Last weekend saw a break from premier league action, with the FA cup taking its place. The most intriguing matchup from the fifth round draw featured the last two Premier League champions, Chelsea and Manchester City. What promised to be a highly contested match quickly turned into somewhat of a farce when Manuel Pellegrini, often criticized for being too conservative in team selections, named six teenagers in the starting eleven. Five were making their first team debut. As a City fan myself I had mixed feelings about the line-up. To see talented youth players given the chance to show their talents to the world is exciting for both the fans and other youth players coming through the system. At the same time, the lineup effectively ensured City’s exit from the competition.
The youngsters were clearly overmatched, but there were bright spots. Kelechi Iheanacho (19) set up City’s first goal to equalize in the first half and continued to look like a real talent (seven goals, four assists in seven starts in all competitions). Aside from a few errant clearances, 17-year-old Tosin Adarabioyo starred in the defense that held an in-form Chelsea to just one goal in the first half. In the second half, however, the physicality and professionalism of a quality Chelsea side proved to be too strong for the young City side as Chelsea ran out 5-1 winners.
After the result, some questioned Pellegrini’s competitive integrity. After all, he no longer has to worry about retaining his job (Pep Guardiola will take over at the end of the season). In context, however, his decision to field such a weak side begins to make some sense. The demand of playing in four competitions has taken a toll on the City squad. Five first team regulars are currently out injured, while club legends Vincent Kompany and David Silva have only recently come back from long injury absences. Additionally, Manchester City plays one of the biggest games of their season on Wednesday when they travel to play Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 fixture. After drawing Barcelona in the round of 16 the past two seasons, City has a real chance to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in the club’s history. With these factors in mind, Pellegrini requested the FA to reschedule the fixture to a later date, but the FA was unwilling to accommodate.
While I don’t blame the FA for not rescheduling the match, they must reconsider their strategy. The FA cup is a historic and prestigious competition, but it is difficult to provide incentive with solely prestige. Whereas the Premier League and Champions League award their winners with £99 million and £43 million, respectively, the FA cup champion reels in just £1.8 million. Awarding a Champions League spot to the winner of the competition has been proposed, but this may cause more problems than it will solve. Regardless, the FA needs to do something to avoid further embarrassments like the one they endured last Sunday if they want to restore the competition to its previous glory.
