Well here we are - we've been here before (well not exactly The Emirates in a Cup Quarter Final but you get the gist). Let me just say it's about time, about time we had the rub of the green, a bit of help (though I'm hoping that isn't required) from the ref, heaven knows we've had a slice of bad luck here and there over the years, and I won't repeat them all - you know what I mean, so it's about time it swung our way. They, those in the know, say that good teams make their own luck but, as far as Everton are concerned that just isn't the case - so much so that the 3 times post-war we have won the Cup we've been, at best, an average side, yet when we've actually been much better than that luck has deserted us. So today, probably minus our captain, our best hope of a goal with just 30 minutes of PL football in 5 weeks and our young gun Ross Barkley totally off the boil right now it seems that luck, once again, is going to play its part.
So, today, instead of looking for excuses - or asking for help from above (something I've resorted to a couple of times and - where did it get us?!?! - I'll tell you - it got us a deserved equaliser, a hugely disputed disallowed goal and a 3-0 hammering in the replay) - I sometimes wish we'd just gone down quietly 2-1 at Maine Road back in '77 - let's go out and do it - play football the Everton way and bring the glory of Cup semi final (hopefully against Wigan!!). I sometimes wish Little Curly Alan Ball hadn't put us within touching distance of a Cup Final with the Arsenal only to be cruely denied by an injury to Brian Labone before, well you know the rest. I sometimes wish the first two goals at Wembley in 2012 were wiped from the record books so we can accept a 1-0 defeat rather than the ignominy of a 1-2 reverse from a position of strength... I wish I wish I wish. Can there really be a top side anywhere in the world even remotely as unlucky as Everton Football Club?
So whilst I am quietly optimistic of a 2-0 thumping of the trophyless Arsenal (Mirallas and Pienaar FTR) I'm also expecting us to luck out - have a perfectly good goal disallowed at 0-1 (well onside ref) and go down to a 2-0 defeat courtesy of Giroud's backside and Oxlade-Chamberlain beating the one and only defender after we've missed a glorious 89th minute chance..or, in accordance with the immutable law of the X - a 30 yard special from Mikel.
So, today, instead of looking for excuses - or asking for help from above (something I've resorted to a couple of times and - where did it get us?!?! - I'll tell you - it got us a deserved equaliser, a hugely disputed disallowed goal and a 3-0 hammering in the replay) - I sometimes wish we'd just gone down quietly 2-1 at Maine Road back in '77 - let's go out and do it - play football the Everton way and bring the glory of Cup semi final (hopefully against Wigan!!). I sometimes wish Little Curly Alan Ball hadn't put us within touching distance of a Cup Final with the Arsenal only to be cruely denied by an injury to Brian Labone before, well you know the rest. I sometimes wish the first two goals at Wembley in 2012 were wiped from the record books so we can accept a 1-0 defeat rather than the ignominy of a 1-2 reverse from a position of strength... I wish I wish I wish. Can there really be a top side anywhere in the world even remotely as unlucky as Everton Football Club?
So whilst I am quietly optimistic of a 2-0 thumping of the trophyless Arsenal (Mirallas and Pienaar FTR) I'm also expecting us to luck out - have a perfectly good goal disallowed at 0-1 (well onside ref) and go down to a 2-0 defeat courtesy of Giroud's backside and Oxlade-Chamberlain beating the one and only defender after we've missed a glorious 89th minute chance..or, in accordance with the immutable law of the X - a 30 yard special from Mikel.
