 Welcome to ToffeeTV, it is the Player Ratings Everton Neil Aston Villa 2, a really, I think it really feels like a really demolarising game for a lot of people today. I think it feels like a bit of a kick in the teeth, that defeat. Basically because I think it's a game, not that we should have won, but we could have won. You know, it's a game that was there to be won. You know, the game has changed on a penalty which, from one angle looks like Garner got the ball. Apparently there's another angle where it looks like he hit his knee. I haven't seen that angle, so I'm not really going to go into too much. But just disappointing, just a disappointing game. Again, if we had a centre forward, I think we win that game. And I think that's again the difference between the two teams is that they had a centre forward or two centre forwards. That's why they win the game, because they've got more of a threat up front. And again, I don't want to go overboard about the penalty situation. It's a penalty, it's not a penalty, whatever. I'm not going to go overboard bad, because as I said, I've only seen it from one angle and I couldn't really see it at the match. But I think today shows where, again, the real issues lie at this football club. Obviously we've won our two home games under the manager. So it is hard when you get a defeat at home. And listen, ultimately, not sitting here thinking we're the world's best team, by the way. Not sitting here thinking too much has changed. We look a little bit more organised. We look like we've got an actual idea of what we want to do. We try and get the ball wide. We started using that switch today from especially Tarkowski over to the left-hand side. We've got a lot of joy with that. We've got a lot of balls into the box and we have no one in there. And the same issue he faces is the same issue that Frank Lampard faced, the same issue that we had in the summer, is that we do not have goalscorer. We do not have a goalscorer. Malpie will never be the answer. Ella Sims will never be the answer. Sorry to break that to you, but he'll never be the answer. And I think the fact that the manager brought someone with 14 minutes to go or whatever it was tells you that he's not the answer. And that's the problem. I've got no problem with the actual performance today. I thought we played better this week than we played against Leeds. I really did. I thought we had a lot more control of the game. I thought from about 15 minutes on in the first half, I think we dominated that after Jordan Pickford had made a fantastic save. And I think that's when we have to score the goal. And if we do get the goal, we win that game. And I honestly believe we win that game because I think when we don't go chasing the game, we don't leave any space behind us. I think we've got enough defensively. Are there still defensive problems? Yes. In terms of single issues, in terms of playing individual issues, sorry. But goalscoring is the problem. And you can play as well as you want. If you do not put the ball in the back of the net, if you do not have shots to put the ball in the back of the net, you're in trouble. And I honestly think that's the difference between us and a lot of other teams is that we can't put the ball in the back of the net when we need to. And that is going to really, really, really going to hinder us as we go forward. Unless we can get Dominic Avon losing back for... And by the way, I'm not sitting here going, when we get Dominic Avon losing though, if we get him back and we can keep him fit. And these are the same myths we've been saying for 18 months. If we can get him back and if we can get him fit and if we can keep him fit for 10, 11, 12 games, if that's possible, then we might have a chance of staying up. But if you can't put the ball in the back of the net, you're not going to win games of football. And all it takes in a game like that, you know, the penalty is we fall asleep from the throwing, the ball goes into the box. And ultimately, Garner should not be trying to tackle on the wrong side like he did. Because listen, if he's caught, if he's caught, then he'll have to go down into the penalty. And that can be, that was the end of the game, wasn't it? Because ultimately then, we have to go check, shouldn't it? They sit in, they get one, you know, they get an opportunity, which Conoco would be f***ing hell, mate. You've got to be doing better than that. The lad just made a move to the left and he was past you. And the ball was in the back of the net before Jordan Pickford got a chance. You know, this is after Jordan Pickford's at him, he can absolutely worthy of a save. Because the lad's been left on his own in the middle. If we don't find a way of scoring goals, that isn't just set pieces, then I personally think we'll go down. I really do. I really, really do. Because you need to score goals. If you cannot score goals from, and