Four FA Cup takeaways

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And then there were 16. Well, 19 to be precise, pending three replays a week from Tuesday in the FA Cup. But the whittling of a competitive, hungry field this past weekend saw a handful of upsets, a modicum of excitement and some of the drama one expects from soccer's oldest cup competition. (Particularly at Anfield.)

That said, enough Prem teams survived the cull to ensure that as the fifth round kicks in three weeks from now, it'll feel like another EPL weekend. Until then, let's hope and pray that Stevenage can topple Tottenham Hotspur, eh?

In the meantime, here are four things I noticed over the weekend.

You can teach a striker to track back, but you can't make him tackle properly

The modern game demands a lot of its players. We're taught that in the "olden days," men were men, halftime oranges were rejected in favor of cigarettes and beer, strikers hovered around the penalty area for 90 minutes and everyone knew how to play their part. But since the Dutch "Total Football" concept destroyed such compartmentalization, the aim of the game is versatility, and teams that have 10 outfield players just as comfortable marauding upfield as they are lunging in to deny goal-scoring opportunities will tend to prevail.

Which is why Sunday's game at the Emirates was so heartbreaking (to one set of fans, anyway) when this concept was well and truly put to the test.

With Aston Villa clinging desperately to preserve a 2-2 tie -- conceding twice in three minutes erased all its hard work in the first half -- Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny was bearing down on Shay Given like his very own Johan Cruyff when Darren Bent, sprinting back from the attacking third, tried to sweetly win back possession only to clatter the Frenchman and give the Gunners their second penalty of the game.

Robin van Persie promptly dispatched the spot-kick for what would be the game-winning score, but the entirety of the play amplified the delicacy of asking the world of every player on the team. While it worked for Arsenal -- I'd be willing to wager that's the longest run Koscielny takes in his Gunners career -- it clearly failed the Villans, but that's why pundits spout such cliches about it being a funny old game. Innit?

The Gunners display some spine

Sticking with the Arsenal game for a moment, was anyone else -- besides the schizophrenic Emirates crowd, booing relentlessly in the first half only to erupt in paroxysms of joy with every second-half strike -- amazed by the decisiveness and speed of its comeback?

More to the point, why don't Arsene Wenger's men do this every single week? Why isn't this overwhelming pace and incisive passing their default from the kickoff? Heck, why wait until they're deep in the doldrums of a 2-0 hole before roaring on back? I'd suspect they've perhaps watched Liverpool's "Miracle in Istanbul" DVD a few times too many, but whatever the reason or cause -- did Wenger speak at halftime? Or was it RvP? -- it was inspiring to see one of the Prem's fallen-on-tough-times giants show a bit of spine.

While Aston Villa's first half was a template of how to beat Arsenal -- simply ping crosses and through-balls past Koscielny & Co. and wait for them to capitulate -- Arsenal's second was a blueprint of how to play attacking soccer. Period. It didn't matter that it had to overcome two simple, neatly taken goals; it erupted, and any team would have struggled to contain the Gunners' endless assaults.

Not to speak too ill of Alex McLeish's side, but it had precious little response. And a shame, too, after Richard Dunne's towering header from a short-corner routine and Bent's cool narrow-angle finish had them in the ascendance. Defending far too deep, as if thinking a two-goal cushion would be enough, it took the Gunners nine minutes in the second half to upturn the game. Added bonus: Andrei Arshavin was in no way involved!

First it was Alex Song slipping Aaron Ramsey into the area where Dunne bundled him over for RvP's first, and within minutes, Theo Walcott combined with Alan Hutton and Given for one of the most hilarious goals since Birmingham City's game winner against Arsenal in last season's Carling Cup final (look it up if you can find it). Then Bent's best defensive effort, as detailed above. A couple of late Robbie Keane airballs and whiffs only served to cement the Midlanders' agony.

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Shaun Botterill/Getty ImagesMatt Tubbs' 57th-minute winner launched Crawley Town into the fifth round, though he joined Bournemouth barely 48 hours later.

