If we can get a cup run we’ll take it
Last week David Moyes and Sean Dyche faced each other in the Premier League; seven days on the pair will lock horns again but this time in the FA Cup.
Moyes was on the wrong end of the 4-1 result last week but then saw his side earn a point in a 2-2 home draw against Liverpool, and he doesn’t see the cup as a distraction.
He said: “Of course you want to go through and with the Premier League I believe it’s important we try and keep our players fit for that.
“We are pleased because our performance picked up from our last league game against Burnley which meant we could go into these last three or four days feeling a bit more confident. We are in good fettle so hopefully we can show that again.
“I think in a positive way a good cup run can help us. We don’t have European football and unfortunately we didn’t get through in the League Cup so we don’t have anything other in our way. It’s Saturday games in the games in the FA Cup , bar replays, so why would we not want to play in the FA Cup?”
He added: “The key is to getting some momentum and players going out and showing what we can do. I can’t tell you one manager who doesn’t want to win the FA Cup and doesn’t approach the FA Cup with a massive importance.”
Every time the FA Cup comes around, Sean Dyche’s semi-final appearance for Chesterfield, when he scored against Middlesbrough from the penalty spot, gets mentioned. It’s twenty years ago now and since arriving at Turf Moor he hasn’t had too much success in the competition.
Looking to get to the fourth round at the expense of Sunderland, he said: “The FA Cup presents a different challenge. People speak about it being a break from the norm, which I guess it is, but it’s still a Premier League club we face and we want to go and get through to the next round.
“I look back on my own journey and we got close to winning it, so it can happen. It’s a tough journey to go all the way, but everyone goes out with the intention of that and that’s sometimes overlooked.”
He added: “We might well make changes, but that is not doing the cup down. We feel we have a more rounded squad and one that can win games. There is still an emotional attachment that comes with the cup and, for sure, if we can get a cup run, we’ll take it.”
Dyche said: “So many times, it’s frustrating to read how some media outlets describe ‘doing the FA Cup down’. It’s not that at all. There’s just a very obvious, unbelievable differential from a business point of view that people seem to forget, but equally there’s that emotional attachment.
“Most English and British managers grew up around the FA Cup, knowing about its history. Some of the European managers I know also speak highly of it, because they grew up watching a lot of English football.
“So it’s a nice way of putting it that although business wise it doesn’t touch the Premier League and the riches that come with it, emotionally the FA Cup brings glory and a special feeling, while the runs are good for fans.”
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