MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland said Manchester City must deliver in the FA Cup final on Saturday to salvage something from a “horrific” season that saw them deposed as English champions for the first time in five years.
City face Crystal Palace at Wembley aiming to avoid a first trophyless campaign since Pep Guardiola’s debut season in charge in 2016/17.
Guardiola’s men sit fourth in the Premier League, 18 points adrift of champions Liverpool, and in a battle just to secure a top-five finish and Champions League football next season in their final two league matches.
City were also dumped out of the Champions League before the last 16 for the first time in 12 years by Real Madrid in the play-off round.
“This season has been tough,” Haaland told the BBC. “It is not nice to lose so many games. It is boring and not fun. That’s why we need to finish well and get a trophy.
“It is a good habit to reach Wembley and always important to win trophies. We have the FA Cup final to play for and in a horrific season we still managed to do this.”
Haaland is set to start the final after making his comeback from a six-week injury layoff in last weekend’s 0-0 draw at Southampton.
Ballon d’Or winner Rodri has missed most of the season with a serious knee injury, while City have been beset by fitness troubles for a series of key defenders.
But Haaland said that should offer no excuses to a club with the resources at City’s disposal.
“Of course, we have had injuries throughout the season. But we should not search for excuses,” added the Norwegian.
“Every single one of us hasn’t been good enough and we haven’t been at our best, so when you are not at your best you aren’t going to win games in this country because it’s so hard.”
Haaland eyes FA Cup to save face after Man City’s ‘horrific’ season
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Haaland eyes FA Cup to save face after Man City’s ‘horrific’ season
- Erling Haaland said Manchester City must deliver in the FA Cup final on Saturday to salvage something from a “horrific” season that saw them deposed as English champions
Premier League ready? Wrexham takes on world champion Chelsea in the FA Cup
- The prospect of playing the likes of Chelsea every week is not just the hope for Wrexham’s owners but the mission
- “They said that from day one and everyone laughed at them,” Williamson said
LONDON: Next up for Wrexham are world champion Chelsea.
While a place in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup is at stake when the teams face off at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday, for Wrexham it will be a timely gauge of just how “Premier League-ready” it is.
Speaking to industry experts last week, Wrexham CEO Michael Williamson said the Welsh club — owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney — would be ready for the topflight of English soccer when the time comes. Even as soon as next season, just three years after they were playing non-league.
“What we’ve proven is that with our culture we’re pretty damn good at being ready,” Williamson told the FT Business of Football Summit.
Even with celebrity owners, huge financial backing and a global reach through the fly-on-the-wall documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham,” it cannot be overstated just how remarkable the club’s rise has been.
Back-to-back promotions have taken them from playing non-league games in a crumbling stadium to the second-tier Championship and in contention for the playoffs to the Premier League.
The prospect of playing the likes of Chelsea every week is not just the hope for Wrexham’s owners but the mission.
“They said that from day one and everyone laughed at them,” Williamson said. “We know what we have to do. It’ll be really difficult but we can do it because we’ve proven that we can, not just survive when we get promoted, but that we can actually thrive.”
Wrexham’s meteoric rise has meant they have constantly played catchup to try to keep pace with their on-field success. More than 60 players have been signed since the takeover was completed in 2021, with 16 joining last summer to build a squad capable of competing in a division with former Premier League champion Leicester and a host of clubs with very recent topflight experience.
Even still, the spending is nothing like that of England’s topflight. Nathan Broadhead became Wrexham’s record signing in August for a reported $10 million. Before him, Sam Smith cost a reported $2.7 million.
Compare that to Chelsea, which have spent close to $2 billion under American owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital since buying the club in 2022. That money helped Chelsea win the Club World Cup last year — but they have not come close to winning the Premier League and they could miss out on qualification to the Champions League this season.
Strive to survive
Wrexham’s spending is likely to have to increase significantly again to bridge the widening gap between the Premier League and the Championship, with promoted teams increasingly struggling to make the step up.
Last season, all three promoted teams — Leicester, Ipswich, Southampton — were relegated. The year before, Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton all failed to survive in their first season in the topflight.
“We’d have to look at a squad change and we’re definitely planning that,” Williamson said in the event of Wrexham securing a fourth straight promotion.
While player changes have been frequent, manager Phil Parkinson has been a constant and was recently told by McElhenney that he has a job for life.
His immediate focus is on an FA Cup upset against Chelsea.
“We’ll be going all out to produce a really good performance, and we’ll see where that takes us on the night,” he told the North Wales Chronicle. “But we know we’ve got to respect Chelsea. What a squad of players they’ve got. They’ve spent billions over the last 10 years.
“They are Club World Cup champions — I don’t think we should forget that — so statistically we are playing the best club in the world.”
