 Hello, welcome to toppy TV. This is the match preview joined by Joe Thomas from the Echo to talk about a home game, Joe. I haven't lost four home games on the run this season. The positive thing going into this game, Joe, is this was the last time he won a home game was born. The last time he kept a clean sheet was born. So I'm praying that history repeats itself because soon they're all late at this team has got to start winning a home game, Joe. It's going to be in massive trouble. Something's got to change, hasn't it? And the sooner it changes, the better. And they have to really see this as an opportunity. And it seems so strange sitting here and saying that now having passed up the ultimate golden opportunity that was that was Luton. With all due respect to Luton coming off the back of the week they did have going into that game against the team that I think most commentators have already consigned back to the championship. Even are they going to stay up or not? Are they going to stay up and to keep it respectable? And you just thought this is the chance. This is the chance to, we've got a foothold in the season, build on it. Another game against Bournemouth after that. Could go into the international break and then the derby, if not necessarily four wins on the bounce, but three wins in the draw maybe. And just think how much the atmosphere would change around the place. That wouldn't be to say that even 10 points from this collection of eight games would necessarily represent success. But at least would have given them the cushion that they need going into the next part of the season when they've built up a little bit of a barrier between this and the relegation fight and things like that. So I mean, it really is a huge, huge game, isn't it? That's right. I mean, we were talking last week and that was the thinking. It was, we just had two bonus results if you like. If we could win two home games, then 10 points from the first eight games. It's amazing, but it would have been mid-table. They'd have caught up to where they, yeah. Exactly. We would have also been like six points ahead of Luton. You know, six, whatever ahead of Bournemouth and things like that. And listen, we could win on Saturday. Luton have got spares at home, so you'd expect spares to win that one. Everton can have a little cushion again, but the next block of fixes are difficult for Everton, so we have thrown away a huge three points last week against a very limited and basic side. And I'd say that with all due respect to Luton. He hadn't spent any money, but they did look very much like a championship side on Saturday. And that's why the more goal and thing about that game is we've second half was just so poor. You can have a bit of a lapse in the first half and let two goals in, and we got a goal back and it was like come out for that second half and really have a goal with it. I don't know about you, I was just so disappointed that I haven't approached that second half. It was peculiar because I think that I thought the way that they finished the first half was good to go on to another hand. We've had that setback and to show the resilience to then start, you know, go back on the attack. Obviously Luton started to sit back a bit deep because he had something to protect. But first there was the go on the chance where he headed against the bar. Obviously he should have scored, and finally they came the Dominic Calvert-Lewin goal. And it really gave him the momentum going into half time. And I wasn't nervous at half time. I thought, you know what, carry on like that for another 45, 50, 55 minutes however long the games are, then you certainly would have thought everyone would come out of the game with something and you think that a win was on the... It was still a possibility. And I took a degree of strength from the way in which the most impressive thing to me about the Brentford win was the way in which Everton came out in the second half. They played so well for the first half an hour. They got the goal, they should have got more. They suffered the setback of going, of conceding the goal against the run of play and they could have crumbled in that second half. Instead they came out, they played with an authority, a calmness and maturity that seemed to suggest that they knew that they were the better side and there was three points for taking it and they were calm with everything that they did. They were methodical. They played a certain way. They didn't panic when the goals didn't come and they just kept it up and 20 minutes into the second half they got their reward and they deserved it. They deserved it. Just like they deserved the win at Vila as well. And I thought, bear in mind we had that as a template from the week before and this was at home and the crowd were behind them. They were behind them. And obviously this was against, again with all due respect, lesser opponents and having had the goal just before halftime. The conditions are here for a comeback. The importance of this game is so significant. It can't be lost in players. There's an opportunity here for either the team as a whole or a handful of individual players to grab this game by the scruff of the neck and to dictate it to come out the traps, to come out the shadows and put in a 45 minute performance that could really give it a boost for this season. They said it just didn't happen and that's a real concern because they had opportunities as well and I think that I wrote my match report for the Echo. Obviously it would have gone up about half an hour after the game and I started on this point and 65 minutes in Carlton, Morris and Jab Brown for it were both receiving treatment that they'd collided in in the air. And you thought even at that point it didn't think anyone was panicking because they were still 20, 25, half an hour left, maybe even more. And you looked at it and you just thought, well there's still plenty of time here for this group of players, but I looked around the group of players and Amadou and Ana came to speak to Kenanth a touch sign, he was the only one. No one else came to get instructions nor did the coaching team bring anybody in to take instructions. I was looking around on the pitch, a