The good 😀 the bad 😕 and the ugly 👹: Hughes spark, Mourinho nark | OneFootball

Four games, four winners, four FA Cup semi-finalists.

In a weekend of fours, Mohamed Salah misses out on Good, Bad, Ugly as we zero in on the FA Cup.

Sorry Mo but the world’s oldest cup competition takes precedent!

THE GOOD ?

Mark Hughes ?

Good old Sparky, he won’t let you down.

It’s easy to forget Mark Hughes managed to better Tony Pulis’ league positions at Stoke City and improve their style of play. We’re not saying they were wrong to sack him but he did, for a while, do a decent job in the Potteries.

One game as Southampton boss and he’s already led the Saints to Wembley.

The win itself wasn’t exactly straightforward against League One high-flyers (and vanquishers of Manchester City) Wigan Athletic but many a struggling side would have failed to rally as the Latics created a few decent chances.

Southampton stood firm, they grabbed two second half goals and they gave their manager a perfect start to life on the south coast.

No Kane and able ?

Harry Kane is injured and, obviously, that means everyone expects life to be a little bit more difficult for Spurs. Erm, think again.

We’re not willing to say they’re actually better without the striker – we don’t have the appropriate fire safety qualifications to play with a take that hot – but Tottenham did avoid the catastrophe some were expecting.

On the contrary, Kane’s injury allowed the irrepressible Christian Eriksen to step up to the mark as Tottenham’s main man and he took the opportunity without hesitation.

With Heung-min Son playing in a more advanced role and Spurs without a recognised traditional striker, there was something fluid and unpredictable about them that just isn’t there when Kane does play.

Again, we aren’t saying they’re better off without him but his absence does inspire a certain unpredictability that just isn’t possible when such an obvious goal threat leads the line.

A 3-0 win was never in doubt and Tottenham are 180 minutes away from their first FA Cup triumph in 27 years.

THE BAD ☹️

Jamie VARdy ?

Somehow the Video Assistant Referee allowed Jamie Vardy to go unpunished after lashing out at Cesc Fàbregas. Yeah, we don’t get it either.

Coming just a day after Mauricio Pochettino called the system a “nightmare” it wasn’t a good weekend for the technology.

Same old, same old ?

Southampton are one of four sides in the semi-finals and good for them but we’re lumbered with four Premier League sides and three of those are likely to finish in the top five this season.

There have been 11 FA Cup finals at the new Wembley since it opened up in 2007. Chelsea have appeared in five of them (four wins) and Manchester United in two (one win). This hegemony goes way back – 26 of the last 42 finals have contained one of this season’s semi-finalists.

Now we love big games but we love the occasional upset even more. Unfortunately the Saints are now alone in flying the FA Cup flag for every non-Manchester United, Chelsea, or Spurs fan in the world.

Give us some variety!

AND THE UGLY?

José Mourinho ?

After a turbulent week and a headline-grabbing pre-match press conference, your side wins an FA Cup quarter-final 2-0 at home.

Do you: A) Go home quietly B) Tell the players you weren’t too pleased with their performance C) Tell the world you aren’t happy with your players

If you answered C, you’re José Mourinho.

“We didn’t play as I wanted them to play; we didn’t play as I prepared the team to play,” the Manchester United manager said after his team saw off Brighton.

“I want more personality in the team because many times I felt [Nemanja] Matić was an island of personality, desire and control surrounded by a lack of personality, lack of class, lack of desire.”

And then he named names, singling out Luke Shaw, who was substituted off at half-time, for some particular venomous criticism.

“I had to change one [defender] and I chose Luke because at least Antonio [Valencia] defensively was capable of good positioning.”

Meow. We wonder what he’d have said if they’d have lost.