you know, we'll talk about players and I'll talk about individuals, obviously in a minute, right? But just in terms of the group, you know, I won't be, not no goals, Dwight Machni, well, I'm gonna mean it, I don't mean no goals. I mean, there's no goals in them. Dwight Machni, there's no goals in them. The Core, there's no goals in them. Ghanan, there's no goals in them. Ananan, there's no goals in them. And when I say no goals, what I mean is the threat. The full backs, obviously Seymour scored last week, but it's a, it's a complete worthy. There's no real, there's no real presence. There's moments. There's the header from Onana, yes. There's moments. There's moments of set pieces, yes. But in the general play, we do not create opportunities that are going to get us the goals, sadly. And that to me is a huge, huge problem. Did players play better today? Some players play better? Yes. Did it contribute to a win? No. So we'll have to, we'll have to take it game by game, but I am sitting here now and it's, and I'm not despondent. I just think if the pattern continues the way, the way it has the whole of the season, I don't think you can add goals to the team. If you've got, not got plays, you can score goals. And I think that's the big issue. And when we didn't buy players in January, this was always going to be the issue. And as I said, I'm not, I'm not going overboard about the situation. The situation is what it is. You know, which is why people marched before this game and the last game in the game before, for this very reason, that it was, it was people's jobs to get us centre forward, a basic centre forward. You could, you could help us when we need to go long and hold the ball up and do the things that Dominic Arvillian did against Arsenal. We haven't got one of them. And unless there's one out there floating around who's free or Dom can get, keep himself fit, then I worry for us. I do worry for us. And it's great saying, oh, we can win the game one now. Well, today, today was against the team. That was easily beatable and we couldn't take the lead because we haven't got, we haven't got it. And there you go. There you go sadly. Let's get into the individual performance of Jordan Pickford. Made two brilliant saves, made one early, one early on to make it, to keep it nil nil. And then made that one absolute well class saving the second half on the header. Just those two saves are the reason why, you know, obviously we've extended this contract. You know, he made one silly kick, I think in the first half. But those two saves were absolutely top draw, top draw saves. There's not only could do with the penalty, you know, I mean, there is something you can do, but you didn't do it. But no, I saw I've given, I've given, given seven and a half for his performance today. Sheamus Coleman. Defensively, I thought he did all right. Going forward, not amazing, but tried to join in. Again, going to be very interesting situation with him this week to see what happens, whether he plays in the week or whether he sits out, obviously three games this week and obviously the forest game with them getting beat today is a massive game, massive game. But listen, Wake Dad, Wake Dad isn't shy, tries to get forward. I can't, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, by the way, I'm not gonna like slag any weight, maybe one person off today, but I'm not gonna really gonna slag anyone off of the performance. I thought they all Wake Dad, what they're short of is just a bit of creativity and a bit of, you know, well, different people have different things. Sheamus Coleman, I've given, I've given him a seven, Michelenko on the other side. Again, you know, I was looking at his average position there, quite high, written in the first half, him and, him and Dwight MacNeill did brilliantly on that side today. He was really high session in the first half, I think he, he went out the game a lot in the second half, him and Dwight MacNeill went out the game in the half, a lot out the game in the second half, but defensively still, I think, a bit of big liability, but I thought today he joined up a lot better, put some good crosses in himself, make some good runs to allow Dwight MacNeill the opportunity to put some balls in as well. So, did all right, did all right Michelenko, I've given him, given him a seven as well. Conor Cody, that goal, that, that second goal is, it's awful, it's awful defending. I think Conor Cody gets caught like this quite a lot, he gets caught fat-footed, you know, the lad just changes his body shape and he's left for dead, and it's like, open your legs up a bit, give yourself a, you know, you've got, Tarkowski was right next to him, I think, and so all his weight should be to push the player that way anyway, because that's where he's going to be going. If he comes inside, they're going to deal with it because him and Tarkowski are there. He's