Reds leave Moyes feeling blue again

David Moyes’ tenure at Goodison Park has frequently seemed like one long battle against the odds but there is one barrier that has remained insurmountable during the manager’s reign.

A large, obstructive red barrier that serves as a reminder that, as impressive as Moyes’s work has been, the hope he might one day make Everton the dominant force in their own city remains unfulfilled.

Wembley on Saturday presented two opportunities.

Without a trophy since Joe Royle guided the club to an FA Cup final victory over Manchester United in 1995, Moyes’ team were within 90 minutes of reaching their second final in four seasons and the chance to avenge their defeat to Chelsea in 2009.

And, tantalisingly, they could do so at the expense of Liverpool, the club whose success and stature has smothered them for so long but who arrived in London in a state of turmoil.

Yet, as so often, a familiar order had been restored with Everton supporters left bewildered at how this Liverpool side, arguably the poorest in a very long time, now stands on the brink of collecting two trophies.

That outcome was by no means inevitable. Liverpool appeared the more assured side during the opening minutes but, once they settled, Everton looked comfortable before Nikica Jelavic had capitalised on the kind of defending that would have kept Evertonians in laughs for years to come if their side were able to hold the lead.

However, they paid the price for failing to build on that advantage and expose Liverpool’s uncertainties, allowing Kenny Dalglish’s team to regroup at half-time before going on to grind Everton down.

Sylvain Distin’s mistake helped Liverpool’s cause, of course, but once again it was impossible to escape the feeling that once again, when it really mattered, Everton had lacked the courage to take the next step.

“We scored the early goal and that’s when we really needed to score the second, really stick the knife in,” admitted Phil Neville, the captain. “We didn’t do that.”

Jelavic impressed, but few of his established team-mates offered a similar level of performance with Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini failing to raise their games to the level required.

And for critics of Moyes — and there are undoubtedly some at Goodison Park — despite the manager being regarded as an untouchable by many throughout the game, there was more ammunition to support their view that he becomes too cautious when the stakes are raised.

The counter argument is that he has worked wonders over the years, maintaining a level of consistency with patched-up teams made up of players from those corners of the transfer market where successive Liverpool managers rarely had to look.

Yet consistency doesn’t necessarily deliver glory, as Neville acknowledged when he contemplated the prospect of finishing above Liverpool in the Premier League.

“It’s a massive five games for us,” he said. “But it won’t make up for it because, at the end of the day, we want to win silverware. But seventh position might qualify us for Europe — you just never know. That would be a little bit of consolation for this season.

“We’ve got to somehow bounce back from this. Back in October, when everyone thought the club was on its knees, we’ve bounced back from that disappointment. We’re in seventh position now and the sign of a good team, a great team, is when they bounce back with victories. This is when we need to show our mettle and we’re going to do that next week at Old Trafford.”

Everton have never been short of targets and finishing above Liverpool is simply their next. But they know from bitter experience that can quickly be eclipsed.

The last time they managed it was in 2005, when they pipped their neighbours to finish fourth. Liverpool’s response? They won the Champions League.