“To accommodate the annual mid-season player break, the FA rescheduled the Emirates FA Cup fifth round to midweek and removed fifth-round replays from the calendar." Then why not remove 4th round replays if they had to be scheduled during an official break that you "went to great lengths to create"? The FA's postion is basically "we told you ahead of time we'd messed up the schedule so not our fault."
Liverpool have announced a huge reduction in ticket prices for their FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury Town at Anfield next month. The Reds will host the League One side after Sunday's fourth round tie at New Meadow ended in a 2-2 draw following a spirited fightback from Sam Rickett's team in the second half. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp announced after the game that Liverpool would be fielding a youth team for the return tie, with Under-23 boss Neil Critchley set to deputise in the dugout in place of the German next week. Klopp said he intended to "respect" the Premier League's winter break by sitting out the FA Cup replay which is likely to be played on either Tuesday February 4 or Wednesday February 5, which has led to calls a pricing restructure for supporters. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/spo...l-make-strong-statement-announcement-17642169
I'd like them to give all the gate receipts to Shrewsbury as well. Puts a positive side to the whole replays argument.
Shows how much notice I take, I didn't even know it was the Emirates FA cup. Something has got to give over this. Going forward I can see more cup alterations and/or the demise of the League Cup. We're the only association that has 2 domestic cups. If nothing else has come of this winter break/cup replays situation at least attention has been drawn to the gulf in finances of all the clubs involved. Maybe the FA and leagues can come together and be creative in doing something to actually support their clubs in terms of finance and sustainability.
I don't see it as an insurmountable problem. The clubs involved in Europe can just put in a second string, get knocked out, and leave the competition to those who actually value it. We've already shown the way in the LC, and we're going to do it in the FA.
I think you're right. I've read a few comments on this forum about Klopp's arrogance in his team selection at the weeend. I'm not sure whether they think him arrogant for thinking a team of youngsters could beat Shrewsbury or whether the arrogance is in so called disrespecting the cup by fielding youngsters. At the end of the day it's the same old same old, everyone's talking about Liverpool.
It wasn't a team of youngsters. Adrian, Lovren, Matip, Fabinho, Origi and Minamino aren't youngsters but made up more than half the team! Even Chirivella is 22, hardly a youngster any more.
I was trying to guess what the perceived arrogance could be. You're right it wasn't a team of youngsters so much as a mishmash team. Do you know what the arrogance could be?
I shouldn't let it bother you. Football rivalry is intense, and some will grab at anything to try and put down other teams, seemingly immune to their own hypocrisy or lack of logic. It's a stick to beat a rival with, nothing more. We're doing a really good job of getting up everybody's nose. It's great.
Thank you for that reply. I hadn't realised that this was starting to wind me up just a little bit more than it should have done.
It wasn't arrogance but it is petulance. He put out a team he thought could/should win and now is whinging about the consequences of drawing.
It can be annoying, but there's no point in letting it get under your skin, jb. It's just petty nonsense most of the time. I suppose that fans of lower-placed teams can feel that there's a certain arrogance shown by the big clubs, and there's a degree of justification in that, but they have to remember that there are different priorities. Can't really blame either side for being a bit partisan in this. Personally I think both domestic cups are really important for English football in general, but there's a great deal of pressure on those at the top to represent at international level, and something has to give. Would it be better for the top six, say, to bugger off into a European Super League? It feels like it's been coming almost as long as Arjen Robben, and - unlike his arrival - I think it's inevitable, but I'd rather we stuck to our own.
I'd say it was frustration. Frustration at under-estimating the opposition, and at not getting the best from his own players. In reality, even the team he put out should have been enough to beat a League One side, but they were too complacent, imo. Klopp never publicly criticises his own players, but I bet he's privately fuming. On the other hand, he does have a point when he says that the authorities have screwed up their own mandate.
I have read that it was made known to all that replays would be scheduled in the winter break so no real cause for complaint now.
The point is that the PL instructed all teams to respect the break and not to organise any football for the duration, therefore it's reasonable to assume that that works both ways. You'd expect that the PL and the FA would cooperate and respect each others rules, wouldn't you?
True but is still a shambles. They claim to have done all they can to create a winter break including cancelling replays in the fifth round but allowed replays in the fourth round that would see them played in said winter break. They haven't really done all they can then have they?
Missed the point again I see. If they really had done everything they could to ensure a winter break, they'd have removed replays in the fourth round too. Nothing to do with it being Liverpool btw. We knew the score and need to get on with it.
