Although this is only the third round of the FA Cup, the whole Aston Villa team feels that this game is no different from the final, as their opponents are Tottenham. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Info Maybe God also thinks that it is a bit inappropriate to arrange such a strong opponent at the beginning of the FA Cup, so the day after the end of the third round of the FA Cup match, Wang Shuai drew the draw in the fourth round, and Villa's opponent in the next round of the FA Cup is Wycombe, a football club from League Two.

There is no need to worry about the FA Cup in the fourth round, there is no need to worry about the Championship, the only thing that Villa can focus on now is the League Cup game.

Now that the Carabao Cup has reached the semi-finals, the format has been changed to a two-legged home-and-away format, and Villa's semi-final opponent is Southampton, who also play in the Premier League. The other semi-final will be played against Premier League teams Manchester United and Hull City.

It can be seen from the four teams in the League Cup semi-finals that for the traditional strong teams of the Premier League, the weight of the League Cup is really not heavy, otherwise Manchester United would not be the only strong team to break into the League Cup semi-finals. In fact, Manchester United, as one of the traditional four giants of the Premier League, is now not as strong as a year, since the start of the 2015-16 season, Manchester United has not entered the Champions League for five years, and even failed to qualify for the Europa League in the first two years. Despite their improved results this year, they are now only sixth in the Premier League, a position that also does not qualify for the Europa League.

Manchester United, who are barely in the upper reaches, Southampton in the middle, Hull City in the relegation zone, and Aston Villa in the Championship. These are the four teams that make up the semi-finals of the League Cup. Even in the previous quarter-finals, there were only two more top teams in the Premier League, Arsenal and Liverpool, and as a result, both teams lost in an upset, stepping on them to advance to Southampton and Aston Villa respectively.

In fact, it is not to blame that these teams do not attach importance to the League Cup, compared to other countries, England has two top cup competitions, which makes those teams that will participate in European competitions equivalent to playing on four fronts in a season. In the case that the Premier League and European competitions are impossible to give up, the FA Cup is a traditional cup competition in the United Kingdom, and the League Cup has naturally become a chicken rib in the eyes of these teams and has been abandoned.

At the same time, for those teams who have not qualified for Europe, the Carabao Cup has become a must-compete competition in their eyes. After all, it is much easier to win the League Cup than the FA Cup, where the strong teams do not pay attention. As a result, the League Cup has become one of the most upset competitions.

It is precisely this situation that not only cheapens Southampton and Hull City, but also cheapens Aston Villa. It's not uncommon for a non-Premier League team to reach the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, but it's definitely not very few. The last time was in 2014/15, when Sheffield United, a League One side, reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup that year as a League One side, losing 3-2 to Tottenham over the last two legs.

It's just that Aston Villa's strength is much stronger than Sheffield United, and the strength of the other three semi-final teams will not be stronger than Tottenham that year. Therefore, for Villa and Wang Shuai, the League Cup has been carried out to this extent, and it is not impossible to fight for the title.

The last time a non-top-flight side won the League Cup was three decades ago in 1990/1991, when Sheffield Wednesday beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the trophy.

In fact, since the League Cup was incepted in 1962, only four non-top-flight teams have won the trophy. In addition to Sheffield Wednesday '91, there were Queens Park Rangers in 1967, Swindon in 1969, and Aston Villa in 1975. At that time, Queen's Park and Swindon were only third-tier teams. Even in the 1975 Carabao Cup final, the two opposing teams, Villa and Norwich, were both second-tier teams, and the final team did not have a top-flight team, which is the only time in the history of the League Cup.

If Villa win the Carabao Cup this season, they will become the first team to win the League Cup as a team in the second division in the 21st century, which can be considered history.

So, spurred on by that accolade, and boosted by the morale that followed the win over Tottenham, the whole Villa squad was bound to win the Carabao Cup semi-final in four days' time.

……

On January 12, Wang Shuai led the team to Hampshire in the southeast of England to challenge Southampton away at St Mary's Stadium.

Wang Shuai looked at the opponent's strength information as usual before the game, and then found a very interesting phenomenon. Southampton have seven senior professionals, but all seven of them are focused on forwards and defenders, which means that their three midfielders plus goalkeepers are all mid-level professionals, and Wang Shuai has never seen such an extreme lineup.

And Wang Shuai, who was still a little worried about the trend of the game, was completely relieved after seeing Southampton's lineup. Aston Villa's core tactic is to keep the ball, the main position of possession is in the midfield, and now the opponent's midfield strength is weak, which is an out-and-out good news for Villa.

As for the opponent's offensive and defensive strength, Wang Shuai didn't pay attention to it at all. No matter how strong the attack is, can it be stronger than Tottenham? Apparently impossible. No matter how strong the defense is, can it withstand Wang Shuai's organizational attack? Apparently it's still impossible. In other words, as long as you follow the previous style of play against Tottenham, the victory in this game is already secure.

Compared with Wang Shuai's relaxation, Southampton manager Ralph is a little anxious. After the last round of the League Cup and the FA Cup a few days ago, Aston Villa, who won twice in an upset, have been on the radar of various teams in the Premier League. In the eyes of the head coaches of these teams, one upset is luck, and two upsets really have a certain strength. And the coaches who have watched Villa's two games also understand that Villa's most core player is none other than Wang Shuai.

It's just that even if he understands this, Ralph doesn't know how to arrange defensive tactics against Wang Shuai. The team's summer transfer has been frustrated, a midfielder who can take on the responsibility of the team's organization has not been found, and there are no good players in the winter transfer. Even if Ralph came up with a way to target Wang Shuai in his head, no one in the team could execute it perfectly, after all, the difference in strength is really a bit much.

And if you don't limit Wang Shuai, just rely on the team's existing offensive and defensive lineup, Ralph is also beating the drum in his heart. Tottenham are all at the hands of Villa, can Southampton do better? Ralph is clearly not so optimistic.

Well, since he couldn't think of any targeted tactics, Ralph simply didn't think about it, and just played according to the team's usual style of play. There is a saying in China that the constant responds to change, and Ralph did just that.