Eurosport - Fri, 29 May 18:08:00 2009
Fulham captain and Eurosport-Yahoo! blogger Danny Murphy believes Everton will have their work cut out against Chelsea at Wembley.
I am really looking forward to the FA Cup final. I think it will be a great game.
Having just played Everton, I know they are a good side and well organised, but I still fancy Chelsea.
For me, they have a wonderful mix of talent and physical strength and in the big games they perform. I don't see Everton having enough to win unless they hold out for a draw and go to penalties.
If you look at both sides, Chelsea have more match winners - Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Nicolas Anelka are some of the best around when they are on form.
For Everton, Louis Saha has had injury problems and I think they will miss him. To me, Tim Cahill is their key player for this game. I've also been really impressed with Steven Pienaar - he is wonderful. When he is playing well and scoring, they seem to be a better team. Leon Osman is another stand-out from their team.
I think they will miss Mikel Arteta's craft because against the top four you need that extra bit of quality, and of course Phil Jagielka, who has probably been their best player this season.
For Everton to beat Chelsea they will have to have their full team and the fact they are missing two crucial players pushes the title towards the Londoners.
The managers have both done a good a job, David Moyes in particular has been fantastic. Everton have progressed each year, which is all the more impressive given their relatively small squad budget.
They play good football, work hard, have some flair - a bit of everything really, and I think David deserves great credit for putting that squad together. I think similar credit is due to our manager, and it should be between David and Roy Hodgson for the manager of the year award.
Obviously Hiddink has done a great job settling the ship at Chelsea, but his job was made slightly easier as he inherited one of the best squads in European football.
But he has given them the confidence to go out and win games rather than building a squad from scratch. It is not fair to compare what he has done to Moyes's achievements. David's work at Everton has been a long process and he deserves all the credit for that.
I think what makes the FA Cup final special is the English public and the players who grew up here know what it means - the nostalgia, tradition and wonderful memories for every player. Everyone looks back to the Cup finals and watches the games with the family and it is just the one competition where the guys can play such variety of clubs.
The rags-to-riches stories that you get in the FA Cup also make it unique. To play in it and win it, as I did with Liverpool, was very special and one of the best memories of football I will ever have. I treasure the medal.
Though, to be honest, it probably comes second to my UEFA Cup medal, but only because it was a bit harder to get back then. We played the likes of Roma, Barcelona and Porto. With teams like that we had to put together lots of consistent performances whereas the FA Cup you can have a little bit of luck in the draw and the run to the final, so it isn't quite the same. But it still means a huge amount to me.
I would love to have the opportunity to play in the final again as the experience of the day will live with me for a very long time. The guys playing in it next week will relish it in the same way. Looking at how many people watch it around the world shows it is still a great competition that we all enjoy.
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I'm a Liverpool fan and funnily enough I want Everton to win. And at 9/2 I'll be throwing £50 on it. Chelsea represent everything that is wrong with football and I hope my fellow scousers kick you on and off the park, I know which end will have the best atmosphere too and its not the spoilt rich kids end of Chelsea
A team of diving cheating b'stards with horrible fans
I hope Everton waste you
As a Liverpool fan, still recovering from the rib cracking spectacle of Man U getting played off the park because their diving prodigy couldnt get everyone to stand ten yards away to let him score, can I just say how good it will be to see Everton show Chelsea how to play football.
To those who say Im just bitter because Chelsea knocked us out of the CL, may I remind you we beat them twice in the Premiership, and we won the CL 5 times anyway, which is more than any of you lot.
Go on Toffees, pull the tigers teeth out.
A fair assesment from one of Houlliers most under rated players. I would like Everton to win but fear Chelsea will prove to be their Nemesis.
C`mn Everton, can`t wait for tomorrow, Moyesy deserves this one,
from the red half of Merseyside.
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