Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson dismissed the suggestion in his usual style.

After beating Spurs on penalties to win the English League Cup final on Sunday he was asked if United could complete a “quintuple” of trophies.

“It’s a media thing,” he shot back. “I’m not getting carried away with it. We’re keeping our feet on the ground.”

But with FIFA’s Club World Cup and the League Cup already in the trophy room and with the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup all realistic targets, it is not just a media thing. It’s a real possibility. Throw in the Community Shield and it becomes a sextuple. Or a “double treble” — which sounds good if you are winning it or even drinking it.

Former United striker Frank Stapleton is among many who think Ferguson has assembled the best squad United have ever had – and although they failed to break Spurs down in 120 goalless minutes at Wembley, they still had the nerve, guile and experience to ease to a 4-1 victory in the shootout.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp believes they can do it too.

“They’ve got a big chance of winning the lot,” he said after the game, “They are the team to beat, the best in Europe and have a fantastic squad.”

The fact that United’s hero was current third-choice keeper Ben Foster highlights the strength in depth of the squad. He was voted man of the match and Ferguson has tipped him to become England’s No.1 keeper in the not too distant future.

Other youngsters like Darron Gibson and Danny Welbeck looked assured next to the likes of Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand.

It wasn’t a classic performance by any stretch of the imagination, but the hallmark of great teams is that they win things even when they are not at their best.

They have ready replacements in every position and with confidence sky-high and the defence virtually impregnable, it will take something very special to get the better of United over the coming weeks.

Or as Ferguson also said, a deflected shot off someone’s backside that could see them knocked out of the FA Cup at Fulham on Saturday.

Barring that, the race for the High Five is on. I think they have the strength, the players and the desire to do it. Do you?

PHOTO: Manchester United players celebrate winning the League Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, March 1, 2009. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty

Real Madrid were knocked out of the King’s Cup by third-tier Real Union this week and Chelsea lost to second division Burnley in the Carling Cup, but which sides were really celebrating?

Chelsea would much rather concentrate on the Premier League while Real need to focus on the Champions League after two defeats.

In Italy, the Coppa Italia is fast becoming one of the biggest jokes in football. The last 16, the first round where the big clubs enter, has been spread across a two-month period for various strange reasons.

Wednesday’s game between Udinese and Reggina was played in mid-afternoon and from the television pictures I could not see a single fan in the stadium. There were probably a few die-hards behind the camera but they saw one of the most error-ridden games in history.

The Cup is realistically the only trophy Udinese and Reggina can win this season and yet even they played reserve sides. 

Top players were also rested in the other domestic cups this week, which surely diminishes the achievements of the smallers sides who cause ‘upsets’ and don’t gain as much revenue as they used to now that most competitions are no longer over two legs. 

Joe in his blog was very positive about the Carling Cup, and Arsenal’s youth side do play some wonderful stuff, but how many of that team will ever make it in the Premier League given that Arsenal’s first team is so young anyway?

The fact England has two cups has always baffled me. The FA Cup dwarves the Carling Cup and yet it too has suffered a credibility crisis in recent seasons. 

If we were to scrap all of Europe’s other domestic cups, my colleague Kevin has come up with the wonderful idea of keeping the world famous FA Cup and each year inviting different European powerhouses to play in it like Real and Barca or Milan and Juve.

So how about it, has the time come to bite the bullet and axe domestic cups which very few people care about?

PHOTO: Burnley players run in celebration as they defeat Chelsea in a penalty shoot-out in their Carling Cup match at Stamford Bridge, Nov. 12. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty

In September, Mitch Phillips argued here that the League Cup should be shuffled off into retirement. Who could argue for prolonging the life of this tired, unwanted “third competition”? Well, actually, after this week’s action, I would.

Arsenal and Tottenham, who together served up such a thrilling 4-4 draw when they met in the league at the end of October, were at it again separately this week, playing the same direct, fearless, attacking football despite featuring much changed line-ups.

The two ties they were involved in provided nine goals and four came from English strikers. That’s the same number as English forwards scored in all last weekend’s Premier League fixtures, and two more than the weekend before.

Add this to the encouraging performances from British youngsters like Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Lennon and Michael Dawson, and at least Fabio Capello and John Toshack can raise a pint (of Carling) to the League Cup.

The very fact that top teams field reserves and youngsters sees the League Cup get a lot of stick but suppose for a minute everyone put out their best sides and the top four all made it through to the quarter-finals: would that make it a better competition? Don’t we see enough of these games in the Premier League and FA Cup?

This week, the League Cup brought us British players excelling at top clubs, bags of goals and a big upset against the Premier League leaders at Stamford Bridge. Who could ask for more?

I agree the League Cup isn’t what is used to be. It has changed, it is different, and that’s why we should all love it.

PHOTO: Arsenal’s Jack Wilshire challenges Wigan Athletic’s Maynor Figueroa during their Carling Cup match at the Emirates Stadium in London, Nov 11, 2008. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor