Old traditions meet modern convention in FA Cup final of promise

Ah, the Cup final. All that pomp and ceremony, the classic rites, the time-honoured rituals. The tingle of anticipation as we approach the sacred 4.45pm kick-off. A bespoke set from the world-famous house DJ Pete Tong in the buildup. Banners and placards honouring the competition’s airline sponsor. The traditional taking of the knee. And then, after a peep of Craig Pawson’s whistle, a football match played almost entirely without conventional strikers.

One of the greatest misconceptions about the FA Cup over the years is that it has failed to move with the times. In fact, ever since the first final at the Kennington Oval 150 years ago people have been messing around with it, tweaking and tampering and trying new things. It was the first competition to use goal nets and experiment with numbers on shirts; the first to embrace VAR; the first to allow games on a Sunday. Third-place playoffs have come and gone. At its best the FA Cup is not simply a time capsule or historical re-enactment. It can show us who we are and where we’re going.

For Jürgen Klopp and his formidable Liverpool team, the FA Cup represents a sort of final frontier, a destination as well as a part of the wider journey. Winning the Cup on its own does not make a side great. Klopp, who has made no secret of his competitive priorities over the years, would doubtless argue that the success of his project does not hinge on winning a single 90-minute game of football in the aftermath of a Pete Tong set. But go back through the history of English football and very few of its great coaches did not conquer the competition at some stage. Brian Clough won league titles and European Cups but to his dying day the absence of a Cup final triumph remained one of his great