handful of one or two conversations between players but there were a lot of hands-on hits and that was a moment really where you needed somebody. You needed a personality to go, look lads. All right, last 20 minutes hasn't quite worked. Let's write it off. Let's start again now. We've still got ages left in this game. Nothing. One becomes two. I was surprised with the manager's changes to be honest, not necessarily. I didn't think he should have struck a trick or gone and gave up but he did and we lost the midfield. We didn't lose it because Luton didn't do anything but we didn't have the same measure of control. But I was more surprised that when he put Jack Harrison on he didn't put Nathan Patterson on behind him who would have overlapped. I've talked about it a lot today is that I can almost plot evidence inability to win home games back to Luca Dean leaving and Seamus Coleman simply getting older. Since we've lost Luca Dean and Seamus has got older and not been there all the time. Go on and have a look at evidence home and they dropped off because we've replaced them. Michael Enco's a more defensive full back and the right back has been whatever Seamus playing injured free there or Patterson's being in and out and that home is where your full backs are hugely important and this is what I just didn't get with Seamus on that why he didn't have Patterson to overlap Harrison and I would have personally been really brave and took Michael Enco dropped Dwight McNeill to left back and had Dan Dewmer ahead of him. Maybe not a lot of time but certainly 20 minutes left and really forced Luton back because they were no threats they broke once and funnily enough but the only time they really come over the halfway line and that's just surprising but you're right that last 20 just was flat and it was almost out of hope and I don't think moving to this Saturday I don't think we can approach this game just out of hope there has to be a more attacking adventurous line up I think and a way of playing and that will involve full backs getting beyond our by players put James Garner out on the right I don't get it personally I just doesn't work away from all me but I don't mind being nice and tight and compact but I think it goes in the way the majority of fans are let's be honest and despite some accusations that they can't play it goes in because the crowd are difficult they weren't difficult last Saturday if anything it was just quiet In fairness to Sean Dyche he made that clear as well obviously we know there are times that it can be that's the frustration though completely justified and that so many times over recent years but Saturday wasn't one of those moments you talk about the full back situation for me the change it didn't surprise me but it frustrated me a little bit was bringing better on to play 4-4-2 better in CalvertLewin I don't really see how that works as a cohesive game plan it doesn't if you're not overlapping we did we just played straight so we put two of them that were next to each other by the way and we just hit long straight balls at them what do you want them to do hit long straight balls at them from centre back that's what I mean I just see CalvertLewin and bet it was a type of partnership that I think fans love the idea of it working it could be a beautiful chaos there will be times when it does work but really I think that if you want to use a little bit of cohesion and intelligence around it if you're going to play two up front it's got to be Dan Joom or off one of them you can play one for an hour and one for 40 minutes with the length of games this season it almost felt like a concession that this a concession that there wasn't the guile to break this team down we're going to put the two big lads up then the problem with that was because of the way in which they were played to rather than stay up top to fill in the void where they don't have a midfield that is kind of a number 10 a proper number 10 who can have the ball 30 yards from the opposition's goal and take a little bit of time and find the pass where they don't have that they don't have that plan B what do you think about the possibility of doing what he kind of did a villa then? a time to get if you are going to have the two big men through the middle if you were going to have it going to a three at the back and with three in midfield having maybe a Dan Geumid then off them or a Dwight McNeill off them in that role get the width in the full backs but you've got three at the back because I think a villa and that was a little bit more 343 than a 352 but that does give you another way of playing and Luton did of course play with the three at the back so I was wondering if that letter coming to us thinking maybe McNeill at left wing back and maybe Garner at right wing back or Patterson at right wing so you write it was the way we played it on Saturday it just didn't work did it I mean it's interesting because the villa formation came out of the blue and it was very very effective it was effective against the villa side who I think obviously would have wanted to win had a talented side out there they did make changes and I think they probably were caught by surprise by the tactics I don't think it was necessarily the tactics that caught Villarelle I think it was the hunger and the desire and the determination and for me almost a theme of this Everton side at the moment is that when it beats teams it doesn't tend to beat them as a result of tactics it kind of tends to beat them as a result of physicality and mentality when you get a team that's having an off day that isn't prepared for Everton that isn't fight women's fight for everything it doesn't have a lot riding on the game maybe or might have just had a European fixture they might have changes in the squad they might have things when Everton have had their success when Everton have had their success it's because they've started really really quickly and got the early goals you think Brentford at home goal after a minute you think obviously Brighton away goal after a minute you look at Villarelle the other day this is a side that can overwhelm teams if they're not prepared for them the problem is the problem is two fold one a lot of