Has the FA Cup lost its magic?

The term 'the magic of the cup' has always been associated with the FA Cup, but over the past decade or so, has the magic been starting to wear off? 

There is no doubt the FA Cup still holds a special place in the hearts of football fans, not only in England, but around the world. It still remains the most exciting and entertaining domestic competition on the planet, or so we are continuously reminded by pundits on television every time a game is broadcasted.

However one of the main reasons for the FA cup losing its 'magic' in recent years, in my view, is the venue for the semi-finals. Historically, the semi's have been held at Villa Park and Old Trafford (at least when I was younger), meaning the show piece event was always the final at the magnificent Wembley Stadium. In recent years, the semi finals have been held at Wembley, meaning the prize of playing at the home of football came before teams even managed to reach the final. This makes the wonder and excitement for the finalists playing at Wembley become almost fruitless and less meaningful.

As well as the venues for the semi finals, the television coverage of FA Cup football is, to be brutally honest, dreadful. The coverage by ITV and ESPN isn't the issue however. If you see the kind of coverage the Premier League gets every week, you start to understand why the FA Cup is now well and truly behind. The amount of cameras in every Premier League ground on match day is astounding, compared to only one, most of the time, during FA Cup matches.
Clearly some of the smaller grounds involved on FA Cup weekends may not be able to accommodate a lot of cameras, however, even the bigger grounds in the Championship and Premier League do not (unless live on TV) have more than one camera. It's as if coverage of football has gone back 20 years on FA Cup weekends.

Finally, the most crucial reason for the recent demise of the FA Cup is the prize at the end of it. I don't mean the iconic and magnificent trophy you receive in the Royal Box after either.
For winning the FA Cup or even just getting to the final, you achieve qualification for the Europa League. I have a lot of time for the Europa League and believe English teams do not take it seriously enough, the Spanish hold it in a very high regard for example.
However, with the Europa League being the 'ultimate' prize for winning the FA Cup, this puts the competition on a par with the Capital One Cup (League Cup) as the winners of that also gain Europa League qualification for next season. Again I have a lot of time for the League Cup, but there is no doubt that the FA Cup has always and should always remain the premier cup competition in the country. And with the enthralling season the League Cup has had this year, this puts the FA Cup further in the shadows.

The FA have to find a way of keeping the FA Cup the most prestigious club competition in the world, however, I believe in order to do this, it will take cooperation between them and the Premier League. This is because in my opinion, that the coveted 'fourth place' in Premier League, leading to Champions League qualification, should be scrapped. This then means that the winners of the FA Cup subsequently gain qualification for Europe's premier club competition, with the runner up still gaining Europa League qualification. This, of course, could cause problems as, what if a team in the top 3 in the Premier League wins the FA Cup, as they already have Champions League qualification? Well the solution is easy, fourth place in the Premier League gains that final qualification place.

There is no doubt winning the FA Cup will always be special, but giving clubs the opportunity to play in the Champions League as well as lift that famous old trophy would give the competition a much needed revamp and bring the 'magic of the cup' back.

Newcastle's French revolution gathers pace

Newcastle have a history of signing some of France's very best talent. However, with the Magpies on the verge of signing their eleventh French squad member, is the influx of cheap French players going to harm the clubs future prospects? 

French footballers gracing the sacred turf at St James' Park has not been unfamiliar in the past, with David Ginola, Laurent Robert, Olivier Bernard and Charles N'Zogbia all donning the famous black and white in the past 20 years. But are there too many now crossing the Channel to find a new home in Newcastle?

The Magpies have a very proud history of producing young English talent, that in some cases have gone on to represent England and score for their country in major competitions. The likes of Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Paul Gascoigne and more recently Andy Carroll, are all products of the youth academy, which illustrates the past effectiveness of our youth policy.

With the England national team now not being the force it once was, there are increasing pressures on Premier League clubs to produce top young English talent, to keep the standard of the national game at a high level. With teams such as Newcastle now looking abroad more often to sign talent, there is an increasing decline of English players in Premier League starting XI's.
There is no doubt that Newcastle will continue to produce young English players, with the likes of Adam Campbell, a promising young striker, coming through the ranks. A lad that is due either a loan move or more of a first team chance. Also not forgetting Steven Taylor, who remains a crucial part of United's first team, another recent academy success.

