The Premier League’s middle class is burgeoning, and none more so than Palace who ruthlessly disposed of Aston Villa
Which is the competition that exists in a state of permanent crisis again? As the Premier League drifts to a conclusion that has felt inevitable for several months, the FA Cup has started spewing out classic after classic, storyline after storyline, games in which the emotions are raw and the jeopardy real. Maybe the polarities have flipped once in the new economic environment and this has become the main event once again.
You’d probably need a few more aspirational Championship sides to start taking the FA Cup more seriously before you made that argument too seriously but, equally, the Premier League’s middle-class is burgeoning. With the gulf to the second flight growing, they can afford to be a little less troubled by the prospect of relegation, while qualification for the Champions League remains a distant prospect. In the circumstances, the only viable goal for that tier of sides is to take the FA Cup seriously.
