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The Athletic FC: Is EPL power ruining the FA Cup? Plus – Why keepers put Vaseline on gloves

James BAOUCH

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Hello! Dance like Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez — it’s (almost) the weekend.


Martinez celebrates saving a penalty with a little jig (Franco Arland/Getty Images)

On the way today:

🏆 Is the Premier League destroying the FA Cup?

🕺 We love Emi Martinez, the boogying troll

🧤 Goalkeepers, Vaseline and lasers

❓ Does anyone want to replace Erik ten Hag?

What are these FA Cup changes?

England’s FA Cup, in which the semi-finals get going tomorrow, is world football’s oldest knockout competition.

For certain fans, its history and format — a tournament in which the Premier League’s champions can play the equivalent of your local college team — makes it sacrosanct. But it’s also (and excuse the pun here) a political football, as we saw yesterday when the Football Association announced it was scrapping FA Cup replays from the first round proper onwards.

This change takes place from next season. In return, the Premier League has agreed to annually plough an extra £33million ($41m) into the rest of the football pyramid. Which is very kind, and tremendously altruistic.

The FA believes the deal “strengthens” the competition. People are asking if they believe in unicorns. Because deep down, this is not about the health of the FA Cup.

What’s really going on?

There are various competing interests to consider here.

The first is that elite clubs are getting more and more tetchy about fixture lists, which only seem to get bigger. We wrote yesterday about FIFA’s revised, and questionable, Club World Cup — a 32-team tournament scheduled for the end of next season.

Many stakeholders in the game agree that there is simply too much football, risking the welfare of professional players.

There’s also the fact the FA Cup no longer has the prestige it once held. The Premier League and Champions League matter more to top clubs. They want the FA Cup as an add-on in a double or treble of trophies.

To them, it doesn’t offer big money either but down in England’s lower leagues, income from the FA Cup can be hugely valuable — and can be vital in keeping a club in rude health.

League Two sides going to Liverpool, for example, cash in heavily from gate receipts and TV payments. They can still land those trips, admittedly, but replays improve the odds.

The FA is trying to paint this as a positive step and has defended their decision, saying that an increase in games being broadcast in the early rounds will help offset any loss of revenue for lower-league clubs.

Cynics say the Premier League is getting what it wants (fewer games) and paying off the FA in return. I know which view I share.

‘The big clubs have decided it’s an issue’

On top of losing replays, the FA Cup final will now take place on the penultimate weekend of each Premier League season. That’s a shift from the routine of it being the last big domestic game of the term — another bit of tradition gone.

Top-flight clubs are also ditching their established winter break, to allow for longer summers. At face value, that sounds healthy from a player’s perspective. But then you remember Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are putting on a friendly next month. In Australia. Three days after the Premier League season finishes. For money.

You remember the trend of clubs going halfway around the world for pre-season tours? Like FIFA’s Club World Cup, it’s all about revenue streams.

Are certain stakeholders having their cake and eating it? Nigel Clough, the ex-Liverpool midfielder, thinks so. “I don’t see (replays) as being an issue,” Clough said. “But the big clubs have decided it is, and that’s that.” Indeed.

Keeper secret

Part 1: How to save penalties and annoy opponents

House, housing, housery. If you can’t complete the adjectives yourself, let Stuart James help. Or study the antics of Emiliano Martinez.

The Aston Villa goalkeeper is a master of his trade in both respects: a World Cup winner with Argentina, a cog in an increasingly promising Villa team and one of football’s eminent trolls. All of which should be taken as a compliment.

His full repertoire was on show at Lille last night, where Villa reached the Europa Conference League semi-finals via penalty shootout. Martinez, a master at saving spot kicks, kept out two of Lille’s penalties and spent the shootout goading their fans — earning himself a yellow card.

(Video above for readers in the UK, below for U.S.)

He’d already been booked for time-wasting and in normal circumstances, a second yellow would have led to a red card. Luckily, in-game cautions don’t carry into shootouts. Not that Martinez would necessarily have known that (because Villa boss Unai Emery didn’t).

There’s a debate to be had about whether football needs more s***housing. Some would say no. But more characters like Martinez? Bring it on.

Part 2: Put Vaseline on your gloves

Andre Onana smeared Vaseline on his gloves as Manchester United drew with Liverpool two weeks ago, leaving people with one question: why?

Vaseline, for the uninitiated, makes things slippy (behave, please). So common sense tells you rubbing it on a keeper’s gloves would ask for trouble. Except it has the opposite effect, as our goalkeeping expert Matt Pyzdrowski explains:

🗣️ “I couldn’t believe how much better my grip was”

🗣️ “I was totally against it in the beginning — and a bit naive”

🗣️ “Now I catch the ball way more than I used to”

There’s science behind this. You really do learn something new every day.

Part 3: Avoid major laser controversy

You know the, er, mess-about-find-out graph? An update on our friend from Mexico, Tigres goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman, who tried to distract an opponent with a laser pen. He’s been given an 11-game ban.

Show Viz: Does anyone want Ten Hag’s job?

Our data wizards had a go at finding out who should follow Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager — if he is sacked. But their analysis posed a separate question: who would want his squad?

This chart (above) categorising United’s strengths and weaknesses (lower numbers indicating bigger deficiencies) is chronic. To be blunt, there isn’t a great deal Ten Hag’s team do well.

Catch A Match (Selected Games)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Saturday, April 20: FA Cup: Manchester City vs Chelsea (12.15pm ET / 5.15pm UK — ESPN+, BBC One)

🇪🇸 Sunday, April 21: La Liga: Real Madrid vs Barcelona (3pm ET / 8pm UK — ESPN+, Premier Sports 1)

(Top photo: Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)



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