teams are prepared for them and when it becomes a tactical game they have the resources to outplay Everton quite often and the second thing is Everton's finishing because we can talk about Dietsch's set up of teams and things like that we're already talking about the set up against Luton the other day they did have the chances just like against Fulham that's what I was going to say Everton and the manager and I know he's quoted in a press conference the highest ex chief or whatever but at what point does that become a concern because if we keep doing the same thing and keep getting the same result isn't that the biggest sign of insanity it is although I would say that the repetition perhaps isn't as hasn't been as prolonged as we think it has because I think there's when you look at the issue against Fulham and against Walls it's the same issue that we had against Luton but obviously there has been an attempt to make a difference in there because Beto's come in and also Dominic Halvert-Lewin has come back so now we're going to do the same thing but with better players and more options obviously it still didn't work against against Luton but it's not quite this although it's the same template it's a template but with better players so you would hope that the the change would come as the season goes on and hoping that those things will change Dyche seems to be hoping that eventually the stats will continue to trend in the same direction but the luck will change I mean the worry is that the stats go in the opposite direction because as we get deeper into the season more and more teams who perhaps weren't prepared for how often we're going to play can find out and predict however they're going to play and therefore counter it and similarly the standard of opposition is going to get better because one of the most frustrating things about this run of 7 games 8 with Bournemouth is that there were so many opportunities to get points on the board Fulham at home Wolves at home Luton at home when you look at Bournemouth at home as well now you add Sheffields United way which I think was always going to be a difficult game bearing in mind how important that was going to be to their season but we're still a game that Evan should go in looking for trying to get a win out of certainly not approaching with any fear the danger is it's all well and good to say the underlying performance have been good and the stats point to the right direction but you haven't got points in the board it's only going to become harder to get into the season and these teams haven't failed to beat or even get a point off at home that probably you're going to finish in the bottom 6 or 7 this season and we know that as soon as a better team comes that tactic doesn't work because it's not like you could say Arsenal came Evan peppered them for the first 20 minutes and could have scored 2 they didn't lay a glove on them sadly it may well be a similar story of Man City coming to town which they're still yet to do with Newcastle which they're still yet to do and 4 or 5 other clubs as well so that's another of the problems and I think a real concern forever is that even if they win against Bournemouth if they come from 7 points from these 8 games that opportunity to create a cushion that would at least get them through the next 6 weeks after this international break without necessarily the walls being at the door by everyone a little bit of time to settle in find alternative formations alternative positions to players, work on them things like get Harrison back to fitness McNeill up for the full fitness CalvertLoon up to full fit get better when the two players around him on a wavelength get Harrison and CalvertLoon on a wavelength that opportunity to basically they should have created to give them a little bit of time to work on that without the pressure and it's gone even if they beat Bournemouth 7 points still isn't necessarily a good haul from this it might provide a win would be good it would kind of change the mood and calm it for a couple of weeks but there isn't a way in which there isn't a lot of pressure going into the free games after the international break and for all the potential that Evan have got to play well against from them Liverpool away, Brighton at home, West Ham away I think if we look at where those free clubs are at this moment and we look at where Evan are Evan could play to the very best of their abilities and still struggle against those free sides because they just have got more about them Let's have a look at the evidence side that started against Luton at the weekend at some stage there it is As a young Tarkovski brand fi Michalenko ddob a gana ddych chi'n gana'n gade, dwi'n gwneud a dwi'n cael ei dominicol fyt Luton dwi'n visus any change from that this weekend? I think so I didn't have a problem with that starting lineup I thought the gana situation was difficult you got caught in a little bit of a trap in the fact that gana had been so good in Brentwood and Villa or bit away from home but so good in those two games it was very difficult to drop in but then the problem is do you then break up the midfield free which is clearly ddych chi'n favoured free do you break that up again and but gana in the middle do you keep him out and again whilst it's easy with hindsight to look at tactics and the way you set that side up obviously first 15 minutes, 20 minutes they should have scored and then all of a sudden the game becomes a different game but I don't think you should necessarily stick with the same one going I think after what we've just seen I think there would be legitimate calls for change because Bournemouth are an interesting side because they are better than Luton and on the other side they will look to have more possession and they will look to press higher at the pitch and in some ways that might help Everton because if they can beat that press if they can get beyond it there might be opportunities for them to hit on the counter which is what they want to do that's why they're most effective at but obviously again they've just got to take the chances when they come let's have a look at Bournemouth at home by Arsenal last week still without a victory of course