Do pundits, media and fans need to let the FA Cup go a bit?

Dancfc

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Don't get me wrong it's still a trophy and a very nice one to win, however when you see the draws and them making a massive thing out of it, are they still trying to force the "romance" of the cup down our throat far too much in the present day?

The reality is, it just isn't that big a tournament any more, even the lower league sides rotate their teams in it. The prize money to avoid relegation/win promotion/qualify for Europe is simply too great to risk it all on the off chance of a one off scalp for any non top six side.

Even as a fan I find it a bit boring these days, I use to buzz for third round weekend but now it's as boring as international breaks for me. Sad I know (and I do miss what it use to be) but the media and general football population need to get with the times a bit and stop trying to cling on to its old glory.
 
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pacifictheme

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I prefer the league Cup these days. Never used to.

Inb4 someone saying give the winners a CL place.
 

RyRy11

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Yes! The fa cup doesn’t matter to the big teams unless they win it.
 

Paul_Scholes18

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I still love it. Although wanted to win it more before we won it under LVG since it was so long since we won it before that.

The feeling is the teams do care about it more these days it seems. Most teams play with strong sides which was often not the case in the past.
Liverpool the odd one out I think. Although fans seems to like it less.
Probably since there is so many leagues and cup around. Too much football.
 

BusbyMalone

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To be honest, I've never been a huge fan of the domestic cups. When you get to the semi-final or the final then as a supporter you obviously wanna win it, and i suppose the FA Cup is still a good one to win, but i'm apathetic towards it normally. I always find FA Cup weekends a bit grim, really. There's obviously a break in the Premier League, and then there's a huge fixture list of games that couldn't give a shite about. The games normally range from highly predictable to pretty awful and, i know this is almost blasphemous to say, but i really don't care about the smaller clubs.

There's this notion, in this country anyway, that you really have to care about the small teams. This patronising, pat on the head they get when they only get beat 7-0 against the Premier League club just rubs me up the wrong way. I don't give a shit about these teams on any other weekend, i'm certainly not going to feign interest now. It alway comes across as something you have to say, whether you think it or not. This is obviously true in the media, where journalists are falling over themselves to praise the "minnows" and give them a good old pat on the head for their troubles. No doubt some are genuine, but there's also a lot of pretence.
 

Rafaeldagold

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It’s still a great cup for me. Even when they’ve diminished it with Semis at Wembley etc it’s still the oldest cup competition in the world & you can still have great games in it & matches can go down in history for it.

If we get Liverpool & bear them in an epic Quarter final etc or stills and a lot
 

AaronRedDevil

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They really need to start making a good reason to win it. Like who ever wins the FA or League cup go head to head for a CL spot if they aren't already in it or something.
 

Relevated

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They always try to make it feel special but I don't think even they themselves believe the BS they come up with sometimes.
 

stubie

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I can remember going to Wolves - Gillingham in Round 3 back in 2002

Even back then Wolves treated it the same as the league cup with their selection and approach to the game. Fans were thankful they were out at the first stage so they could concentrate on the league.

Unfortunately they missed out on promotion to West Brom

But staying on topic I treat the FA Cup the same as the league cup, not a big trophy even if Garth Crooks likes to make out it means the world to every player and club.
 

11101

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There used to be something special about final day with the twin towers and the history but that's long gone. It's just The Emirates Cup or whatever it's called now, another money machine in a shiny new identikit stadium. No different than the League Cup really. It's a shame because it was great growing up in the 90s and almost up there with winning the league.
 

fps

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FA Cup is great. I think it should just be a single match in each round going to extra time and penalties if necessary though. That way the match going fan and viewer will really feel they might see something special every match.
 

André Dominguez

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This issue is pretty much the same all over Europe. Big clubs usually only try to win domestic cups if their league chances are slim just to give the fans some boost.
 

Lay

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I never really cared about domestic cups. I recall John Terry saying winning the FA cup makes up for not winning the league and it baffled me. Domestic cups are simply a nice cushion to rest on when everything else is going wrong for big clubs.

Its great for small clubs I guess.
 

2 man midfield

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I agree with what you say about the third round feeling like an international break. It’s more like “ah feck sake it’s the FA cup this weekend...” than anything. Yeah it’s great to reach the later rounds, and a trophy is a trophy. But it’s definitely lost some of its lustre.

No surprise that the BBC are always trying to talk up their only football competition though.
 

caid

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I'd probably like it more if the league cup wasn't a thing. Going far in the league cup nearly makes it feel necessary to drop the fa cup to succeed elsewhere. Maybe drop all european qualifiers from the league cup - it'll open it up more to the Evertons or Newcastles and would help remove some of the fixture congestion. Or make teams use under 23's if they qualify for europe, there aren't that many games for younger players.
Trying to start it earlier in the season would be good too, its hard to care about a match against a League 2 team after a long christmas schedule and when your playing Real Madrid or whatever in 2 weeks. I have more time for the early League Cup rounds at the start of the season as ... its been a while since i've watched much and I probably don't know what to expect from new players or whatever. Maybe lower leagues can start the fa cup at the end of a season or in the summer so you're adding premier league teams in September or October?
 

