We are at that time of the year again – Round Three of the FA Cup – where another glimmer of an opportunity for cup glory arises for West Ham supporters. The Hammers face a tough tie away to Everton first up – a side against whom they seldom do well.
But would it actually be such a bad thing if West Ham went down at this first hurdle? This is the sort of dilemma which regularly pops up at this time of the year; whether or not the club actually need the distraction of a potential cup run which could arguably impact upon their league form?
Certainly there is an argument to be had on that front; with the Hammers currently going so well in the Premier League and still in contention to battle for a European place by the end of the campaign, coupled with the fact that the FA Cup has lost much of it’s importance over the years, some would say that a longish cup run, which is ultimately likely to end in failure anyway, is not worth the extra chance of injuries and tiredness which could be inflicted on the squad.
This issue has in fact been one of the sources of contention between some West Ham supporters and manager Sam Allardyce during his tenure at the club. In each of the three previous FA Cup opportunities West Ham have had with Allardyce at the helm, the club have failed to get beyond Round Three, which is a pretty abysmal record. To be fair to Big Sam, in the second of those cup attempts, in 2013, he certainly gave it a go against Manchester United, and we were very unlucky to eventually be knocked out on a replay after a late Robin van Persie goal rescued the Red Devils in the first match.
But in the other two, it was made perfectly clear that, to put it mildly, Allardyce did not consider a cup run as a priority – picking heavily weakened sides. This was highly evident last season in particular, when a side largely made up the youth squad were thrashed 5-0 by Nottingham Forest. Personally I think this was the right move; at the time we were in the midst of an injury crisis, whilst simultaneously fighting a relegation battle and preparing for the ill-fated League Cup semi-final against Manchester City. Another cup run would have been an unwelcome distraction.
This is not the case this time around. This year the Hammers are safe from any sort of relegation danger, and have a much larger squad, capable of challenging on two fronts in the second half of the campaign in my opinion. Indeed I would be happy for the squad to rotate in these matches – and this can easily be done without resorting to using untested youth team players. The likes of Matt Jarvis, Mark Noble, Enner Valencia, Carlton Cole and Diego Poyet haven’t played too much lately and are probably itching for an opportunity to show what they can do. These are the sort of players who would be ideal to start against Everton on Tuesday and we know they are able to produce a good performance.
It is of course very unlikely that West Ham will actually win the FA Cup. But then again the likes of Hull City and Wigan Athletic as well as the Hammers themselves in recent years have shown that it is possible that an unfancied side can make it all the way to the final in this competition. I would certainly love to see them give it a real go this year, and at least get supporters dreaming of cup glory for a few months. It would definitely make the second half of the campaign extra interesting. There is no good reason not to anyway.
Myself and my friends haven’t been to a away game since the forest game and have no intention’s to until BFS has gone, I spent £110 that day and that won’t happened again , so yes we do need to sussed in a cup run if for no other reason than to win some fun back so COYI !!!!.