OPINION
Rafa Benitez opted to reveal his stance on Newcastle United pursuing a domestic cup this year and played down expectations by only admitting they’d try to compete for glory.
The Spanish manager shared that the priority this season understandably has to be the Premier League and that he will be likely left with no real choice but to make changes to his usual starting eleven in order not to risk his first-choice options.
“We have this game (vs Forest in the League Cup),” said Benitez, as quoted by the Chronicle.
“If everybody is available and we can go through with a good team then fine, we will go with that.
“But I can’t promise that the target is to win the League Cup or the FA Cup because I will be lying to our fans.
“I know our fans want a good run in the cup, and we will try with the squad that we have.
“We can’t try to start with the same XI for 10 games in a row, because the risk is players will be tired – and you will have injuries that will maybe result in them being missing in the Premier League.”
While this is an uninspiring stance that suggests the Magpies’ long wait for a trophy will likely continue, it will prove to be a blessing in disguise for the club this season at least.
The Magpies over the course of the last few seasons have opted to not always field their first-choice options in cup games and often that made the matches feel pointless for the club as they received no real benefit or pleasure from featuring in domestic cup competitions.
However this season the club have a few promising talents on the fringes of the first-team squad that would really benefit from featuring in cup competitions at the expense of their more senior teammates.
This means Benitez’s need to rest his regular players could actually prove to be a blessing in disguise as it will significantly help the development of certain players.
For example Sean Longstaff, Jamie Sterry and Callum Roberts are three promising youngsters who could be kept at the club instead of being loaned out, as reported by the Chronicle, so their only opportunity at senior football this season could come in cup contests.
All three could learn valuable lessons from playing in the League Cup or FA Cup meaning Benitez being forced to rely upon them would benefit for the club in the long-run as all three should have a bright future.
Benitez hinted that the cup runs could be the best opportunity players such as Roberts and Longstaff have of getting competitive senior experience with the Magpies even though he teased using them in the Premier League.
“Would I like to? (hand more debuts) Yes,” admitted the manager to the Chronicle.
“Can I do it? It depends.
“It on the League Cup or the FA Cup and which level you play against and how well my players are doing in training sessions.
“Or if they come in during the Premier League when you are doing well. Longstaff is doing well, Roberts is doing well. These are players we are monitoring very closely.”
Therefore this all means that while Benitez’s current stance on domestic cups is uninspiring, it will prove a blessing in disguise for the Magpies as they have plenty of promising talents who can actually benefit from being relied upon to play for once.
