How to fix the FA Cup: Scrap replays, force Premier League clubs to play stars, remove VAR

The FA Cup third round passed by this weekend with few shocks and even fewer full-strength teams fielded by leading Premier League clubs.

Liverpool beat neighbours Everton with a second-string side packed with youngsters, Manchester City coasted to victory against Port Vale with a similarly half-strength team and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United played out a 0-0 draw at Wolves, despite starting with Marcus Rashford on the bench and with Anthony Martial, David De Gea and Jesse Lingard not even in the squad.

The biggest teams to fall at the third-round stage have been Crystal Palace and Brighton -- neither have previously won the Cup and both are hardly Premier League heavyweights -- which means the FA Cup has once again come under fire as being outdated, increasingly irrelevant and a diminishing priority for the big clubs.

But is it really so bad? There were packed stadiums as League One side Rochdale held Newcastle to a draw at Spotland and at Gillingham, where West Ham earned a hard-fought win. Curtis Jones, meanwhile, wrote his name in the FA Cup folklore with his stunning goal for Liverpool against Everton. There have been enough signs that the FA Cup is alive and well if you look in the right places, but there are still tweaks that can be made to make the competition even bigger and better.

1. Let the lower-ranked teams play at home

Everyone loves a cup upset. The prospect of a Premier League club being humbled by a side from the lower leagues is what makes the FA Cup so special, and there is a greater chance of that happening if they were forced to leave behind the comforts of their state-of-the-art stadiums and cosy dressing rooms. So when the draw is made, the Football Association should automatically ensure that the lower-ranked team stages the tie.

In the third round, that would have seen Arsenal travel to Leeds, Chelsea play at Nottingham Forest and Manchester City make the trip to Port Vale. Even Liverpool would have had to surrender home advantage against Everton to play their tie at Goodison Park. It would also have seen Sheffield United have to travel to non-league AFC Fylde. There may not have been a single upset had the ties been switched, but they would all have been played at full stadiums, which works for both the FA Cup romantics and the TV executives who want a noisy, passionate crowd alongside the action on the pitch.

The counter-argument to lower-ranked teams playing at home is that they would miss out on a big payday by travelling to the likes of Anfield, Old Trafford or the Emirates, but to make the cup special, the sporting element must come before financial gain.

2. Scrap replays and go straight to penalties

Wolves coach Nuno Espirito Santo claimed after his team's 0-0 draw against Manchester United on Saturday that finishing the tie at Molineux with a penalty shoot-out, rather than a replay at Old Trafford next week, would have been the most sensible solution. The FA has already made changes to the cup by abolishing replays from the fifth round onwards (that change was introduced last season), but they should now go further by ending them altogether from the third round.

Firstly, such a move would help ease the fixture congestion in the game, especially after a busy Christmas and New Year fixture programme that sees teams play four league fixtures in less than two weeks. But it would also increase the excitement if a cup tie was played to a conclusion at the first attempt, with extra time and penalties deciding the tie.

Lower-league clubs would argue that the prospect of a replay is a financial bonus they would not otherwise get, but replays are becoming an inconvenience to supporters as much as players. The costs of travelling to a replay -- ticket, travel, food, etc. -- is another drain on the resources of fans, especially if they have to take half a day off work to attend the game.

End the problem by finishing the game at the first attempt.

3. Force Premier League clubs to play six first-team players

One of the biggest criticisms of top clubs in the FA Cup is that they use the ties to rest players and make wholesale changes, especially in the early rounds.

Liverpool will point to their 1-0 win against Everton on Sunday as justification for making nine changes from their most recent Premier League fixture, and few of their fans would argue that they did not enjoy seeing a team of youngsters send their neighbours crashing out of the competition. But generally, fans are being short-changed when they turn up to a cup tie and see their team, or the opponents, fielding unrecognisable line-ups.

To mitigate this, a rule should be introduced that forces teams to field at least six players who have made five or more league appearances for the club that season. That would allow managers to rest players, but also ensure that teams are still strong enough for fans to feel as though they are getting value for money. It would also diminish suggestions that big clubs are not taking the competition seriously.