CUP SAVIOURS
As City prioritise Europe, Hammers show why they are...
MANCHESTER Airport yesterday afternoon and passengers for flight 5K712 to Kiev had already removed thoughts of the FA Cup from their heads.
Manuel Pellegrini and his Manchester City players — the ones the public would recognise — will begin the most important week of their season in the Champions League tomorrow and end it in London at the Capital One Cup final on Sunday.
Pellegrini and his chief executive Ferran Soriano were of the same opinion when the decision was made to effectively sacrifice the FA Cup by fielding a team of young players in that 5- 1 defeat at Chelsea on Sunday.
‘We had to make a decision about the rest of the season, said Pellegrini. ‘Now we look forward to the game in Kiev.’
For City, the end will justify the means if they finish this week with a trophy and in control of their last-16 European tie with Dynamo Kiev.
In east London, however, there are different priorities for the Barclays Premier League team on the right end of a 5-1 FA Cup result this weekend. West Ham have not only accommodated and embraced the FA Cup but have pretty much prioritised it.
The five goals they scored in front of 7,000 travelling fans at Blackburn on Sunday epitomised the way the Hammers perform under Slaven Bilic. Exuberant, expressive and powerful, his team played the football of the round to put away opposition from the Championship, and this after falling behind.
Coming at the end of a week when there has been so much debate about the FA Cup and what to do with it, West Ham’s commitment to the competition was welcome. And they were not the only ones. Everton’s win at Bournemouth was also a result of note, while Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink was not tempted to respond to news of City’s strategy ahead of their game by resting some of his regulars.
At West Ham, though, intentions are clear. They have suffered in the cups in recent years due to the pragmatic approach of Bilic’s predecessor Sam Allardyce but the aim this season is to use the FA Cup as a tool with which to bring momentum to the end of the Barclays Premier League season.
Winning breeds winning, and all that.
This, for example, is one of the factors that former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson credits with propelling his team to the 1999 Treble that so defines his years at Old Trafford.
West Ham defender James Collins revealed: ‘The gaffer said himself he wants to have a right go at winning the FA Cup, and why not? We have come this far. We knew it would be a tough game at the weekend and that is why the gaffer picked the team he did at Blackburn.
‘I was involved last time when we got to the final in 2006. It is still possibly the highlight of my career. To go there with such a good team and be on the right side of the result this time would be amazing.’
Collins may be getting ahead of himself. West Ham have to go to Manchester United for a quarter- final that promises to be one of the highlights of the last eight.
Bilic’s plan is clear, however, and his team selection at the weekend — resting only a couple of players — was free of the politics that seemed in part to drive City’s approach.
It would be unfair and inaccurate to suggest Pellegrini was being disingenuous when he suggested he sacrificed his club’s place in the FA Cup in order to rest players ahead of tomorrow’s game. That was the primary motive.
Nevertheless, it is also the case that City chief executive Soriano believes the English football authorities should do more to help their clubs in Europe by shifting domestic fixtures to accommodate them in Champions League weeks. That is what happens in his native Spain and the former Barcelona executive will hope he has made his point here in recent days.
Certainly it was regrettable to see such an under- strength City line-up at Stamford Bridge, even if Jurgen Klopp chose a similarly unfamiliar team for Liverpool’s two games against West Ham without attracting the same amount of criticism.
West Ham only came through that particular tie with a goal at the end of extra time, of course, but that may yet be something that defines their season.
The FA Cup and all who care for it would probably be happy enough if it did.