AS David Moyes held court with the assembled media after an afternoon of heartbreaking disappointment, his flow was interrupted by the chirping of an instantly recognisable ringtone.

“Ah, Mission Impossible,” quipped the Everton manager. “I know all about that.”

With that one brief aside, Moyes had encapsulated the frustration, the expectation and the problem the Goodison outfit must now address.

There was no disgrace in FA Cup final defeat to a classy Chelsea who ultimately proved too strong and too good.

Yet as he stood alongside his shattered players watching John Terry lift the trophy, Moyes had much to ponder ahead of what promises to be another testing summer.

The debate over whether Everton deserve to be back among the country’s top six clubs has long since abated. Successive fifth-placed finishes and Saturday’s Wembley appearance have seen to that.

But ending the big four’s monopoly, and the silverware that will undoubtedly come with such an achievement, is proving a far more difficult task.

That both Liverpool and Manchester United were beaten en route to the final underlined the potential of this Everton team and that none of their rivals should be feared.