Premier League Everton will take on League One Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup with Danny Cowley hoping for a stunning result.
Danny Cowley believes his Lincoln City side are about to come up against an Everton side chock-full of ‘world class’ footballers in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup clash at Sincil Bank, speaking to Lincolnshire Live.
Now, Cowley’s comments will surely breathe fresh life into an age-old argument. What quantifies a ‘world class’ footballer?
Alan Shearer famously caused a stir when he claimed on Match of the Day (4 December, 2016) that Alexis Sanchez fell a little short of the top bracket in 2016. This was when Sanchez was Arsenal’s irrepressible force of nature after all, rather than a shadow of a player who has lumbered around Old Trafford, seemingly weighed down by all the spare coins in his pockets.
But Cowley has made it clear that he rates the players at Everton’s disposal at the very top level ahead of what promises to be an intriguing match-up.
“It’s great for the players to be able to pit their wits against world-class players and it’s great for us to do the same against their vastly experienced management team,” said Cowley, who has lead Lincoln from non-league to League One.
“They’ve got an extremely strong squad.”
On paper, Everton are certainly not lacking talent. Andre Gomes, Richarlison, Moise Kean, Lucas Digne and the gifted yet erratic Jordan Pickford all have the potential to go right to the top of the European game.
But with general consensus remaining that ‘world class’ footballers need to prove themselves at the top level for many a year and make a difference in Champions League finals and World Cups, it’s fair to say Cowley is perhaps getting a little over-excited ahead of one of the biggest games in Lincoln’s recent history.
Yet who can blame him, really?
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