West Ham boss David Moyes believes “something has to give” with the football calendar becoming busier each year, though he is unsure whether scrapping FA Cup replays is the right move.
On Thursday, the Football Association announced it had reached a deal with the Premier League to scrap FA Cup replays from the first round onwards, starting with the 2024-25 tournament.
The move is designed to free up space in the calendar due to expanded European competitions but has left owners of clubs further down the pyramid furious as it could lead to the cutting off of a valuable revenue stream.
The FA Cup final will also be moved forward from its traditional place as the final game in the English domestic season and will now take place on the penultimate Saturday of the Premier League campaign.
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Moyes has more experience of navigating a packed schedule than most, leading West Ham on three straight European campaigns, the third of which ended on Thursday with a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League quarter-finals.
While the Scot is aware of the need to give players more downtime, he is unsure whether the authorities have chosen the right games to cut back on.
“I think the football schedule is too full, and I think something has to give somewhere,” he said at a press conference to preview West Ham’s meeting with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
“I’m not saying this is the thing that has to give, but I think something has to loosen up a bit. The moving of the final, that’s more to do with the amount of games. There’s so much football.
“Next year I don’t think there’s a winter break either, so we have to start thinking about the way it’s going. It’s a squeeze on football all over the world at the moment.”
FA statement on changes to the Emirates FA Cup
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 19, 2024
West Ham could yet make it four straight seasons in Europe, with the Hammers sitting two points adrift of the Premier League’s top seven with five games remaining in their season.
“We’d love to do it again. We did it by winning a trophy last year. This year our league position has improved,” Moyes said.
“We know the level of our opponents, so it will be tough. We’ll have played 10 or 12 games more than anyone else.
“If we can get back to Europe, that would be great. It’s a difficult programme for any team in the Europa League or Europa Conference League so we have to get ready for one more Sunday game.”
Our Europa League journey comes to an end. pic.twitter.com/NreaMeSAzR
— West Ham United (@WestHam) April 18, 2024
