FA Cup - The Road To Wembley - We Made it to The Final

The one thing I do know, is that the only way for us to be live on the BBC is to make the final. Whenever our semi is played it will be BT again....

 

Just in case anyone is a little vague about how you can qualify for the Europa League (as I know I was), here's a breakdown:-

Top 4 qualify for Champions League (not interested in that really)
5th place qualifies for Europa League group stage proper
FA Cup winners qualify for Europa League group stage proper
Carabao Cup winners qualify for Europa League 3rd qualifying round

Now, if either the FA Cup or Carabao Cup is won by a top 4 side, then 6th place qualifies for Europa League.
If both domestic cups are won by a top 4 side, then 7th place also qualifies for Europa League.

I'm not too sure about this next bit, but would seem logical. If both domestic cups are won by a top 4 side (can only be Man City this season), 6th place would qualify at the group stage and 7th would be 3rd qualifying round. However, if we won the FA Cup, for example, we would enter the Europa Cup at the group stage proper, and 6th place would qualify for Europa league 3rd qualifying round.

So hypothetically, if we won the FA Cup, on current league standings, we would enter the Europa League at a later stage than Chelsea, which would be very satisfying.

On the flip side, if either Wolves or Brighton win the FA Cup, we cannot possibly qualify for Europe, as 7th place would not be a qualifying position.

 

Wednesday 3rd April looks good to me.

 

Got the seal of approval from this joker.

 

He’s right because we went out earlier in the competition when we played a reserve side but got our place back by the FA for being so daring.

Edit: I suppose I should pay grudging respect that at least he still recognises that going for the Cup is much better than Premier league places (which I like) but he does seem to ignore us finishing 7th and qualifying for Europa League as an option. Clearly Wolves should already be booking their hotels.

 

Saints supporter I work with seems to think it highly likely that our rearranged game with them may well be on the same night.

 

We cannot rest on our laurels and go cup crazy though. We are 8th but Leicester and West Ham are hot on our heels now. Even Everton are only 3 points behind. Ok, we do have a game in hand, which is Southampton at home, but our next game is United away, so we could get overtaken by a couple at this point.

Win our remaining home games and the match at Huddersfield and we'll have more than enough point to finish 7th, but we could easily get distracted and lose a bit of momentum in the league if we're not careful.

 

Just in case anyone is interested dull palace stats....

We have beaten them 3 times this season, each game ending 2-1 to us.

We have also ensured that every combination of scoring has occurred:

• League (H): scored, scored, conceded
• League (A): conceded, scored, scored
• FA Cup: scored, conceded, scored

 

I wouldn't mind that - would give us something to think about and might help to avoid my descent into Semi Final obsession insanity!

 

The logic is amazing. We 'disrespected' the cup by making 11 changes.
So did West Ham who made 6 changes.
But when we made 7 changes for the PL clash, there's no mention of us disrespecting the Premier League even though it's more changes than West Ham made.

 

We won't finish 7th and it won't be due to the cup.

 

Means a lot Chris. Thanks.

Finishing 8th, winning the FA Cup and get approval from Chris Sutton and it's the greatest season ever.

 

I completely disagree. The league season is over. We're not going down. Let's throw everything at the cup. If we get past Wolves, then we're almost assured of a European place as losing finalists, assuming Man City get into the CL.

I also think the fact that the two FA cup games are at Wembley will benefit us, as the vastly larger pitch will help our expansive game.

 

We got drawn at home in the semi m8

 

Not sarcastic in the slightest. If either ourselves or Wolves want to win the cup, the optimal draw was to get Brighton, obviously.

The next best draw would have been to get Man City as you'll likely be facing up against Mahrez and Jesus. Two formidable players of course but not their first choice. In the final it'll be Aguero and Sterling as there is every chance that is the only meaningful game City play after May 3rd.

I am thrilled with a chance of making the final. I am saying though that our chances of winning that final (and Wolves) are lower than if the draw had been different

 

Fortunately as the designated "away team" they won't get the chance to narrow the pitch to play to their strengths.
I just hope we get a chance to train on the astroturf to try out the surface before the big game(s).

 

Is it possibly 2nd qualifying round for LC winners/7th place? That's where Burnley came in at least.. though it's probably changed again! and what if an English side was to win this seasons CL or Europa league finals.. does that change anything?

NB I think they'll be setting up university degree courses in "Euro qualification" before long.

 

Makes one pine for the Cup Winners Cup.

