- Moyes guided Everton to the FA Cup final in 2009, only to lose to Chelsea
- The Scot hopes to go one step further this term during his second Toffees stint
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Does the Premier League REALLY need to look at goal celebrations?
David Moyes says he has unfinished business in the FA Cup after coming so close to ending Everton’s trophy drought in his first stint at the club.
The Toffees took the lead with less than a minute on the clock in the 2009 final through Louis Saha but ultimately lost to Chelsea after goals from Didier Drogba and future manager Frank Lampard.
Moyes also guided Everton to Wembley in 2012 for a semi-final and they also went ahead in that match, against Liverpool, but their city rivals ultimately came back to win 2-1.
The boss, who has won three of his four games back at Everton, said: ‘Oh, I’d love to get to the cup final. I really would. I think Louis scored after 29 seconds and we were talking because I mentioned it in my programme notes as we scored last week in 10 seconds.
‘Everybody wants to win the cup, I don’t believe anyone goes out not trying to win the cup. If we can keep ourselves involved it would be good. We’re not a club involved. We need to start bringing some good news back around Everton if we can.
‘And I think getting through to the next round would be a good news story.’
David Moyes wants to avenge Wembley heartache from 16 years ago in the FA Cup this term
Everton took the lead early in the FA Cup final in 2009, but ultimately lost 2-1 to Chelsea
Everton were then edged out by fierce rivals Liverpool in the semi-finals three years later
Moyes believes that Everton’s players are enjoying themselves more now after the burden of pressure has been lifted in recent weeks, with the side now nine points clear of the relegation zone with a much superior goal difference to Leicester in 18th.
He added: ‘The last thing we need here is pressure. Players don’t need it because they’ve been living under so much pressure from different things. Even their own supporters have been saying, “No, we’re not liking this”.
‘Suddenly they might be feeling a bit of freedom and there’s a wee bit where they’re saying, “I can breathe here. I don’t feel quite as uneasy”.
‘But let’s be fair: we’ve had a good start, but we have a long way to go and there are going to be choppy seas along the road. We’re going to have to work through that.’
