I was at the game yesterday and as a neutral I thought everton were very very poor, they're entire gameplan was too hoof the ball up to fellaini a tactic which vidic and ferdinand dealt with with ease, against a reserve manu team everton should of had a lot more to offer, it just shows the gulf between the top four and the rest. Chelsea should walk the Final imo.
Except things often don't work out the way we think they should in football. Chelsea may have eyes on an other final by the time the FA Cup Final comes round and even if they don't, Chelsea will find it hard to break down Everton.
I won't criticise Everton for the way they play. They got to the Final. That's all that matters for them. If Man U choose to play a 50% reserve side, they only have themselves to blame.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
Everton had already played United twice in the league and competed very well. Drew 1-1 at Goodison and narrowly lost to a Ronaldo penalty at OT. They also drew with Liverpool at Anfield twice and beat them at Goodison as well as getting draws against Arsenal and Chelsea this season. They have a decent side with Lescott, Jagielka and Baines all outstanding defenders, better than Arsenals defenders in my opinion. The amount of big players missing this season has been cruel also- Arteta, Yakubu, Saha, etc. They have had by far the most difficult draws along the way as well so they are worthy finalists and haven't taken their eye off the ball in the PL despite playing practically the same 11 every match, credit where it's due.Originally Posted by hunt4the
I think Everton did very well. They have no out and out strikers left with Saha and Vaughan clearly not fully fit and Yakubu and Anichebeout for good and Jo cup tied. Arteta, one of their best players and biggest goalscoring threat, is out for good too. They either had to option of playing kids against Man Utd (e.g. Baxter) or packing the midfield, keeping it tight and hoping Fellani and Cahill could get a lucky break off a set piece or error from Ferdinand and Vidic.
If they can get Saha and Vaughan back to full fitness then I expect them to be more dynamic in the final than yesterday. If you are a betting man have a few punts on Jo to be first scorer in the remaining league matches - I'd say he'll start in all of them and I think most of their other attacking players will be rested. They are definately in the UEFA Euro League next season now (even if they lose the FA Cup final and drop places in the league they could qualify as Cup Runners Up).
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...-Cup-miss.html
second miss is quality- reminds me of me in my prime.
'mon the toffees!!
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
as a neutral utd fielding weakened team ruined the game before it started and i thought everton would be to strong for this utd team ... but will say i thought utd still played the better football and probally just deserved to win game so fergusons weakened team nearly paid off... we would have been on saying what a manager he is if they won the match . i was very disapointed that everton struggled to create any chances against a possible 3rd choice utd team and it was a definate penalty.. as for berbatov a good kick up the h**E he needs big time ..
No sympathy for Ferguson yesterday. Fielded a weakened side in an FA Cup semi-final and paid the price. Nice to see Everton getting through to the final, especially for the fans who have to live in the shadow of their Merseyside neighbour.
Perhaps Man U were entitled to a peno (but there was enough room for doubt) but who says they would have scored, judging by their poor performance in the shoot out - Berbatov in particular looked as if he would miss the minute he walked up to the ball.
" football is a simple game "
I think Chelsea deserved it. They took the competition seriously from the beginning. The Liverpools and Arsenals who fielded weakened teams and won nothing must have looked on with envy. Apparently, when Hiddink took over, he received a delegation of fans who asked him to try and win the FA Cup.
Everton put up a good fight but were well beaten on the day. Much and all as I don't like some of the Chelsea players, the competition was won by the best team.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
I know I'm a bit behind the times here but does anyone else think Howard should have done better with Lampards goal?
When a keeper gets both hands to the shot, he generally should save it. So the answer is yes.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
I agree. I don't particularly like Chelsea, but at least they took it seriously. FA Cup Final is one of the first matches that I rem seeing and I think its a tragedy that its losing its appeal among so many. This started when Man Ure went off to play in some cup a number of years back, but now the smaller clubs in prem are ruining it by fielding weakened teams. Remember back in 80's and 90's the likes of Brighton, Palace, West Ham,Watford and Coventry all got to finals. Pity some sort of penalty / points deduction for the likes of Phil Brown( who play weakened teams in the competition.(at least I think he did)
At the request of the FA no less
I'm generally of the opposite opinion- at least definitely in this case. The shot was too powerful to be kept out, even with the keeper getting two hands to it.
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