26 years ago, Crystal Palace and Manchester United played one of the most memorable FA Cup finals in the history of the famous tournament.
It was perhaps destined to be so after two extraordinary semi-finals. Palace defeated Liverpool 4-3, with current manager Alan Pardew scoring the winning goal. The result was a huge shock given Liverpool had beaten Palace 9-0 in the league earlier in the season.
Manchester United, meanwhile, played out a 3-3 draw with Oldham Athletic, and got through after a 2-1 victory in the replay.
The final itself had a lot to live up to but live up it did, with Palace taking a 3-1 lead in extra time after scores were locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes. However, United scored twice in the last 15 minutes of extra time and the game ended in a 3-3 draw. United won a flat replay 1-0 four days later.
At the time, the pressure was on Manchester United’s relatively fledgling manager. Alex Ferguson had come to United after fantastic success with Aberdeen in both the Scottish League and Europe. United were enduring a two decade drought without a league title.
By the time, United drew Nottingham Forest in the third round of the 1990 FA Cup, it was widely speculated that the expected defeat in that game would spell the end of Ferguson’s tenure at Old Trafford. Instead, United won the game 1-0 and went on a run all the way to Wembley. However, their league form had collapsed, never more encapsulated than by a 5-1 demolition at the hands of cross-town rivals Manchester City.
Once again, Ferguson’s job was seen to hinge on the Cup. While he has stated that he felt he had the backing of the board at the time, there is little doubt the FA Cup win over Palace bought Ferguson valuable time.
More than a quarter of a century later, Crystal Palace and Manchester United will once again meet in the FA Cup final. And once again, the Manchester United manager finds himself under huge pressure to succeed.
Louis Van Gaal took the top job at Old Trafford in 2014. With it came the weight of expectation and the shadow of Alex Ferguson’s imposing record of 13 league titles, five FA Cups and two Champions Leagues, all of which started with the 1990 FA Cup. The Dutchman came to Manchester after guiding his native Netherlands to third place in the World Cup.
Early in his debut season with the Red Devils, he indicated that it would take “three seasons” to get the club back to the top of the Premier League. His debut season saw United finish fourth.
Aesthetically, the just-concluded EPL season and Van Gaal’s second in charge, has been a disaster. Under Ferguson, United were renowned for open, attacking football. There was steel and sinew to be sure, but the likes of Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona, Andy Cole, Ruud van Nistlerooy and Robin van Persie catapulted United to title after title.
Under Van Gaal, Manchester United have become a team of artisans, a drab, boring, defensive unit who never looked likely to score enough goals to challenge for honours this season. The FA Cup third round tie with League 1 Sheffield United was a case in point. United won the game 1-0 with a last minute penalty, the team’s only shot on target in the entire game, against a team two divisions below them.
Yet this was the game that started United’s run which has brought them all the way to Wembley this weekend. United have finished their league campaign in fifth place, one place worse off than Van Gaal’s initial season.
The Dutchman has been under pressure all year, as much for the style of play as the results. He has had to deal with a plethora of injured players at various times but signings such as Bastian Schweinsteiger and Daley Blind have just not worked.
Both players play vital roles as attacking assets in their national teams. At United, Blind has often been deployed in the back four, while Schweinsteiger, until injury ended his season, was shackled as part of a double defensive midfield pivot with Morgan Schneiderlin.
For all the issues, Manchester United will be warm favourites to lift the famous trophy in this weekend’s Cup final. Opponents Crystal Palace have been in free-fall since Christmas in the league, falling from fifth to just above the relegation zone in the ensuing months.
The question is, will a United victory, as it did for Ferguson, buy Van Gaal a stay of managerial execution so he can complete the three year plan he envisioned in his first season?
Significantly, it took Ferguson a further three seasons before he finally broke the Old Trafford title drought. One wonders if Van Gaal will even be given another season to deliver.
If Palace do defy the odds and win the cup, the odds on a call to a certain Special One, will shorten dramatically, and the LVG era will end at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening, London time.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Erik ten Hag hopes Manchester United's nail-biting last-eight win over arch-rivals Liverpool in the FA Cup can prove the turning point in a challenging…
Phil Foden has led Manchester City's fightback - even despite an astonishing miss by Erling Haaland - as the champions beat Manchester United 3-1…
Arsenal remain just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool after trouncing Newcastle 4-1 to continue their rich vein of form. Rebounding quickly from…
Watching Manchester United trip, stumble and struggle in English Premier League football is compellingly appealing, satisfying and almost comical for those of us who…
It was a move retro by comparison to much of the Premier League, and indeed modern football: a natural right-footed winger stationed on the…
Manchester United knew their task: beat Bayern Munich at home. They also knew their limitations, with the other game in the group, requiring a…
