STRAINS, SPILLS AND CUP SETS
It was a weekend in which we saw the very best and worst of FA Cup culture, from the plucky non-league minnows of Maidstone United beating Ipswich Town in a classic upset, to the crowd ugliness that was so distasteful at the Hawthorns that even the surreal, The truly hilarious sight of a grown man dressed as a cauldron making soothing gestures in an attempt to lower the temperature made it the kind of “scenes we want to see.”
There were other games too. Manchester City’s visit to Tottenham on Friday, billed as a round-robin tie, turned out to be anything but. A dismal encounter in which the visitors ran around their hosts for 87 minutes without doing anything vulgar, as scoring was ultimately settled by a controversial goal from Nathan Aké, the defender who poked home from a corner after the ball was passed to him by Guglielmo Vicario it was blurted out. . The debate over whether or not the Spurs goalkeeper was fouled by Rúben Dias was controversial, but he could hardly have looked more forlorn unless he had swapped places with [spoiler alert – Football Daily Culture Ed] gullible young Mollie, who found out that her trusted friend Harry had been a traitor all along during a much more compelling knockout match broadcast at the exact same time on another terrestrial TV channel.
In their seventh FA Cup match of the season, Maidstone ensured they would achieve an eighth by beating Ipswich, despite the two clubs being 98 places apart in the pyramid. In a by-the-book giant killing, the part-time National League South tried their luck with the kind of fierce tenacity we haven’t seen since AP McCoy hung up his whip and saddle, scoring the only two chances to come their way and defending as dervishes – with some help in the woodwork – to earn their place in the last 16 and the disappointing, unglamorous draw at Coventry or Sheffield Wednesday that comes with it.
Despite their best efforts, League Two side Newport County failed to join them in the hat, despite an electrifying comeback from two goals against Manchester United that prompted the author of at least one world-famous daily football email to turn on their bar stool and focus on the pub TV, having lost all interest in the match for the previous 23 minutes. Disproving the long-held theory that his right leg is solely for standing, Antony dropped to his knees and thanked the heavens above Rodney Parade after smashing in the goal that broke Newport hearts. While the Brazilian hailed his strike as a first step towards redemption, more cynical commentators wondered aloud whether the 23-year-old had simply found his level.
Meanwhile, at Fulham, Alan Shearer muddied his gaiters in an away match for the first time since 1985 and looked to be having a great time as Newcastle progressed to the fifth round with the minimum of fuss. Despite his best efforts to keep his presence inconspicuous, his decision to wear a jacket and hat in January always made him stand out in a group of hardcore traveling Mags, and he was subject to considerable heckling and serenading. And finally, on a weekend of action that saw some notable goals scored, the pick was a fine solo performance from Jaidon Anthony. After losing his mother last week, the Leeds winger unveiled a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Rest In Perfect Peace Mum’ and was rightly booked for a tribute that was as heartfelt as it was unprovocative. Oh, to have had West Brom’s Boiler Man on hand, if only to plead for some compassion and common sense as Jobsworth referee Lewis Smith reached for his pocket.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join John Brewin from 7.30pm GMT for hot MBM coverage of Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Wrexham in the FA Cup Fourth Round, while Yara El-Shaboury will be on deck for updates from Senegal 3-1 at 8pm Ivory Coast at Afcon.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know where it came from. I think we have to be very careful when you talk about personal things especially. When someone makes a statement about what we did personally. Secondly, because I think someone doesn’t deserve to hear such news. I’ve always said the complete opposite. That’s why I feel upset” – Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta explains why he feels so funky after reports circulated and were quickly shot down that he would follow the leadership of Jürgen Klopp and a lot to do.”
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Re: Klopp leaves Liverpool and history repeats itself (Friday’s Football Daily letters). Eight months after leaving Liverpool in February 1991, Kenny Dalglish took over at then second-tier Blackburn, got them promoted and won the Premier League within four years. In any case, as a Rovers fan I welcome the imminent arrival of our new era of Klopp-fuelled dominance, starting around September” – Mark Rushton.
I am grateful to Klopp for many things, but perhaps his greatest impact was that he made me believe in monsters. Mentality monsters” – Peter Oh.
