FA Cup Everton’s chance to salvage a frustrating season that promised so much

Greg Lea looks at Everton's FA Cup quarter-final tie with Chelsea and explains why cup success is vital to Roberto Martinez and his team.

Everton host Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday with both clubs dependent on FA Cup success to salvage their faltering seasons. Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images

It is often said that 2-0 is the most dangerous scoreline in football. Everton fans can be forgiven, though, for presuming their side had secured all three points against West Ham United last Saturday when the clock ticked past the 77th minute and their two-goal lead was still intact.

The remainder of the match was almost the perfect synopsis of Everton’s season.

West Ham pulled one back through Michail Antonio — who has now netted five goals in his past eight appearances — with 12 minutes remaining, before equalising via a Diafra Sakho header just moments later.

The worst was still to come for the majority of the supporters inside Goodison Park, with Dimitri Payet completing the turnaround by netting the winner a matter of seconds before the start of second-half stoppage time.

Kevin Mirallas’ red card in the first period should not be disregarded from any analysis of Everton’s subsequent collapse; playing with 10 men for such a large chunk of any game inevitably makes the task of triumphing substantially more difficult, and Roberto Martinez’s men deserve credit for their initial reaction to the setback.

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Nevertheless, Everton’s failure to take advantage of a very favourable situation in the latter stages of last weekend’s match was not exactly an isolated occurrence.

A total of 14 points have been thrown away from winning positions since late November, nine of which came in clashes with clubs — Bournemouth, Norwich City, Stoke City and Chelsea — outside the top seven.

No team in the Premier League has an inferior record over the same period.

Although it is true that Martinez’s teams are capable of playing some wonderful attacking football, they seem to invariably be underpinned by a soft underbelly and chronic frailties at the back.

Wigan Athletic shipped 275 goals in the Spaniard’s four seasons in charge, while only Bournemouth and the bottom four of Sunderland, Norwich, Newcastle United and Aston Villa have conceded more often than Everton this year.

Overall, it has been an underwhelming campaign for a side that should really be doing a lot better.

Everton’s squad is one of the most gifted in the division: youngsters Romelu Lukaku, John Stones, Gerard Deulofeu and Ross Barkley all have the talent to go on to bigger and better things in their careers; Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy, Aaron Lennon and Tom Cleverley are solid and reliable players in their mid to late-20s; and Phil Jagielka, Gareth Barry and Leighton Baines bring plenty of know-how and experience to the table.

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It would be far from unreasonable to expect such a group to be knocking on the door of the Uefa Champions League spots, but instead Everton find themselves 12 points behind Manchester City in fourth with only 10 matches remaining.

Even Europa League qualification through top-flight placing is a prospect that is beginning to fade into the distance. Such underachievement in the league makes Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final with Chelsea even more important for Martinez.

After an excellent first year in charge in which Everton went close to a top-four finish, the team has gone backwards despite being stocked with a higher standard of player.

Billionaire Farhad Moshiri, who recently acquired 49.9 per cent of the club, is likely to have his own ideas going forward.

Martinez’s future is by no means guaranteed despite Everton’s tendency to keep faith with their managers for as long as possible.

Winning the club’s first trophy in over two decades would provide a jolt of optimism, with Everton attempting to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup for only the third time since 1996.

This season has been a disappointment rather than a disaster, but another defeat at Goodison Park Saturday would pile even more pressure on the under-fire Martinez.

It was more like a training session than a competitive encounter. Manchester City barely broke sweat in their 4-0 thrashing of Aston Villa last weekend, a result that kept their slim hopes of winning a third Premier League title in five years alive.

Arsenal have rightly been criticised for failing to profit from other top teams’ woes and taking control of this season’s battle for the championship, but City’s efforts have been just as substandard.

Player for player, Manuel Pellegrini has the most talented squad in the division at his disposal.

Almost £150 million was spent on the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Nicolas Otamendi and Fabian Delph last summer, acquisitions that gave City greater strength in depth than ever before. Despite all that, Pellegrini’s charges find themselves 10 points adrift of the summit with just 10 matches remaining.

A win at Norwich City Saturday would see that gap close to seven for a couple of days at least — City also have a game in hand on those above them — but one more slip-up could give them too much to do and put the league out of reach.

It is worth remembering, though, that both of City’s recent title triumphs came after they had seemingly fallen too far behind in the race.

In 2011/12, Manchester United opened up an eight-point lead at the top in early April only for City to come roaring back to claim the prize on goal difference.

It was a similar story two seasons later, when Liverpool’s seven-point margin with six City matches remaining — Brendan Rodgers’ side admittedly had only four left to play — was overhauled.

City have the ability to go on a long running win in the coming weeks.

Another championship remains unlikely, but victory at Norwich this afternoon would keep them in the hunt.

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