How seriously should we be taking the FA Cup this season?

[Andersonson]

Winning trophies is always, ALWAYS good. Be it league cup or the FA cup.

You aint a top side if you dont win anything. Look at spurs. People were raving about them, but they havnt won anything in 30 years. Poch would die for a FA cup win. Same would Arteta or Brendon.

We should go all in for the FA cup. And so should we for the EL.

Winning creates winners. Something we lack.

 

[Rafaeldagold]

Winning Trophies is great, we all love it. however winning the FA cup will benefit the club's future zero where as CL qualification may help us hugely in signing the players needed to improve us.

My main question is do we actually have the squad depth to try and Get Top 4 & win 2 comps if it means 21 games in just under 12 weeks, games which we'd really have to play pretty full strength squad? I don't think we could rest players and beat Norwich away in Quarter finals based on away performances this season. and if dont have the squad depth, its the FA cup that has to be the one we don't take as seriously

Long Term thinking about next 2/3 season as opposed to just this single FA Cup campaign

‘Winning the FA Cup will benefit the club's future zero’

Not too sure about that, as winning the FA Cup gives a club a feel good factor, shows you’re a winning team to potential transfers & can breed a culture of winning.

Now if you ask top 4 or FA Cup that’s another question but to say winning the FA Cup benefits the clubs future as zero is wrong in my opinion

 

[Aarron Swift]

‘Winning the FA Cup will benefit the club's future zero’

Not too sure about that, as winning the FA Cup gives a club a feel good factor, shows you’re a winning team to potential transfers & can breed a culture of winning.

Now if you ask top 4 or FA Cup that’s another question but to say winning the FA Cup benefits the clubs future as zero is wrong in my opinion

Maybe i phrased it wrongly. Winning the FA cup along with qualifying for Champions League will help the feel good factor in the squad and belief we can win trophies and make us a more attractive club for the caliber of signings we want in the summer, we'd be a trophy winning club involved in the Champions League.

FA Cup on its own doesn't help with signings too much i don't think, the feeling of failing to get Top 4/5 this season and not winning Europa would outlast the FA Cup. FA Cup win alone would be almost a feeling of temporarily forgetting its Europa again next season and having a summer where its harder than it could be to attract players.


Don't get me wrong, I want to win the FA Cup but do we have the squad depth to fight on all 3 fronts? If it's at the expense of a couple of League results that ultimately prove costly or a Europa exit through too many games then I'm not sure if bigger picture its really worth it?

 

[Baneofthegame]

For the long term it would be CL first due to the nature of attracting players like Sancho.

But I personally think you go for all competitions regardless and that’s how any top club should operate.

 

[LingiBW]

We should aim to compete for all trophies we currently play in. With that being said, a balancing act is needed, in that, say we get through Derby and Norwich and are still in Europa, i'd say we try have our emphasis more on a route that would allow us to get champions league football next season. As some have said, the injury hit players should be used to compete in the FA cup more whilst we maintain and rest the X1 for league and Europa.

LEAGUE/EUROPA
de Gea
Bissaka Lindelof Maguire Shaw
Fred McT
Greenwood/Mata Bruno James
Martial

FA CUP
Romero
Dalot Bailly Lindelof Williams
Pogba Matic
Mata Lingard/Pereira Chong
Ighalo
​

Obviously with rotations for other 1st team players depending on the opponent in the FA cup and Europa League.

 

[RedTiger]

We're Man Utd and we don't pick and chose tournaments. We go for it.

 

[Havak]

We should be going all-out for it now. That said, I think there is a balance to be found in regards to resting players. Realistically, we don't need to be absolute full strength to beat Derby or Norwich. However, I'd rather we went close to it and then substitute players if we are at least 2-0 up.

Once you're at a semi-final, it's at least one good day out for the fans and only two wins away from a trophy. It doesn't matter who you're playing at that point, you have to fancy your chances to win it.

If our lads can't get be up for it or are too tired when it comes to crunch time in the FA Cup, Europa League and top 4 race, then what's the point? Just stop playing.