You have to feel sorry for Xavi. Have we ever seen a footballer go from happy-go-lucky to dead-eyed, depressed so quickly? He has a triumphant career at Barcelona – the old Barcelona, the magical one – disappears into the desert sands for a while, returns as the prodigal son and is quickly crushed. We know management does that to a player over the years, but this was what, eighteen months or so? Sic transit gloriasure, but the transit looks indecently fast in this case. Another step back in Barcelona’s gloomy spiral” – Charles Antaki.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our Prizeless Letter of the Day is… Mark Rushton.
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THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY
Plymouth Argyle and Leeds will have to leave again after a 1-1 draw at Elland Road, setting up a replay that the Championship duo could probably do without. “This competition is ruthless,” sighed Daniel Farke after seeing how his team was set back by Adam Randell’s equalizer after Anthony’s earlier goal. “It’s a bit annoying because we could have had a proper weekend off after Bristol [City] game [next weekend] – the players would have deserved it.” The winners face a trip to Chelsea or Aston Villa in round five and Argyle boss Ian Foster honked: “We’re in the hat. Home Park is a difficult place for everyone and if we play like we did in the second half we will take our chances.”
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Jordan are through to the last eight of the Asian Cup after a 3-2 win over Iraq in which they came from behind to score twice in extra time, helped by tournament top scorer Aymen Hussein who was earlier sent off for celebrating his goal.
DR Congo has claimed a dramatic place in the Afcon quarter-finals, seeing off Egypt 8-7 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal missed from the spot when DRC made an appointment with Guinea.
West Midlands Police have warned that those involved in the violence at Wolves’ win over West Brom can expect to be hit with “club bans and wider football bans”. A total of six arrests were made, five during the match and one beforehand. The men, ranging in age from 16 to 58, were held for a variety of crimes, ranging from waving a corner flag to assaulting a police officer.
A 13% win rate has done little to save Darren Moore, who has been handed the opportunity by Championship strugglers Huddersfield Town. “We appointed Darren based on his credentials as a manager, but it is now clear that this has not worked as we expected and hoped,” said owner Kevin Nagle.
Erik ten Hag says he will deal with Marcus Rashford after leaving the forward out of Manchester United’s trip to Newport due to an “internal matter”.
And Ipswich have healed their wounds by winning the race to sign AFC Wimbledon striker Ali Al-Hamadi, one of the brightest talents outside England’s top two tiers. “Everyone I’ve spoken to has given the club incredible reviews, so I’m just excited to get started when I get back,” he raved.
DO YOU WANT MORE?
Get ready for a really big interview with UEFA CEO Aleksander Ceferin, courtesy of Nick Ames.
With Jürgen Klopp and Xavi both announcing their departures at the end of the season, Jonathan Wilson examines the burden of the love affair between managers. Talk to Wilson about what comes next for Liverpool and Will Unwin’s stance from Anfield as the news begins to sink in.
Sid Lowe has weighed in on Xavi’s impending departure and lamented the Barca manager’s inability to inject his football DNA into the current crop.
Leipzig couldn’t come up with a coherent response as Deniz Undav helped himself to a treble in a victory that kept Stuttgart’s daydream of a season with a nice hazy filter alive. Andy Brassell brings out the latest Bundesliga fun.
Jannik Sinner attracted a lot of Italian attention last weekend, but Inter and Juve have created a kind of Derby d’Italia, reports Nicky Bandini.
Come get your WSL talking points, as Bristol City are adrift at the bottom, while Arsenal and Manchester City keep things tight at the top.
Here are ten more, this time from this weekend’s FA Cup fourth round. Contains major puffing joy by George Elokobi. And John Brewin separately examines the meat grinding of talent at Manchester United after they huffed and puffed past Newport.
And Kimmich? Tracks? Grist for the mill.
MEMORY LONG
Five hundred games for Juventus equates to a plaque and a plastic model of a Fiat 500 for Alessandro del Piero before their Serie B match against Bari in January 2007. After all that unpleasantness in Calciopoli, Juve could become a team in the Italian second level with Del Piero, Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet, among others. Juve would top the table that season ahead of second-placed… Napoli.