Three weeks ago, former Nottingham Forest and Liverpool player Stan Collymore claimed on Talk Sport after 3rd round Saturday that the romance in the FA Cup is dead. I hope he is eating up his words now. A month on and the most famous cup competition in the world has slayed three of the ‘big 4’ and has left the FA Cup of 2010 wide open.
As Wembley in the middle of May draws closer, so the big guns continue to run into trouble, and following Manchester United’s shock loss at home to Leeds United and Liverpool’s shambolic exit at the hands of lowly Reading in the last round, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal were the next team with a team full of stars to bite the dust.
The winter of discontent at Stoke of late, with the side in poor Premier League form was put aside yesterday, as they outmuscled, outplayed and outfought their fellow top flight side. Wenger rested his big guns, with daunting Premiership games against Aston Villa, Manchester United and Chelsea on the horizon and this gamble backfired. They should have expected the physical presence of Stoke and the huge danger of Rory Delap’s long throw execution that gave them major problems at the Britannia last campaign. Seventy seconds from kick-off, Arsenal left a gaping hole and Ricardo Fuller beat a hapless Lukas Fabianski to the ball and headed in. It showed the Gunners haven’t learnt their lessons from twelve months ago and a weakness that the youngsters still have. Perhaps, in hindsight, with fixture congestion building up, it was better for Arsenal to exit now rather than play another game in a replay. Stoke’s final two goals were on the counter attack and maximised to great effect – exploiting Arsenal as they pushed for the equaliser. On another note, Sol Campbell looked strong and impressive on his Arsenal return and Theo Walcott’s struggles continued. Surely, Fabio Capello cannot consider him for selection as far as South Africa in the summer is concerned.
With Arsenal gone, the door is open now for Chelsea to defend their FA Cup trophy successful. A comfortable and professional win at Preston, if not glamorous was always expected. Carlo Ancelotti’s main challenge for this trophy may now come from the billionaires on the blue side of Manchester. Yesterday’s 4-2 win at Scunthorpe was hard-fought and if not, flawless, impressive to say the least. Sylvinho’s goal was easily the best of the weekend and has Robinho scored his last goal and played his last game for Manchester City? Roberto Mancini has a big decision to make as the final week of the transfer window approaches. I don’t think Robinho will be a City player in seven days time. For £32million, he has been a disappointing buy and quite frankly, a tortoise could play better on away days. I think Mancini should cut City’s losses ASAP. Meanwhile, credit Scunthorpe United for giving the ITV viewers a fascinating tie. It was a brave and valid attempt.
Elsewhere, the Leeds United fascination in this year’s FA Cup continues. It was an amazing game at White Hart Lane on Saturday night. End-to-end stuff and Tottenham will know that they have been in a game. They could potentially struggle at Elland Road in the replay in ten days time. Will Leeds be able to hold onto the prolific Jermaine Beckford? It’s a tough call for Simon Grayson, as Beckford is out of contract in the summer, so I’m sure the Yorkshire side would like to cash in on their profit. However, Beckford is Premiership class; he gave the Spurs backline a hatful of problems and despite a debatable penalty in the 96th minute, the penalty he took, under so much pressure was top-class. Tottenham have to perform professionally in the replay to overcome this potential banana skin.
Notts County will be very disappointed not to finish off Wigan Athletic, having been two goals up at home. They may have blown their chance, when it comes to a giant-killing and despite their major financial crisis; Crystal Palace produced a stunning performance at struggling Wolves to earn a well-deserved replay. Well done to Portsmouth, considering their major financial peril situation. Overcoming Sunderland, who can’t buy a win if their life was dependent on it, was not an easy scenario and now, Southampton wait in a passionate and lively South Coast Derby in Round 5. And, Birmingham City, Fulham and this season’s cup-kings Aston Villa are still dangers in the latter stages. Should the favourites in blue slip up, these three consistent Premier League sides must be considered as dark horses.
So Stan, who said the romance, was dead in the FA Cup! My message is ‘Never underestimate the power of the FA Cup.’ Roll on Round Five!
No comments:
Post a Comment