WANDERERS 5-4 WANDERERS
Wolverhampton Wanderers have a good record in the FA Cup. They’ve won the famous old tournament four times, which may not sound like much to younger ears, but is in fact not bad going at all. Only 12 clubs in history have done any better, and one of those, which Football Daily has decided not to name for fear of muddying the water, doesn’t exist any more. Oh all right, it’s five-time-winning London-based posho collective Wanderers, dissolved 1887. Having said that, Wanderers (see?) – by which we mean Wolves – haven’t added to their haul since 1960, when they beat Blackburn 3-0 in the Wembley final and were pelted with match programmes and apple cores by Rovers fans for their trouble, and … well, No 5 and a more dignified celebration is well overdue for a club of their size.
To be honest, it’s probably a tad early to get too excited about Wolves’ 2023 Cup run, given they haven’t got past the third round yet. But they have already beaten opponents Liverpool at Anfield, morally speaking, with Toti’s late goal ruled out for a dubious offside decision that couldn’t be overturned because the VAR cameras were set up at the sort of angles that make for good arthouse cinema, but are less beneficial to those trying to work out whether or not Matheus Nunes should have pushed up a bit. Welcome back, Howard Webb! Anyway, having won that initial tie 3-2, a result that admittedly comes with a fairly self-evident large caveat, Wolves will be confident of repeating their performance on Tuesday night, on camera this time, and earning a fourth-round tie at Brighton. That’s how these things usually pan out, right?
And why not? Wolves have made notable strides forward during the short time they’ve been under Julen Lopetegui’s yoke. They’ve only lost one game since the Spaniard took over, and that to in-form Manchester United (unless you count the defeat on penalties in the Milk Cup to Forest, which we’re not). They’re also coming off the back of a huge win against West Ham that catapulted them out of the relegation places they’d been in since the get-go. Diego Costa should be back from knack, while new signing Mario Lemina is high on life – “I love it here!” – after finally joining the club after four years, he reckons, of talks. Four years! That’s quite the back and forth, but then all the best midfielders are relentless.
Overall, then, the mood in the Wolves camp is upbeat. Liverpool, by contrast, are a miserable rabble whose interlocking parts have completely seized up, and Jürgen Klopp is clean out of WD40. What’s more, Klopp has already been knocked out of the Cup twice by Wolves, who clearly have his number in this competition. So all signs point to Wanderers taking a first successful step towards their first FA Cup for 63 years, and joining Wanderers (we did warn you) on five wins on the roll of honour. Football Daily therefore urges their supporters to start dreaming big. Arguably premature, yes, but then again you only live once. Liverpool may even join the party, because while getting knocked out isn’t ideal, at least they wouldn’t have to go to Brighton again. Everybody happy!
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If I have to choose one I choose Leo, I have something special with him. He is the best of all time although Maradona was also great. Coaching Messi is not difficult. You cannot correct him on a technical level but sometimes you can instruct him to press or to attack in a certain way. When he smells blood he is the No 1” – Argentina’s World Cup-winning coach Lionel Scaloni answers the unanswerable question.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Re: the Spurs fan being punished with a lifetime ban for the attack on Aaron Ramsdale (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs). That’s fine but what about a punishment?” – Ben Gibbes.
While Shakira may have dissed Gerard Piqué for, among other things, apparently trading down from a Rolex, it’s not an unprecedented change. Barcelona have done the same, with one fancy watch-wearer out and a Casio-aficionado in. But that seems to be working out alright for now” – Paul Vickers.
Given that they are a Birmingham team and that the group came from Birmingham, I’m surprised and a little disappointed that you haven’t come up with a witty reference to Aston Villa’s signing of Jhon Durán. Is there something I should know?” – Alan Mannings.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Alan Mannings.
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