Failing to win FA Cup doesn’t haunt me

IT IS FA Cup third-round Saturday, the one competition I did not win as a player, but later did as a manager with Liverpool.

Why did we never win it, or make a final, during those years? That is a good question. We were the best team around. We either won the First Division or European Cup every year, if not both. We lost a semi-final to Manchester United at Goodison Park in 1979 and against Arsenal at

Highfield Road the following year. That is football, the best team does not always win, and it was the beauty of the FA Cup back then. Is that a regret? I cannot complain about my football career! I have a large trophy cabinet and would never look back and bemoan something that eluded me, no matter how great the FA Cup was when I was a player. It is different today. Both domestic cups have been diminished, the early rounds especially. For everyone now, the focus is either to remain in the Premier League or, at the other end, to win the title or qualify for Europe.

Is the FA Cup a priority for anyone? I think not. Being in the top four is like winning a trophy now. Winning the FA Cup, from a financial perspective, does not allow you to go out and buy the best players — being in the Champions League does.