only really got one way to go, and I just find that for a professional footballer, I find that awful, I really do, I find that awful that you were allowed someone to do that. So, I've given him a five for that reason, I just thought that was a, I thought that goal was appalling, you know, just still, what was this, 10 minutes left to grab a goal, that I mean, that's a big goal to concede, that goal, a big goal to concede, and they're like, don't get me wrong, they're like, they're like to finish it briefly, but to allow him to get past you like that, what are you doing? Just push him out, you know he can only go that way, so push him, push him out. I thought that was awful, I thought that was awful, basically. So, I've given him a five, Tarkowski did all right, some great, some great balls from the, him and Conagody, they play some decent passes, but I thought Conagody, sorry, I thought Tarkowski's, he's sort of seen him under Sean Dyche, he's obviously, he's obviously his, you know, his fellow, his niece, so, you can see him organising the back line, trying to, he's obviously in charge, and I thought, I thought he did, I thought he did okay, to be honest, defensively, and trying to get us going, so I've given, I've given him a seven. Garner, obviously, give the penalty away, I thought again, Garner was sad today, thought like, obviously, following on from last week, getting in and about, it was difficult in there, because obviously, O'Nara picked up the early booking, he picked up the early booking, and that really took the, that really took that side of his game out, because I think, well, I'll come back to O'Nara in a minute, but Garner, I think, just getting in, nicking the ball, being a nuisance, his passing in the last couple of games was being a hell of a lot better, not making those silly mistakes, although we did make a couple last week, sorry, but today a hell of a lot better, as I said, shouldn't really be tackling like that in the penalty box, coming in from the side, yeah, did a decent job today, I've given, I've given him a seven. O'Nara, not quite worried, could have been simply because that booking, I just thought was nonsense, I thought, I didn't even know it was a booking, I really didn't, I don't even think that, I don't even think it was a foul, I don't even think it was a foul, but he's been booked early on, and I think that's taken that extra little bit of him, I think the manager would have liked him to have almost been the height for Maupai, and I just thought he took all that side of the game out of him, once he got that booking, he had to be very, very careful, he's done really well, by the way, you know, because he's put a couple of slide tackles in there, but it's taken out the game, that booking for large parts of it, of course, he's not going to get sent off, of course, he's got to be very, very careful, which I did think he did, but obviously he can't put his foot in, he can't put a slide tackle in, he's got to be very careful when he's jumping, you know, it just took him out the game from what, from, you know, obviously last week he was carrying a bit of a knee injury, but yeah, disappointing, I've given him a six. Decore, yeah, good energy in midfield, I'll tell you one thing he needs to do though, he needs to get proper studs in his boots because he done it again, this, you know, he gets in the box and he's on the right hand side going towards the park end and he's, he's, he's, he's sort of like waiting to pick someone out and the next minute it's, he's sort of like nearly falling over himself, it's like what are you doing? Get some studs in your boot lad, I think that three in midfield with him, I think there's a lot more energy, I think there's a lot more, there's a lot more strength and height, he did some, he made some real, he made some good runs, Decore with the ball today. Did he get booked and was it just a, oh, he got booked for the, for the, when he, he said he elbowed the lad in the face and listen, I'll come back to the ref in a bit, I'll come back to the ref. But he said he, he was away and he said he booked, he booked him for elbowing in the face, what a load of nonsense, absolute nonsense, but I think, I think the problem, that midfield works a lot better than the one we had, but the problem is there's no creativity in it and no one's, again, there's no goals in it. Onara was unlucky, he went close with the header, but there's not that threat, there's not that, and that's what I think we need, I think Decore could give us more, it's not like he has to score goals in his career, I think, yeah, I think there is more out of them. I've given, I've given Decore a six and a half. Dwight McNeill, probably his best game in an Everton Shared, I'd say. I thought first, I thought he was terrific. I think his crossing was brilliant. I think he's running with the ball, was good. I think in the second half, he had