Tommy Smith on Liverpool FC: Let’s get serious in the FA Cup and Carling Cup

May 28 2011 Liverpool Echo

I wanted us involved in European football next season and having lost the last two games to Spurs and Villa, we’ve blown that chance

But there’s no doubt the prospect of playing on a Thursday and then league games on a Sunday wasn’t ideal. And like many fans I won’t miss that aspect of it one little bit.

If there’s one thing it all does mean though it is that we must take the FA and Carling Cups very seriously.

Yes, the League has to be the top priority but we have not won a trophy of any sort since 2006 and that’s way too long for this club.

Equally, we have not had a trip to the new Wembley yet either. So it would be great to get a real good run in the FA Cup next season and give the fans a day out they deserve.

Being out of Europe should mean Kenny Dalglish has greater options to play stronger sides in these competitions that he might normally have done. And if we benefit from that and generate some real domestic momentum, it can make up for us being off the European stage.

We must get back into the top four next season and straight back onto that European stage.

But I hope that along the way we can add to an overall trophy haul that Manchester United, for all their current smugness, still cannot claim to match.