Neto you've got Max Arans Zobani Sinesi Keke as a left-back Christie and Cuckin in the middle intimate Tavernier, Billing, Clive 8 and Salankidi still also got Huwetara and Sinistera not sure they fit but they are in the squad as well they've got no wins so far which is not great but like I said before obviously the last victory we've got a good of some against them the last clean sheath one player we're going to have to keep an eye on is former Liverpool player Dominic Salankidi this is his numbers so far this season seven games played three goals from a next year 2.96 so essentially scoring what he should he's averaging 2.6 shots per game and has got one assist and there's his heat map which is basically everywhere all over the pitch and he always likes a game against Everton but from our perspective it's disappointing as it's been it's been dreadful let's not stress it off four defeats out of four home games is shocking in my many years watching Everton I've never seen Everton lose seven out of eight home games it's the worst run I can ever remember playing some of the worst football I've ever seen as well in that time this is a we've got the chance to start again at the weekend and get the three points you know we've just got to get on off front but these are the team that haven't won a game they're above them at the moment and if Everton were to win we'll put a four point cushion between them going into the break so it does represent a good opportunity although it will be a very tough match for Sean Dight he's meant to get this win a good one and try to break that before obviously next opponents here are brightening it which will be another very very difficult game yeah I mean absolutely it does represent an opportunity I mean I think your Bournemouth have kind of gone about it a slightly different way to Everton in terms of obviously they haven't got their win yet they have won three of the four games haven't they so there is a degree of stubbornness and they of course went to Brentford and came very close to winning it was a late equaliser from Brentford and it's difficult to kind of know what to do it's difficult to know how to interpret this game really because obviously there's a lot riding on it for both sides huge amount riding on it for both sides you look at Bournemouth squad and they do have attacking options and that's Cliver I quite like the look of Cliver Slanky is a predictable threat and you would like to think for Branford and Tarkovsky he's someone that they would feel relatively comfortable dealing with unfortunately we saw at the weekend that everybody knew exactly what Carlton Morris was going to do and they still struggled to deal with it so that's a bit of an issue but I would be relatively confident of them being able to do the job against Slanky and my problem is probably the player I worry about a little bit is Billing who's been so effective for them since they come back into the Premier League just having that strength of an authority in the middle of the pitch and if Evan Centromidfield isn't on it and there is this problem where Evan kind of they have a physically strong Centromidfield but they don't have a positionally discipline Centromidfield for all the calls Anana could be it there isn't really a natural number 6 there and one thing that Evan have struggled and this outdates Dyche because I remember I mean most vivid memory of this is Villar away last season they struggle in transition they keep struggling in transition you're having the awareness of them Centromidfield having an awareness to pick up the run of someone like a Billing is severely lacking and if it becomes a bit of an end to end game that's a problem and also they've got options out wide and Evan's fallback so having intriguing seasons is probably that's a lovely way to put it a lovely way, very diplomatic way to put it our fallbacks have been in better form I think we should say but we've got it, like I said right at the very start of this year we simply got to start winning home games otherwise there's only one way this ends up every team that stayed up has always got home wins Sean Dyche got three last season four he got in and that was just about enough to keep us up Frank Lampard had already got three I think four three that was it two six home wins is absolutely scandalous but we have got to start winning the level of opposition is going up another level which could work one way you're not expected to win and that would be easier and you can almost play like an away style at home but for most teams who do keep themselves away from trouble at home form that does it and everything cannot continue to struggle with it is Saturday at do or die for Dyche or are we not there in your opinion just yet? I don't think we're there quite yet don't get me wrong any manager that loses five consecutive home games and against the nature of opposition that's clearly troubling I think there are a lot of external circumstances that come into effect when it comes to looking at Dyche and I think in fairness to him some of that has to be just the lack of support that he's got from in the transfer window and that continued even into the season you know it was clear that players were effectively being sold from beneath his feet I don't think he was particularly enamoured at the loss of Alex O'Wobe on transfer deadline day and I think that however you look at it it feels like there was a miscalculation over Damari Grey the way in which that was handled like it feels as if there was an attempt to go okay well if O'Wobe's going there might be an opportunity to reintegrate Damari Grey and he might not be Dyche's favourite player but we saw how that played out and it looked like there was an intent to try and keep him and work with him and obviously that loss so all of a sudden he loses two attacking players nothing coming in and that's before you get into the Mopay departure and the Tom Cannon departure which Mopay I think we can understand Tom Cannon is one that I kind of still feel really I feel sad about that because I think it's a really kind of damning indictment of where the club is at right now because I think most the fans of most clubs what they love more than anything