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The FA Cup - A Season to Remember

Published by WattagoalbyRiise on March 11, 2008

Taking a step back from all things Liverpool for a moment if you please, I am certainly not alone in thinking that the FA Cup this season has been the defining point in the English football season. Alright, I know that the Reds went out of it prematurely, but looking at it from afar, it is no wonder why this is considered the number one domestic cup competition in the world.

To have no representatives from the big-four in the semi-finals, and to have only one team from the Premier League, just goes to show what sort of season it has been.

And it hasn’t just started in the most recent stages. Havant & Waterloovile, and Chasetown all recorded upsets early on, to make it into the latter stages. Indeed Chasetown went out to semi-finalists Cardiff City, and Havant went on to record a moral victory at Anfield, but they certainly left their mark. Then we come to Barnsley. The Tykes pulled off arguably the biggest coup in their history by somehow beating Liverpool at Anfield. Surely a one-off? Wrong. Not only did Chelsea play a stronger team than Liverpool did at Oakwell, but they were actually outplayed. I mean, against Liverpool, the only reason that Barnsley weren’t unceremoniously dumped out was because of an inspired performance by Luke Steele (why does Anfield have that affect on goalkeepers anyway?).

Against Chelsea, he was a spectator for large parts of the match – although he did earn his match wages in the end. The man himself, who is on-loan from West Brom, admitted that he breathed a huge sigh of relief when Barnsley drew Cardiff in the semi-finals. If it had been his parent club, he would have been ineligible to play, and Barnsley would be in an almighty mess.

Portsmouth, as the sole Premier League team left in the reckoning are rightfully favourites for the cup. They more than rode their luck at Old Trafford, and some ‘dubious,’ refereeing decisions went their way, but whatever Sir Alex says, as Liverpool fans can testify, you have to take your chances. The season has exceeded all expectations for them, and although those early season claims of Champions League have all but diminished, a place in Europe via the FA Cup, seems on the cards if they can beat the Baggies. They certainly have the personnel.

Defensive qualities apart, it remains to be seen whether a talented West Brom midfield would be able to compete with the power of Muntari, Diarra, Utaka, and Bouba Diop. Also Kanu upfront will be wanting to put his former club out of the cup. Speaking of which, West Brom still stand a good chance of playing Pompey in the Premier League next season. Tony Mowbray’s side lie 4th in the Championship table, and are just two points off second-placed Stoke City in what has been a thrilling title race for the second tier of English football. A professional display away to Bristol Rovers, at a rocking Memorial Stadium, showed that they have the mental strength, and quality to go all the way.

In Ishmael Miller, Roman Bednar, and Kevin Phillips, they have two strikers, who are in deadly form (who needs Torres?), and a midfield of Zoltan Gera, Jonathan Greening, James Morrison, and Chris Brunt, means that they can always be relied on to score goals, if for whatever reason, their main strikers do not.

Cardiff City produced a magnificent display at the Riverside. Stephen McPhail supposedly set up Peter Whittingham up with his hand, and the former Villa striker lobbed Schwarzer perfectly. That was the only piece of luck that they got. For the whole game, Boro were outplayed, and rather surprisingly for a team with Downing, Alves, O’Neill, Tuncay, and Rochemback, outclassed.

Dave Jones is not afraid to blood new talent. Aaron Ramsey seems destined to play at the highest level, and Darcy Blake is also one for the future. A sour note about the Bluebirds’s FA Cup campaign, is that, being Welsh, if they do make it to the final, or even go all the way, they still would not be able to compete in the UEFA Cup. This seems like such a ridiculously outdated rule, but I assume that Cardiff already know about this, and would not detract from the experience of playing at Wembley.

Another source of debate is the FA’s decision to play the semi-finals at Wembley. Some say that it gives fans and players, who otherwise would not get the chance, to play at Wembley. Surely you would not deny clubs like Barnsley this opportunity? The purists however seem adamant that this would take away from the atmosphere in the final, as both teams would have been to Wembley already. I don’t necessarily have any opinion on this matter, but one thing is for certain. The chance to give fans even more of a chance to experience one of the world’s best football stadiums was secondary for the FA. All they were interested was to recoup some of the money lost in building this wonderful structure. It leads one to think whether once they have paid off all the debts, whether this scheme will still be in place.

Whoever the clubs, and whatever the situation, the FA Cup final is always a fantastic day for English football. Personally, I expect to see a Cardiff City – West Brom final, with the Bluebirds triumphing, and the Baggies undertaking an European adventure next season. Whatever happens though, this FA Cup season will go down as one of the most memorable. Certainly Wembley will see a better match than the dross served up by two of the biggest teams in the country last season.

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