It's not as if such glistening style (or winning) is entirely foreign to Arsenal, but there has been a trend of failure thus far in 2012 that makes a rousing 3-2 win seem like a Champions League final. Dispatching Aston Villa in the FA Cup doesn't atone for three straight EPL defeats, but it does go some way toward appeasing the disgruntled Gooner masses that their team is indeed capable of winning. For 45 minutes, at least.

Feel-good story threatened by feel-bad manager

If you know your English lower leagues, you've heard of Steve Evans. The Crawley Town manager is notorious for his patchy and controversial football history, including a 20-month ban (and a one-year suspended jail sentence) after admitting to massive tax fraud. (Arguably, he escaped jail because his scheme of disguising player wages and fees as expenses to avoid taxation ostensibly helped the club survive and gain promotion back in the early 2000s.)

And yet, despite Evans' sordid history, it's difficult to ignore what the League Two rookie Crawley Town has managed in the FA Cup.

A first-round win over League One's Bury was its mildest upset to date; non-league Redbridge was no match in the second round, followed by a 1-0 win over Championship-level Bristol City in the third and on Saturday a nervy 1-0 win at Hull City, another notable scalp for a club that was off the radar as recently as last season. Making its run even more impressive was the fact that it's in the fifth round for the second straight season.

Sure, there's a slight sense of discomfort at how Crawley Town got there, given its manager's track record and the dubious cash injection that has boosted the side -- Evans' quote to the Observer about recent investors and a summer spending spree of over $750,000: "They are rich people who do not want a short-term or any return on their money." But Crawley Town has a "high-profile" home tie against EPL battlers Stoke City to show for it.

It's not all good news, mind you, as beating Tony Pulis might prove difficult without talismanic striker Matt Tubbs -- 18 goals in 31 appearances for the League Two leader, and four difference-making FA Cup goals, tied for third-best -- who signed with Bournemouth on Monday. One wonders whether it'll be long before others come calling for Argentine midfielder Sergio Torres and ex-Evertonian Hope Akpan, not to mention that Sanchez Watt's loan from Arsenal will expire at season's end.

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Alex Livesey/Getty ImagesMarouane Fellaini's fifth goal in all competitions this season -- teed up beautifully by Landon Donovan -- lifted Everton past a feisty and full-blooded Fulham side.

Such is life for the giant-killer, no matter how questionable its backers. The only reward for a good Cup run is attracting the attention of well-paying suitors.

Donovan beats Dempsey

I know I wasn't alone in sneaking off Friday to watch the "Battle of America" unfold at Goodison, when Everton took on Fulham with three blue-chip USMNTers in the fray. Twitter was afire with excited chatter not normally deployed on the FA Cup, and for once the hype was somewhat justified. Everton's 2-1, come-from-behind win was great entertainment, not least because the on-loan Landon Donovan artfully supplied Denis Stracqualursi and Marouane Fellaini for both Toffees goals, either.

Donovan's crossing was prodigious -- how I wish he were on loan across Stanley Park instead -- and catalyzed his adopted team's superb comeback against a typically obdurate Fulham side that seized the lead when John Heitinga handled in the box and Danny Murphy serenely dispatched the penalty. First, Landy's cut-back on the right wing gave him the room to float in a gorgeous left-footed cross for the on-loan Argentine monster to power home his first goal in English football (he cried all the way through his goal celebration). In the 73rd minute, Donovan's set-piece free kick found the Belgian for a towering header over goalie David Stockdale to seal the victory.

Though Clint Dempsey displayed a mere fraction of his counterpart's creativity, his exploits across a long and storied EPL career cannot be overlooked, much like Tim Howard's tenure between the posts at Everton and Landon's press-grabbing performances in two brief loan cameos.

Based on the calendar, the fifth-round tie at home to Sheffield Wednesday or Blackpool will be one of Donovan's last games before returning to the LA Galaxy on Feb. 25. Considering how much more threatening Everton looks with Donovan supplying such quality from the wing, I'd suggest that Toffees fans enjoy him while they can.

James Tyler is an editor for ESPN Soccer. He can be found on Twitter at @UFJamesT.

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James Tyler

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James Tyler is an ESPN editor for soccer.