COMMENT: Greatest challenge of all is taking that final stride to glory

Jan 24 2008 by Chris Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post

YOU could tell it was a big night at Goodison Park as some of the “mind your car” lads were quoting a fiver.

I’m sure that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich would have admired their entrepreneurial spirit but with a secure car park just yards away costing the same price they were never going to become billionaires with such exorbitant demands.

This was pointed out to them at the time and a spot of short-lived attempted haggling ensued.

“Four quid then mate.”

The car was already doing a bigger U-turn than Manuel Fernandes and heading for a more secluded spot.

A couple of decades ago when Everton were almost as much as a fixture at Wembley as the Twin Towers with nine appearances in showcase matches between 1984-89, reaching cup finals seemed a basic requirement but almost a whole generation of Evertonians have now grown up without seeing their side contest for a major trophy.

If, given what happened to the club in the interim period, the eight-year gap between Everton’s 1987 League championship success and the 1995 FA Cup win seemed a long wait, how about the 13 barren years success-starved supporters have subsequently been forced to endure?

As the last club outside the ‘big four’ to win the FA Cup, patience has been severely tested for fans of the institution that has spent more time among the highest echelons of English football than anyone else but have been told to scale down their expectations of silverware to a more ‘realistic’ level.

The truth is that you’d be hard-pressed to find an Evertonian under the age of 18 who genuinely recalls Dave Watson holding the FA Cup aloft at Wembley.

Certainly few observers beyond Merseyside gave them any chance on this occasion but it was the same against Tottenham Hotspur in their last semi-final when the greatest substitution Joe Royle never made saw Daniel Amokachi enjoy his finest hour.

But, with a far more prolific contemporary Nigerian striker Ayegbeni Yakubu, who had netted Everton’s goal in the first leg at Stamford Bridge, missing due to African Cup of Nations duty alongside compatriot Joseph Yobo and South African Steven Pienaar, it seems the hosts had been written off literally before a ball had been kicked.

One writer from the Associated Press had his headline and introduction typed out before the players were even out of the tunnel, proclaiming how holders Chelsea had triumphed to secure an all-London final against Tottenham.

He may have ultimately been proved correct but this was never going to be the kind of one-sided affair seen at White Hart Lane 24 hours earlier when Arsenal’s fringe players were finally put to the sword in emphatic fashion by their neighbours.

This competition, which remains the only blank domestically in Goodison’s trophy cabinet, has never been particularly kind to Everton – on the two occasions they have reached the final they’ve been edged out in replays to Liverpool and Aston Villa – at the second time of asking.

But even though the 1984 loss in the first all-Merseyside final was tough to take for those of the blue persuasion in the city, it showed that Howard Kendall’s emerging side could compete for honours and provided a springboard for the subsequent treasure trove of honours over the following three seasons.

League Cup finals might have featured the likes of Bolton and Wigan in recent seasons which shows that they’re no guarantee for sustained success at the highest level but qualification would have proved a terrific starting point for David Moyes – whose sides have struggled in knockout competitions in previous campaigns – ahead of the venture back into a UEFA Cup tournament in which Everton had done so well in before Christmas.

Instead, Evertonians will be looking back on a Joleon Lescott header and a Phil Jagielka back heel that could have gone their way.

Although scoring the first goal is always of great importance in Premier League matches these days, on this occasion it was essential.

For almost 70 minutes the hosts pushed and pressed Chelsea, enjoying the lion’s share of possession and territory but ultimately they were undone by an inspired piece of vision by Florent Malouda and a cool finish by Joe Cole.

Southern scribes may have thought that Chelsea only had to turn up to complete the formalities of this tie at Goodison but with the sides sitting fourth and third respectively in the Premier League table this was hardly David versus Goliath – financially maybe but not on the pitch.

Yet climbing up that one place to match the Premier League’s contenders is arguably the biggest step of all for Everton who have failed to beat Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in six matches so far this term.

Three seasons ago, Moyes’s Everton shocked the football world by finishing fourth and being ‘best of the rest’ but when it comes to lifting trophies nobody is excluded.

Royle did it against Sir Alex Ferguson’s superstars and Everton know they’ll have to figure out a similar way to do it again if they’re to secure honours anytime soon.