Easy for those of us old enough to remember 1980 and 1975 to demand Nuno goes ‘all in’ with his strongest squad for the FA Cup Monday night fixture against Brentford. The memorable Wembley scenes – so ‘nearly’ replicated in Cardiff in 2006 – always bring a tear to the eye and a lump to the throat of Hammers fans of a certain age who were brought up with the magic of the cup tournament.
Football today is a little less about romance, more about pragmatism. Pundit Chris Sutton – hardly West Ham’s biggest admirer – believes the Hammers are destined for defeat on Monday solely because Nuno will rotate his side with Premier League survival top of his priorities:
“I hate to see Premier League teams making changes for the FA Cup but, with the teams battling relegation, I can at least understand them doing it.
Bowen Summerville and Fernandes all likely to be rested
West Ham will definitely rest some players here, and I don’t think they will be too bothered if they go out.
The first match my dad took me to as a boy was the 1980 FA Cup final, when Trevor Brooking scored West Ham’s winner with a header, but I don’t see them back at Wembley this time.”
Says Sutton in his BBC Sport article.
Fans will view the likely ‘resting’ of Bowen, Summerville and Fernandes – most likely to benefit – as beneficial probably for the ‘greater good‘ of the Premier League campaign: In any case the trio will likely remain on the bench, as in the last round, to answer the call if needed.
In the meantime the absence from Friday night’s u21 game of Mohamadou Kante, Ezra Mayers and Keifer Lamadrid gives a likely indication of the Hammers’ plans for Monday night.
Imagine the season ending with us staying up, the spuds going down and qualifying for Europe after winning the FA cup.
I can dream….
If you were at the 1975 final you’ve got to be at least about 60 these days. Not so many of us left !
As I prefer to say, Chris, 52 pus VAT.
You don’t have to have been at the ’75 final to have seen it. Anyone 55 plus might well remember it,I’m sure there are plenty of those.
(Including myself). I was certainly at the 1980 Final though (didn’t see Sutton junior there,or maybe I did).
I thought Fernandes, Soucek looked out for the count against Fulham. Bowen needs a rest for sure, no doubt Summerville, Taty took a knock and runs himself ragged every game… even Diouf after AFCON. They seemed tired out. Think the FA cup like many, is a fabulous competition, always a favourite for a lot of us, but the players looked tired and need to save legs.
Hard to tell from watching 96 mins but they did seem tired. Coaches will just have to take those players who really need a break and rest them; I don’t see a realistic alternative. As someone mentioned will give other players a chance to test their match fitness and some of the youngsters deserve a go, such as Scarles and Mayers.
In midfield we have nobody to provide flair and assists in place of Fernandes and that is where we are really lacking I feel, because WHU game could break down right there and the team could lose the match from the get go. If Traore starts you simply cannot play 4-2-4 and it needs to be 4-3-3, or a real 4-4-2, by which I mean 4 midfielders (Kante, Magassa, Potts, ???), with Kante, Magassa running forward into opposition box as it seems to be a natural part of their game and I’m sure Potts would like a chance at scoring too.
I’m sure Potts & Magassa have the ability, but it is not yet on show because PL games are what they are. Perhaps they need to improve their techniques to gain a yard to find the time to make the passes they are capable of – particularly Potts who never beats, nor drifts pass opposing midfielders. Pity neither Earthy nor Orford (Fearon?) are 1st team players yet – just bad timing.
Orford is closer than we all think…
Pleased to hear that, because he looks like an all round midfielder who can also make time for himself to hit a lovely pass. He looks composed, ‘great little player’ I’d guess. There is some talent in midfield at WHU nowadays and a mix of styles too. Maybe next season then.
I love the FA cup for all its traditions even if it has lost a bit of its magic. The biggest problem we have is we don’t have the decent squad size to give it a real go. Being this threadbare and having to fight a relegation battle means we can’t risk loosing a player in any position. Unfortunately when we seem to revert to plan B we usually see a much inferior performance.
Why not give ajala a run out in the cup to see what hes capable of, as has been said the fa Cup is going to 1 of the big clubs so let’s see some academy players out there as in the previous round . I don’t think it’s disrespecting the tradition the cup as the big teams have been doing that for year’s.
Have to agree with him here. Much as I’d love a cup run, staying in the Prem is paramount
If we had to choose between beating Brentford in the FA cup and beating Brentford in the league next month it must be the league
While I believe that we should try to win every game, the fact that the first four teams through to the quarter finals are Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City make winning the FA cup (or even getting to Wembley) a long shot
So lets give it a go on Monday but keep our eyes on maintaining our premier league status
Survival should be the clear priority.
What was Sutton doing at the 1980 fa cup final? Was his Dad or him supporting West Ham or Arsenal? Or were they just there as tourists?
No idea. His father was a former player for Norwich and Sutton himself was born in Nottingham. They moved to Norfolk as a family later. Perhaps junior did have a Hammers leaning or more likely senior would have obtained tickets as a player and took junior to see a Cup Final. Hardy “tourists”. We called them “neutrals” at the time.