has seen a lad come through the system and have a chance to do well that pathway it's a pathway which Kevin Falwell was brought in to try and create but again obviously hasn't really been given the conditions for which you could do that but Tom Cannon being a lad with a proven goal scoring record at mid-table championship level already selling him at this stage in his career really did feel a bit of a shame albeit arguably the deal was a good one but I think it just is a very good indicator as where as a club right now and how sad that is I think but anyway going back to Dyche you know I think all those type of things have to be taken into into consideration you look at the side that you start the season with I've got to be honest like I still look at that full-on game and I still I still don't really understand how we got out of that side into position where it should have won the game in the first place you look you look how many injuries and how thin the squad was and he still created a side that should have had that game outside before the goal that went the other way that's not me saying that I necessarily think that everything's working or working fine or me saying that he's got a blank check to continue on regardless and of course there's none of that but Everton as a club on and off the pitch have enough problems to deal with at the moment and particularly when you look at his track record you have to have some credit in the bank for keeping up Everton last season I think he did well to do that obviously people bring style and excitement and things like that into it and that does matter this is Everton football club there should be a pride about the way this team plays and ambition about it but there also probably has to be a degree of pragmatism at the moment and I think from financial perspectives who else you would get in who's even making the decisions I think all of them would point towards Dyche having a little bit more time even if the worst was to happen at the weekend but the problem that Dyche has got and he would probably be approaching this point if they were to lose to Bournemouth is at some point the argument becomes less about who do you come in who do you bring in and you can do a better job and the argument becomes well actually could anybody be doing a worse job and that is that sounds more critical than I want it to sound I understand what you say but even if you think that there are things that he is doing well and even if you think there are things that he just can't be held responsible for because of everything else around the club which is clearly undermining him five home defeats from five is troubling for any club in any situation and if that was come the other side of the international break there would be pressure going into some games you'd rather not have pressure in you look at Anfield not being a happy hunting ground for some time and there's been the death knell for a few managers over recent years you look at Brighton probably put in the performance probably put in the performance that should have seen Franan Pardgo last season you look at West Ham the game after which he did I mean you know it's supposed to be cheering me up I wish I could but anyway very long winded answer there's so much around it but for me I don't think Dyche is quite there yet and I think that whilst people will point to an extraordinary amount of results I think that these are also extraordinary times and I think that as a result of that I think he deserves a bit more time as a result of that the easiest thing is just to win the game start winning the noise, calm stand people can relax a little bit beat Bournemouth with the way that they started the season okay seven points from eight games is bad but at least there's a four point buffer there four point Spares I think will beat Luton Sheffield's United maybe Burnley Burnley's got Chelsea so three, four points there could be a gap there and that's something that's also a bit easier if we've got a gap on that and that's something that also has to be born in mind I think a little bit but I do think that Everton do need to do less this season and then perhaps any other point in recent years that can't be a bar though but again it has to be a consideration when you look at just how just how we're in a mess yw let's be honest it has to be a bar when you look at how problematic the season has been already that was only hindered Everton going going back and it's a cycle that surely you want to avoid especially now that you look at who's being brought in in this squad and you look at that striker axis of Calvert, Lewin, Betto, Chimete it's how it really has one way of playing you've got to create more chances get closer to them you've got to set all of that the one thing I would say and I used it for every single manager is you can't keep the wrong manager in a job though because you don't want to sack another manager that's fair I'd like Frank but he deserved to be sacked when he did, Rathor Benithes I didn't like but he deserved to be sacked when he did he couldn't argue didn't win enough games of football and Everton keep losing home games she won't have no argument regardless of the chaos that is at Everton at the moment the easiest way to just dampen this whole thing down just win on Saturday please but go out, just get the win and we can all have a couple of weeks where you can smile there's a lovely little gap between us and the bottom three we can puff our chests out a little bit but it'll be tough exactly they need to make Luton the blip that's what they need to do they need to go out on Saturday Luton was the blip in this poor game period Brentford and Villa wasn't the blip that's our new norm fingers crossed let us know what you think in the comment section big thanks to Theo what's yours I'll be honest this is probably a good thing but the first time this season in the home game I'm not confident at all but I did think we'd win 3-1 and didn't think 3-0 because we don't keep clean sheets I thought it'd be 3-1 last week to Everton and we lost show I'm going with that's the cry in it and Everton get the win that we need I'll try anything at this stage absolutely anything thanks for watching