Swedish is a tricky language. Rather like Anders Limpar, it is unfathomable to those without in-depth knowledge of it. That is probably why Joe Royle, the Everton manager, stuck to his native English when describing his soloist from Solna, who shone for 70 minutes in Saturday’s victory over Manchester United “Anders is a genius. He is a genius, believe me,” he said.
Certainly the unpredictable playmaker showed the Wembley crowd all the skills he too often fails to display, plus a few tricks – like tracking back and tackling the toughest – that many would not have seen before Limpar v Paul Ince – no contest? Absolutely right. In their crucial Cup final confrontations, Limpar came out on top, not least in the 30th minute.Then the Swede hurled himself into a challenge as Ince weighed up his limited options, forcing him into a hurried pass. He then reacted like a greyhound to the trap opening when Dave Watson blocked Ince’s vain attempt to recover his error and spearheaded the decisive break.

A few minutes later, he caught Ince napping again, stripping the ball away from him and releasing Graham Stuart on another dangerous foray with an instinctive sweeping pass from left to right.”What you’ve got to do,” Royle explained, “is just to saturate Anders with the ball. As often as you can, you’ve just got to give him the ball.” And then? Well, hope for the best, it seems.The best was what Royle got on Saturday, and Limpar’s talent for the unexpected, his skill at switching the pace and direction of play shone all the brighter for the absence from the United line-up of the rampaging winger Andrei Kanchelskis and the man Alex Ferguson describes as “mon genius”, Eric Cantona.What wouldn’t the United manager have given to have had either of those creative talents at his disposal on Saturday. But for his constant chewing, Cantona would have watched from the bench with teeth gritted as Ince and Roy Keane were drawn deeper and deeper into their own obsessions with grittiness.Everton built a wall across the edge of their penalty area that represented an irresistible physical challenge to United’s central midfielders. They battered away at it with their banality, asking miracles of the well-chaperoned Mark Hughes, and rarely sought to undermine its foundations with a subtle switch in the angle of attack.They were hardly helped by the failure of Lee Sharpe and Nicky Butt, who started on the flanks, to reveal an ounce of inspiration, a lack which became all the more obvious when Ryan Giggs came on. He circumvented the thick blue line on the left and generated enough uncertainty to enable him to go inside and create United’s best chance for Paul Scholes.Neville Southall’s double save to deny the young striker made Ferguson realise it would take something special to beat the Welsh goalkeeper. “We didn’t produce it,” he said, and bemoaned the fact that his younger players had, with the exception of Gary Neville, shown their inexperience at crucial moments.But it was his experienced players who fell into Everton’s stifling trap That spelled failure in anybody’s language..

“When Graham Stuart hit the bar I felt I was waiting for a lifetime for the ball to come down. The net was there and I just had to concentrate on hitting the target Luckily I did,” Everton match-winner Paul Rideout

“It’s been a very disappointing six days for us. We had two chances to win trophies but we didn’t get either of them, and that’s not a nice feeling,” United captain Steve Bruce.
“The town’s going to be rocking tonight,” Everton manager Joe Royle.”You can’t say I’m delighted for him! But he’s been in the game a long time and some managers like that never get the success they deserve. After the apprenticeship Joe has served, he deserves this,” United manager Alex Ferguson.”I’m just going home to Llandudno,” Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall on missing the post-match party.”It’s like a funeral in the dressing-room. Since Joe Royle took over, Everton have dug and fought all the time Southall played really well.

He’s had some criticism this season and that’s been very unfair, but he proved the critics wrong today – unfortunately,” United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.”He’s a genius. In terms of sheer ability there was never going to be anyone out there with more than him,” Royle on Anders Limpar.”Southall had a marvellous game. He won them the Cup,” Ferguson.”I don’t know what all the fuss is about. They [the saves] were nothing special,” Southall.”This is the first season for five years that we have not picked up something – and I’m pleased to say that the players are showing how much that hurts,” Ferguson.”I’m so very proud of them, that’s the only word for it. I’ve looked around for a better one but I can’t find one,” Royle.”Right now I don’t think I’ve ever felt more gutted,” United midfielder Paul Ince.”We came here to do a job and we’ve done it,” Southall.. Chris Waddle last night looked set to follow his fellow former England internationals Hoddle, Robson, Wilkins et al into management as the new Sheffield Wednesday chief in succession to another of his contemporaries, Trevor Francis, who departed on Saturday. The smart money is on him doing so in tandem with Arthur Cox, his old mentor from Newcastle days, even though many may feel that an inexperienced player-manager is not what the club needs after its ultimately unhappy association with another of that ilk.