Jazz

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I love the FA Cup. Would love to win it this season, however slim our chances.
 

Finn MacCool

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The FA cup final used to be only live game on TV, it was a magical experience as a kid watching the build up. But those days are gone forever. Nowadays it should be no replays or extra time in FA cup - straight to penalties. Seeded draw if smaller teams want to play away. Semi finals at neutral venue other than Wembley.

Also I don’t think teams playing in CL or EL should play in League Cup - or at least given choice.

Tradition in this country is often a barrier to common sense and progress. Spoke about winter break for decades and the first time they had one they fecked it up.
 

Bullhitter

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There should be a poll of fans aged 13 and under to gauge where the FA Cup is at because i think there's definitely an element of grumpy old people saying it's not the same anymore just in the same way as people say bars of chocolate, crisps and music are not as good as "back in my day".

(if the above hits a note with anybody, I come in peace, I am one of you)
 

Rhyme Animal

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Nonchalantly scoring the winner...
The semis being at Wembley is completely wack...

I mean, wtf? Like, you reached a semi, so you get to go play at Wembley...? Nah, I'm not having that.

They should make the whole affair more lean and trimmed and freshen it up by doing the following...

1. Absolutely NO REPLAYS - if a game is a draw after 90, straight to fecking penalties. Much more exciting, and also economic on club's player resources.

2. Winner takes the 4th CL place... Top 4 has become boring and cynical, with shit owners investing the minimum to try and scrape Top 4 even though they have utterly no chance or intention of going for the CL properly. So make it 'Top 3', and winner of the FA cup gets the 4th place.

This would also make it exciting that lower league teams could potentially get a route into Europe. It would also ensure that clubs took it A LOT more seriously.

3. Semis take place at a neutral ground.
 

Bullhitter

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I am for the Wembley semi finals just for the fact that i think the more sets of fans that get the chance to watch their side play there the better. I will never forget the first time i done it and i think it's all too easy for fans of clubs that would semi-regularly be making finals to say only finals should be there.
 

Snow

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It's a trophy you want to win when you can't win the PL or the CL. Obviously the players want to win it but sometimes the manager doesn't really make it a priority.

The League Cup is harder. Our run was Rochdale (H), Chelsea (A), Colchester (H), City.
FA Cup is Wolves (H), Tranmere (A) and Derby (A). Not anymore "magical" as it's the same teams as in the other competition.

In order to make the FA Cup in any way special is to have it be the only cup. I don't know why it's not something that teams are pushing for since it helps with the fixture congestion.
 

TheLiverBird

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Something needs to be done

Not only has the competition become boring

So has the outcome

people saying give the winners a CL spot, that probably will make it more interesting

but for who??

thats right

the usual suspects in Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs

in the last 30 years these “top 6 usuals” have dominated the winners list for the FA Cup

only on 3 occasions has a team outside those 6 Clubs won the competition

it’s almost in someways making it easier for the top 6 to get a CL spot
 

roonster09

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Don't get me wrong it's still a trophy and a very nice one to win, however when you see the draws and them making a massive thing out of it, are they still trying to force the "romance" of the cup down our throat far too much in the present day?
What do you want them to do? It's their duty to big up every competition. Even when PL was shit, pundits and commentators kept on repeating how PL is the best league in the world. They have to sell their product.
 

Neil_Buchanan

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I believe that a lot of this romance was born out of the simple fact that people could easily watch the matches at home on tele.
 

dove

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I like the FA cup. Pundits and commentators of course overhype it constantly talking about how it’s full of surprising results and shocks, lower league clubs knocking out the big teams but in reality it very rarely happens. Still it’s miles better than the League cup which I couldn’t care less about.

Only change I would make for the FA cup is that if you are drawn against a lower league opposition, you play away like in Copa del Rey. I enjoy watching games from new or rarely visited grounds. Giving the winner a CL spot would be a disaster.
 

André Dominguez

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So... What can be done to revitalize domestic cups? The CL spot cliché will never have consensus.

Instead of a direct CL spot, the FA Cup winner could make a season finale playoff with the 4th?

Does a Final Four event (Semis and Finals in the same stadium), hosted by a different UK city every season would help to bring some emotion back? I have to say that even though the League Cup here in PT is pretty much meaningless, the decision to make a Final Four event hosted by a different city every year makes it feel like a real competition on those final matches. And people who live in those cities confirm that the atmosphere feels like a football competition.

Score handicaps: this is going to be a bit silly, but logical at the same time, due to the huge gap level. Teams from upper divisions would have an handicap on the score. For example, a EPL team would have a -2 starting handicap when facing a League One team, although this could backfire spectacularly.
 

meamth

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Don't mind about FA cup, but why can't PL do like NBA ALL STARS weekend??

Unnecessary injuries? Feck that.
 

Mastadon

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It only matters when we win it. Otherwise I barely notice it.