FA Cup still clinging on to its fast-fading magic

AH the magic of the FA Cup, eh? The disappointing sight of so many thousands of empty seats up and down the country, on what was once guaranteed to be one of football’s most exciting weekends of the season, suggests that the guardians of the oldest knockout competition on the planet aren’t particularly competent.

Nevertheless, despite the FA Cup’s ever-waning lustre, mercifully it invariably manages to retain some residue of the romance of old, as an annual testament to the lemming-like response, when it comes to England’s much beloved tradition of honouring the underdog. Don’t get me wrong, I spent my Saturday evening being regaled by radio tales of the 72 coachloads of fans travelling to Wearside, when apparently 1,500 is a big crowd for a Barrow home game and the trans-Pennines travails of the York City team coach and their fans, some of whom endured such a tortuous trip that they eventually made it to Stoke, just in time for the final whistle!

Yet with genuine upsets so few and far between nowadays, I guess we cling to these anecdotal titbits as the last vestiges of FA Cup enchantment. At least Leeds ensured that it wasn’t an entirely upset-free weekend.

In the media’s efforts to hype up the Old Trafford encounter, I was asked to comment on whether I miss Leeds United. But the distaste I once had for Don Revie’s “dirty Leeds” side of the 70s has largely given way to ambivalence. Thus I responded with the allegory of an ancient joke about the priest, standing at a graveside, expecting someone to say a few kind words about the deceased. Eventually he loses patience and pleads for a volunteer from the mourners. After a further, lengthy period of silence, finally a voice pipes up from the back: “His brother was worse!”

I didn’t dare revel too much in Man United’s demise at the time, for fear of tempting fate to serve up a similarly depressing experience for our own youngsters. I did find myself wondering if there was any significance to the fact that Fergie seemed to fail to inspire his troops into producing a ‘fire and brimstone’ second-half response? At Upton Park, Arsène’s selection of a strong defence was perhaps indicative of a desire to ensure the Gunners maintain momentum, after witnessing the ramifications of the run of poor form that followed Chelsea’s Carling Cup exit. Alternatively, with nine first-team players out, perhaps our backline was dictated by necessity, not choice? The obvious lack of cover at centre-back, should Gallas or Vermaelen get injured, is a problem which might give credence to the rumours of a return for Sol Campbell.

After training with the Gunners to maintain his fitness these past few months, I’ve heard on the grapevine that Campbell was at the training ground on Monday for a medical. But then with the modern day health and safety madness, for all we know, this might just have been to ensure Sol’s fit enough to conduct stadium tours!

Despite appearing in our nondescript white strip (only slightly less abhorrent than the abomination of a blue kit), we managed to build on that “winning feeling” by coming from behind to beat West Ham on Sunday and earn ourselves, hopefully a less problematic trip to the Britannia in February. In light of the incredible amount of hype, there’s always so much anticipation surrounding Jack Wilshere’s rare first-team outings that I imagine the lad must feel the weight of expectation to produce the goods and it’s perhaps not surprising if he buckles somewhat under this burden.

Yet again Arsène timed the introduction of Diaby and Nasri to try and take advantage of the fact the Irons had expended so much energy, they were bound to begin to flag. Our bench looked like a bunch of experienced pros compared to the home team’s subs, who highlighted the limited resources afforded to Zola by the Hammers’ parlous boardroom plight.

The fact Eduardo beat Upson in the air to score the winner with his head should prove a shot in the arm for the Croat’s confidence, as he begins to recover his ‘fox in the box’ instincts. I pray he continues to show such sharp goalscoring form in tonight’s match with Bolton. Not only will it prove a massive anti-climax if we don’t make our game in hand count, but with it being the first game following Song’s departure for Africa, it’s crucial we quash any thoughts that we might not cope with his absence.