A couple of days after Manchester United were humiliated 4-0 by League One side MK Dons in the League Cup last August, a supporter approached Louis van Gaal on the street.
“Are you concerned to be out of the League Cup?” asked the fan.
“Honestly, no,” replied Van Gaal, who is an approachable figure around Manchester.
The League Cup has never been a priority for United, but Van Gaal’s opinion was perhaps surprising because United have few games this season with no European commitments.
A similar response would not be accepted about the FA Cup.
United start their cup campaign with a match at League One strugglers Yeovil Town on Sunday.
Yeovil and United have history in the FA Cup – they met in 1949 at United’s temporary Maine Road home, which neighbours City had allowed the club to use after Old Trafford was bombed during World War II.
Yeovil were a non-league club but a huge crowd of 81,565 attended – still the eighth biggest to watch United in all competitions excluding cup finals.
Yeovil’s players, wearing their famous green and white stripes, drank their legendary pre-match cocktail of eggs, glucose and sherry for energy, but to no avail. United triumphed 8-0.
The Glovers – Yeovil was then the centre of the British glove-making industry – expect to make £500,000 (Dh2.8m) from Sunday’s encounter with United.
Their dream scenario would be a replay and a huge crowd at Old Trafford.
United will be taking the FA Cup seriously. For a club with a joint-record 11 wins in the competition (Arsenal matched them this year), United have been dreadful since last winning the trophy in 2004.
It is United’s longest gap since they went from 1963 to 1977 without winning the cup.
They have been beaten in two finals since 2004, one after playing very well against Arsenal in 2005, the other after an insipid affair in the newly re-developed Wembley against Chelsea in 2007.
The competition is not seen as being as important as it was because it is not as financially lucrative as the Premier League or Uefa Champions football.
Many a 1960s United player will tell you the FA Cup was more important then than the European Cup.
Before the ’60s, it was rated more important than the League title by most teams who reckoned it was their only chance of silverware.
But, for the first time since 1989, United do not have European football this season and the FA Cup should be afforded a higher priority.
Fans would love to win the competition that saved Alex Ferguson from being fired in 1990 and provided the highlights during the title-free ’60s and ’70s.
With United third on the Premier League table and trailing leaders City and Chelsea by nine points with 18 games to play, it also represents the only realistic chance of a trophy this season.
Van Gaal has been told of the importance of the competition by the club, not least that every home match generates about £4m, and it will be interesting to see if he sticks with United’s often-used tactic of fielding weaker sides in FA Cup matches.
United’s poor form in the competition in the past decade was seldom a major issue when the team was winning league titles and contesting European Cup finals.
The appearance of the likes of Portsmouth, Hull City, Wigan Athletic and Cardiff City in the final appeared to confirm that the cup had become a second-tier competition, but there is much nostalgia for a good cup run this season.
United were heavily oversubscribed for their 2,200 tickets in the 9,700 crowd for today’s game – despite it being almost a five-hour drive from Manchester and the third away game in a week.
Similar sentiments were echoed a year ago when United sat seventh in the league during David Moyes’s brief tenure.
United had a winnable home game against Swansea City in the third round but lost 2-1 in a match that would mark the beginning of the end for Moyes.
Van Gaal’s position is more secure, but he should not underestimate the affection for the cup among fans ripe for some glory and excitement from an extended run in the competition.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Results
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m; Winner: Mcmanaman, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
6.05pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Bawaasil, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson
6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Bochart, Fabrice Veron, Satish Seemar
7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Mutaraffa, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
7.50pm: Longines Stakes – Conditions (TB) Dh120,00 (D) 1,900m; Winner: Rare Ninja, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.25pm: Zabeel Trophy – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Alfareeq, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
9pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 2,410m; Winner: Good Tidings, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
9.35pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Zorion, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
How to come clean about financial infidelity
- Be honest and transparent: It is always better to own up than be found out. Tell your partner everything they want to know. Show remorse. Inform them of the extent of the situation so they know what they are dealing with.
- Work on yourself: Be honest with yourself and your partner and figure out why you did it. Don’t be ashamed to ask for professional help.
- Give it time: Like any breach of trust, it requires time to rebuild. So be consistent, communicate often and be patient with your partner and yourself.
- Discuss your financial situation regularly: Ensure your spouse is involved in financial matters and decisions. Your ability to consistently follow through with what you say you are going to do when it comes to money can make all the difference in your partner’s willingness to trust you again.
- Work on a plan to resolve the problem together: If there is a lot of debt, for example, create a budget and financial plan together and ensure your partner is fully informed, involved and supported.
Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
