It's probably true to say that over the last fifteen years the FA cup has lost a bit of its magic. The Champions League has taken its place as the premier club cup competition and as a result a lot of the bigger clubs have fielded weaker teams in both the league and FA cup in order to try and win or qualify for the Champions League. As a result the FA cup lost a bit of its appeal, as the Premier League and European competition took precedence over the domestic cups. But more recently, the competition has been given the respect it deserves again and the bigger clubs are starting to take it more seriously again, fielding full strength line ups in an attempt to actually go out and win it and this can only be a good thing for everybody. The FA cup is still viewed around the world as one of the most historic and desirable cup competitions and it's something we should be proud of. For me the third round of the FA cup has always been one of the highlights of the season. The time when all of the lower league teams are pitted against the Premier league heavyweights. When non league teams pray for a fairy tale draw away at Old Trafford, Anfield or Emirates. When dreams of giant killing by Electricians, Plumbers, Firemen and Bakers from the semi professional non league come alive when they are lined up on the pitch against the cream of Premier league talent. The fourth round weekend proved again that the magic is still alive. We saw non league Luton knock out Norwich on their own turf. Arry's expensive misfits destroyed at home by MK Dons, Chelsea scraping a draw at Brentford, Liverpool being outplayed and beaten by Oldham and Spurs dumped out by Leeds. Our own game at Brighton too was a really good advert for the FA cup and really injected some passion and desire into the competition for us all. The FA cup is beginning to look like a realistic chance for a trophy this season for us. If we can get past Blackburn and avoid Utd, then I think we've a great chance to get to the final. She wore . . . She wore . . . She wore a Yellow Ribbon . . .
We had a much better chance of winning the CC and didn't take it, so I'm not putting too much hope on grabbing this cup, not just yet. :-D.
The quarter-finals of the FA Cup this years could be stunning. Manchester United,Manchester City,Chelsea,Arsenal and Everton are still in the cup and they all have winnable games. With City and Chelsea already out of the CL, they are going to be taking the cup seriously.
Whoever gets Leicester or MK Dons/Barnsley in the QF has the best chance of winning it. If we can get past Brentford and Boro and avoid City I'd be confident
Arsenal87 seems to have an obsession with tranny's. You can see better looking trannys than that any night of the week in Kemptown. Youd like it here in Brighton.
I agree, it was a cracking weekend for the cup and I thought your game in particular was very entertaining. Unfortunately though, as Wenger himself admits, qualifying for a CL place is a better "trophy" than the FA Cup because of the value of it, the same goes for relegation candidates, title challengers and promotion chasers which you would think undermines the competition but I think clubs are working out that a cup run is useful and that a few changes can be made instead of the whole 11 without your team suffering from it.
It's a sign of the times that Champions League qualification is more desirable for clubs and players than the FA cup. In terms of revenue, the CL blows the FA cup out of the water. For players, they all want to play in the premier cup competition that is the Champions League. The effect is that it waters down the prestige of the FA cup, but the magic is still there as proved by the last round just played. My personal feeling is that the FA cup winners should be rewarded with a Champions League place, that would stoke up the interest from ALL clubs. Can you imagine . . . Luton v Barcelona
I like the idea of the FA cup winners getting into the CL except for a few points. Firstly if the winner of the FA Cup (let's say Arsenal) also got into the top 4 league places, then the extra CL place should go to the 4th place in the league rather than the FA cup runners-up. Otherwise you'd have the likes of Millwall, Cardiff, Stoke and Liverpool qualifying over the last few years and i think we can all agree no-one wants to see that. The other point is that it is much easier to win the cup than come in the top 4 of the league and a lot more luck is involved.
I agree with that, but I wouldn't mind seeing Barca down at the Den You're right though that finishing in the top 4 is probably a better measure of a club's standing than winning the FA cup. But I do think it would liven up the FA cup a huge amount.
No doubt the Cup has lost some of it's magic and that probably is directly related to the introduction/dominance of the Champions Lge. And I'm not sure there were that many true shocks last weekend: Tottenham at Leeds - not saying they weren't trying but 3rd/4th is the target, AVB won't be losing sleep he's out the Cup. MKD at QPR - embarrasing yes, highlighting that QPR are still potentially a shambles yes, but 'Arry wants 17th more than a Cup run. Liverpool at Oldham - their form recently suggests they might have a shot at 4th so again not convinced Scousers will be slitting wrists at this result. Chelsea at Brentford - a genuine shock/close shock, Chelsea guaranteed CL football and out of this years CL, they were proper tryers Sunday Luton at Norwich and Villa at Millwall - I'm sure Hughton and Lambert will be relieved to be able to focus solely on league survival, fans won't see it that way but their Cup exits give both a better chance of staying in prem lge, though Lambert must be in ridiculously thin ice at the moment...
I love the FA Cup.. it is a great competition. Some of my favourite away days have been due to the FA Cup. Scarborough away in 2004. Preston away where we took 6000 fans to Deepdale. At Brentford away on Sunday it was special. The atmosphere was amazing. Chelsea fans occupying the whole of the 'wendy house' stand with terracing for 1200 in the lower tier. Brentford had their 3 stands packed to the rafters. There was banter. Flares. Smoke bombs. Bangers. Delirium when either team scored form their respective supporters. It really was an awesome day. Yes there will be those that didn't go saying what a **** performance that was and what a **** day. But to those of us that went... it was a rare away day and it was simply awesome! The FA Cup 3rd round draw let alone the weekend is the biggest highlight for me! Fans all around the county glued to their TV screens waiting to see if they will get a huge team or be travelling to new grounds... Just love it.