a really, really good chance to score. It was the one big moment in the second half when the ball bounced off the air laden, then came back and again, I'm trying to be positive about Dwight McNeill, but it's so annoying when he's got to switch the ball back onto his left foot, it is so annoying. I mean his left foot's good and that's why when he's doing the basic, like just crossing the ball and stuff, it's decent. It's the other side of the game that is so frustrating. And his game has been simplified a lot by Sean Daish, that's clear. But when you've got to check onto your left foot, and that's three times in the last three games, he's had to do that by the way where we've had big opportunities or he's had opportunities to score, and that one today, he's basically got an open goal, the goal is on the floor and that annoying me. I thought he went out of the game as the second half went on, but I thought for 15, 20 minutes, even a bit longer than the first half, I thought he was really, really positive and it was probably all around his best performance. As I said, running with the ball quite strong, but when you're that one footed, you're making it so hard for yourself, you're making it so hard for yourself. I think he had the beating of the full back first half when we were switching it to, but you're making it really difficult for yourself by being one footed and having to check back and stuff. So I've given Dwight McNeill seven and a half, as I said, probably his best all-around game in the never-ending shits, but sadly, you know, no-one's on the end of one of those really good crosses, which I do think if Dominic Avalloon had been playing, which obviously he's not, he would have had a field day. I think Chris Wood would have had a field day today, if I'm honest, with those crosses, they were fantastic, some of them. So yeah, well played to him. Alex O'Wobee on the other side, he was all right. Again, the cross, he's not somebody who wants to cross with the ball, he's somebody, you know, he was trying to be creative out loud, but he's not a winger. He was all right. He's all right. He had his moments, but again, he's not really creating anything, but you know, I've given him a six and a half. And then Neil Malpie, just pointless, if I'm honest, just pointless. I'm not going to, pardon me, I'm not slagging him off. Just pointless in this team. He does not shoot or have the attribute for this team whatsoever. It's, it's, it's pointless having him up front. It really is. It's pointless having him up front. He just doesn't, he just doesn't offer anything. And his movements in the boxes is, well, I said I wasn't going to slag him off, his movements in the boxes non-existent for a centre forward. He's, it's awful because some of those crosses, some of those crosses were just in the right area for just a little bit of movement and you're in, you were tapping or you slide in or whatever, or you, I fell 15 minutes a day. I thought, I thought we were really going to struggle in the forward position because I looked at what they had means obviously big, big fell and we're trying to play these balls into Malpie or crosses. And it just ain't going to work. It's just not going to work with Malpie. It's as simple as that. He just does not suit the way we want to play. And it's pointless. It really is pointless. I just don't, the manager obviously wants to play a certain way and he can't tailor that way to, for the centre forward. And this is going to be the issue unless Dominic Avalon does come back. This is going to be the issue. And it isn't, it's a huge issue because Ellis, the manager, the manager of, you know, the manager watches them train every day and he obviously doesn't think, you'd imagine he obviously doesn't think Ellis Sims is good enough because, you know, we came on for what, the last 15 minutes or whatever it was. Didn't really do anything in that time. Jumped a couple of times. Had one shot, volley that he put wide at the garus. It was a difficult, it was a difficult chance. But Malpie was just, he's just, it's non-existent and we're really going to struggle. We're really going to struggle while he's, while he's up front and if we're playing crosses and we're going long and all these things. And again, I put this on the people who run the football club. I put this on, I put this on them because I think we win the game. Yeah, Jimmy's just put it in the XG. The XG was 1.74 for Everton. It was 1.71 for Villa. If anyone doesn't know what XG means, that means if we've got a striker on we win the game basically. You expect, I'll expect the goals today was 1.74, days was 1.71. They score two goals. Why? Because they've got strikers on the pitch. They put a striker on the pitch as well by the way. We, we are subs. I thought Dysha subs weren't, weren't brilliant because he waited so long. But you can only work with what you've got, I suppose. And to