| One-Off is Off-Putting |
17 March 2003
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Wenger Wrong on One-Off FA Cup Matches
Arsenal's manager, Arsene Wenger, made a splash in the British press this week suggesting that FA Cup matches become ome-off games after the third round. He believes that having two games played, one at each home field, puts too much of a demand on the players' time. Mr. Wenger should stick to leading Arsenal's Premiership campaign and, if other non-league play should go, it ought to be the Champions' League.
The FA Cup is the oldest sporting tournament in the world, and part of its appeal is pure tradition. If that were the only reason for keeping the current system, then it should probably be changed. However, beyond the joy of seeing a Saturday league team get the chance to play above their station, there is an inherent fairness in the two-game system. The home-field advantage that means so much is balanced out -- each team gets it once. And for clubs outside the Premiership, the extra money could be the difference between surviving and thriving.
On the other hand, there is that bastard competition, the Champions' League. There is nothing wrong with having club-level international competition, and watching Arsenal play Bayern Munich or Juventus against Real Madrid is soccer at its best. Yet, there was a time when the Champions' League was just that, for the champions of each country, not the runners-up or the second runners-up.
Mr. Wenger does have a case for reducing the number of games EPL players have each season; injuries and fatigue create less-than-ideal conditions for the important games at season's end. Tampering with the FA Cup, though, is an idea whose time shouldn't come -- at least not until the Champions' League returns to its roots.