinion of that, particularly teams like Tottenham and Newcastle, who could really do with a trophy.”
Shearer, as quoted by TBR Football.
The last time Newcastle won a competitive trophy as a topflight club was in 2006, when they lifted the Intertoto Cup. Of course, they were also EFL Championship winners in 2016/17. Tottenham, on the other hand, are famously trophy-less since 2008, when they lifted the League Cup.
Both Newcastle and Spurs are in the quarters of this season’s Carabao Cup, with the former set to face Brentford in the next round and the latter, Man United.
It all comes down to one thing
Money. That’s simply why managers have to focus on the league and not the cup competitions.
Clubs are spending unsustainable amounts of money to reach what they believe is their “promised land”. Championship clubs do this to make the Premier League, topflight regulars try to break into Europe, while the “big six” try to make the Champions League.
Managers have their livelihood depending on their league finish. Cup victories are a nice bonus, but that’s all they are—a cherry atop a cake, and it’s the cake the owners care about, owners that are mostly in the business of making money and building brand value and not associated with the club and the surrounding community enough to care about the hyperlocal cultural importance of silverware.
And it’s not going to change. Any silverware a club bring now, especially clubs like Spurs and Newcastle looking to have strong league campaigns, will arrive on the back of a team deciding to turn up the ante in the final rounds of a cup competition should the lottery of fixture draws hand them an easy line-up of oppositions.
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