me, this is where the issues lie. Malpie is, if we have a striker on that pitch today, a Dominic Arvin-Lewin and a Charleston, sorry. We win that, I think, comfortable. I really do. I think we win last week, 3-0, no problem against Leeds. And that's the thing. And that's why, that's why, listen, as I said, I don't know whether it was a penalty or if it wasn't a penalty or whatever. I'm not asking, I'm interested. That's, that's, that's bad a buy, isn't it? That's bad a buy. Ultimately, if we've got a striker, we win that game. And that comes down, that comes down to the board, the owner, director of football, not getting us into forward. It's as simple as that. It's as simple as that. Can't point the finger anywhere else, really. You can point the finger at Lampard last summer for rejecting a few. But that's where the point, finger will be pointed and if ever can go down because we haven't scored goals, then that's where the blame lies, for me, completely, absolutely completely. Tom Cannon scored a penalty as well, but Tom Cannon's not the answer at all. You need the top level striker to be in the Premier League. You need someone who can hold the ball, knows where the back of the net is, create space, all those things. And we haven't got it. And this is why we're in massive trouble. But that's not just a centre forward, by the way, that's other areas of the pitch. We don't score goals anywhere, anywhere, anywhere on the pitch really do we consistently. We don't have a midfielder who scores six, seven, eight goals. We don't have one centre forward who gets half a dozen. We don't, a dozen, we don't have another centre forward who gets a dozen. Yeah. Mal Pie, I've given four anyway. The Shubbs, Damari Gray, I thought he was woeful. I'll be honest, I just thought he looked like he could be asked. He went full Peter Big, he's trying to take on the full backs every time again. Yeah, I thought he was poor, I thought he was very poor. I think you just, you could see straight away by the manager, by the manager, hasn't been starting. I thought he had a real opportunity to change that game. And he didn't. I've given him four. Ellis Sims, I don't think he really offered too much, a bit more of a physical presence, and probably won a couple of headers. Not really a threat, doesn't really said this. He doesn't know where to run as a lone striker. He doesn't know where to go. He should play that needs to be in the box. You just wonder whether in the first half with those chances though, boards coming in from wide areas, how different it would be for someone like Ellis Sims. You do, you do wonder like, but the manager's not picking them and he's not getting them on the pitch. And when he did come on the pitch, he was feeding off scraps. So it's not what can you really do. But I've given him, given him a five. And Tom Davis really didn't do anything either when he came on the pitch. So I've given him a five as well. So there you go. A disappointing results. We are back in the bottom three. And it'll probably be like this, I imagine. You know, it's going to be an interesting week. We've got Arsenal to just get that out the way, see what happens. Then we've got Forrest. That's a huge game they've been beating today, battered by West Ham, who did buy a striker who has been out injured. We've got to get on the Forrest. Can't allow them to get away from us with a win. But I'm not sitting here by the way like worried sick because this has been my thinking all season. You can have a good team or a goodish team. But if you don't score goals, what's the point? And you haven't got, probably haven't got a good team, have you? If you can create chances. So that's the top and bottom of it. Just wanted to mention that referee in performance today. That was simply shocking, that referee performance. That is not good enough at all, that referee performance. That is just absolutely woeful, woeful. From the first booking to the, the Corey one, just, just everything. Thing like consistency, things that were files for them, we ain't given files for us. It was just appalling, an absolute appalling referee in performance. The standards are just so poor these days. Absolutely appalling. So there's no point me going on about it, but it was, it was shocking. It was absolutely shocking. I don't sit here as someone who has a real goat referee, because I think the standard is pretty poor. But today, Jesus, he was, he was bad. He was really, really bad, him. Really, really bad. So there you go. Listen, make sure you check out bars of videos, make sure you check out my gladiations reaction as well. We'll be back on Monday to do the final word over on Toffee TV premiere. If you haven't subscribed to that, why haven't you? Why haven't you subscribed? Daily live videos over there. Check them out. The link is in the description and it'll be coming up on the screen in just a moment. See you later.