After earning a spot in the fourth round of the FA Cup, could a cup run be on the cards?
In recent years cup games have appeared as something of a chore and one of which we have avoided with impressive but slightly depressing consistency. It has been 11 years since we last played in the fourth round of the FA Cup and 4 years since that League Cup run that took us to the Emirates in the quarter-finals.
In fairness our place in the Premier League meant that it only took one victory to reach the fourth round whereas it takes two wins for a League One team to get to the fourth round and during our recent Championship years we had some tough draws that saw us exit early. Also it has often suited us to exit the cup competitions early with the club wanting to be fully focused on the league campaign.
But now we have the opportunity to give the cup a genuine go. We are 10th in the league after 21 games with 30 points under our belt so a cup run is an attractive prospect. Of course the league is far from over and nothing is a certainty but our impressive display so far this season means we are in a good position to focus some time on the FA Cup. Personally I don’t like to count my chickens before they hatch so would prefer a focus on the league for a while longer but I fully trust Le Bris and the club with their decision.
RLB is clearly interested in the cup possibilities fielding a much stronger team than I and many others expected. After the Brentford game I thought he would rotate considerably but instead showed both Everton and the FA Cup respect with a strong side. We would actually make quite a good cup team as we have proved ourselves to be quite difficult to score against – a useful characteristic to have in a knockout competition.
Our home support seems to have a weird relationship with home draws in cup competitions. Despite our feverish and unrelenting support we never seem to be overly motivated to attend home games in the cup. Last year we were knocked out during extra time in a dull and unappealing same-league game against Stoke. This sort of game was never going to cause queues at the ticket office but we should have had more fans there than we did. I remember the north and west stands being closed leading to a poor atmosphere that admittedly matched the display on the pitch. I also remember Enzo Le Fée coming out to greet the fans for the first time since signing and being slightly ashamed to see him met with a half-empty stadium.
It should be noted that the club have to do their part too. They need to do more to get the turnstiles clicking for these home draws. Whether it be offering loyalty points making the tickets cheaper or having kids in for a pound they need to take some initiative and ramp up the interest. If Everton are selling out at home we should be too.
Now an away game at Oxford awaits us and it provides a good opportunity to reach the fifth round. They are struggling in the Championship sitting second-bottom which may mean that they are in poor form but by no means will it be an easy game. If they think they are cut adrift from safety they may well throw caution to the wind for a cup run but even if they don’t I am sure they will still be well motivated to give us a game. It will be interesting to see the eleven that Le Bris fields in this game as another strong one would fully reveal our FA Cup intentions.
Overall a genuine cup run would definitely be an interesting prospect but I wouldn’t want to jump the gun and take too much focus off of the league. I would still like us to respect the competition and by the time this fixture comes to the forefront we will probably have a better idea of the outcome in the league which will no doubt impact RLB’s decision-making.
What do you think – is there a cup run in the near future? And why is our home cup support so different?
Category: General Sports
