Historians of the future charting the decline of the FA Cup as an English sporting institution could do worse than to pay attention to meetings between Everton and Manchester United at Wembley in recent years.
The first time they contested a final, in 1985, Kevin Moran was made to wait for his winner’s medal after becoming the first player to be sent off in the showpiece. A decade later the same two sides met again in the first FA Cup final with a sponsor. Littlewoods Pools, since you ask, a gentle reminder of how much and how quickly the world of football has changed.
Everton remember the last occasion well because they have not managed to win anything since, a silverware haul of roughly one major trophy for each decade of existence came to an abrupt halt with the Paul Rideout goal that sent Joe Royle’s underdogs away happy in the early years of the Premier League.
Once the Premier League was into its stride underdogs in the FA Cup final became less common, never mind underdog successes. The only upset in the past couple of decades was Wigan Athletic’s bracing defeat of Manchester City in 2013, which earned Roberto Martínez his present life of strife at Everton. Like Arsène Wenger, whose successive FA Cups in the past two years did not quite represent the return Arsenal supporters had been led to expect, Martínez has been subjected to pointed criticism from his own fans this season.
While it is difficult to fathom the mentality of the football follower who makes the journey to an away game with a banner inviting the manager to leave tucked inside his coat – and in the case of Wenger still unfurls it at Hull even though Arsenal were 4-0 winners – should any similar protest take place at Wembley on Saturday it would just be one more reminder that the FA Cup’s alleged magic casts a weaker spell with every passing season.
There are so many things wrong with the FA Cup at the moment – semi-finals at Wembley, early evening kick-offs, weakened teams in early rounds, empty seats at stadiums – that magic is only mentioned at all because broadcasters feel obliged to remind their audience that this is supposed to be an important event. That is plainly no longer the case, and not just because United pulled out in 2000 or fielded a below-strength side in a 2009 Wembley semi to allow Everton, yes Everton, to win through to the final on penalties.
Major teams do not consider the FA Cup a major trophy any more. United have not won it in more than a decade and are not remotely concerned. Even were they to win it in May it would not guarantee Louis van Gaal another year at the club. Should United end the season as convincingly as they performed at West Ham in the replayed quarter-final in midweek it would at least allow Ed Woodward to make a case for the manager’s retention, something that seemed improbable after the trouncing at White Hart Lane. But ultimately Van Gaal will be judged on where his side finish in the league. Only one team can win the FA Cup, but it has become infinitely more significant that four sides can progress to the Champions League.
That is where the glory now resides, not to mention the money. Van Gaal would like to win the FA Cup for personal reasons – he is fond of claiming to have won trophies at all his previous clubs and is unlikely to get as close to the Premier League – but he is well aware a top-four finish was the target set by his employers.
Everton, despite Martínez’s promise to Bill Kenwright on succeeding David Moyes, can still only dream of the Champions League. The reason Martínez has been getting it in the neck for some lacklustre performances this season, especially at home, is because supporters believe the present side is as good as Everton have seen in the Premier League era and is unlikely to stay together for much longer without Champions League football as a sign of progress.
If ever Everton were going to stake a claim to the European elite it had to be this season, before Romelu Lukaku takes his goalscoring ability to higher bidders and John Stones makes the move that nearly went through last summer. Martínez has made the point that Everton no longer need to be a selling club and can financially hold their own with rivals, though everyone gets more money under the new television deal and he really needed some tangible improvement in results to back up a somewhat misplaced optimism.
It was after a defeat at United in the league that Leighton Baines spoke of a lack of chemistry at the club, a strange word to use in many ways, but a criticism that could also be levelled at Van Gaal and his players. United’s season has been even more erratic than Everton’s, the old verve conspicuous by its absence as all sort of unwanted records were set for scoreless first halves and pitifully low numbers for attempts on target, though there are a couple of crucial differences.
Van Gaal has at least managed to keep United at the right end of the table. They have never been out of touch with the leading sides and even now retain an outside chance of making the top four. Plus, whether through experience, judgment or just good luck, Van Gaal has developed a habit of pulling the fat from the fire every time United’s season has lurched towards crisis. He produces Anthony Martial as if from a conjuror’s hat, he beats Liverpool home and away, he promotes Marcus Rashford, he deservedly gets past West Ham after being exposed down the road at Tottenham three days earlier.
For all their many shortcomings you still never know quite what to expect with United, which version of the team will turn up. Whereas Everton supporters now fear they do know what to expect from the sides Martínez puts out; the same mistakes and hard-luck tales playing out on a continuous loop.
Everton fans cannot console themselves with the idea that José Mourinho or Mauricio Pochettino will soon be along to sort out the mess either. There is still a sort of unreal, end-of-term atmosphere around Old Trafford at the moment, almost an acknowledgement that this ongoing interregnum will eventually come to be seen as mere comic relief between the monolithic reigns of Sir Alex Ferguson and the next manager capable of taking the club forward. That is what 38 trophies in 26 years can do.
Everton, no trophies in 21 years and in the wrong half of the table, cannot afford to be blasé about the future when they are still waiting for the present to take shape. Rightly or wrongly, both sets of fans in Saturday’s semi have come to the conclusion that their present manager does not offer hope for the future.
The FA Cup used to have a say in such matters – Ferguson famously bought himself time at United with the run to the final and victory in 1990 – but those days now seem as distant as 3pm kick-offs and an unsponsored trophy.
