Carlos Carvalhal would enjoy a return to Wembley – if only to erase the memories of his last trip there.
The Swansea City manager – whose team host his former club Sheffield Wednesday in an FA Cup 5th round replay on Tuesday night – took the opposition to a play-off final in 2016 where they lost to Hull City.
But Carvalhal has revealed he has returned to Wembley since then – for a personal hearing on an FA disciplinary charge last October.
“I have been to Wembley again last year, but that was for kind of court, before the FA,” said Carvalhal.
“I had a ban. When you have a ban, you can request a hearing. So, I have been back to Wembley. It was after the game against Bolton. But it was not a good situation.”
The Portuguese manager may appear to have been a model of calm and contentment since he arrived at the Liberty Stadium and breathed fresh life into the club’s bid to avoid relegation.
But recent history has shown there can sometimes be another side to his nature and one that has sometimes landed him in trouble with the authorities.
Carvalhal was fined £2,000 after being sent to the stands at Aston Villa in March of last year and was then given a two-match ban for his altercation against Bolton.
A third misdemeanour – after he was sent from the touchlines against Hull last December – resulted in another one-match suspension.
It means progression to the quarter-finals – a stage Swansea have not reached since 1964 – would put Carvalhal just two matches away from a return to Wembley and a chance to update the memory of his most recent visit.
The Swans boss has led unfancied teams to major finals before. In 2002 he guided Leixoes, from the third tier, to the Portuguese Cup final, before losing 1-0 to Sporting Lisbon.
He recalls: “We played in the final and it was amazing. Our Wembley is Jamor in Lisbon and I believe that was the first time that a team which lost had more applause than the team that won.
“We had 20,000 fans from our club there that day. It’s a massive club, even though it is third division. Those 20,000 fans made it a very good memory for me.
“Even though we lost, that team were winners because never before had a team from the third division made a final.
“Afterwards, we played in the Super Cup final against Sporting, but it was completely unfair. We had played on the Tuesday in the Europa League and they put the final on the Saturday. It was a very short turnaround.
“After five or 10 minutes, I lost a player to a red card and it became a completely unbalanced game.”
Carvalhal has outlined how the FA Cup is not the main priority for Swansea this season and team changes will be made as a result.
I’ve said before and I continue to say, we are underdogs in this competition. Not because we are worse or better than opponents but because it’s not our main competition.
“We will not change nothing compared to what we said in the first game against Wolverhampton, we said we don’t take any kind of risk with the players.
“Of course after this we choose the best eleven and a competitive team to try and win a difficult game tomorrow.
“I look to the positives, all the squad is involved and some of the Under-23 players come in to play. The players who have not had the opportunity so far in the first eleven have a good opportunity to play in the cup.
“Because it’s not our main competition is why I said we are underdogs. If we go to the next stage, fantastic. If we do not go to the next stage it’s not the end of the world because we have an important game on Saturday.”
