Mails: Let us enjoy FA Cup magic in peace…

Sarah Winterburn

You know what to do…send us your mails for a Monday afternoon mailbox to theeditor@football365.com

 

Raging at the FA Cup mafia
Let me start off by saying that I love the FA Cup. I’ve grown up with it and have always been fascinated by the possibility of two totally mismatched teams facing off against each other, and the chance that there could be an upset. As a casual supporter of a non-league side alongside my ‘main team’, I have seen how great the competition can be for smaller teams and a welcome break from the hype machine of the Premier League.

Now the gentle whimsy is out the way, we can get on to my main moan when it comes to the FA Cup these days. What I call the ‘FA Cup Mafia’. This is made up of people from all walks of football life, supporters, journalists, ex-players and in some cases, current players, but the most frustrating, and this is probably due to their proximity to the viewing public, are broadcast media companies and their presenters and analysts, and their obsession with team line-ups for FA Cup games.

The idea that squad rotation is disrespectful is my first bone of contention. Top of the list, as this often is ‘parped out’ without context. Premier League clubs can have upward of 40 players on their books at any one time, with only 25 plus the odd special younger player able to be registered for and play in the Premier League. This leaves the FA Cup as a competition to play players that otherwise cannot play. Furthermore, it is a chance to play players from within the 25 who don’t often get games but need to retain match sharpness. The FA Cup and its sister competition, the League Cup, often give top clubs a chance to face clubs considerably worse than them in terms of quality. The chance to play fringe players and rest their stars represents common sense.

Broadcast media and football fans have very different opinions on the quality of footballers compared to the managers who work with them day in day out. It’s quite possible that those accusing clubs of disrespect for the competition, are actually disrespecting the fringe players at these clubs and underestimate the ability of managers to do their jobs and pick the right team.

Ian Holloway made a point about this a few years ago when he rested almost his entire ‘first 11’ for an away game at Old Trafford so he could put his best side out fresh against Aston Villa. His response? “Who are you to tell me who to play? Who are you to tell me who my best 11 is? I put out a team to compete in every match and it’s up to me and me alone to choose what that is”. Now, I’m paraphrasing, but this was the general gist. Holloway probably had some wacky metaphor about pulling a munter on a night out, but the message is clear. I am paid by the club to make these difficult decisions. Keep your beak out.

The narrative is strong. Last year, Mauricio Pochettino put a strong side out in Round 5 and lost 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace. The performance was disjointed and pretty poor overall, but he was accused of ‘disrespecting the competition’, despite the fact the team was strong and had knocked out the champions elect in the previous round, 2-0 away.

The team that day was: Vorm, Walker, Rose, Dier, Wimmer, Dembele, Bentaleb, Son, Alli, Onomah, Kane. From that 11, only Alderweireld, Eriksen and Lloris were missing, Vertonghen was injured. The narrative in the press was that Spurs and more notably Pochettino, had disrespected the competition and to this day, even fans of Spurs have gobbled this absolute guff down and have repeated it to criticise the manager.

On Sunday, Pochettino left out Lloris, Walker and Dembele, again, three rested, with Rose missing with injury. We win 3-0. Not a word is said about ‘disrespect’ and why? Exactly the same quality of side put out, keeping eight first-teamers in and resting three. Does a different outcome of match merit a different response? Is someone who has attempted a murder viewed as somehow being better than a murderer? The only difference is in execution or lack of, the aim is still the same. But the mafia don’t care for those who got away with it. They just get on their soap box…and teams don’t even need to have rested players to ‘get the treatment’. Everton, WBA and Stoke were accused of disrespect despite going almost full strength. Everton knocked out by the current Premier League champions, and West Brom despatched by a then in-form Derby.

Football is sometimes a random game, when any team can beat any other on any given day. The Premier League is practically marketed on this very epithet. When it comes to the Cup though, despite these same people talking of the ‘magic of the cup’, they still believe that Team A must always beat Team B if they are thought to have better players, and this irritating ‘disrespecting the Cup’ narrative is trotted out ad nauseum to bash any club who lose a football match in this competition, and trotted out mainly by those broadcasters who choose to televise boring games like Man Utd at home v Wigan or Reading, rather than potential banana skins like Middlesbrough v Accrington, or even the near catastrophe of my own team at home v Wycombe.

