Big teams crashing out of FA-cup using weak teams!

Has anyone else noticed this! The big teams fields weak teams with loads of youngsters against other PL-sides and loose, this is very annoying!

In the League-cup it is the contrary, they field good teams against both good and weaker teams. This is an issue!

yes its been mentioned on here many times. chelsea have actually won it the 1st 3 seasons on my game but none of the other big teams actually bother trying.

last seasons semi finalists on my game were chelsea, wigan, plymouth and huddersfield

Often depends on the detail level of your game. If the comp isn't full detail they tend to put a weak side out.

But isn't this what tends to happen anyway? I personally never put a strong team out in the cup competitions as I aim to give experience to a few youngsters.

For the bigger teams, the league and Europe are the main priorities and if there's a chance of having players 100% fit for those games then you will always look at other options for domestic cups. I can't say it's a bug because this happens IRL.

But isn't this what tends to happen anyway? I personally never put a strong team out in the cup competitions as I aim to give experience to a few youngsters.

For the bigger teams, the league and Europe are the main priorities and if there's a chance of having players 100% fit for those games then you will always look at other options for domestic cups. I can't say it's a bug because this happens IRL.

This isn't necessarily a bug, but the FA-cup has a huge status in England! I'm sure the teams playing in the new Europe League such as Fulham and Everton would focus more on the FA-cup than Europe League. And it doesn't give any sense when they use their strongest teams in the League Cup, and not in the FA-cup. It's annoying because it isn't realistic! Especially when the big guns play other strong PL-teams!

That's the theory, yes. But do you also think that people treat the FA Cup in the same way it was approached 20+ years back? I don't think so.

In game, perhaps the prize money is low for this competition? Or it may be a simple factor of fixture congestion.

I'm not having a dig by the way, because I've experienced it myself. I've just played a quarter-final v Portsmouth and lost as I fielded a fairly weak team. But after the game I realised Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City also lost. I believe the semi's consists of Wolves, Villa, Tottenham and Wigan. But from my experience, the league cup is treated in a similiar fashion.

Blackpool got to the FA Cup final on my game, beating Spurs on penalties in the semi's. They lost 3-0 to Chelsea in the final.

I've found that Prem teams pick their best teams in the League cup. Liverpool, who have 8 first team players injured, played Gerrard and Johnson against Watford even though they both had low conditions at the start (something like 70%) and a big league game at the weekend.

Arsenal, who haven't played a strong team in this competition for years, played their best 11 against Stoke, days before playing Man Utd in the league. Now all their players have low condition.

If you think that the top league teams don't take the FA Cup seriously, just take a look at the past 20 winners, and tell me how many are not in the 'big 4'.

I think it's very unrealistic that teams like Arsenal seem to treat the League Cup as a priority, and it means it actually affects their performance in the league as their players' conditions drop from playing too much, and their young players and back up players are never match fit as they never play

Its starting to happen in real life. At the end of the day United put out a Carling Cup side against Everton in last years semi final. Alot of the big teams are starting to acknowledge that the FA Cup isn't as important...Look at the teams who have reached the finals in the couple of years. Millwall, Portsmouth, Cardiff, West Ham, Everton. The latter two are good teams on paper and on thier day, but if they came up against a big 4 side who fielded a full team they probably wouldn't stand a chance!

I got Man City in my first season as Forest and without a doubt they fielded a full squad with the likes of Tevez and Robinho in it. I haven't noticed your point much though mainly because I don't check the other fixtures teams, I only care who goes through or not. I however do field my youth with bigger teams.

Its starting to happen in real life. At the end of the day United put out a Carling Cup side against Everton in last years semi final. Alot of the big teams are starting to acknowledge that the FA Cup isn't as important...Look at the teams who have reached the finals in the couple of years. Millwall, Portsmouth, Cardiff, West Ham, Everton. The latter two are good teams on paper and on thier day, but if they came up against a big 4 side who fielded a full team they probably wouldn't stand a chance!

since 1990, only 3 teams that are not in the big 4 have won the FA cup: Portsmouth, Everton and Tottenham

Teams like Milwall and Cardiff have reached the final, and lower Prem teams too like Southampton, but on the whole the best teams in the league have won it, and Man United, Chelsea and Arsenal have all lost in finals in recent years. Teams like Cardiff reaching the final every few years is nothing new in the FA Cup

on the other hand, Blackburn, Middlesbrough, Tottenham and Leicester have won the League Cup since 2000

I think the FA Cup still takes huge precedent over the League Cup, and FM should reflect this by having stronger teams fielded in the FA Cup and weaker teams in the League Cup. Even teams like Hull and Bolton have fielded weak teams in the League Cup.

I think it taps into a wider problem of AI squad rotation. In my example of Liverpool, they should never be playing Gerrard at 70% condition for a League Cup 4th round tie at Watford

I agree, but alot of managers don't give the FA Cup the full attention it deserves. If Liverpool, United, Chelsea or Arsenal were gunning for the league and had Champions League commitments, do you really think they'd bother with the FA Cup? Even when United got to the final in 2007, they barely had a convinving team out against Watford in the semi's! The whole way through last years comp I don't think Fergie played a full team once. Welbeck & Gibson appeared in every round if IIRC