My Chelsea breathing friend is in deep depression. He cannot get over the fact that after leading by two goals his team went down to lowly Bradford City who kicked in four goals. It cannot be, he whispers hoarsely, it just cannot be, we were up by two.

I try to console him by saying Chelsea were not up to full strength.

Oh rubbish, he says, if you wear the colors and you trot on to the field you are Chelsea period, there are no second strings, this was a disaster.

And therein lies the magic of the FA Cup. The club fan forms such a strong bulwark against any accusation that the top teams are messing about and ‘disrespecting’ the Cup and its traditions. And these flinty accusations have been made.

Indeed, the diehard cynic would say that the FA Cup has lost its luster because the top teams in the Premier league don’t take it too seriously. It is more like a display of affection for an old and venerable aunt dressed in lilac and lace. They field second strings in the hope that it will be enough to beat the ‘minnows’ who take part in this oldest tournament in the world. After all, nowhere else in the world does a format fling all levels of the sport into one bag and have a draw after each round.

The diehard cynic, having shortsightedly made this profound observation and escaped having been lynched by the purist, would need to undergo a re-indoctrination program in some gulag for those who do not understand the excitement of an FA Cup draw after each round and the shock and horror that follows the fall of the big fellas and the sheer ecstasy reflected in felling them as unknowns…it goes down as a glorious page in their history accompanied by an elbow bending songfest that lasts forever and a night. And the suspense of the weekly draw makes it that much more riveting. Anyone can play anyone and you don’t know it till just a couple of days before the whistle goes.

This year’s drop of 10 premier teams in Round Four is a sort of record since the inaugural Cup in 1871. More will naturally be out in the fifth round. Last weekend’s 4-2 loss by Chelsea to Bradford City and a truly red faced Man United being held goalless by unfancied Cambridge United has given rise to some doubts about coaches being a bit cavalier in ‘resting’ players. But the drubbing these top flight players get from media and fans when they lose makes the accusation rather flimsy.

Pride and prestige largely stay intact and the comeuppance factor sets the tone for this unique tournament. If you choose wrong because you underestimate the opposition then smoke the result. For sure, Chelsea and Tottenham have replaced 9 players each (Arsenal 7 and Aston Villa 6) but these are still first rate players who lost to lesser-rated teams.

When Middlesboro romped to victory against in form Man City and fired a shot across the bows of Arsenal whom they face this weekend nothing could have better reflected the British love for the underdog and that’s what the FA Cup is all about. If you can grasp that fact then you can understand why this tournament stands apart from all others.

That said, the critics are getting their day in the sun. Man City flew back from Abu Dhabi less than 24 hours before kick off against Middlesborough and their energy flagged in the second half. Question asked: Would Manager Manuel Pellegrini have flown the team to Abu Dhabi with less than a day before a fixture there? Echo answers that. It is exactly this sort of casualness, which has given the critics grist for their mill.

The new mantra is all about the big teams being casual in their approach. And if there is any truth in that there will be a price to pay. The fans are unforgiving. And that’s why the FA Cup has endured.