No competition in English football is worthy of the shrug emoji more than the Carabao Cup.
A defeat in the early rounds of the domestic cup is very quickly buried in the season's narrative when we come to reflect on the nine-month journey in the summer. If Chelsea drops out of the League Cup tonight there will be criticism and brief frustration, but as soon as Saturday rolls around the importance of the Premier League will calm down that negativity.
Though as Jose Mourinho once proved, the League Cup can be a great springboard for a squad challenging for the title.
In 2005 Mourinho led Chelsea to their first trophy in five years by beating Liverpool 3-2 in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to kickstart a decade of Blues dominance under Roman Abramovich, which was then repeated by Mourinho against Spurs in 2015 at Wembley.
Pep Guardiola has formed a stranglehold over this tournament, winning the last four with three of the seasons ending with Manchester City lifting the Premier League. For a young squad developing, the sense of unity and cohesion within a trophy win can boost the confidence for the rest of the season as the title race reaches its most difficult period.
In both 2005 and 2015, Mourinho's Chelsea held a secure lead at the top of the table with rivals stumbling, it would have taken a staggering collapse for either title-winning side to falter, but it was undeniable the lift those days gave to the club and are very fondly remembered.
The challenge that faces Tuchel is whether he sees the importance of this trophy as a part of the psychology in building a squad capable of dethroning Manchester City and beating out a dangerous Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp.
After the 7-0 drubbing of Norwich on Saturday and the way Tuchel rotated the squad for the last round in September against Aston Villa, it appears highly unlikely the German doesn't shake things up.
Tuchel confirmed N'Golo Kante missed Saturday's game with muscle tightness and the decision to omit him from the matchday squad was merely a precaution rather than a greater injury concern. Any Chelsea eleven is strengthened by Kante's presence and given Southampton's high pressing style, the energy and intercepting of Kante would be handy to utilise in a game Ralph Hasenhüttl will hope to avenge the defeat against the Blues earlier this month.
But Kante's persistent injury issues over recent years will likely raise understandable caution in throwing the Frenchman back into a game he could easily miss with the array of options Tuchel has.
Tuchel suffered greatly last week with two injuries to Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner in the first half against Malmo when the opportunity to rest the duo was there.
The fringe quartet of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Malang Sarr, Saul Niguez and Hakim Ziyech have all struggled for minutes this season and are all likely to be given starts here, even with the threat of that disrupting the rhythm Chelsea have built up in the previous two dominant victories over Malmo and Norwich.
"I’m not sure I have priorities because who says that we can select from the trophies? But who knows? When we compete on Tuesday, I am more in the spirit right now that what I like about the team is when we play, we play and we push ourselves to the limit on this very special matchday." Tuchel said when previewing Tuesday's fourth-round tie.
"Sometimes you can never be fully sure, do you interrupt a good flow, is it better to keep everybody playing to keep the momentum going, or is it a moment to give some players a rest? Listen, we have an excellent department at Cobham who help us make these decisions, like the guys analysing, monitoring, treat the players.
"Everybody can put their heads together and make decisions because we have to admit we have the late game on Wednesday and the early game on Saturday and now another one on Tuesday. So it is very likely we have some changes. At the moment I am happy that everyone who plays, plays with the same style and intensity. How many changes I do not know."
Politically Tuchel is dealing with the task of keeping a big squad happy, which his predecessor greatly struggled with. Proven by his ability to use 24 of his 27 players available with only backup goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli, regular loanee Lewis Baker and attacker Charly Musonda being the trio yet to taste any competitive action.
Tuchel also has quickly created a habit of collecting silverware, a standard requirement of his role. Picking up the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup in his first nine months in charge at Stamford Bridge.
With the chaotic nature of this club and lifespan of head coaches under Abramovich, the chance to collect any more silverware is precious and Tuchel could use this tournament for a duel purpose in giving less favoured figures more opportunities, whilst also having the quality to knock Manchester City off their League Cup perch as the two rivals duel for the Premier League heading into the new year.
But as many supporters have uttered before, if Chelsea gets knocked out "it's only the League Cup".
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