The FA Cup quarter-final draw was made earlier today and this is what it looked like:
Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff City
Manchester United v Portsmouth
Bristol Rovers v West Brom
Barnsley v Chelsea
It is a disappointment that a Manchester United and Chelsea quarter-final cup tie has been avoided, increasing the chance further of them meeting in the final yet again. A repeat of a dull-as-dishwater final which the two Premiership giants produced last year would be a real anticlimax to a competition that has been once again full of the magic moments that have become synonymous with it.
Conference South side Havant and Waterlooville's cup exploits gripped the nation's imagination as they beat League One Swansea and took the lead twice at Premiership Liverpool's Anfield before losing 5-2, contrary to the view that the FA Cup has lost its magic. Perhaps this is something to do with the dismissal of its prestige and importance in English football by some of the top division's foreign managers. Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, a manager under a lot of pressure at the moment, did not see his side's tie last weekend as important enough to field a full strength side and duly paid the price, Barnsley's Brian Howard taking the glory, in the most magical of cup fashions, in the last minute.
Even though the FA Cup has lost its importance in the eyes of some of the league's top managers, this does not mean it has lost its magic. Although not intended, and not taking anything away from a great Barnsley performance, Benitez's team selection was a prominent factor behind how Barnsley managed to knock Liverpool out.
This 'there is no magic left in the cup' argument is either complete bilge or has been going over my head for a few seasons now. In 1997, Hednesford Town reached the fourth round; the same season Chesterfield took Middlesbrough to a replay in a semi-final; in 2001, Wycombe Wanderers knocked out then Premiership side Leicester City before losing to Liverpool 2-1 in the semis; the same year that Wycombe knocked out then Division One Wimbledon 8-7 on penalties and then Division One Tranmere beat then Premiership Southampton 4-3 from 3-0 down on the same night.
So, the claims of no magic in the cup are a mystery to me.
Let's hope the final will be between teams other than those in the top four this year, maybe between West Brom and Cardiff City instead of a repeat of last year's stalemate between two sides from a breed of Premiership teams that do not value the Cup as much as they should.
(Picture by: Bounder)
2 comments:
Good luck with your blog and your journalism class. Former sportswriter here in the U.S.; feel free to email me with any thoughts/questions. And thanks for the link to my blog as well.
You're probably right about it being an all-Premiership final again. It is a shame but the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United have teams worth over £100 million pounds and it's expected they will reach the latter stages or final of any cup competition they enter.
Im personally proud that the lower league teams have wittled the Premiership teams down to four. Usually at this stage there might only be one Championship team left, but instead there is Bristol Rovers, Sheffield United, West Brom and Barnsley.
I was delighted with my own team, Huddersfield, for scalping one Premiership team (Birmingham) then making the last 16 and scoring against one of the 'big four' Premiership giants. OK, we didn't beat them but we hadn't reached the fifth round for 20 odd years before that.
For me, the FA cup is still the most 'magic' of any competition in the world.
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