04 Feb 2020 21:59:39
Not Man Utd related but just watching Match of the Day and Oxford just scored a cracking second goal to force extra time against Newcastle. It's a proper cup toe with great atmosphere. Who said the F A Cup is dead.

1.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 08:24:38
Some cracking goals second half and great atmosphere too.

2.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 08:54:52
Unfortunately I think the FA Cup is a dying duck, it matters little to the prem teams, I mean even clubs like west ham would rather finish a place higher up the league than win a cup for example such as the money available, fa cup is probably on a par with the league cup.
If you look at the prize money too it is dwarfed by what you get in the prem. The FA Cup needs some sort if incentive and a CL place up for grabs for the winners, that will give it a boost imo.

3.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 10:12:22
I think we need it to be about matches like last night. Money should not always be the main motivation. You don't judge a player at the end of his career by how much he has in the bank. You ask him what medals and trophies he won. That's why for all their greatness people like Shearer must have some regrets. The F.A. Cup has given us some of the most iconic moments in football.

I actually think making it rely on a champions league place to attract stronger teams isn't where we need to go. Let's look at the next round Utd v Derby. Rooney will be desperate to win he won't need the carrot of another prize beyond beating us.

4.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 11:12:21
Unfortunately premier league teams are motivated by money. Lower league teams take the cup more seriously but prem teams don't so much, I don't know how you would gain the prestige for the tournament back for teams to take it more seriously without an incentive for them.

5.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 11:56:18
Simple, clubs are motivated by the riches and prestige of playing in Europe.

Ask yourself this as a United fan would you rather finish fourth and not win the FA cup or win the cup and finish fifth?

So the solution is to shake up the cups by giving a European place to the winners. If the winners of the FA cup got the fourth UCL place instead of finishing 4th in the league then EPL teams will take the FA cup much more seriously.

With the league cup I would give the winners a Europa league place, but to make it more interesting and to make sure teams are being over worked I would not allow teams competing in Europe either in the Europa league or UCL not allowed to compete in the league cup.

If the winners of the cups have qualified for Europe by league position then the runners up in the cup get it. If both have then it can revert back to league position.

Boom, both cup competitions now really mean something.

6.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 12:28:21
That isn't going to work because it's a league cup where all teams from the premier league to league two take part. You can't exclude teams from the tournament if they are playing in Europe. Crazy idea.

7.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 13:40:27
Damon, Pep and many other managers of the top teams feel that playing in two domestic cups makes it tough for the teams competing in Europe.

As it is most teams competing in Europe tend to send out their squad players until the the semi finals as they can't afford to have their first choice players play these games.

Surely it is better for our league and our national team if the teams competing in Europe don't play in FOUR competitions and spread their squad too thin. When a top side send out the fringe players in a cup it devalues the competition and reduces the quality of it.

By those teams not competing in the league cup their players will be fresher during the season to push further in the European competitions. And hopefully fresher for international tournaments for the national side as well.

While replacing teams like ourselves, City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs from the league cup with a genuine chance of getting in to Europe would in my opinion increase competition in the league cup as teams chase a genuine chance of money and glory.

8.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 14:02:18
Any player who’d rather finish 4th than win a cup is not a proper footballer.

9.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 15:35:53
Glad Shappy is on board with the CL place for the winners.
Makes sense to me as a lucrative enough prize to make teams take it seriously again.
For me I would rather win cups than the 4th place award but as I stated in my OP clubs look to the riches so as it stands 4th or a league position is more important than both domestic cups.

10.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 17:22:20
Man City have dominated the league cup competition though the last few years. They are professionals I'm sorry its absolutely ridiculous the excuses which are made up for players nowadays there's no wonder why they are all so soft. They are paid an obscene amount of money and cup competitions are all part of the game. It should be seen as a positive not a negative. You only have to play two games as a top club and you are in the quarter finals.

11.) 05 Feb 2020
05 Feb 2020 18:57:13
Agree Damon. Its all about winning trophies. We generally only have 3 or 4 shouts a year. Should try to win them all.

12.) 06 Feb 2020
06 Feb 2020 11:50:03
Damon, Man City are also the only team in the league who could field their second 11 all season and still expect to comfortably finish in the top four. That plays a big part into why they dominate it, yet they have still failed to advance to the final in the UCL, despite having on paper the strongest first 11 and the strongest squad in the EPL. Yet last season both Spurs and Liverpool made the UCL final.

The difference was that both Liverpool and Spurs exited the domestic cups fairly early and were able to keep their first team players fitter and fresher for the UCL.

Maybe if you can have 22 players of a high enough standard to play in the first 11 then you can attempt to win all 4 competitions and have a chance.

But is that best for the game? Do we really only want to see one or two teams win every every year because they are the only ones capable of building a squad deep enough to do so? Also how does that effect young players coming through? If a side has 22 full internationals is there space for that talented 18 year old to get a few games and make their way into the side? Jadon Sancho had to leave City and when did Phil Foden last play for them?

Three competitions is enough for any side to be in, most other clubs around the world don't compete in more than three competitions.