I would love to see young English talent at Newcastle, but there appears to not be enough coming through currently. To be able to bring in young English talent from elsewhere costs an arm and a leg, these days and there is no better example than our very own Andy Carroll, who, after scoring just 11 Premier League goals up to January in the 2010/11 season, was sold to Liverpool for a massive £35m in that January transfer window. This may have been excellent business from Newcastle, but this, along with others, is a prime example of the price Premier League clubs have to pay for young English talent, that isn't even proven at the highest level. Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Stewart Downing (Liverpool) and Jack Rodwell (Manchester City) all went for near enough £20m. Henderson and Downing have failed to live up to the pressures that come with such a huge fee, making a mockery of English football. Rodwell has only recently moved to Eastlands but the lack of first team opportunity (which he was getting at former club Everton) may have a detrimental affect on his future development.

Therefore, is there any wonder why clubs such as Newcastle, who have smaller budgets, seek abroad for cheap, but talented players? No, in fact its completely logical, on and off the field. The additions of Mathieu Debuchy, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Yoan Gouffran, Massadio Haidara and reportedly Toulouse central midfielder Moussa Sissoko this month, all together are said to have cost Newcastle around £17m. A remarkable price for five high class footballers. Therefore, if the signings help us avoid relegation, and push on next season, I don't care where they are from.

There is no doubt nurturing young English/British talent through the youth system is a priority and with these new signings, it may mean our current crop of young players such as Adam Campbell, Sammy Ameobi, Gael Bigirimana, Shane Ferguson, James Tavernier etc, can now start their proper education in the game, whether that be in the reserve side, or going out on loan to a lower league club, as their exposure to the first team may have come too soon, although done them no harm.

Finally the Newcastle hierarchy have acted and enhanced the squad, which should have been enhanced back in the summer, meaning we can now focus on pulling away from the relegation battle and build for next season.

Race for fourth hots up

The race for fourth place in the Premier League and a place in next seasons Champions League is tighter than ever as we enter the business end of the season.

With Manchester City and Manchester United seemingly battling it out for the title, along with Tottenham Hotspur who sit 5 points behind United, we can assume that the top 3 will finish that way, with Spurs 10 points clear of fourth placed Arsenal.

That leaves the battle for fourth between four clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and the surprise package, Newcastle United.
With Arsenal and Chelsea both on 43 points, Newcastle on 42 in sixth and Liverpool on 39 in seventh, it really is anyone's guess as to who will finish in that all important Champions League spot.

Arsenal's points tally this season has to largely go down to the brilliance of their captain Robin Van Persie who has 22 goals already this season in the league. His impeccable form has lead to the Gunners' resurgence after a sluggish start to the season. With Arsene Wenger under pressure to deliver a trophy to the Emirates as well as Champions League football for another year, Van Persie is key to the future success of the club. If Arsenal can qualify for the Champions League, we will likely see the Dutchman in an Arsenal shirt next season. If they fail, we may see him leave the club in the summer.

Chelsea have had an indifferent season under Andre Villas-Boas, who at the age of 34 is by far the youngest manager in the Premier League, have struggled to get results on a consistent basis, which has lead to them being cast adrift in the title race and in a battle to gain Champions League football next season. The key men for Chelsea will be Juan Mata and Dider Drogba. Both men can propel the Blues to fourth place. Although the form of Fernando Torres continues to be dismal, he is another man who needs to step up otherwise the men from the Kings Road may find themselves in the Europa League next season. It's still quite feesable for them to miss out on Europe all together.

Liverpool, much like Chelsea, have struggled to go on a consistent winning run, which is why they find themselves in seventh place, three points behind Newcastle. The suspension handed out to controversial striker Luiz Suarez for racist abuse towards Man United's Patrice Evra left Liverpool without their star man for eight games at the back end of 2011 and early 2012, has had a detrimental affect on their season to date. However, Suarez is back and manager Kenny Dalglish knows he, along with Steven Gerrard, are essential to Liverpool having a chance of qualifying for Europe, let alone the Champions League.