 

I know Sutton had this thing with Shearer when they were known as SAS at Blackburn, but am the only one who thinks he is a lot " noisier " as a pundit than he ever was as a player!

 

All the more shame that Swansea were denied the win they deserved. A straight shootout for the cup and a place in Europe would have been amazing.

 

It doesn't change the amount of European places English teams get. England are allocated 7 places. 4 in the Champions League and 3 in the Europa League.

However, if an English club wins the Europa Cup or Champions League, they are automatically qualified for the Champions League for the following season, regardless of their league position.

That means England could potentially get one extra place in the Champions League. This occurred in 2016-17 when Man Utd won the Europa League and qualified for Champions League, but finished 6th. England had 5 representatives in the 2017-18 season in the Champions League. However, that reduces the allocation for the Europa Cup.

In the 2017-18 only Everton and Arsenal that qualified for the Europa Cup.

So the total number of English sides playing in Europe in any one season is always 7. The only way that can change is if UEFA decide to increased or decrease England's allocation going forward.

 

Man City, distracted by a league campaign and upcoming CL fixtures, will lose to Brighton. Just as the dream seems possible and we really start to believe, we'll go down to a late Ruben Neves winner. Bet your house on it.

 

It's likely we will have to play Southampton in the rearranged fixture on Tuesday 2nd April in the lead up to the semi final.

Wolves are also playing on this date, so it would not be an unfair disadvantage for us, but I suspect Gracia and the players would prefer not to have to play it.

It could be Southampton's gain though, if we field a slightly weakened team, like we did at City. I'm sure Cardiff, Burnley etc would not be too delighted either, if we did that.

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/s...ikely-to-take-place-before-fa-cup-semi-final/

 

Thank God Javi listened to Chris Suttons' advice.

 

Unfortunate moniker "in this moment"...

 

While I can understand a little about the logic you are using, I think it’s stupid to accuse fans of talking ‘drivel’ when getting excited about reaching a cup final and believing we have had a decent draw - not the best, not the worst.

When I try and align myself with the pessimism you’re showing, I remember Wigan beating City in a the final.

Is it going to be tough? Sure. Is it unlikely? Yes. But are we capable of beating Wolves and City? Definitely.

Be excited about it rather than fearing what has not even happened yet. And might not.

 

Very well said, Sir!
Come on LPC - give your head a wobble

 

How can I ensure I only stand with people with at least 1000 posts?

I don’t want to be surrounded with day trippers again.

 

Actually, you make a good point. Of course everyone wanted Brighton in the semi's, but I'm not sure I'd swap City for Wolves. However, like you said City will have an eye on the Spurs match, which is clearly the priority for them. But even if City fielded a weaker side, and they probably would, they'd still have Aguero, Sterling and the rest on the bench to come on if required. You only need to play against these guys for 20 minutes for them to damage you.

Our head-to-head with City is grim reading. We've lost our last 10, and only two of those were by 1 goal. All the other defeats were by 2 or more goals. In fact we've only beaten them once in the past 18 matches, and that was way back in 1989.

I would say it's impossible, or as impossible as you could ever have in football, that Watford could get past City, even if they had an eye on Spurs.

What is far better, if we do beat Wolves, is to hope that Brighton produce the football miracle and knock them out for us, so we play Brighton in the final.

At the end of the day, we know we can beat Wolves, we know we can beat Brighton, but we also know Man City is probably a step too far for this current Watford team.

Even if City beat Brighton, we have a realistic chance of getting to a major final for only the second time in our history. Had we played City in the semi, that possibility would be reduced to virtually nil.

 

Join us in the back bedroom on our Qatari stream.

 

I'm ignoring any FA Cup mentions on here and social media until game day....

Frankly I'm sick of all the sycophants in the media saying how wonderful a Wolves v Man City final would be, or how wonderful Wolves are...personally, just keep quiet, let everyone else do the talking and then smash the ***** out of them on the day.

Then just sit back and laugh....unless we lose....then continue ignoring it.

 

Many of that team have now moved on.

 

Different players....but same result alas.

 

And if we do lose to City, I really hope it is by fair means. If City need a goal, Sterling will dive so the Stockley Park Posse need to be on their game.

More broadly, how to beat City?

No team will outpass them so I suggest a direct approach. Swansea & Liverpool have both succeeded this way. Without Fernandinho, their centre backs can be suspect.

But first Wolves.

Troy & Dre to bully their CBs &, vs 3 at the back, pace down each flank.

Geri & Ken on red alert.