Has The Fa Cup Lost It's Appeal For The Big Clubs?

[dave50]

So many times these clubs tend to field second team players for FA cup games as thought they aren't bothered if they win or loose. I must say it doesn't seem to have the magic it once did in the 60's and 70's.

[steg]

It's all about money. The top teams need to finish high enough in the league to get into champions league. Then have a good run in the CL. They don't want to risk their top players in (financially )mickey mouse cup games

[jd_1984]

In short, Yes it has.
My team (Liverpool) fielded a relatively young and inexperienced team in the last round and were found out by a "smaller" club.
I was brought up on the FA cup and I was gutted to see the apparent lack of respect and disregard shown by LFC. Ok, the team fielded should have still got a result.
Football clubs are a business first these days, for my team it appears clear that CL qualification is priority number 1 and I understand why - £££££. We also stand to attract better players and have the chance to play against the big teams in Europe. But surely a good cup run is a top priority too for the fans and players??

[Guilbert53]

Have a look at the 9 teams left in the FA Cup (one match still to replay), who are they?

Chelsea, Manchester City, Spurs, Arsenal and Manchester United, who fill 5 of the top 6 places in the Premier League (the only one of the top 6 missing is Liverpool).

Middlesboro are the other Premier Team left in the cup.

So only 3 non-Premier Teams left in the FA Cup out of 9 teams, hardly a sign the big clubs don't take it seriously.

[joggerjayne]

The FA Cup has certainly lost it's appeal for the teams hoping to get promoted.

In the space of one day, a few weeks ago ...

Newcastle got knocked out by Oxford
We got knocked out by Lincoln
Leeds got knocked out by Sutton

But getting, err "knocked out" by these teams is not easy!

The goals that we, err "conceded" to Lincoln were ...

(1) we gave away a penalty (and the keeper "went the wrong way")
(2) we scored an own goal
(3) we passed the ball to an unmarked Lincoln attacker, and his shot went straight underneath our goalie, lol

But Leeds had the hardest job getting, err "knocked out".

Sutton were not really likely to score against Leeds so, like Brighton, Leeds, err "conceded" a penalty, and then had no shots on target. The Sutton keeper was not very busy that day.

So, Newcastle, Brighton, and Leeds can focus on the Championship, without the irritation (and injury risk!) of the FA Cup.

[ichkeria]

It's not that the big teams don't take it seriously: plainly they do. But many teams do field weakened sides and for the likes of many of them, that means they are pushed to field any sort of a strong eleven to compensate.
As Jayne says, all the Championship top sides went out more or less at the same time, as they were concentrating on trying for promotion. Then you have th likes of Southampton, in no danger of relegation, and no realistic chance of European qualification via the league: put out their reserves against Arsenal, which was baffling.
Other factors I am sure include the way tv messes with the schedules.

[joggerjayne]

I agree with IK ...

Southampton had a half decent chance of doing well in the FA Cup.

And (unlike us) the vague possibility of actually winning it.

But they didn't seem to try very hard.

We obviously had to get ourselves out of the FA Cup. The only things likely to stop us getting promoted this year would have been ... having to play additional games in the FA Cup (we don't have a big enough squad to put out a separate "Cup squad") or (worse) getting a key player injured in a Cup game. If our Goalie, David Stockdale, got injured playing in a Cup game, that could keep us out of the Prem.

Actually, hang on, aren't Southampton already in one Cup Final?

[Guilbert53]

Maybe the big teams do field weaker sides, but they have such large squads they can afford to.

Teams like Man U and Man C (and others) have around 20-24 players in their squads and most of them are internationals, so they do have to rotate teams to get everyone a game.

Man U are able to have recent substitutes of the calibre of Rooney, Shaw, Schweinstiger, Ashley Young and so on, all internationals.

De Gea and Valencia have both been "rested" for the last two Man U games (FA Cup and Europa League) but replaced by other players who were internationals.

Man C rotate their defence almost every game and have 4 international "full backs" to choose from (Sagna, Zabaleta, Kolarov and Clichy).

In fact I bet most of us football fans would find it hard to name the "best" team that Man U or Man C could put out from their huge squads.

[Gromit]

The FA Cup is third on their list of priorities, behind the Premiership and Champions League.
Teams play a lot more games these days, when Man Utd did the treble they played 59 matches. To do that they need a bigger squad, usually the equivalent of a replacement of every position on the field. To keep players happy some squad rotation is needed. Top Players are rested in the FA cup, and substitues are given a chance.