Those most likely to accuse clubs of ‘disrespecting the Cup’ a Cup made famous for giant killings and once in a lifetime days out for the smaller clubs that make up our game, contribute to the death of the Cup in modern times by showing boring predictable match-ups in a brazen pursuit of viewers, and viewers who are most likely casual followers of big clubs.

The magic of the cup may be gone, it may be bubbling under the surface, or it could be back. It certainly felt like it was back at Turf Moor on Saturday lunchtime. But for God’s sake, can you please just let us enjoy it, and enjoy it in peace?

Cheers.
Ross H (THFC)

 

The magic even made a City fan love Pogba…
The cup is alive! Alive with the sound of music!!

So it turns out the FA Cup does a have a little bit of magic left in it. Or maybe BT Sport have successfully brainwashed me this weekend. I blame that Jake Humphrey geezer, he was determined to sell me the magic.

Obviously Lincoln deserve the pretty much all the plaudits as they were awesome. They have a decent draw in that they get a big day out if they play Arsenal or a good chance to progress against Sutton.

Hoping we can do Huddersfield in the replay, and then beat Boro. Could have done without a replay but sh*t happens.

It was good to see every team make a proper go of it, every match I watched apart from Spurs could have gone either way.

Now I’m going to feel a bit dirty talking about this next bit, but Paul Pogba, wow just wow. We can laugh all day about how much he cost and that Utd let him go for free etc. However that guy is going to be the best player in league over the next couple of years. His mixture of sublime technique mixed with power and strength is mesmerising. The touch and control that he displays at times is phenomenal.

I have found myself actually willing the guy to score at times during the last couple if Utd games I have seen. I know I’m supposed to want to kill him due to tribalism but sometimes you just have to appreciate skill when you see it.

Finally, I’ve tried to hate the guy, as he is so cocky and arrogant, but Zlatan actually seems a pretty decent chap. It shows by how together the Utd players seem when he is on the pitch. Being a young player learning from him must be a joy.
DANNY B – MCR – MCFC (Sometimes football is just about the football)

 

More FA Cup conclusions
When will clubs realize that Joey Barton is more trouble than he is worth on the field? I mean, this jailbird should never be allowed anywhere near a stadium let alone play professional football. He’s a thug and a despicable little man with SMS – Short Man Syndrome. The sooner it’s diagnosed and treated, the better for all concerned.

In other news, Manchester United (bestest team on the planet) have had their hopes of retaining the FA Cup boosted when they were drawn to face Chelsea in the quarterfinals 🙂 Mourinho will be boosted by the opportunity to exact swift and decisive revenge on Antonio C*nte, another despicable piece of human trash that deemed it appropriate to humiliate his predecessor while Chelsea were cruising to victory.

By the way, Jesse Lingard is a useful squad player. He might not set the world alight, but he seems more than happy and satisfied to play whenever he’s required. He doesn’t throw strops when he’s not picked and you’ll never hear his agent angling for a move as a way of increasing his client’s playing time. Who’s his agent anyway? So quit laying into him every time he doesn’t score a hat-trick and provide ten assists thank you very much Mishap Matt….

I want to end this by wishing Arsenal and Arsene all the best in their future endeavors as they prepare to get knocked out of the FA Cup screaming and shouting when they face the Mighty Sutton.
Keg Baridi, Nairobi, Kenya

 

Lingard: Just not good enough
Thank you for your article on Jesse Lingard. Its quite incredible, given the criticism of Martial, that Lingard continues to avoid scrutiny. Is it because he’s happy to be a squad player? Indeed, would he start even at a club in the lower reaches of the Premier League? Questions need to be asked at the end of the season for certain.
Aditya, London

 

Poor Luke Shaw…
I’ve just seen the team news for the Manchester United tie against Blackburn and I can’t help but feel for Shaw. If you can’t get in the team ahead of Ashley young at fullback, that’s your career put paid under this manager. The Jose curse that affects at least one young player at a club now seems to be set on Luke Shaw. I can already imagine the scenes a few years down the line. Luke Shaw is one of the world’s best left backs at a rival and Jose’s left United, with a smoldering heap where Carrington is. F*CK.
Div, Los Angeles

 

The right way to go
While I think it’s time for Arsene Wenger to let someone else have a go at managing the club, I bear no ill will towards him. He has been responsible for some of my favourite ever football moments so I will always hold him in high esteem.

With that in mind, I have come up with the best way for him to saw farewell to the club. Just imagine, an FA Cup final against his nemesis, Jose Mourinho, with Arsenal winning in a totally unjust way. It would be magical.

