Paul Lambert believes that top Premier League clubs could do without it, romantics baulk at the prospect of having the competition’s format further altered by the FA and are applying the finishing touches to the “magic of the cup” cliche, which is set to be given its first airing of the season over the weekend.
Whichever opinion one might agree with, it’s undeniable that there’s something special about the 3rd round of the FA Cup, even though a home draw against Swansea is neither the glamorous home tie some would have wished for, nor the rip roaring away trip the overwhelming majority of us hoped for when the draw was done.
United haven’t lifted the FA Cup for a decade now and haven’t reached the final in seven seasons and despite Fergie’s bullish claims about the importance of the competition, British football’s oldest trophy hasn’t topped United’s list of priorities for quite some time now, with the Premier League receiving most, if not all, the attentions on the domestic front.
With a six-game winning run in all competition coming to an end against Spurs on New Year’s Day, however, United find themselves 11 points behind league leaders Arsenal, with retaining the title as improbable a task as seeing Anderson leading Brazil to World Cup glory this summer.
With the title gone, United might as well concentrate on one their remaining shots at glory, for cups have often proved of comfort for clubs suffering a bad spell – not least for United in 1990 when winning the FA Cup triggered an era of success under-you-know-who.
Theoretically, United could have been handed a much tougher draw than Swansea, with Michael Laudrup’s men struggling to recreate last season’s magic, as they’ve had to adapt to the rigours of European football, while injuries have decimated the options at the Danish manager’s disposal.
Injuries are the only thing that has been as constant a feature of United’s first half of the season as their ineptitude and ahead of Sunday, Moyes has the usual problems in terms of selection.
The United manager has admitted that Wayne Rooney has been playing through the pain barrier with a groin injury and could miss a few games at some stage, while Robin Van Persie is still out with a thigh injury – somewhere, a Dutch physiotherapist is grinning – Rafael and Nani are out with groin and hamstring injuries and Phil Jones’ knee hasn’t improved sufficiently as yet.
Given Patrice Evra’s woeful performance against Spurs and Moyes’ aversion to Fabio, Alexander Buttner could make another – probably woeful – appearance, while Chris Smalling should retain his spot at right-back, unless Moyes decides to persist with deploying Antonio Valencia in that position.
One between Nemanja Vidic and part-time footballer, full-time clothing entrepreneur Rio Ferdinand will partner Jonny Evans, while the midfield four should be chosen between the usual, and largely ineffective, suspects. Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley look favourite to start but, bearing in mind that United have a semifinal – savour the moment, for it might a while before we see another one of those – to negotiate on Tuesday, Ryan Giggs could be involved as could Shinji Kagawa – Twitter, presumably, is bracing itself for the usual meltdown sparked by the Japanese’s fans and detractors.
United have beaten Swansea in their last two meetings, 2-1 at home in Fergie’s last game at Old Trafford and 4-1 away in the first game of the season. The future, back then, looked a tiny bit rosier.
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