Everton have fire power to trouble Reds

SUNDAY’S FA Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Everton at Wembley is too close to call, says Athletic manager Joe Royle.

It’s 14 years since The Toffees, under Royle’s leadership, last won the coveted competition.

United, like this weekend, were Everton’s opponents when a Paul Rideout goal was good enough to split the two teams.

The Goodison Park outfit, who had successfully battled to avoid relegation from the Premier League, prevailed despite being labelled as underdogs.

Everton have no such concerns this time round— David Moyes’ side are setting their sights on a place in the UEFA Europa League next season — but United are red-hot favourites once again.

Royle, who scored 119 goals in 270 appearances for Everton, warned: “You can’t predict cup games at any level and you certainly can’t predict semi-finals.

“The last time Everton reached the FA Cup final I was manager and we weren’t supposed to win either.

“On form, the people who aren’t involved with either club will fancy Manchester United strongly, but anybody who watches Everton knows they are very hard to beat.

“David Moyes has done a super job and it is not a foregone conclusion.

“He hasn’t won anything and he’s up against a man who has won everything many times over.

“But don’t underestimate him. I’ve always been a firm believer that the manager of the year should win something. If David Moyes wins the cup, I’ll be right up there campaigning for him.”

There has been very little to choose between the two teams in the league this season.

The first meeting at Goodison Park ended in a 1-1 draw, while in the return fixture a Cristiano Ronaldo goal clinched a 1-0 win over an Everton side ravaged by injuries.

United will enter Sunday afternoon’s showdown on a high after they beat Porto on Wednesday night to book their place in the last four of the Champions’ League.

But the doubters still persist after back-to-backs defeats in the league were followed by less than impressive wins over Aston Villa and Sunderland.

Royle, who was manager of Everton for nearly two-and-half years, refutes suggestions that United are struggling.

“They are having a torrid time! They are top of the league and in the semi-finals of the Champions League,” he said tongue-in-cheek.

“I giggle about it. I was talking to Sir Alex Ferguson the other week and I said to him ‘I see you are in another crisis’ and we both laughed. He knows there is no crisis at Old Trafford.

“If they can bring on Paul Scholes as a substitute, then they haven’t got a problem.

“I am not going for a United win at all. I’m an Evertonian. I’ll be at the game working as a TV pundit and if Everton score I’ll probably hit the roof.”


THE other semi-final sees Arsenal take on London rivals Chelsea at Wembley tomorrow.