Show more respect to beloved FA Cup
I HOPE Liverpool win the Premier League. But I am getting sick of Jurgen Klopp’s bleating about the FA Cup replay. Don’t enter a competition if you don’t like the rules. No one except your own fans will care, and it would give sides not funded by billionaires a chance of progressing to the latter stages. I am pleased the FA has stood firm (for a change) in insisting on the Shrewsbury Town replay being played on the date set. If Liverpool field an under-strength team, as Klopp has warned, the FA should look at a charge of bringing the game into disrepute. It should consider refusing to allow Liverpool to take part in the competition next season.
R. SANDERS, Stourbridge, W. Mids. JURGEN KLOPP shows complete disrespect to Shrewsbury Town and its supporters for whom a trip to Anfield is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Liverpool’s fixture congestion is a result of its success and it should plan to cope with it, not expect others to do this. If Premier League divas feel cups are an unwanted distraction, they should not enter. I’m sure Championship and lower league clubs would relish a trip to Wembley.
ANDY SUTCLIFFE, Alfreton, Derbys. SHOULD Liverpool reach the FA Cup final, can we take it that neither Jurgen Klopp nor any members of the first team will be at Wembley Stadium?
PAUL PROCTER, London SW5. WHEN the really big money came into the Premier League, such were the rewards on offer that the suits became interested in football. For the top four teams, the Champions League offers a phenomenal financial payout. Consequently, the two major domestic cup competitions are viewed with disdain by the big clubs, with weakened sides fielded, accompanied by negative comments by managers on the necessity of replays. Jurgen Klopp should not lose sight of how fortunate he is and should stop insulting the world’s oldest cup competition. Instead, he should perform his extremely well-paid duties in the FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury Town. I wonder how long it will be before the big clubs in Europe abandon their own leagues to join a closed shop.
M. BUSBY, Birchington, Kent.