Cup football is gone

Cup football was for a long time regarded as one of the highlights of the football season, where the game was not about performance, stability or consistency, it was a just a game of: Get a scrappy goal into the back of the fuckin' net and say no more about it. The type of football where Emile Heskey could tap in from a half yard and celebrate as if there was no tomorrow.

But I'm afraid to say ladies and gents that Cup football excitement is no more. 

There are several reasons for my seemingly wide and controversial statement about the decline of the Cup. First of all, is the fact that there are now two cups, the FA Cup and the Carling Cup, the difference has never been explained to me but the FA Cup is better (for some unknown reason) because it will get you to the Charity Shield Final at the beginning of the next season. 

All very complicated. 

The Carling Cup, mostly due to a personal idol of mine, Arsene Wenger, has been reduced to a playground for the U-18's. Great in a way, but when Man City decide to field a full strength side against an Arsenal side with an average age of about 21, you feel the balance of play has shifted. This makes the game unnecessarily unfair and just creates uninteresting games and sometimes conveys a message of "I don't give a shit about this cup, so lets field the twelve year olds" from the managers to the fans.

Then there is the FA Cup, and this is where it get's a little more interesting. Fans flock around the country supporting their team and the draw is sort of mildly entertaining but the games offer little. I watched Arsenal-Leeds last night and sat through 70 minutes of boredom before at last. Thierry Henry came on and galvanized the Arsenal side. Great, so Arsenal won and a legend returned, but looking back at the Third Round of the Cup I wished it didn't happen.

For me, there are two main problems with cup football. The first, people and the teams by consequence seem  disinterested by this brand of football and don't really get hyped about it anymore. This is a problem because if there is no fan support, there is no game.

Second, and more importantly, is the fact that the quality of the football is not that good. As I said, it's two teams trying to hit each other on the break with no fluidity or class about them. Surprises like a lower league side being the Premier League leader are rare and even then not that exciting. The general air of disinterest and the more important aspect of cup football becoming two scenarios: A. Youngsters playing and the game being riddled with errors, understandable but not necessarily enjoyable; or B the game being shite with a last gasp goal sending the fans into euphoric raptures which did not reflect the game.

Premiership football cannot be contested as the finest brand of football there is. Teams need to be competitive, consistent but also with a touch of class.