fa cup weakened teams

d22ontour

does anyone find it disgraceful that lots of teams put out weakened teams in the fa cup or is it simply that other things are top priority

in the last few years we have seen top clubs put out weak teams and even lower placed teams whos priority is staying in the premier league or clubs trying to get into it do the same

in my opinion outside of the european trophies it is the biggest club cup in the world is it being made 2nd rate by these clubs ?

eirebhoy

There's not many managers that would put out a weak side if they weren't good enough to secure the win (Benitez and Allerdyce being two).

They do it to give the first team players a rest, ask an ex pro from the 70's or 80's (other than managers for some reason) and he'll tell you players don't need all these rests. If they could play week in week out back then surely they can do it now. How hard must it be that a player can't play 2 matches every week. If I got my fitness back I certainly could and I'd be nowhere near as fit as them. Its ok to rest players over the age of say 30 but under that they should have no problems.

super_furry

In terms of prestige, it's still a big tournament. But in terms of imporatance to a club - financially and in attracting new players, a place in the Champions League is, sadly, more important.

Which is why in order to give the FA Cup it's rightful place as a competition second only to the league, the winners should be given automatic entry to the Champions Leauge.

d22ontour

as much as i like the cup it hardly merits a champions league spot for playing a handful of games, it has great history and tradition its just the lack of commitment to it by clubs that annoys me

p.pete

Besides prestige and history I don't think any of the cups matter all that much to the clubs. Even prestige and history pale in comparison to the importance of money and access routes to Europe (where there's more money).

The money for winning the Premiership compared with the FA cup must be quite large and when you consider the Premiership offers upto 4 positions in the CL and the FA cup offers one position in UEFA it's a no brainer decision to concentrate on the league first and the FA and Carling cups in a distant second.

Naturally what the clubs think and what the fans think are miles appart - fans throw away money on their clubs without hope of profit but in the hope that their team will do them proud (or whatever) and give them something positive to talk about. For fans of the top clubs it's possible to have a mentality shift and start looking at the CL and UEFA cups as being more important then the domestic cups.

This however just creates yet another unlevel playing pitch within soccer - clubs that don't concentrate on Europe and who perhaps see the opportunity of playing against Arsenal or ManU as a very special occassion and quite often a lifeline from the perspective of club finances.

Certainly the Bournemouth have every right to feel agrieved that they no longer have the opportunity to make money from a match against Liverpool because Liverpool didn't see fit to field a decent side or make much commitment on the pitch. I don't really blame Liverpool for that though - they haven't created the situation that makes the FA Cup a minor triffle (for the manager if not the fans).

eirebhoy

super_furry - You mentioned finance, there's no way a team deserves £10m+ for winning 6 or so games.

Guy:Incognito

super_furry wrote:

In terms of prestige, it's still a big tournament. But in terms of imporatance to a club - financially and in attracting new players, a place in the Champions League is, sadly, more important.

Which is why in order to give the FA Cup it's rightful place as a competition second only to the league, the winners should be given automatic entry to the Champions Leauge.

There should be less teams in the champions league not more. In fact it shouldnt even be called the champions league. By definition, Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea shouldnt be in it this year. Bring back the european cup. You should have to earn a place in the champions league by winning your domeestic league, not by not being good enough to win your league.


As for weakened teams in the FA cup , i'm all for useing whatever players you have, a squad is a squad.If benitez put the same team out this weekend in the league as against burnley peopl ewould say he was mad, theywouldnt be saying hes a disgrace and devaluing the competition.

The Muppet

eirebhoy wrote:

super_furry - You mentioned finance, there's no way a team deserves £10m+ for winning 6 or so games.

Why not its no worse than letting 4th into the CL.? Entry Into the CL is a hugh prize ,in what other sport is there such a prize for coming fourth ? A

There are always complaints about the financial gulf between the top few teams and those below them. Would it not be beneficial to the better lower placed teams to have this oppurtunity opened to them.

P. Pete made an excellent point about robbing the lower teams of their big pay day . For the overall good of the game I would like to see the FA cup winners in the CL. It's only in a few clubs interest to see the current situation prevail and if let continue the Financial Gap between the top four clubs and the rest will only get bigger.

eirebhoy

The Muppet wrote:

Why not its no worse than letting 4th into the CL.? Entry Into the CL is a hugh prize ,in what other sport is there such a prize for coming fourth ? A

There are always complaints about the financial gulf between the top few teams and those below them. Would it not be beneficial to the better lower placed teams to have this oppurtunity opened to them.

P. Pete made an excellent point about robbing the lower teams of their big pay day . For the overall good of the game I would like to see the FA cup winners in the CL. It's only in a few clubs interest to see the current situation prevail and if let continue the Financial Gap between the top four clubs and the rest will only get bigger.

Thats the difference, I don't think there is a top four.

d22ontour

what would be the point of letting the fa cup winners into the champions league

surely one of the top 3 teams would win it anyway

Jivin Turkey

d22ontour wrote:

what would be the point of letting the fa cup winners into the champions league

surely one of the top 3 teams would win it anyway

Exactly. They would be a lot more focussed and determined to do so anyway.

d22ontour

i mean you would expect united,chelsea or arsenal to win it regardless of what european place is on offer