Gary Lineker reflects on 1986 FA Cup final defeat to Liverpool
Gary Lineker has shared his heartbreak at the FA Cup final defeat to Liverpool he experienced with Everton in 1986.
The former striker put the Toffees 1-0 up that day and he told BBC’s Match of the Day top ten podcast that he thought it may have ended up being the winner.
It was not to be however, and Lineker also shared the excruciating experience of having to join the open-top bus parade in Liverpool after the match.
He said, “I played in this one and had the heartbreaking experience of putting Everton ahead and thinking maybe I’ll score the winning goal in a cup final.
“My overriding memory is having to do an open-top bus tour through Liverpool with them.
“No Everton fans came out because we’d lost 3-1 and there were tens of thousands of Liverpool fans. Peter Reid stormed off and didn’t get on the bus. I wish I had done the same, in the end, we all just sat downstairs.
“We were the better side all season and somehow we ended up winning nothing and they ended up with the Double. We went ahead in the cup final and we were cruising, Liverpool were arguing among themselves.”
Bridging the gap
It was brilliant to get one over on Liverpool by beating them 2-0 at Anfield this season, but there is still plenty of work to be done.
Carlo Ancelotti has improved the side considerably, particularly in terms of making us more difficult to beat, but some weaknesses remain in the side.
We are superb away from home.
We have the organisation to frustrate teams and quality players to punish openings, as we saw with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s winner at West Ham.
However, Everton often struggle when the onus is on us to break down the opposition, especially at home against defensive sides.
If we want to finish above Liverpool and our other rivals Ancelotti has to address this over the summer, either through recruitment or by making changes to our tactics.
If we get that right next season, we can then start to realistically aim for the Champions League.
In other Everton news, one Champions League outfit are desperate to sell a former Premier League star and Everton have been named as the most likely destination.
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