 

[RedSky]

We're United, every cup should be a priority. Given how young our squad is it's even more of an incentive to go out and win something. We shouldn't aspire to be the next Tottenham.

 

[onetwo3oclock4oclockrock]

The FA-final is one week after the League has ended.
So it's only really two extra matches, the quarter and semi. Shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Focusmate]

Would love to win this and have a sneaky feeling we will.
Winning trophies breeds confidence and would give a boost going into another summer window... Im hoping for a title challenge next season with possibly City and Pool falling back a bit....

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Go for the win! Only City are clearly better than us. We have already show we can beat them so let us just try again if we have to face them!

 

[ManchesterYoda]

I take it very seriously and always will. Treble includes FA Cup. We need to retake our FA Cup record back from Arsenal. FA Cup is the oldest competition in the world. I will never dismiss it.

 

[horsechoker]

Trophy wins are important for building a winning mentality, it's actually the second best trophy on offer to us behind the Europa League.

 

[Amerifan]

If I were Ole I wouldn’t even field a squad if the rules allowed. LVG was sacked the day after winning a cup. Club doesn’t care about cups. CL is the one and only priority.

 

[Josep Dowling]

I think it should definitely be taken seriously and players should be able to play twice a week. I find it funny when we are in the Champions League players can suddenly do it fine. But if your club is in the Europa League or cups games suddenly it becomes a hindrance

 

[Sad Chris]

I didn‘t realize how highly I still rate the FA Cup until Liverpool‘s/Klopp’s pathetic stance toward it made my blood boil.

It‘s part of the Treble, that alone should be a sign of it‘s importance, every single season.

 

[el3mel]

It's bottom of priorities at the moment. 4th and EL are more important. However we're doing well in it so far so why not. Let's keep playing a mixed team of starters and subs in it and see how far we can go.

 

[Pexbo]

Win it. Would be hilarious if we won a cup double in the season Liverpool finally win a league.

 

[thepolice123]

Its 100% well within our reach now, we should definitely go for it. Will also give the new players a taste of winning trophies with us. Will provide a good kick for the next season.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

To me winning this type of trophy doesn't excite me anymore. May be if we haven't win it for ages. But post Sir Alex, we won EL, FA & the Cup. I would rather us focusing on developing our players, show improvement on the players and getting CL spot. I think these are more priority at the moment for the sake of our rebuilding project.

I would say nah, shouldn't be taking seriously. I prefer to win Europa League instead. EL this season has some good competition, winning it is also a good achievement and to show that we mean business next season.

 

[Florida Man]

I don’t see a 4th place trophy or a “We Qualified for CL” trophy, so that should tell you how I feel.

 

[Florida Man]

Winning trophies is always, ALWAYS good. Be it league cup or the FA cup.

You aint a top side if you dont win anything. Look at spurs. People were raving about them, but they havnt won anything in 30 years. Poch would die for a FA cup win. Same would Arteta or Brendon.

We should go all in for the FA cup. And so should we for the EL.

Winning creates winners. Something we lack.

Certainly does

 

[Fussball13251]

CL spot, FA Cup and Europa League. What we should be aiming for. Yes I would take the FA Cup seriously. It's a trophy.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Win it back!

 

[caid]

Theres very few games left. And we can get away with resting a player or two against most of the teams left in it up to the final.

 

[PieCrust]

Very seriously. United is currently only a top 6 club. Europa league and FA cup competitions are our level, should be our priorities, and we should be doing everything we can to win them.

In any case, a club of our size, should have no issues competing on 3 fronts when you throw the league in. Our shocking inability to get replacements in holds us back however. I agree with the players that were cleared out and hope to see the rest of the deadwood lot follow this summer. But replacements have to come the other way.

 

[Jeffthered]

I'm surprised that this is even a consideration... Of course we should. We are still trying to find our way as a team, and success can breed further success. We do not have the luxury of choosing competitions to 'focus' on.

 

[Member 90887]

Another one of these threads ? really ?

Of course we should try to win it. How anyone thinks otherwise i don't know.

It's 2 games until the final.

