Why the FA Cup matters to Chelsea and Manchester United – and especially their managers

Nobody wants to watch the big teams contest FA Cup ties, they say. It’s all about non-league versus Premier League; David versus Goliath; elite, pampered stars against plumbers, sparkies
and accountants.

That is, until the TV executives mull over the fixture list each round, analyse the historical viewing figures and decide that, funnily enough, punters actually do just want to watch Manchester United every week; that a Premier League reserve side against League One, or a top-flight team who will probably be relegated against a Championship side in the play-off places, isn’t as box-office as we can be led to believe.

There is, ultimately, a reason that when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side play Chelsea tonight at Stamford Bridge it will be the 65th of United’s last 67 FA Cup games broadcast live on telly. At least, for the first time in a while, a lot is actually riding on a fifth-round match between two of the Premier League’s top six: it’s not merely a time-wasting distraction from the real job.

Death and re-birth of the FA Cup

Once upon a time, the FA Cup meant more than the top flight; it meant clearing a whole Saturday for the final; it meant mud and glory and heroes.

Then at the turn of the century it was suddenly diluted, when Sir Alex Ferguson first pulled United out of the competition – remarkably backed by the Football Association – so they could play in the Club World Championship in Brazil, a decision he came to regret. The competition has grown weaker ever since.

First United then Arsenal, who saw more money and prestige in the Premier League and Champions League. Then it began to filter down to the point where promotion-chasing Championship clubs started fielding their second strings.

Yet as the Big Four have become the Big Six and they rotate managers quicker than an ailing high-street retail store, it feels as though recognition for the competition is morphing once more.

Staying or going

Nowadays, in the increasingly short lifespan of any manager, trophies buy time. Just look at Jose Mourinho, who managed to squeeze an extra year and a half out of the League Cup and Europa League.

Read more: Next Chelsea manager: Ten contenders to replace Maurizio Sarri at Stamford Bridge

This prospect will not be lost on United’s caretaker boss Solskjaer, nor Chelsea’s under-pressure manager Maurizio Sarri. The FA Cup, when combined with other factors, could mean the difference between staying or going.

If Solskjaer delivers the FA Cup and a top-four finish, for instance, there is no way United won’t give him the job full-time. There is absolutely no guarantee that will work out long-term, but not doing so would heap pressure on executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and he very much wants the pressure heaped on his managers.

Say, for example, Woodward didn’t give the job to Solskjaer in that scenario, Mauricio Pochettino is brought in, and United remain unable to climb out of the hole that David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal and Mourinho have dug them. There would be a huge backlash and Solskjaer would be the Norwegian stick used constantly to beat Woodward with. If they go with Solskjaer and it doesn’t work out, well, there’s always the next manager.

Opportunity

In the short term for Solskjaer, this match also presents the opportunity to get United back on track after the reality check of a defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last week, even though they are missing Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial through injury.

Equally, the FA Cup could well be significant to Sarri’s future. The Sarri-ball which tore through English football in the first half of the season has become stuck in the long grass and the Italian is under pressure. For Sarri, tonight presents the perfect opportunity to play some of the Chelsea academy products supporters believe are ready for the first team and are desperate to see.

Teenager Callum Hudson-Odoi, who had a transfer request rejected in January, has played every minute of the FA Cup so far for Chelsea. If Ruben Loftus-Cheek is fit, having missed the Europa League win against Malmo with a back problem, and not handed a chance in domestic cups, then when else will he be?

It could come down to which manager is able to motivate his squad in a match which probably means more to them individually than it does to the players. It’s almost as though the FA Cup is starting to matter again.