Cue up the 1999 footage before Friday night at the Emirates, plus Accrington, Newport and Shrewsbury all eye upsetsThe difference between victory and defeat on Manchester United’s last trip to London, their 1-0 sneak past Tottenham at Wembley, was goalkeeper David de Gea’s stunning performance but he did not board the first-class train carriage taking Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team to the capital. Instead, Sergio Romero will don the gloves with Lee Grant as reserve. Despite Romero being the Argentinian national team’s long-term first-choice, De Gea’s absence surely lifts Arsenal’s expectations. Solskjær has displayed old-school values since taking over, won the FA Cup twice with United, and started that legendary 1999 semi-final replay against Arsenal, but modern practice dictates reserve goalies...
Nketiah shows rich promise, Chelsea may rue Fàbregas’s exit, things about to hot up for Solskjær and what next for Carroll? Related: FA Cup third round serves up shocks as Barnet, Oldham and Newport shine Related: The Dozen: the weekend’s best FA Cup photos Continue reading...
A trip back to 1953 at Bloomfield Road, tricky ties for Fulham and Leicester, and plenty of minnows with eyes on a big scalpThe story of the 1953 Charity Shield wasn’t too dissimilar from the story of the 1953 FA Cup final. Stan Mortensen was on target for Blackpool, but his teammate Stanley Matthews ran off with the man-of-the-match plaudits. Yet the tale wasn’t an exact facsimile: despite the heroic efforts of the two Stans, Cup winners Blackpool lost the Shield to league champions Arsenal. The veteran Tommy Lawton was on the scoresheet for the Gunners that day, and, pass that crowbar please, the modern-day Arsenal have similar star strikers on which to call: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, the increasingly...
There are only 10 third-round games at the traditional time this weekend, as the competition loses its sense of community along with its grandeurSome weird things have been happening to the FA Cup of late, with fifth-round replays being arbitrarily abolished and the final being played at Tottenham’s home ground last season. Nothing will make football followers of a certain age feel quite as seasick, though, as contemplating this weekend’s third-round programme.That word is a bit of a giveaway there, because the FA Cup third round never used to be a programme – it used to be a fixed point in the football season and perhaps the most eagerly anticipated one at that. It would probably be wise to keep...
Max and co talk the FA Cup final, dramatic scenes in Italy, club legend departures and a former Swan deciding the Turkish titleRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Priya Ramesh and debutant Will Unwin to discuss the weekend’s football, starting with the FA Cup final, which may bring the end of Antonio Conte’s reign at Chelsea, despite their victory. José Mourinho used his post-match press duties to open a few familiar cans of worms, from ‘imagine if my team played boring football’ to ‘our opposition were predictably one-note’. Continue reading...