 

[kafta]

I do love the FA Cup but understandably it should be the lowest on our list priorities, behind the Europa League and Top 4.

But now that we're 3 games from winning it, we might as well put out a team that can beat Norwich.

 

[Judas]

We go for it!

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Very seriously.

A club of United's stature should expect to challenge for the FA cup, Europa league and top 4 (in the current state). These are lowered expectations as it is. No need to further prioritize/pick and choose given none of what you're going for constitutes as a big accomplishment on its own.

 

[Judas]

We're Man Utd, we go into every competition looking to win it. How anyone who can watch this club for any length of time and be wondering if we should take a trophy seriously, especially when we're at the QF stage has really missed the point, and should support maybe Liverpool who seemingly don't want to win everything.

 

[Pav1878]

We're United, every cup should be a priority. Given how young our squad is it's even more of an incentive to go out and win something. We shouldn't aspire to be the next Tottenham.

Agree. One thing that Poch did at spurs which I never liked was to ignore the cups, which he could have easily won when they were at their best a couple of years back. Now he is gone and still a manager that has 'never won anything'

We should going on all fronts, especially if we take inspiration from 99!

Plus if we can somehow win the FA cup, win Europa and get top four, it will take the shine off Liverpool's league win a little and at least make it a little more bearable for us!

 

[TRUERED89]

We should aim to compete for all trophies we currently play in. With that being said, a balancing act is needed, in that, say we get through Derby and Norwich and are still in Europa, i'd say we try have our emphasis more on a route that would allow us to get champions league football next season. As some have said, the injury hit players should be used to compete in the FA cup more whilst we maintain and rest the X1 for league and Europa.

LEAGUE/EUROPA
de Gea
Bissaka Lindelof Maguire Shaw
Fred McT
Greenwood/Mata Bruno James
Martial

FA CUP
Romero
Dalot Bailly Lindelof Williams
Pogba Matic
Mata Lingard/Pereira Chong
Ighalo
​

Obviously with rotations for other 1st team players depending on the opponent in the FA cup and Europa League.

You’d only play Pogba in the FA cup ?

 

[cyril C]

Prioritize Europa League, then FA Cup for the possible 3 games left until the final, and then the league. We have a good shot in all 3, and we have an easy route to the semi finals for the FA cup. A few games like that wont make or break anything, especially as for the Europa league we can still rotate until we get a tougher opponent.

Easier said than done. Let's say this is our schedule
3-13 LASK
3-16 Spurs
3-20 LASK
3-21 Norwich

When will you start Lingard, Mata? Spurs? In order to play our best 11? Then start Lingard , Mata again at Norwich?

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

I think we should take it very seriously. If we are finishing outside the top 4, a cup would be a big morale boost and we must be one of the favourites to take it, now. We should certainly be beating Norwich in the next round.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Easier said than done. Let's say this is our schedule
3-13 LASK
3-16 Spurs
3-20 LASK
3-21 Norwich

When will you start Lingard, Mata? Spurs? In order to play our best 11? Then start Lingard , Mata again at Norwich?

We won't be playing the FA Cup a day after the Europa League man

And how have you gotten every date wrong?

12th, 15th, 19th are the dates.

 

[romufc]

We have to go for it, winning gives players confidence. We have a young set of players who want to win trophies. Cup runs like FA cup and potentially winning it for a young team will give them valuable experience when hopefully we are competing for PL and CL.

 

[kambinks]

Don't think we have the squad depth to focus on everything. IMO CL spot should really be the priority. If i were Ole I'd prioritize Europa League, League, then FA. I'd like to be competitive but not in the expense of that CL spot. Were always one injury away from being dross again if anything happens to Fred or Bruno.

 

[Mike Smalling]

We have almost been gifted a semi-final spot with the draw against Norwich. They will of course put up a fight at home, but we should be able to beat them by putting out a similar side as yesterday. From there it is two games to the trophy, so you would hope we take those games seriously. A trophy is a trophy.

Recently Ole has done quite well in managing the squad, so I'm sure he can continue that for the rest of the season if we are still competing on three fronts.