Of course we need to get past Sutton tonight, which on current form is not looking likely, but a man can dream, right?
Adonis (The only risk is that it would make him want to stay for another couple of seasons) Stevenson, AFC

 

Why the Paddy Power tweet wasn’t racist
Ok, I am playing my race card here. As a black man, that conclusion inserted by Ian or Daniel about the Paddy Power tweet being racist is just soo out of left field, even Bernie wouldn’t be on board (lame I know).

Look, applause for the effort, your position is noted, but quick explanation as to why this is hardly racist. I am not, however, the mouthpiece of black people, and therefore, I am sure you will find that they are black people who would have been offended by that tweet. Please please people of different colours, do not use my words as the evidence to engage in casual racism. Anyway, to my two points:

1) Overt racism that is shared in public spaces generally thrives off of negative stereotypes created in order to exert a certain sense of superiority and power from one group over the targeted group. Some include; black people are lazy, all Africa has is Ebola, brown skinned Asians and Middle Eastern people are terrorists etc.

2) Paddy Power’s tweet is an observation that they have had over Pogba’s skin and hair colour.. One of these characteristics is interchangeable while the other is not. I’m frankly surprised Paddy Power didn’t make this Guinness similarity before, seeing as we’ve seen the peroxide blonde look before. Anyway, if Pogba cuts his hair off or dyes it black again, he stops looking like a pint of Guinness. It’s more observational humour than racist.

Look, the fact that Paddy Power tweeted this joke out isn’t the smartest thing to do. If anyone hasn’t noticed, when a previously disenfranchised group is a butt of a joke, it tends to attract the casual and overt racism that Daniel and/or Ian are speaking out against. Amongst my group of friends, we rip into each other just like this, but safe in the knowledge that these jokes come from a safe space, unlike if the same jokes were being told by a white person (I know they will be a few people fuming at this idea.. If so, all I can do is smile). Again, my experience is my own and I can only speak on my behalf.

Anyway, hope this helps

Regards,
J.D (or maybe they were being sarcastic about the hyper sensitivity of the internet? Sarcasm doesn’t read well), Nairobi

 

Why that Paddy Power tweet IS racist
Seems to be some confusion/disagreement as to whether or not and if so then why and how that tweet can be considered racist. I’ll try and be brief.

Saying that Pogba is black and has silly hair is not racist, although pointing out his skin colour is entirely unnecessary. The problem is that contained in that joke’s wording it implies that both his hair and his skin colour are something to be made fun of. I don’t think you can argue that Pogba is being mocked and that tweet throws the two characteristics together as a sole insult. I also don’t think you can argue that making fun of someone based on the skin colour isn’t racist.

The only thing you can debate is whether the joke does imply that both characteristics are to be mocked and whether it’s intentional. I think it’s entirely unintentional and on the whole not that bad in any world, however it is lazy and insensitive. There are plenty of better ways of poking fun at someone’s hair without mentioning race whatsoever.
Andy AVFC (I agree with the other Villa fan, show us less please, it’s depressing…)

 

On the greatest upset of all time…
Of course I’m biased, but nice to see that Daniel Storey puts the USA’s 1950 upset over England in first place. (Don’t forget the scorer was Joe Gaetjens.) But I’d argue that the Faeroe Islands’ upset of Austria in 1990 was bigger, even significantly bigger, than the 2014 win over Greece that nabbed second place in his list.

By 2014, the Faeroes had played plenty of established sides, and had competitive match draws with Scotland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Austria. They knew what the competition was like. Rankings aside, the odds were they’d take a scalp sometime, even if doing it away from home made the feat that much greater.

But in 1990, the team had played only three other sides in its history: Iceland, Greenland, and Canada. Their record against Iceland, the strongest of the three, was 1 draw, 15 losses. In that year they played their very first competitive match in Europe – but in Sweden, because they didn’t have an adequate stadium. The opponent was Austria, a team that had qualified for the recent World Cup in Italy. The visitors started a veteran lineup, with stars like Toni Polster, Andreas Herzo, and Michael Konsel. No prizes for guessing which side dominated the game, but the only goal was scored by Torkil Nielsen in the 61st minute.

As for the FIFA rankings, they didn’t exist then, so there was no objective measurement. But it was one of those “where were you when you heard that…” moments, and put the Faeroes on the football map.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA (Zlatan is glorious)