THERE is no other frustration in life like wanting something so badly, being able to see it, but knowing you simply can't get your hands on it. If it was not bad enough for David Moyes to have a sense of what might have been gnaw away at him since March 12 - the date Everton had their hearts broken by Fiorentina - that misery was exacerbated last night at the City of Manchester Stadium. Moyes knew - just like every other Evertonian - that, rather than being shacked up in the comfort of a television studio, he should have been prowling around a technical area, barking out orders and cajoling the Blues towards their first major trophy since 1995. Imagine, then, what was going through Moyes’ mind when he was sat within touching distance of the UEFA Cup? The only thing needed to compound his misery was for Jim Bowen to pipe up and say “Here, David, have a look at what you could have won”. Of course, you can’t say for sure that had Lady Luck favoured Everton in the penalty lottery against Fiorentina they would have had a final tussle with Zenit St Petersburg. After all, the Toffees’ interest in this competition ended with four flights to jump. But, one thing you can say for certain, though, is that Everton’s presence would have made for an infinitely better spectacle than the one Zenit and an astonishingly one-dimensional Glasgow Rangers side produced. While it was a truly remarkable achievement to get to Manchester, with greatest respect to the men from Ibrox, it remains a mystery how they actually did it. Then again, the UEFA Cup is a most peculiar competition. Consider this. Zenit lost three times on their way to the final, Rangers never scored in the last four, yet the Blues won eight of their 10 matches. Work that out. Is it any wonder that Moyes, his players and supporters continue to ache with frustration? What’s more, the man whose presence illuminated what would otherwise have been an absolutely turgid encounter ended up paying a back-handed compliment to Everton for the role they played in helping Zenit out. Much of what these sides produced was forgettable but in, Andrei Arshavin, Zenit had the one man capable of sprinkling stardust on proceedings with deft passing, wonderful vision and thrilling runs. Yet even he acknowledged that Zenit owed Everton, who beat the Russians 1-0 at Goodison last December – a debt of gratitude. After all, had Moyes not led his side to a 3-2 win in Alkmaar before Christmas, Arshavin and Co would have been out of Europe.
Full story at Liverpool Echo website - click here
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