What early cup rounds feel like now

There’s a weird truth about the early rounds of the cups now: they’re supposed to be part of the season’s rhythm, but for a lot of us they feel like a box to tick. Yes, you get minutes into the legs of the squad players and you might see a kid come in and look like he belongs. But that’s the only clear upside, and even then it comes with a bit of grit in the teeth.

Because the downside is obvious when you’re the one paying. Fans still have to stump up for the privilege of what can basically be a reserve game, in a stadium that’s half expecting a night off. The atmosphere can be odd too. You want to care, you do care, but the whole thing is framed like a run-out, not an occasion.

Minutes are useful, but injuries are real

The injury risk is the part that nags away. It only takes one awkward challenge, one heavy landing, one sprint when the body isn’t quite ready, and suddenly the “handy fixture for rotation” becomes a proper problem. That’s not panic, it’s just how football works.

And if you do pick a mixed side and it goes wrong, you know exactly what’s coming. The team selection gets picked over for days. You’re not allowed a normal defeat, not in those games. It becomes a referendum on attitude, disrespecting the competition, the manager not taking it seriously enough. All noise, but it’s noise that lands anyway.

Champions League places have changed what cups mean

I also get the point about not even bothering with finals unless we’re in them. That’s a sad admission, really, but it reflects what the game’s become at the top end. The league positions that get you into the Champions League have pulled the domestic cups down the pecking order.

It’s not that anyone at Liverpool thinks trophies don’t matter. It’s that finishing in the top places is treated like the foundation for everything else: money, prestige, attracting players, the whole cycle. When that’s the backdrop, the cups can start to feel like a risk rather than an opportunity, especially early on.

The “Isak situation” and the danger of forced minutes

Then there’s the Isak situation you mentioned. If a player doesn’t look right in their movement, it sets off alarm bells straight away. Not disinterest, not sulking, just that uncomfortable sense that they’re not running freely.

And that’s where extra games don’t necessarily help. In theory, cup rounds are perfect for giving someone a run-out. In reality, if he’s moving awkwardly, you’re just rolling the dice on him breaking down. Sometimes the most sensible thing is to protect the player, even if it leaves you short on options and the debate rages on.

Maybe that’s what these early rounds have become: useful, but not romantic. And definitely not cheap.

Written by Hugo Spritz: 16 December 2025