What a difference a prior cup win makes
With the dust settling around our recent win over Everton in the third round of the Capital One Cup, we're now just four games from Wembley. In the past our only potential sojourns to London came in the form of playoff and lower league cup finals, but I noticed that this year, I'm far, far more confident than I've ever been that we can make a good fist of a major cup competition.
The reason? Quite simple really - we've won it before. I know that sounds a very rudimentary argument, but it works for me - if only in terms of confidence. When I saw the draw last night for the fourth round (where we've been drawn away to Liverpool) my first thought was "Nice, this is history repeating itself!", but that was closely followed by the realisation that, strangely, I fancy our chances of going all the way.
I often talk about the effect psychology can have on footballers, and this is a prime example. There are numerous players in our squad who have now won a major cup. With us. This, coupled with the fact that our squad is undoubtedly stronger than it was two seasons ago, means that instead of hoping for a cup run where we give a good showing of ourselves I'm instead hoping we can once again go all the way and claim the League Cup at Wembley.
That's the difference a prior cup win makes. Until you've done something you don't know if you're good enough. Sure, you can work as hard as possible and you can possess unlimited self-belief, but these surely pale in comparison to the knowledge that you've been there before, done it before, and got the t-shirt. Surely nothing can create the level of confidence that a prior win in the same competition does, because realistically if you've won it once you can win it again.
Perhaps I'm just excited because we had to beat Liverpool at Anfield on the way to our first ever major cup win, and it's all too easy to hope history will repeat itself, but it's really not that much of an ask. We can beat Liverpool, and if we do we'll then be two matches (and three games) from Wembley. With the quality of players at our disposal there is no reason we can't realistically hope to progress in this competition.
Obviously there's a long way to go yet, but if we beat Liverpool and get a kind draw for the fifth round then the final is that much closer. I've never been more confident of our chances in a major cup, and I love the fact that I'm saying that with irrefutable honesty. It's entirely borne of our continued progression, and thankfully that's something which doesn't show any sign of slowing just yet.
Swansea for a second major trophy? Stranger things have happened.