FA Cup Final sponsored by Budweiser
MANCHESTER CITY v WIGAN ATHLETIC
Saturday 11th May 2013
Kick Off: 5.15pm BST
Live on ESPN HD/ITV1 HD
Referee: Andre Marriner
Prize Money: Winners: £1,800,000 Runners Up: £900,000
So here we are again just days before a return to Wembley and still somehow the Swamp Donkeys have attempted to try and overshadow our day out however fair play to the MEN for advertising a 32 page tribute to Taggart in today’s CITY edition paper only to pick up and find out that it was only in editions you have to pay for!!! classic haha even if it was probably unintentional.
I’m getting very used to trips to Wembley even if the powers that be make us jump through more hoops than a weekend at Crufts and even though i’ve tried to downplay the occasion in my mind I know that on the day when I’m walking up to the stadium my heart will take over and the nerves will kick in. Wigan have been given some grief for the numbers of their support since they reached the semi final and its their first appearance in an FA Cup final since they were founded in 1932 by which point we’d already won it once and been runners twice. This day is for the thousands of supporters who have supported us (and Wigan) through thick and thin lets enjoy it.
Wigan Athletic
Wigan return to a Wembley final for the first time since their Auto Windscreens Shield Victory in 1999 and on the 40th anniversary of their FA Trophy final defeat at Wembley to Scarborough and I imagine long time supporters will be wanting to exercise the ghosts of that as well as the two play off semi finals against ourselves in 1999.
Tuesday night was a case of bitter sweet for Wigan as defeat at home to Swansea left them with only an outside chance of Premier League survival as they currently sit 3 points behind a host of clubs but with final games against Arsenal and Aston Villa even victory in both fixtures is unlikely to guarantee survival. However City’s victory against West Brom ensured that regardless of the outcome of the FA Cup Final, Wigan will embark on their maiden Europa League campaign next season. Defeat on Tuesday may also give Roberto Martinez the chance to go all out to try and win the game (not that they wouldn’t anyway) and put their next fixture on Tuesday night out of their minds altogether.
Road to the final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP-_C8xLoG8
It took a Jordi Gomez goal to force a replay against high flying Bournemouth in front of just 8,199 supporters. A larger crowd at Dean Court for the replay (8,890) saw Mario Boselli score after 18 minutes to see Wigan reach the 4th round at the expense of the League One club. Wigan fielded a much a changed side in both ties and it almost cost them.
The forth round draw was kinder still as Wigan travelled to Conference side Macclesfield Town for the two sides’ first encounter since the two were third division clubs along with City in 1999. 5,849 spectators witnessed a 7th minute Jordi Gomez penalty as Wigan comfortably advanced.
In the 5th round Wigan travelled to Championship opposition Huddersfield and 12,117 at the John Smiths Stadium saw a near full strength Wigan dismantle their hosts 4-1 thanks to goals from Callum McManaman, James McArthur and 2 from Arouna Kone fresh from the African Cup of Nations.
The 6th round drew Wigan their only Premier League opposition to date as they travelled to Goodison Park to face Everton. In scarcely believable circumstances Wigan pulled off arguably the shock of the competition as they scored three times in three minutes as Figueroa, McManaman and Gomez virtually emptied Goodison after 33 minutes. The 35,068 crowd saw Callum McManaman score a lovely dink over the keeper and Gomez’s, his third of the competition, goal was as a good a strike as you may ever see as he bent it outside of the post and back inside it after hitting it first time.
For the Semi Final the warm ball was dropped as City faced Chelsea and Wigan were drawn against Millwall. Much was made in the build of Wigan’s ability to sell their allocation of tickets but in the end a healthy crowd of 62,335 witnessed the contest between a Championship team and a side who not only were playing non-league football 40 years ago but also have to compete for support on a weekly basis with Everton, Liverpool, the Swamp Donkeys, Manchester City and Egg Chasing. Shaun Maloney gave Wigan the lead on 25 minutes before Callum McManaman added his 3rd goal of the competition to make the game safe with 12 minutes to go as Wigan advanced to their first FA Cup final in the clubs history.
Team Selection
Roberto Martinez, the man who took positives from a 9-1 tonking at Spurs, won’t have to worry about only selecting those who’ve played in the FA Cup or picking players who’ve yet to make an appearance in the competition as he’s pretty much rotated the whole squad throughout the rounds. Like Roberto Mancini, Martinez will be able to select a team with the focus and priority of lifting the trophy. Unfortunately that will be hampered due to an exhaustive injury list to key players (source:physioroom.com so be warned).
Goalkeeper
Ali Ali-Habsi has made 28 league appearances this season but has made just one FA Cup start. Mike Pollitt made two appearances in the earlier rounds and is now injured but Joel Robles, who joined from Athletico Madrid in January, has displaced Ali-Habsi as the Wigan number one.
Defence
Wigan started the season with a back three that was hailed as the reason they were able to climb out of the mire towards the end of last season but have recently switched back to a flat back four. So far in FA Cup play (as the American’s would say) left back Maynor Figueroa is the only ever present in the Wigan back line but will miss due to a pelvis injury. Ronnie Stam will miss out on due to a broken leg, Ivan Ramis is out until October with a knee injury and Antolin Alcarez, who played against City at the Etihad this season, has also missed out due to a hamstring injury. Leaving Martinez with few options he lined up with Barbados Captain Emmerson Boyce at right back against Swansea and Sporting Kansas City loanee Roger Espinoza at left back. At centre back Martinez selected Paul Scharner, who returned in the January transfer window, with Gary Caldwell who was sent off at the Etihad two years ago.
Attack
Against City at the Etihad Martinez fielded a 5 man midfield looking to stifle City using the now injured Beausejour as an outlet, and then flooding the middle with the hard work of James McCarthy, trickery of Shaun Maloney and the, erm… Jordi Gomez. Martinez then deployed Franco Di Santo as a defence striker of sorts breaking up the play and closing down the man in possession forcing City under pressure and them struggling to get the ball over the half way line and stifling them. Against Swansea they fielded a midfield three of Ben Watson, James McCarthy and James McArthur using Shaun Maloney and Callum McManaman as wide men and supplying balls into the box for Ivorian Arouna Kone who has scored 13 goals despite having been to the African Cup of Nations has was a snip at just £2m from Sevilla in the summer. Kone and McManaman are definately the one’s to watch as is Shaun Maloney who gave City a difficult time in the league.
Wigan’s reputation for playing football is deserved as they do play high tempo football, passing the ball quickly into wide positions and exploiting a plodding back line but their league position also tells its own story as they can be hopelessly over exposed by the same tactics as the use of width and passing with intent can unlock their defence especially when playing without fullbacks.
What I find most intriguing about this game is that although we’ve taken six points of Wigan home and away this season both games have been incredibly competitive and I don’t think this will be the walk over that most people are expecting. Young Barry will be along with the interesting part of the preview later but for now I will leave you with this picture of a hero in a magnificent kit…and Steve McMahon.