MAGIC OF CUP IS HARD TO BEAT... SOMEHOW THE SHOW MUST GO ON
TO say there are bumpy times ahead for professional football is the understatement of the year.
OK, the year is only three days old but it will still take some beating.
The difficulties looming large will render the unjustified complaints from Tottenham and Everton trivial.
Their gripes were centred on the late notice of fixture cancellations and a lack of communication.
But those postponements are just a taster of the difficulties that are beginning to envelop a sport which has done remarkably well to function so relatively smoothly during these terrible times.
Matches in the EFL are being called off in serious numbers and even the odd fixture casualty in the Premier League threatens to cause havoc with a heavily congested schedule.
And then there is next weekend’s FA Cup third round.
The draw has thrown up some truly magical ties, Marine versus Mourinho typifying the truly unique magic of the game’s greatest club knockout competition.
On paper, it is a fantastic third round.
Even though there will be no supporters at any of the
grounds, it will make for compelling viewing on television.
But, judging by the amount of clubs in the EFL being struck by Covid-19, it is inevitable there will be postponements.
Finding slots to rearrange the matches will be the fiendishly tricky job.
There is already a nagging feeling within the game that something will have to give in 2021.
With the pandemic numbers as they are, is it really going to be possible for ALL competitions to run their normal course?
Premier League, the three divisions of the EFL, Champions League, Europa
League, Carabao Cup, FA Cup, the Euros, not to mention the World Cup qualifying fixtures in March. Frankly, it would be astonishing if all reached a conclusion on schedule.
And I suspect, certainly among the bigger clubs, the FA Cup might be fairly low down on the list of competitions that need to be saved at all costs.
That is why it is imperative the third round somehow resists the disruption that many predict and that seems inevitable.
That is why the Football Association – which is paying for non-Premier League clubs to be tested 72 hours before the games – is saying a fixture must go ahead if both clubs have 14 players who are Covid-negative.
But the bottom line is that medical advice is the be-all and end-all.
If that dictates a match is called off, at however late notice, that is final. If that happened for numerous ties next weekend, what would that mean for the FA Cup?
Chaos, probably.
But in these unprecedented times, there would have to be compromise.
Clubs using reserve players and youth players as long as they are free from the virus, venue-switching if that happened to help.
Presumably, we won’t go down the coin-toss route – for the youngsters out there, Italy won a European Championship semi-final on the flip of a coin – but it would not be the biggest crime if a club simply could not fulfil a tie.
These are, after all, unique circumstances.
But when you look at the wonderful draw, somehow the FA Cup show must go on.
There will be disputes, moaning, groaning, huge inconvenience, but somehow it must go on.