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Why the FA Cup's traditions should be embraced, not examined

Craig Brough / Reuters

The FA Cup third round wasn't great.

Much to the derision of every football traditionalist in England, Jurgen Klopp fielded the youngest team in Liverpool's history against Plymouth Argyle. Not only did his selection show a blatant yet understandable preference to Premier League matters, it also displayed a disturbing lean towards League Cup commitments. True, a semi-final against Southampton loomed, but it's a tournament that has quite rightly been shunted into the shadows of the FA Cup for some time.

The fact that fourth-tier Plymouth forced the Reds into a replay at Home Park was commendable, but the 0-0 draw to begin proceedings was a dull, awkward watch with the most entertaining shots on television coming from an Anfield away end swathed in green.

The naysayers of association football's oldest competition were given the ample ammunition to say the FA Cup had lost its prestige, storylines, and - ridding the tournament of its prized cliche - magic. The cynics saw Liverpool eyes narrowing on League Cup silverware as well, saying the knockout contest beginning earlier and finishing in February offered a unique opportunity to secure honours before the business end of both league and continental seasons. Conversely, the FA Cup, with its showpiece at the end of May, threatened to derail other pursuits.

Then Lincoln City and Sutton United came to play, reinstating the doe-eyed romance of the FA Cup by becoming the first non-league duo to reach the fifth round since the inception of the Football League in 1888.

Lincoln's triumph at Sincil Bank saw Theo Robinson - a player who hasn't fulfilled the fleeting promise he showed at Huddersfield Town - put the tie against Brighton & Hove Albion beyond doubt on 85 minutes.

Related: Lincoln City heading to FA Cup 5th round for first time since 1887

The Imps, mourning the loss of former player and manager Graham Taylor, progressed to the fifth round for the first time since 1887. The club, situated in a town overlooked by a stunning cathedral and boasting decent digs for the lower leagues, does not befit non-league football. Now, top of the National League and set for a windfall with its FA Cup run, the future looks bright.

Sutton's story arguably trumps that one, however. Hailing from a rather nondescript corner in south London, it is perhaps the national capital of cup upsets. The hallowed ground of the wonderfully named Gander Green Lane staged the historic 2-1 defeat of 1987 FA Cup champion Coventry City 28 years ago and, although today's turf is artificial, it can now claim to be the burial ground of Leeds United's 2016-17 quest.

Jamie Collins, a 32-year-old bloke more accustomed to wheeling barrows of bricks than reeling away in celebration, converted the winner from the penalty spot. Before the end of the match, manager Paul Doswell went for a stress-relieving stroll around the dressing room (perhaps, considering his habit of toking a vape on the touchline, for a crafty cigarette). The crowd poured onto the pitch when the final whistle sounded.

Related: Non-league Sutton hoofs top-flight hopeful Leeds out of FA Cup

It was a meeting between clubs separated by 84 positions in the football pyramid, and it belongs among the annals of other great upsets. Hereford Town's 1972 ousting of Newcastle United; when Wrexham bettered league champion Arsenal in 1992; Shrewsbury Town's 2-1 shunning of Wayne Rooney and Everton in 2003. Sutton beating Coventry, and Sutton beating Leeds.

"It was difficult for me at the start when I arrived in England four years ago to understand the magic of the FA Cup, but now I realise it is a special competition," said Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian manager Mauricio Pochettino on Saturday, when his side had narrowly avoided a scare to Wycombe Wanderers in an enthralling 4-3 encounter.

"I think it is the most special in the world because you cannot replicate it in Spain or France or Italy, the same passion, the same on the pitch, the way a small side from League Two like Wycombe can be exciting.

"They believed they could beat us here, and that is an important thing. The FA Cup creates that feeling and that is fantastic," Pochettino said.

Nowadays, the giant-killings can come in less outrageous forms, like the minnow topping a Premier League side's second string, or, in the case of Sutton and Lincoln, against clubs from the second tier. But the gritty performances from these supposed lesser teams, and the fervent and community-conscious following in the stands ensures the Cup's mystique prevails.

As for Liverpool, the reverse fixture in Devon wasn't much to pore over, either. Liverpool's long-serving substitute Lucas Leiva started and scored the only goal of the game at Plymouth.

In the fourth round, Liverpool got what FA Cup loyalists were pining for: elimination. Klopp again selected an under-strength side, but this time was made to pay as a Helder Costa-inspired Wolverhampton Wanderers barrelled through the Reds to win 2-1 on Merseyside.

Seventeen teams have their name in the hat for Monday's fifth-round draw - only Derby County and Leicester City require a replay - and just eight of those hail from the Premier League.

This season's upsets might not be over.

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