Bruce questions cup wisdom
Steve Bruce has joined Rafael Benitez in questioning how forcing a key England player like Steven Gerrard to play twice in 48 hours will aid Sven-Goran Eriksson’s bid for World Cup glory this summer.
The Football Association moved the quarter-finals of the FA Cup to midweek to help ensure Eriksson will have an extra week’s preparation for the finals in Germany.
But Liverpool boss Benitez has hit out at the fact the likes of Gerrard and Jamie Carragher will have to play in tonight’s quarter-final with Bruce’s Birmingham after being in action at Newcastle on Sunday.
Benitez feels such a tight schedule will make players more susceptible to injury and hamper rather than bolster Eriksson’s hopes and Bruce is of the same thinking.
The Blues chief said: “Of course, I understand the desire to help Sven with his preparations for the World Cup by giving him a little more time with the players at the end of the season.
“But can you really tell me it is helping Sven by asking someone like Steven Gerrard to play twice in 48 hours.
“I don’t think so. The FA have got it wrong in asking clubs to play twice in 48 hours. Surely that is pure common sense.
“It impacted on us at the weekend with West Ham fielding a weakened side against Portsmouth, one of our main rivals to stay up in the Premiership, because they had to play Manchester City in the FA Cup 48 hours later.”
Bruce added: “Surely there would have been a better way to have organised things. Why didn’t we start the FA Cup earlier? It didn’t have to start in terms of the third round in January, did it?
“Surely also there would have been a midweek during a 10-month season where we could have played a round of league games and kept the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at the weekend.
“The FA Cup is the biggest domestic cup competition in the world and we are in danger of devaluing it.”
