It must be said that from a personal point of view I am a little wary of returning to Wembley, it doesn't exactly hold the best of memories - although I have only been the once, but that was for the 1996 Cup Final.. sat in the Man United end. Really not a good day - but when you have the chance of a last minute Cup Final ticket against Man Utd you take it I suppose - well I did anyway.
I am hoping for a better result this time around, although the only other domestic final I've been to was the Chelsea League Cup final in 2005 which again didn't go brilliantly - I was beginning to think I was a bit of a jinx when I realised that the only 2 finals I'd been to were the only two finals that Liverpool had lost since 1989.
This theory was blown out of the water a couple of months after Cardiff, following the trip to Istanbul. It should be said there were periods during that game that I thought my jinx had struck again and that it might not be our day - this is a bit of an understatement.
There is a certain irony that Liverpool's opponents on Sunday should be Cardiff City. Given that the media delighted in informing everyone that this is our first trip to Wembley in 16 years (since the 1996 horrendousness) < I'm not sure if horrendousness is actually a word, but I think it describes that day quite well - did I mention I was travelling on a Man Utd supporters coach - Not sure whether I'd have come out of that experience too well if we'd actually won that day, but I would have liked to have found out.
I quiet enjoyed Cardiff as a spare Wembley. Since they knocked the Old Wembley down in 2000, Liverpool did better than most when they started playing all the games at the pointy end of the season in Wales. 2 FA Cups and 2 League Cups was a decent return, and it should be pointed out that Liverpool would have gone to Wembley 11 times during the same period if they hadn't knocked it down - including FA Cup semis which is a nonsense, but that isn't going to change any time soon.
Also, given that the Semi-final against Man City almost seemed like the final itself as we knew that there was Championship opposition waiting if we could get past City - a degree of complacency really to be guarded against. Even if Cardiff are looking a bit wobbly at present - losing 3 out of the last 4 - only winning 1 put of 10 away from home (against a plummeting Notts Forest).
You only have to look at last season when Arsenal only needed to turn up to beat Birmingham, but didn't and we saw Birmingham win, get relegated and qualify for Europe in the same season.
They also have an old boy facing up against them, well probably squaring up given that we're talking about Craig Bellamy, who has never actually played at Wembley which is a bit surprising, but he would have played there for Wales recently, but got himself suspended (less surprising).
From a broader perspective, in terms of the season winning a trophy at this stage would give us a definite boost in confidence for the run-in. Especially when you consider what our direct rivals for fourth spot are going through at the moment and crashing out of the Champions League in spectacular fashion - (I know they're not out officially, not yet anyway, give it a couple of weeks).
So come Sunday, I would like to see us win (obviously) and for me at least it be the first proper trophy I'll have seen us get in this time zone. A goal or two from Bellamy would be good, but frankly as long as we win I really don't care and if we can use that to kick on and return there for the FA Cup.. well, a couple of trophies and the media might even start talk about Liverpool FC in terms of actual football and achievement on the pitch, which in recent years has been lacking.
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