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Biggest ever F A cup shock day
Robbedin73
Posts: 7,859 Forum Member
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On some sites they are talking about great F A cup shocks tho years, Colchester v leeds 71, port vale v Spurs mid 80s but when you look at the wealth of today's premier league top players and squads surely today's results surplus that
Well done to Bradford and Middlesbrough proved today that the millionaires can be beaten makes Man U result last night seem excellent in light of today's results
Well done to Bradford and Middlesbrough proved today that the millionaires can be beaten makes Man U result last night seem excellent in light of today's results
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Out go Spurs.
Chelsea: Cech; Christensen, Zouma, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Mikel; Remy, Oscar, Salah; Drogba (c)
Subs: Courtois, Terry, Ake, Fabregas, Loftus-Cheek, Willian, Hazard.
Manchester City
13 Caballero
05 Zabaleta
38 Boyata
04 Kompany Booked
11 Kolarov
07 Milner
06 Fernando (Dzeko - 79' )
15 Jesús Navas (Lampard - 67' )
21 Silva
35 Jovetic (Fernandinho - 67' Booked )
16 Agüero
Substitutes
01 Hart,
03 Sagna
10 Dzeko
18 Lampard
22 Clichy
25 Fernandinho
26 Demichelis
Looks like a bunch of reserve players to me.... plus everyone knows Mourinho has a thing about cups, he doesn't like losing so to say its lower down his list is purely wrong. As for City, the FA Cup is still as important and that is reflected in his team, if they didn't care you know the likes of Kompany and Aguero would not play especially with that Chelsea match next.
Man City I blame their oversea's trip for the defeat. They went to Abu Dhabi for so called warm weather training (how does that help you play games in mid Jan in Britain ?). This is why having a winter break would be pointless.
Teams would just schedule these PR, Money grabbing games during the winter break rather than as they claim wanting to rest the players. Well this one has blown back in their face they looked as jet lagged as expected in the second half as you would expect from a squad that only flew in yesterday. Sorry Man City this is all your own fault.
However all the credit really has to go to Bradford and Middlesbrough they did not get luckily at all they where at least equal if not better in Middlesbrough case. On the balance of play this was the right result. This is really what the FA cup is about clubs raising their game beyond the top teams in one match.
What this does mean is it really opens up the FA this season Man Utd to win the FA Cup you know I just have a feeling it might be the case.
... and yes, both City and Chelsea managers wanted to win.
Heard that someone 'up north' had a tenner on Bradford to win 4-2 at 300 to 1.
I assumed that the main reason for the trip was to schmooze their owners and sponsors.
Bradford were 450/1 at half time.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8IXGOGCIAAB5pp.jpg
The above was cashed in before the Liverpool game, he still pocketed just shy of £16k for it.
He will be loving eider gudjonssen at the minute:D
Hmm, sounds a bit of a cliche, the really top teams not being really up for it.
Re Chelsea and Manchester City one only has to look at the sides they field and in the last 8 seasons Chelsea winning the FA Cup 4 times and City once.
Indeed in the last 20 seasons the FA Cup has been dominated by the big clubs as winners with only Portsmouth and Wigan interloping.
I find it easier to remember in some ways finals from say the 70s when shock wins were more common.
It is actually more often your lower Premier sides that don't seem to give it as much attention, even some who look pretty safe.
While the big sides do of course have big squads, they are populated by winners and put out very competitive sides that they think should win these matches.
Yes, a day of huge shicks !
It was a farce, and they got what they deserved, by showing a complete lack of respect for Middlesbrough.
280/1
I think it's entirely legitimate to question how big a part the weakened team played in the defeat.
Although Jose's saying it was "a disgrace" for Chelsea to lose, his demeanour suggests to me that he's not that bothered by it, in truth.
Ugh, I hate those boisterous, larger than life chairmen like the Bradford one currently on screen at the moment.
I don't know about Spot the Ball, its Spot the Crowd!
They basically don't its just at this stage against the calibre of teams they are often playing they usually get through to the next round.
Leeds and Newcastle, for example, fielded their top 12's against Sunderland and Hereford United in those 'upsets' and the clubs / players regarded the FA Cup as a priority as in those days, the disparate financial return for Cup and League success was nothing like it is now.
Division 1 status was as important as Premier League status is now but it was for prestige reasons and not for revenue returns / benefit and the ability / need to keep the gravy train going generating huge income simply to keep paying players vast wages.
And because the financial structure of the competitions was so different, the FA Cup was still REALLY important.
These days, the top clubs will take the FA Cup, if they survive through the early rounds and it gets interesting. But if they get knocked out is anyone seriously going to argue that behind the scenes in those clubs, everyone will be down in the dumps and shaking their heads in disbelief? Will any top manager be under the slightest bit of extra pressure as a result of such a defeat?
That the Cup has been won so many times by the top clubs in the PL era is less a demonstration of those club's commitment to it as a sign of the strength overall of their squads.
Usually, the second tier bench warmers have been way to good for most of the lower clubs.
But, as we saw with Chelsea, it's always possible to have a hiccup if you rotate you squad and put in players who are match rusty, lower division teams who will run their backsides off and take their chances can always sting you.
That those players have enormous price tags on them is not the point. Those hugely inflated values don't mean that at any given time, the players will emerge from substitute lethargy and start playing as if they are in a CL final.
Compare Chelsea's first choice 11 against Bradford and Leeds against Sunderland (and let's not forget Wimbledon too). Compare Costa and Hazard as 1st choice players against Clarke and Jones (Leeds' 1st choice selections) but not against an ageing Drogba and Salah, still dusting off the cobwebs of a match minutes free existence so far this season.
In Manchester City's case, what could demonstrate the way things are run these days better than the example of the squad flying 6 hours out and back to the Middle East to meet sponsor requirements and returning one day before a Cup match?
Will they be doing that before their next CL match? I doubt it very much and that says it all.
In my view, we can applaud the endeavours of the likes of Bradford City and Middlesbrough but these are less upsets to me as those sides making the most of opportunities presented by the way the PL clubs have dealt with the fixture.
Although it pains me to say so as I am literally, an FA Cup child of the 60's and 70's, the media can try and tell us all they want that the Cup is important but ironically, the huge popularity worldwide for English football created in large part by the FA Cup has lead to the orgy of TV rights monies flowing back into league football to the point where the priorities have shifted inexorably and exponentially and these will not change back again until the day the money dries up and that ain't about to happen any time soon.
Good points as usual Tennisman. On another subject I have just noticed that your blog gets a mention in last year's Wisden. Well done.
Thanks David
or going back to 1953 Man U 1, Walthamstow 1,.. Walthamstow were an amateur team, which are no longer allowed into the FA cup.