Source: Liverpool_Echo
Everton pre-season special: Trio out to make up for lost time
IT is the question that has no answer, the two words that are debated over again and again without a conclusion ever being drawn: 'What if?'
Using the summer months to reflect on that heartbreaking defeat at Wembley in May, that is exactly what Evertonians asked themselves, as they looked for reasons as to why the battle with Chelsea could and should have turned out differently.
What if Phil Jagielka, Mikel Arteta and Ayegbeni Yakubu had all been fit?
Unfortunately, we will never know if their presence in David Moyes' starting line-up that afternoon would have turned the tide and brought the FA Cup back to Merseyside but it's safe to say, Everton's chances would have dramatically improved with them.
During the course of an average season, clubs tend to expect they will have to deal with one major injury yet the fate that befell the Blues during the campaign just gone was only that simply beggared belief.
Losing Yakubu last November after he ruptured his Achilles tendon during a win at Tottenham was bad enough, but to follow it up with Arteta and Jagielka rupturing their cruciate ligaments in February and April respectively was all too much to take.
That Everton were able to put those traumas to one side and secure a fifth place finish, not to mention going all the way to Wembley, speaks volumes for the team spirit that Moyes has fostered.
Yet it is only natural to wonder how different the situation might have been had Yakubu - a man who practically guarantees 20 goals a year - not been confined to the sidelines for seven months or had Arteta been allowed to maintain his majestic form.
Of course, it would be wrong to assume Everton would have definitely improved on their efforts - Moyes, after all, found a way of playing that brought the best out of those who were fit and able - but it is the not knowing which frustrates so much.
