Which is our worst FA Cup defeat under Levy ?

[Baleforce]

We can win the European Cup, of course we can, there are many clubs who have won it with lower potential ceilings than us.

 

[Raziel]

These threads are what make me cringe sometime with Spurs fans

- Not sure what Levy has to do with cup losses (bit of a reach there, other than cases like Graham's firing)
- "Humiliating" losses to fellow PL teams? really are we so far up our own asses with that sense of entitlement

Modern football is resource management and risk/reward assessment, we took a risk, based on prioritization (a concept missed here, because the FA Cup was at that point in time, a lower priority, doesn't mean we don't want to win it, but you CANNOT have four #1 priorities), it didn't pay off, that's life/football.

 

[90sSpursBook]

This is a very relevant thread and painfully good in a cathartic sort of way.

I am as tinkled off and hurt by Saturday's result as any other this season; I'm a little old school, I was 10 when we won the FA Cup in 1991 and I felt like I supported the best team in the world because of it. Every year getting knocked out of the competition remains a painful experience. The only occasions I can remember feeling less angry was '99 when we'd already won the League cup and 2008 when we had reached the final of the league cup that midweek.

In the time period covered above the Emirates Marketing Project one was of course very hurtful because of the nature and humiliation of the defeat but I'm not sure it was the worst as we had been drawn away to Man Utd in the next round and would almost certainly have been beaten anyway.

The 2010 SF defeat to Portsmouth was just one of those days where it just wasn't destined to happen for us. There are occasionally games that are so random they can't be analysed and this was one of them. To have beaten Chelsea in the final would have been a tough ask mind. I voted for this recalling the utter dejection I felt leaving Wembley that day, however beating Arsenal and Chelsea in the 6 days that followed did go a long way in making up for it.

The 2003 defeats at Southampton and 2011 to Fulham (both 4-0) were both totally unacceptable performances; the latter was in our Champions League season and it felt as if several of the players thought the FA Cup was beneath them and something of a distraction. Stoke went on to reach the final that year so it was a competition we could well have progressed in. The Southampton defeat was a very personal one as they were all over us because of the Hoddle angle; to be fair we were brick that season so probably wouldn't have gone much further although Southampton did get to the final losing to L'Arse.

This year is equally as painful; especially with City and Chelsea getting knocked out. As the draw worked out I'd have fancied us to beat Villa again and then gone into the Q.F. with no-one to fear.

I still think the FA Cup is the one competition we should prioritise above all others and it breaks to my heart to be going 25 years without even reaching a final - a humiliation and disgrace.

 

[billyiddo]

Didn't include the 2001 defeat to Ar5ena1 as it was an expected result as soon as GG got sacked.

Not sure how people can still defend Levy. He may have strengthen us financially, but we are badly unstable and lacking success on the field. With only 1 League Cup, 1 CL campaign and 9 head coach/managers in 14 years since Levy took over as chairman, you can hardly call it a success. And until we win back the FA Cup, Levy will have to accept the blame for sacking GG before that semi final in 2001.

if there's one thing we aren't under Levy, it's unstable. Villa, Everton, Saudi Sportswashing Machine, Leeds - 4 clubs comparative in size who have at one time or another either broken the top 4 or threatened to break the top 4. maybe it would be an idea for you to refresh your memory on their respective league records in and around the years they were at their peak - because i can tell you now it doesn't match up to our last 10 years, in terms of stability or consistency.

If you're going to compare us to the established Champions League clubs or Chelsea and City with their massive cash injections then things will look bad as we don't operate anywhere near their levels (yet despite that we've actually finished above them all (except them down the road) at one time or another) which basically makes it an unfair comparison, totally lacking in context.

 

[clevelandspur]

But you could argue that consistently qualifying for the Champions League will see us have alot more success potentially in the long run then an FA Cup win would.

I guess we do argue that on her every day but when you look at our club honours it doesn't list when we qualified for Champions League. I understand it is important for player retention etc.. but I also do not think these two should be exclusive. We can still go for the cups and 4th place that is why we have a big squad. Now we can of course argue if our squad players are good enough. If we truly inspire to be amongst the big clubs in England they take all of their competitions seriously (bar the opening rounds of league cup). Why shouldn't we do the same?

 

[Jordinho]

Winning the odd domestic cup does fudge all for player recruitment. We'd have to win one every two or three years for it to get noticed, which becomes much more likely with CL income. If we could win one cup I'd take the EL over the two domestic ones every day of the week.

 

[billyiddo]

the goal as i see it is to win trophies and challenge for/win the league - in order to do that consistently we obviously need to take that step up and become CL regulars, simply finishing top 4 isn't an aim or an end target, it's just something we need to do in order to win trophies with any sort of consistency.

winning a trophy is more of an achievement than finishing 4th best in the league and the memory of beating Chelsea in the Carling Cup the other year (and eventually this one too) will be held much higher than looking at a league table with 3 teams above us.

