Josh Kilmister reacts to yesterday's FA Cup draw
After yesterday’s FA Cup draw, I think this season we’ve got as good a chance as anyone to take the trophy from Arsenal.
Premier League teams were put into the mix for the FA Cup last night, and the draw we got was a pretty good one. The Swans have been drawn away against either Oxford or Tranmere, who after a 2-2 draw on Saturday will play again next week for the chance to welcome Garry Monk and Co. to their ground.
Oxford currently sit in 19th place in League 2, whilst Tranmere are even worse off in 23rd - 83 places behind The Swans in English football. But as we’ve seen before, league position counts for nothing in the FA Cup; remember when an own goal by none other than Garry Monk inspired then Blue Square South side Havant & Waterlooville to a 4-2 victory over us back in 2008? Yeah, me too.
This season however, I can’t see us slipping up against lower league opposition. The strength in depth we have in nearly every position is enough to fill me with confidence ahead of a potential cup run and honestly, I think we can win the whole thing. Garry Monk has already shifted the team around numerous times this season, and there aren’t many players that have been consistently poor.
Of course until we get drawn against a ‘bigger’ side, it’s likely that Gylfi will be rested, whilst Bony will be away with the Ivory Coast for our third round tie. This gives the fringe players a huge opportunity to prove themselves. I can’t see us risking our core players, so I fully expect Monk to give our young prospects some game time, Mo Barrow being a name that instantly springs to mind.
I’ve said previously that our Under 21 squad is full of talent, and I’m confident that most, if not all of them would be able to do the business in League 2. Obviously, I’m not saying we should field a team full of youngsters; can you imagine the stick Monk would get if he did that and we lost?! I do think however that it shouldn’t be just Barrow who gets the nod. Sure, it’s vital that we keep a balanced mix of youth and experience, but there’s certainly no harm in giving one our two more of Chris Llewellyn’s side a run out.
In Last season’s FA Cup we made history; picking up our first ever victory at Old Trafford. We’ve already shown so far this season that we can battle with the big boys, and I fully expect us to do so if we get into the latter stages of the tournament.
Who knows, we may even have another trip to Wembley on the cards!
Thanks to Josh for his optimistic take on the FA Cup! Do you agree? Can we win the competition outright? Use the comment section below to get in touch.