Is it just me or did anybody care that we got knocked out of the FA cup yesterday because it genuinely did not bother me. This is a real shame because I remember when I used to care about this competition. Used to love the final come may, now I could not care less!
I find the competition really bad, the only thing that is worst than an FA cup weekend is an international weekend!
I feel that the referees are poor in the sense that they rarely let a game flow and the matches have no rhythm. People use the term " this game has a real cup tie feel to it" to describe a really exciting match but in truth, that is not a phrase that I would use in the FA cup. The commentary is awful too!
Just an observation, but has this been the same experience for any of you?
The FA Cup
posted on 29/1/13
There can be no doubt that in terms of money and attracting better players cl qualification is far more important than winning the cup there days but this cannot be solely blamed for the cups demise.
The truth is that in the halcyon days of the tournament there was barely any live football on tv so the final had a real sense of occasion. Getting to Wembley as a player was also far harder as there were no playoffs, semis or mass use of subs (in England games) at the venue. I read Jimmy Greaves autobiography last year and through that you really get to understand what the FA cup meant in that era.
Stoke V City was 8k under capacity on Saturday had that been a league game it would have been packed and Stoke have no chance of a top 4 finish. Leeds v Spurs was 10k under. Thank goodness we didn't equalize and activate the dead rubber that a replay with a trip to City for the winners would have been. Regardless of the shocks that occured this weekend the cup is not and will never again be what it was and therefore the Norwich game is far more important.
posted on 29/1/13
How many people they aren't bothered we went out said the same when we got thumped 5-1 by Chelsea last season? That peed me off more because if who it is and what round it was, but this is as disappointing considering the standard of the opposition (no disrespect to Leeds who played excellently, but they aren't even in real contention for an automatic play-off place whereas we are supposedly the 4th best side in the country).
That's 2 cup competitions we have gone out of with a whimper now - I'd much rather have beaten Leeds and Norwich than progressed in the Europa. I stand by rotating a few players as you have to keep players fresh for Spring, mentally as well as physically, but to be honest that's a game we shouldn't lose - its not as if we played wet-behind-the-ears youngsters.
posted on 29/1/13
I personally would rather win the europa than the FA cup
Winning a cup infront of Europe ( and one which is regarded highly in Europe if not here) is more prestigious and will do more for attracting talent
posted on 29/1/13
Whether or not you would prefer to win the Europa, it is pretty unlikely we will. There are still 32 teams left in it and 9 games to win it - a total of 15 games overall.
6 games would have won us the League Cup already, and another 6 would win you the FA cup. It only gets you to the semi final of the Europa with those two amoun tof games combined.
I'd much prefer a domestic cup double tilt - one is played in the first half of the season and the other in the second half, with minimum overlap. Europa has to cram in 9 games from February onwards
posted on 29/1/13
its true its unlikely we will win europa.
its unlikely we would have won the fa cup too. as man city would have sent us packing next round
posted on 29/1/13
Would we have been the same number in the draw as Leeds were? If not, there is only a 6.67% chance we would have drawn City
Even still, I would fancy our chances more of winning a domestic trophy by beating Villa, Bradford and Swansea (LC) than the Europa
posted on 29/1/13
"its true its unlikely we will win europa."
But Spurs have to maintain/improve their 5 yr rolling UEFA ranking though (currently 60 pts) . So we need to get at least another 2 pts.
In the event Spurs get back into the CL, you don't want to be in the scenario like <Citeh> where you get put in pot "3/4" in the group draw.
posted on 29/1/13
comment by The RDBD (resigned to supporting the team mana... (U1062) posted 1 minute ago
In the event Spurs get back into the CL, you don't want to be in the scenario like <Citeh> where you get put in pot "3/4" in the group draw.
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Why not? I loved getting Inter, then AC and Real Madrid in 2010/11. Great nights at WHL.
Bring it on - that's why we want to be in it isn't it? To play the best. Not to get a group of no-marks, get through and lose to the first best team we play like Arsenal
posted on 29/1/13
comment by HRH Ledley, King of the Lane (U15236)
posted 10 minutes ago
Would we have been the same number in the draw as Leeds were?
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yes
number 8.
so we would have had city away. and got dumped out
posted on 29/1/13
"Why not? I loved getting Inter, then AC and Real Madrid in 2010/11."
And two of those ties were precisely because we had a kind draw in the group phase. The lower your points ranking, the more chance that you get drawn in groups like <Citeh> have.