 

[clevelandspur]

Winning the odd domestic cup does fudge all for player recruitment. We'd have to win one every two or three years for it to get noticed, which becomes much more likely with CL income. If we could win one cup I'd take the EL over the two domestic ones every day of the week.

I agree regarding EL over domestic cups but surely winning something is better than nothing! Also I would argue that our player recruitment is not likely to change whether we get CL or not we are what we are. We are the 13th richest club in the world and that list is almost spot on about transfer business. If we are in for the same players as Chelsea, Real, Bayern Munich etc. we are never going to get them based on mostly money. Along the same lines which players have we lost that we wanted to keep over the last 5-10 years? Bale-RM, Modric-RM, Berbatov-Manure, Carrick-Manure. We are just below them in the pecking order and always will be.

Take Hugo for example, if Real really want him they will get him whether we get CL or not I will bet any amount of money on that it is just reality.

 

[clevelandspur]

Also those that see getting 4th and getting into Champions League will dramatically change us I would argue it won't much at all.

First, look at Arsenal they have been in the Champions League for what 15 odd years in a row? They are just slightly above our level by a matter of a few points every year and is their squad that much better than ours? I would say there isn't much in it at all. Yes they pay slightly higher wages than us but they still are not on the level of the true heavyweights int he world in that regard and we won't ever be either.

Secondly, even if we did pip 4th this season it will be the same all over again next season and so on. There is Chelsea, City, Arse, Man U, Liverpool and us it will always be a struggle to finish in top 4 every season. We did do it once already did that change much of anything?

For those reasons I will never understand those that say CL qualification is more important than winning trophies it is a nice carrot but never matches the glory of winning something.

 

[braineclipse]

I would be very surprised if in a couple of years this season's exit from the FA-cup was mentioned in the same sentence as some of our worst one's.

Wish I had no idea why the Levy era is the preferred era here...

 

[Jordinho]

Arsenal FA cup wins since the CL was invented: 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2013–14

 

[Jurgen the German]

Has to be the Emirates Marketing Project game. 3-0 AT HOME against a team with TEN MEN!!! I seem to remember Anelka going off injured too, who was their best player at the time.

 

[Baleforce]

it's about what you win, what you can win, for any club in the English pyramid there is a clear target, the European Cup

 

[Spurs7891]

Looking at some of the comments here, it looks like we are fast becoming into another big team without ambitions like Saudi Sportswashing Machine. It has been so long since we won a major trophy that some people tend to accept it is ok not to win the trophies. Surely, we should have ambition to enter the CL as the league winners, not as the 4th team. And we should be aiming to win the major trophies every year instead just aiming to finish 4th. Just look at Saudi Sportswashing Machine, they have won 4 league titles and 6 FA Cups but none since 1955. We should not become like them.

 

[milo]

Looking at some of the comments here, it looks like we are fast becoming into another big team without ambitions like Saudi Sportswashing Machine. It has been so long since we won a major trophy that some people tend to accept it is ok not to win the trophies. Surely, we should have ambition to enter the CL as the league winners, not as the 4th team. And we should be aiming to win the major trophies every year instead just aiming to finish 4th. Just look at Saudi Sportswashing Machine, they have won 4 league titles and 6 FA Cups but none since 1955. We should not become like them.

Before last weekend, in what order would you have prioritised the competitions that we were in?

 

[braineclipse]

Looking at some of the comments here, it looks like we are fast becoming into another big team without ambitions like Saudi Sportswashing Machine. It has been so long since we won a major trophy that some people tend to accept it is ok not to win the trophies. Surely, we should have ambition to enter the CL as the league winners, not as the 4th team. And we should be aiming to win the major trophies every year instead just aiming to finish 4th. Just look at Saudi Sportswashing Machine, they have won 4 league titles and 6 FA Cups but none since 1955. We should not become like them.

The very reason people accepted that we down-prioritized the FA cup was because we're in with a real shout of winning a trophy in the League Cup.

When has that been the case at Saudi Sportswashing Machine?

 

[Baleforce]

Looking at some of the comments here, it looks like we are fast becoming into another big team without ambitions like Saudi Sportswashing Machine. It has been so long since we won a major trophy that some people tend to accept it is ok not to win the trophies. Surely, we should have ambition to enter the CL as the league winners, not as the 4th team. And we should be aiming to win the major trophies every year instead just aiming to finish 4th. Just look at Saudi Sportswashing Machine, they have won 4 league titles and 6 FA Cups but none since 1955. We should not become like them.

I don't consider the FA Cup a major trophy any more, for me its probably slipped below the League Cup as that takes less games to win, lessening the impact on the players between league games and you have less chance of having to play at a poorly equipped ground with a less than perfect playing surface where injuries are more likely.