When Sunderland were drawn away to Everton in the third round of the FA Cup there may have been a feeling among some of our own fanbase that we would once again be looking at an early exit from the competition. It was an all-Premier League tie, away at the Merseysiders’ brand spanking new home and our record in getting beaten in the cups at the first stages in recent years has hardly been the substance to give confidence.
Successive Sunderland managers or head coaches have had a habit of playing a weakened
side in the opening round of the FA Cup or whatever guise the League Cup goes under for a number of years and since his appointment in the summer of 2024 Régis Le Bris had not broken the trend. In his three previous cup ties our head coach had always selected his second-choice keeper along with a sprinkling of players who had not been in the starting eleven in the league and a face or two pushing for a place from the academy.
It left the cup-loving fans among us looking at the third-round tie at Everton with the feeling that we would see another reduced-strength team on the field and facing another quick exit along with the usual mantra that “we need to concentrate on the league”.
For the first time in a cup game our head coach went with his first-choice keeper – and when you look at the way the game turned out you can say that was an absolutely crucial choice – while the outfield was composed of nearly all our key players such as Xhaka, Mukiele, and Sadiki. Luke O’Nien aside with Mundle pushing for a starting berth recently you can say the eleven that started at Everton could have easily been the first choice for a league game.
The selection paid off as Saturday’s FA Cup win at Everton was the first cup win of any kind for our senior side in two years.
Brought up in an era when the FA Cup was regarded as the crown jewels among Sunderland fans I’ve always loved a good cup run – when we can get them. Cup runs are not given out freely and not earned with ease. Since we last won the FA Cup 53 years ago we have had runs in 1976, 1992, 2004, and 2012. To get anywhere in the competition it helps if you have:
- A team that is motivated to win each cup tie
- The luck of the draw (we could have done worse than Oxford away)
- Some luck on the pitch of which we haven’t cashed any in yet
- Your strongest team or near enough to it in each game
The last factor is vital and if Sunderland had come into the New Year struggling around the relegation places in this return season to the Premier League then there is every likelihood that Régis Le Bris would have fielded a second-string eleven at Everton. Even the cup-loving fans would have accepted it as probably the right decision protecting the key players in our first-team squad for the fight ahead.
The fact that he didn’t gives the strongest signal that – despite the usual company line of putting 40 points on the board – he believes along with everyone else that Sunderland will not be in any trouble in the league this season. What is more having taken stock of his squad and the displays they have produced in the opening half of the season he feels confident enough to have a tilt (at the very least) at having a cup run.
It’s great news for the cup romantics like myself because at times it has felt that more than just a couple of our head coaches and managers have just not believed in the old cup magic.
