[Sporting4Ever]

Manchester city , Newcastle and even Villa and Everton have well underachieved for the last decade so why ?

Why cant they find enough to make a realistic crack at one of the domestic trophys I cant get my head around it . You only have to look at some of the finalist in the ten years in both cups.

Tranmere ( league cup )
Birmingham ( league cup )
Middlesborough ( league cup )
Wigan ( league cup )
Bolton ( league cup )
Millwall ( Fa cup )
Cardiff ( Fa cup )

And even Portsmouth have made and won a final so why have clubs like City and Villa struggled to make a notable mark on English football for the last 15 years . Yes Villa and Everton were strong in the eightys but since the 90's they have 1 trophy a piece .

Why do they stuggle so much ?

Money. Clubs like Everton and Villa know that you get money either from big daddies or Europe. If you don't have a big daddy, you need Europe, and to do well in Europe. With the Champions League basically closed these past years, given the fact that the top 4 get the spots, they need a good progression in UEFA, and it's hard, because there's lots of good teams there, and the pay, by comparison, sucks. Maybe this new UEFA Cup format might help, we'll see, but it all comes down to money.

 

[Sporting4Ever]

Money is nothing to do with my original post !!

I wanted to see what people thought because all these smaller clubs seem to make the semi's or finals each year yet city and Newcastle rarely get to the semi's.

I cant get my head round why they struggle in the cups so much all fall at the knees of smaller clubs it crazy .

Its got to be a mental thing hasnt it they get a losing mentality in the club and they cant shift it.

Well, if by losing mentality you mean that, with very little to spend on, you manage to end up fifth in the league, draw twice in a week at anfield with no strikers and a weakened midfield, and, in case of villa, currently be 4th in the league, above ARSEnal, then yes, they have loosing mentality...

Don't forget, smaller clubs get a lot more exposure from cups, and most premier league teams involved in championship or european fights will need to rest players, at some point...

When you play with 2nd or 3rd choice players, you risk loosing, since the other side is probably gonna try to play the game of their lives.

 

[Sporting4Ever]

Im not arguing with you but they havent won enough trophys in the last 15 years compared to there history thats my point .

It's not about history anymore...

Look at leeds and chelsea, two opposite sides of the spectrum. Some clubs got better, some got screwed, most just struggle to maintain a part of what they were.

Sad, but that's what money has done to this sport, nd might keep on doing, case in point, city.