Finally we have the seasons surprise package, Newcastle United. The Geordie's enjoyed a 11 game unbeaten run at the start of the season, which saw them rise as high as 2nd, which has set up the platform for the chance to qualify for Europe next season. With the loss of key men during the summer, which was well documented, many tipped Newcastle for the drop, but they have defied a lot of critics and still are very much in the hunt for a place in the Champions League. Demba Ba has been a revelation with 16 league goals, and much like Arsenal with Van Persie, the Magpies have relied on their front man. Manger Alan Pardew has made inspiring new signings such as Yohan Cabaye, Davide Santon and Papiss Cisse along with the players who were already there including Fabricio Coloccini, Cheik Tiote and Tim Krul, will be key as the Toon Army look to cause a massive shock and claim a place in Europe's premier competition next season. What a remarkable story that would be for a club who were playing Championship football 2 seasons ago.

Pardew will have to take a massive amount of the credit for the Magpies wonderful season, but their squad depth may have a detrimental affect on their chances, therefore I expect them to just miss out on the top six, but seventh place represents a remarkable season at St James' Park. The club will look to build in the summer to mount an even more serious charge for Europe next season.
Therefore I believe that it will be Chelsea who will claim that sort after fourth place, with Arsenal just missing out in fifth and Liverpool completing the top six this season.

Captain Cook shines as England bounce back to thrash Pakistan

Alistair Cook scored a magnificent 137 that helped England to their first win over Pakistan this year. Ravi Bopara and Steven Finn also performed as Pakistan were brushed aside in Abu Dhabi. 

England entered the One Day series looking to make up for the embarrassing 3-0 white-wash by Pakistan in the test series, with a young looking squad.

With the likes of Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Matt Prior and Monty Panesar returning home after the test series, there were question marks over who would come in to the one day side, with youngsters Jos Butler, Jonathan Birstow and Jade Dernbach all pushing for places. However, one day skipper Cook pipped for Ravi Bopara and Craig Kieswetter to replace the out going batsmen and Steven Finn added to the bowling ranks. Spinner Samit Patel also retained his spot in the ODI line up as the second spinner.

Cook won the toss and elected to bat first, which seems to be the common thing these days in day-night matches, with batting becoming harder under lights. Kevin Pietersen was chosen to open ahead of the regular one day opener, Kieswetter and both he and Cook got England off to a solid start.
With the score on 57 after 12 overs, the ever reliable Shahid Afridi made the breakthrough for Pakistan, with a ripping leg-spinner that bamboozled Pietersen and clipped his off stump. This brought England's 'Mr Dependable' Jonathan Trott to the crease, but Afridi produced a wonderful googly to bowl Trott through the gate, leaving England now fretting on 57-2.

It looked like the same old story for England against spin on this tour as Ravi Bopara joined Cook in the middle as England desperately needed a big partnership. Cook and Bopara batted patiently, yet aggressively to rebuild England's innings that looked in trouble after Afridi's double strike. The Essex pair put on a superb 131 run partnership before Bopara was stumped off the bowling of Saeed Ajmal for 50, with the score on 188.

Wickets then started to tumble as England looked on course to making a score in excess of 300. Morgan and Kieswetter both fell cheaply leaving Cook, who is not known for his big hitting, to try and score the runs. The captain brought up his 3rd ODI hundred in style with a trademark back-foot cut for four. Cook then fell for 137 off the bowling of Ajmal, as he looked to accelerate, but what a performance he had produced to put his team in a position to post a competitive total. Stuart Broad failed with the bat as he chipped one straight back at Ajmal, but Samit Patel and Graeme Swann helped England to 260-7 off their 50 overs. Indecently, the ever impressive Ajmal picked up figures of 5-43, with all 5 of his wickets coming in his last 4 overs. 

As Pakistan did with their spin attack during England's innings, the tourists kept to their strengths and looked to force a win with their highly talented pace attack. Steven Finn immediately ripped through the Pakistan top order with 4 wickets in his opening spell leaving them reeling on 40-4.

Enter the England spin attack of Swann and Patel, who with their controlled but attacking style of spin bowling, managed to not only restrict the runs but to also take wickets at regular intervals. The only real resistance from Pakistan came with Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi at the crease, however Swann accounted for Akmal whilst Patel dismissed Afridi, dispite dropping him off Swann's bowling previously. Patel ended with figues of 3-26 and Swann 2-19 leaving Stuart Broad to rap up the innings as Ajmal lofted his shot to Cook at mid-off to complete a 130 run victory for England, and their first competitive win since defeating India in the final test at the Oval last summer.