Chelsea must never forget Jose Mourinho’s maxim that all cups are good cups

One of Jose Mourinho’s best legacies at Chelsea and the Premier League was making the League Cup great again. The Blues should never think the youngest cup is not worth their efforts.

While Mauricio Pochettino dithers over whether he and Tottenham ever need a trophy (even if he spends 20 years there) and Jurgen Klopp casually brushes aside his FA Cup exit as another distraction out of the way en route to the Premier League title, Maurizio Sarri knows he needs a trophy. Unlike Spurs and Liverpool, Chelsea have a healthy tradition of believing all trophies are important because success breeds success. The easiest way to win two trophies is to win one.

Chelsea have won the League Cup three times in the Roman Abramovich era. The League Cup was Jose Mourinho’s first trophy in England, and he followed it up a few months later with his – and Chelsea’s – first Premier League. Two years later he won his second League Cup, with the Blues finishing second in the league after consecutive titles. And almost a decade later he repeated his double on his second stint with the club in 2014/15.

Pep Guardiola seems to have taken a cue from his rival. Guardiola’s first trophy was the 2015/16 EFL Cup, and last season he lifted his second EFL Cup en route the Premier League.

These managers recognize the importance of a perpetual, relentless winning mentality. For Mourinho, it’s about building a hunger for winning. Lifting the small, awkwardly tri-handled cup in February makes the players desire even more lifting the big one with the crown on top in May. Top-six teams are proud and happy to win the League Cup, but they are not satisfied by it. That is a potent combination for success during the run-in.

Guardiola simply accepts no wavering in a player’s determination to win. He may rotate his squad for the games, but he demands his players – whether they are from his best XI or way down the depth chart – pursue the trophy. He knows that if a player thinks it’s acceptable to slack off once, he’ll likely do it again. Guardiola would not trust his Premier League ambitions to the mentality of someone he cannot trust with the League Cup.

Chelsea have three trophies within their reach this season. The Mickey Mouse treble should not be anyone’s ultimate ambition. But a coach with no trophies to his name should move land and sea for any one of those three.

I think it would be better for all involved if the FA removed the Premier League from the League Cup. Make the League Cup the domain of the second through fourth tiers of the English pyramid. This would guarantee two non-Premier League clubs get to play at Wembley every year in the League Cup final. The Premier League clubs wouldn’t miss it, and it would be great for the lower-tier clubs, their fans and the game. There might even be a similar relationship between the League Cup and promotion as there is between the League Cup and Premier League titles.

Then make the Community Shield a cup winners’ cup: the League Cup winner vs. the FA Cup winner. That means that not only do two non-Premier League clubs get to play at Wembley each year, but at least one non-Premier League club plays there twice. The Premier League champion (unless, of course, they also won the FA Cup) will not feel like they are missing anything, especially as they prepare for a European campaign.

But until those ideas come to pass (anyone reading from St. George’s Park? Leave a note in the comments, if so), the EFL Cup is part of Chelsea’s season. No Chelsea manager – particularly not Maurizio Sarri – should ever wonder if it is worth winning.