Will the FA Cup ever rekindle its charm?
Just last weekend I was singing the praises of the FA Cup Tweeting, “Today’s results so far show the FA Cup has lost none of its magic.” Having pondered last weekend’s action this week, maybe I was a little hasty with those comments, as I often am on Twitter. And whilst I’m not undermining the likes of Oldham, MK Dons and Brentford, it highlights everything that’s both unique and worrying about the FA Cup at present.
On one hand, the spirit of the FA Cup is alive and kicking, lower league teams defy odds and write their own headlines. This is great for the game, lower league players don’t have the technical ability to compete with the Premier League stars, thankfully though the physical aspect all-but makes up for this. And it was Oldham’s battle against Liverpool on Sunday that exemplifies just what the cup means to everyone involved with the game, from the club who’re desperate for money to the fans who dream of such performances.
Now you flip this on its head. Brendan Rodgers selected a weakened side on Sunday, both Sebastian Coates and Jack Robinson were merely part of the gaffer’s sideshow experiment – casting players on the fringe of the first team who’re subsequently handed a lifeline to impress. These players didn’t feature in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal and although you’d expect Liverpool to win on Sunday with the likes of Suarez on the field, priorities have shifted from the FA Cup to enhance Champions League spots and for other clubs, Premier League survival.
I remember watching Liverpool V Man U in 1996 when Cantona snatched a late winner and even Owen’s late winner for Liverpool against Arsenal in 2001, these were proper cup finals. Now it seems a Man U V Arsenal semi-final has become part of English footballing history, a good cup run for the lower league teams can be a financial lifeline. But look a little further up and for many of those teams battling it out for the a Champions League spot or fighting for survival, the FA Cup is sadly regarded as an unwanted distraction.
Whilst last weekend’s shock results helped rekindle a little spark, it also highlights a possible trend for seasons ahead. Premier League teams are diluting their starting lX in favour of financial gain from the League and European football, unfortunately it’s having a knock on effect to the standard of the cup. By no means am I disregarding Mk Dons and Oldham’s victories from the weekend, the issue here is that those David and Goliath fixtures we so often look forward to, may soon become just another weekend fixture.
Sadly, it seems those teams fighting for a Champions League spot or Premier League survival has taken president to a successful FA Cup run and I honestly don’t see this changing – unless the inclusion of an automatic Champions League spot along with a huge wad of cash can tempt them?
Comments
How you wished you would end up at this Jungle haven for the incoming world cup. Welp, since you're not part of England's recent callups I guess your chances are pretty dim. But fear not! I'm sure such a wealthy english gentleman like you can afford to come here and see in loco all the english games - it won't be much though, since you guys have this nasty habit of leaving the competition too early. Ah, keep in mind that you´re now a famous person in Brazil and we won't forget your rudeness. Just to clear things up for you since you might not have caught the grip on this - judging by your family racist background - I do agree that Neymar is a marketing product and it's not even nearly as good as he think he is. But still, he's only 21. What made a lot of people in Brazil so angry with you was calling our country's football league a "Jungle League". It would be the same as calling the Premier League "The pretentious-has-been-empire league" but we don't want to hurt english feelings, do we? Got it now? Resume yourself to football and writing, since you seem to be relatively good at both, and stop producing comments that only make you look like a dickhead.
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LikeWe should go back to the 'champion's' league being purely for the 'champions' and bring back the cup winners cup. I remember great European nights in the cup winner's cup. Teams would soon field their best players in the FA cup if a cup winner's cup place was at stake..
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LikePersonally I feel that the League Cup should be scrapped and for the country to only have one domestic knockout competition. I would fine clubs who didn't field a team of players who had made a certain number of league appearances based on which point of the season each cup round took place.
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Like@foxyfilbert00 what about injuries, suspension etc? Perhaps a squad of 25/30 be submitted for mot only the premier league but all domestic competitions?
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Likeinteresting argument, they should definitely attach a champions league place to the winners of the FA cup to encourage sides like Tottenham and Liverpool to play stronger sides, this will then make the FA Cup more lucrative.
I also think the advent of matches being on pay per view television takes the attraction away from the man on the street, football becoming less accessible to the public is a hot topic but especially the FA cup should be a chance to be broadcast fully on terrestrial television BBC or maybe thats just a dislike of ITV and ESPN coverage.
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LikeI agree with you #Joey... When I watched ManUtd team. with Oshea and Gibson in the Middle, Fabio and Rafael on the wings with Bebe leading the line wining on strong Arsenal team, included the likes of Nasri and RVP.. Arsenal lost that game because they don't want to win the game! AFTER That game I never watched FA cup game and will never watch it again! because its worthless to watch and don't deserve to lose 90 minutes of your time! from now FA is a thing of past
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LikeI agree Joe, football needs to change in my opinion, I don't necessarily believe the money should be brought out of the game, but instead it should be distributed better. It all boils down to who is running the game really, and unfortunately its by amateurs making poor judgments. I don't think it's the manager and players you can blame for prioritizing the more financially rewarding competitions, but ever since the premier league was established football has been on downhill slide in terms of its competitiveness. If you've ever read Alan Sugars autobiography on the part of establishing the premier league, he talks of how his proposal to distribute the new money of the premier league went ignored by the other greedy chairman such as Ken Bates at Chelsea, who wanted to keep it all for themselves. The game has to be run better and more fairly to the whole of the 92 clubs, because right now its rich getting richer and poor teams suffering.
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Like'Taken President' Lol. You so clever Joey.
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