JayB
Well-Known Member
- Aug 24, 2011
- 6,667
- 26,110
Placing priority on league finishes over domestic cups has clearly been ENIC's strategy for a long time. It's no coincidence that every manager has played significantly weakened sides even in the late rounds of cup competitions that are there to be won.
To a certain extent, it has been effective. We've qualified for European competition in 17 out of the last 18 seasons, bringing in loads of money to the club both directly (from prize money and matchday revenue) and indirectly (by raising the profile of the club, leading to exploding commercial revenues). That, combined with the stadium, has made us one of the biggest clubs in the world from a financial perspective.
But the situation is very different now than it was when ENIC came in. Levy deserves tremendous credit for growing the club to a point where it is now feasible to compete with the big spenders, but we have arrived as one of the financial heavyweights of world football.
The constraints we operated under in the past should no longer apply. There's no longer any excuse justifying a failure to compete on multiple fronts. Levy's refusal to ever properly back his manager reeks of contentment to be a nearly club, bringing in the money while never kicking on. That's not the vision that the stadium project (and the attendant highest ticket prices in England) was supposed to represent.
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Hojbjerg played 90 minutes in every PL game before, Son wasn't getting any real rest too. Kane was injured too. He was never resting them.
