The Premier League has been decided and the Champions League is off to Spain, but there is still one major trophy left to fight over this season in England – The FA Cup.
Blue certainly will be the colour at Wembley on Saturday as Chelsea take on Everton. The bookies are favouring a Chelsea win, after all the club finished the season in third place and only narrowly missed out on a spot in the Champions League final. The club also have a remarkable record against Everton. The Londoners haven’t lost to the Toffees since November 2000, with John Terry the only player still at either club since that game. The last time the clubs met in the Cup was in 2006 when Chelsea came away with a 4-1 victory at Stamford Bridge in a 4th Round replay.
Things looked so different six months ago when they looked to be floundering under Brazilian Luis Felipe Scolari, with rumours of player unrest having a negative effect on results. Scolari was sacked and Russian National coach Guus Hiddink brought in to steady the ship until the end of the season.
Hiddink quickly earned the respect of the players and turned their season around. Despite his short stay at the Bridge there appears to be a strong bond between Hiddink and the players. They will be determined to reward Hiddink for his hard work and end the year on a high.
But to write Everton off would be a foolish and naive act. Under the shrewd leadership of David Moyes the side had made steady progress year on year and ended this campaign with a second successive ‘best of the rest’ fifth place finish.
The club is a blueprint by which many clubs should follow. They have a loyal, if relatively poor in football terms, owner in Bill Kenwright. But his close relationship with boss Moyes and the stability that has provided has given the team a solid platform to build from. Trigger happy owners across the country should take note as to how it is done.
Despite the high league placing, the club still doesn’t have the funds to compete with many other teams in the league. To try and counter that Moyes has forged a team sprit and rabid determination among his players meaning the team is greater than the sum of its parts. They may not have star names (there is no room for egos at Goodison Park) but as a team they are a force to be reckoned with.
Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa have all been dispatched on route to Wembley this year, so the Toffees have no reason to be overawed when they step out on the Wembley turf on Saturday. Lets just hope it is a game fitting of such a show piece occasion. FA Cup betting in the build-up to tomorrow's game is certainly going to be interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment