 Welcome to Toffey TV, it is the match preview. Wolves, Wolverhampton Wanderers at home, goodness from park. Sunday, we were recording this before Wolves play in the Europa League second leg against Torino, let's just point that out. But that could have a factor on the game, couldn't it really because Thursday nights, Sunday afternoons, they're not always the best preparation for a Premier League. It'll be a tough game, they'll have to put everything into it. Some teams don't necessarily respond straight away and Wolves have drawn all three Premier League games so far and have looked just a little bit off it from last season. They've obviously started the season a little bit earlier, they've done very well in the Europa League by the way, they've sailed through. They've won the first leg away. They won 3-2, I don't know what. Let's just pretend they've won. But regardless of that, I imagine it's always difficult isn't it, especially when you start at the season earlier than everyone else. I know that people will say well you should be fit and all the rest of it but I don't know, you might find it difficult. These multi-millionaires seem to be sensitive to routine don't they and it's changed. Most who go through that route of struggling with their Premier League form at this phase because then if they get through they don't play for a while do they so they're okay. I think once you get into the group stage and you understand then that it's not a knockout phase and you can play players in some games and maybe play players in other games and you can work the fixtures. I think one of the factors that catches teams up at this point is from one week to the next, I think the last round they had to play, they found out who they were playing and they had a week's notice of having to go deep into the backhouse of Europe. So those things can be difficult, the preparations and once you're in the group stage you settle down and you drink the game. I'd rather have got them after the away leg. I think we just have to start with intensity and put them under the couch. Yeah that's the main thing isn't it? I mean they started the season and they drew away at least, they're very unfortunate they got hit with one of the first VAR decisions. That's right, yeah. The handball. Santo wasn't very happy. Yeah the handball which whether you think it's a good rule or not, that is the rule now. I don't mind that rule, the only thing I don't like about it is if it goes the other way it's not a penalty straight away. So it goes against the attackers and not the defenders. Well that's because of the way it's drafted isn't it? Yeah, like most of these new rules. Basically for a defender you can have accidental handball for an attacker of a goal ensues you can't. And then obviously last week they played Bairnley and drew 1-1, they scored with a 90 plus 7. Which one of that does suggest is that even though they played three days before, they were still going to the end. So it's not going to be an easy game, we obviously didn't beat them last season. Well it was February at home you mean. We didn't beat them away either. 2-2 yeah. 2-2, 2-1 at home. Was it 2-1? 3-1 yeah. It was a horrible game wasn't it? They really did show the class that day. I think what rules are though is that they had a year basically settling together in the championship against lesser opposition and they brought that form into the Premier League last season. This is the season they have to play. Well this is the season, this will be the season that will show how good they are because they've got to balance the Premier League, the Europa League and the squad will get to stretch more and whether those new plays they've brought in. Can adapt to it as well but the basic squad is a very, very good team. And where we are looking at our season going forward, we're thinking whoever the five and six are going to be out of the so-called top six, then we would assume wouldn't we that ourselves, Leicester and Wolves are in that mix. So putting one on them at the weekend and making their start three draws in a defeat actually is quite important. Even at this early stage of the season. If we were to win Sunday, we would have started the season better than we started last season. Last season we started with a win two draws in a defeat so we can have two wins a draw in a defeat and we're through in the league cup. We would have started the season better without necessarily playing any better. And I think Sunday is a game where I still think we're going to have to grind it out. If we win it, it's going to be a lot like the Wofford game. We're going to have to grind it out. Maybe they'll have a little bit more of the continuity but I think it's a game that we've just got to grind out because I always think the season doesn't properly get going to laugh at this international break. I agree. It used to be because of the transfer window. Now it's this. Now it's a lot of the teams. A lot of the teams seem to pre-season. This is pre-season. Exactly. This still feels like pre-season. Which is why it's all about results. It is. We've seen that in the past when you've got quality players like when we had Lukaku and we won like three of the first four games and then we didn't win a game for like one. We won one in ten when everything settled down. This for me is a game we've just got to get through playing a home familiar system. Maybe that's why Dom and Caroline might start again. Surely they will. It's weather the manager. There's a temptation there isn't it? Temptation to play the big shiny thing. Dom hasn't scored yet. He hasn't played brilliantly either. Which is more of the factor on whether he starts. He'll work the opposition's defence more than I will. Certainly more than Keane would I think at this stage. He's not going to start a Wobie instead of DCL is he? Or is he? No, I think a Wobie will start. I think he'll start as well but the one at risk that has got to be Bernard isn't it? Definitely. So I think DCL will start, a Wobie will start, Richie will start. He hasn't scored in the league. Last night we'll have done him the world of good. And we need to try and bring forward some confidence in that we can win the game and play with some passion with some pace. I think we need to move the ball a lot quicker than we have been. And I think they're a technically competent team as well. So our defence is going to have to be on the ball too. I think that's where they are good at. They move the ball really well. And one of the things they do really well is they break really quickly. But they have got pace. In triori they've got loads of pace where they start to come off the bench. But it's how fast they move the ball. A tactic that they had, and they did it at Godderson with Jota, is they have plays in the field. It was so good on the ball. They can pick people out with good movements quickly. And it catches the opposition. It's counter-attack football but it's not necessarily... It's more with accurate passing rather than with pace. And I think that can be the thing that has to worry us. Because we're at home. We do like to say it's pressure on people. You don't necessarily play your own game, counter-attack on football. And that's where they could cause us some damage. Sorry, they're not having that natural centre back either. Like Zuma, who can sweep up at the back. We've got to be careful of that. I think that careful bit. And I know we were appalling last week against Villa. But we should have sat off Villa as well. I mean we should be solid. But due to them, you've just said they will do to us. When we do move through the passages or through the phases, whatever the techie phrase is, we do it quickly and insightfully, which means passes of the ball, which means Gomez has got to be on it. Presum that Delph will start and he's a damn good passer. And we want Iwobi and Richard Charleson moving into space and receiving the ball early and in front of them. I think we've got to be more direct. That's what I mean. More direct with the ball. So that means going through the centre of the park and stop going wide all the time because by the time... I'm getting round Dominic quickly. By the time we get the ball, and we've seen this last Friday, is we get the ball on the edge of the box. Clip reset. And we start waking it and they reset. All right, Villa. Every time we put a ball, they had two centre backs, six for four and six for five. Bread and butter to them. These have got Connor Codian, who is, again, he's that kind of centre back. He just wants to header it all day long and we'll do that all day long. We've got to be clever. And we've got to be a bit more switched on. And I think that's where someone like Iwobi is a bit more direct. And hopefully with a bit more in the Charleson's legs and where the Moise King comes off the bench or just that competition between them and them. I think that's a big thing now. And they've got to have that bit. And you know what as well? Just, you know, whisper it quietly. But Cheng Tolson's there as well. And I'm sure he keeps on saying the right things. I want to stay at the club. I want to fight for this club. Who's to say he's not going, I'm going to forget about these two. I want a bit of this as well, especially if the formation changes a little bit. And we start playing maybe a little bit more 4-4-2 at times, which the manager has shown that he might be willing to play. That's where Cheng Tolson comes into it. So I'm not writing Cheng Tolson off if we have players. Cheng Tolson is a kind of player. If you isolate him, he's no good. But if we start playing with players who are going to be more direct, then actually there's an opportunity for Cheng Tolson, obviously coming off the bench from the start. But then saying, well, I want to be part of this. But that comes back to, if it becomes a three when we've got them all up front, they need to be close together. Probably quite narrow. And the 10 or whoever it is, the eight, whatever, needs to be able to pick them out. Because the advantage of, was it Cody, he's scouser, isn't he? Big strapping lad is inevitably, if you turn him, he's going to be less comfortable. So we need to be on top of them. That goes back again. But we need to reset quickly as well. It's about being braver as well. It's about saying we're prepared to sit in your half and try and make proven passes, not safe passes, proven passes, that may see us lead us to lose the ball at times. But if they get through, then we're in fantastic opportunities. And our recovery needs to be quick then. Well, that comes down to having confidence in the players around you. And that's the only worry, is because we don't have a garner. And obviously, Goebbamans is going to be missing back in the November now. We haven't got a player like that in midfield that can be that player. Because so much, when you say the three narrow, then that means your fullbacks have got to be bombing on. Absolutely. Well, not bombing on. The starting positions have to be the halfway now. Which says to one of your... Which is the way silver plays them anyway. Then it's that says to your midfielders or one of your midfielders, you've got to be, you know, the old James McCarthy, what they used to do. One went to right back, one went to left back. Automatically, without thinking. Delpho will know to do that. Yeah, but that's not necessarily his natural role. No, it's not. But he will do that, because he has played left back. And he'll know. Listen, he's been playing for the bravest team in England. Well, some will say forever. Because the Man City team are so brave and the hit passes at each other so hard and so fast that the opposition don't know where they are. But they do allow. This is the thing I would say about the difference between Liverpool and Man City. Liverpool and the machine, they go over the top here. They snowball you. They absolutely just hammer you down. Man City, it's all about finesse and bravery. It's been brave enough to hit that pass that no one else would be willing to do. We wouldn't be willing to do after the passes. It would be just simple, simple, simple. They're rapping into people, but because they've got good players, then those. If you're going to be a good team, you've got to be prepared. How taught them have gone from losing a third of their games last season to get and got to the Champions League final and got back into the Champions League. They lost a third of their games. That's because they play so far on that edge. Now, are we good enough to play on that edge? I don't know. But when you look at the plays we've got, you've got to start being brave enough. Now, I don't know whether last season that bravery came towards the end of the season because it was where we'd already. We have 40 points. We can be brave now. But you've got to be brave from day one, I think. If you want to get into the top six or even think about getting in the top four. Well, it's an overload approach, isn't it? And it is playing win-lose. It's binary. And that's when, if you look at the way cities play, you say they're brave, but they're hugely disciplined as well. Oh, yeah. You know? And that thing that Godiola does, which is fundamentally, if you like, our goalie forwards, the two-thirds in front of our goalie, you need to be disciplined, you need to do your jobs, you need to close down, this, that, and the other. Once you're in the last third, they're totally fluid. Totally fluid. But that means they can end up with four, five, six, God knows how many players in and around the box, which must, which it does, frightens the opposition to death, but they're really at risk of the opposition to then get the ball. And that's where you've got to do the recovery stuff. And I just think to a degree, particularly now, right now, then we haven't got the players who can cope with that. So Sigarton's not mobile enough. Clearly Gomez isn't. If Schneidlin's in there, then he won't go because the last thing he wants to be is turned or be run out and so on. So he naturally is conservative, wants it all in front of him and stuff like that. And maybe that will drive the manager's selections. And not just for this weekend, but going forward. Who are we playing? How do they play? What kind of players do I want to put in here? And maybe we'll get a bit more surprises about the guys who don't make it to the 17 because... Well, you've got to start looking. If you've got a player like Sigarton and you're waking out his numbers and you're saying, well, he's not getting the ball, whether you think he's going or not. That's the point he needs to be on the ball. You've got to say to him, well, if we're not getting him on the ball and then he's not getting the ball to the forward, then he's going to have to sit down and someone else is going to have to come in. And that's saying about Delph. Delph, I imagine, past completion will be in the, you know, 92, 93, 94, 95. So you say... I haven't got any stats. I haven't got stats. So that's where you start saying to a player like that, well, you will play because you keep the ball. You keep the ball for us. You know, with Charleston, most of the time when he gets the ball, when he's fit, it ends up with something happening. And that's the kind of... You've got to start playing it by numbers then. And that's where football... That's where football is going. You've got to start playing it. It's sad to a degree, but that's where football is going. I think that bravery is something, particularly at home as well, when we have the atmosphere bouncing and all that good stuff, is that the fans are cool with, you've been brave and you've lost the ball. What really, and it winds me up and no doubt everybody else, is the unforced errors. The cheap ball we give away, the five-yard pass that should be 100% never mind you, bloody 90 something. And it goes, it misses by a meter. And then they get nervous then and all that sort of stuff. And technically, we've got technical players. There's no reason for that at all. So sometimes you think, what goes on in the dressing room or what goes on, you know, once they get on the field from a leadership point of view. Because the other thing that you see in the better teams, which actually in some ways they get rattled. But you really see city rattled. They just press a reset button. This has worked for us for five years. So we've just conceded a goal even two goals. So press reset and go again. What that is though is, and they've got it as well. It's that idea, it's 100% belief. Yes, totally. In a way they play 100%. There's no middle ground. Totally. And anyone who comes in is just get on with it because that's the manager. That can take years to get that right. That's a manager coming in and going, I play this way and I will drill and drill and drill and drill. And if you don't get it, you don't play in my team. And it doesn't actually matter if you're better than this other kid. And that's why Dom and the Capital Room plays. He gets it and you don't. If you've never seen Take the ball, pass the ball, document with Barcelona, it's unbelievable. And there's a bit in it where they've got a centre back Barcelona on a Russian centre back. Could open a can of beans with his left foot. And he has Latin off front. And this centre back just keeps on pinging the ball to his Latin. He took him off at that time. Even though it's Latin, I think it's scored. That's not how we play here. That's not how we play. He said, that's predictable. We don't play that football. That's what I mean. We don't play that way because it's predictable. Exactly. So we play this style and on reason it and he says, I had to make this dummy run. And 99 times. You're told off as well. We said I had to make this dummy run. 99 times I could do this run. Or 100 times I could do this run. 99 I've never got the ball. But the point being is every time I made that run it meant that Shavi had three options. And if I make that run and someone follows me, then someone drops in and takes the ball. That's how the team works. And that's the principle Pep lives with. You've seen them. They have that. They have that. Wait, it doesn't matter who plays in the three. They come in and they do a job. And that's the difference. It's all the players believing on what the manager does. It's what Pochettino did when he went to space. The first thing he did was said, who's prepared to run through brick walls for me? And who isn't? And Andre Tansen put his hand up and said, I'm not. And Andre Tansen found himself. He probably didn't say that. But he ended up at Newcastle because he just wanted the players. He didn't want anyone who wasn't prepared to be there. It's what Lacarco's done at Man United. Salscar said, who's prepared to run all day for me and Lacarco's gone? I'm not. I'm not prepared to lose way for you and all the rest of it. And Salscar's gone, okay. And he put maybe still making his man the ballpark bit. But you can point fingers at the manager all day if the manager's got a way of playing and the players aren't prepared or I don't do it this that way. I do it my way. It's funny isn't it? You talk about this and you see the stick DCL gets. And I think you said it when we were talking before. Three managers in a row picked the guy. And fans are thinking he's not good enough. He's this, he's that, he's the other. But because he's doing what the manager wants. And that means if the outcomes are not what the manager wants it must be somebody else isn't doing what the manager wants. Now you can always have an upgrade and say well we'll have a different player who does what the manager wants. But that then becomes, when we talked about the fans will love Keane won't they? Because of the type of, you know, he's got a bit of spark about it and so on. But he's not necessarily going to play if he's not doing what the manager wants. So it's a conundrum of they've all got to do it, it's a team game. And that's like to me, that's what Man City are. The manager, as you say, he drills them to death on that first two thirds. And part of it is freedom in the last third. But as soon as the turnover happens you have to go back to the routine again. And that means close, which were to Guero, had to learn the lesson, didn't he? You know, I don't care who you are mate whether you're going to be the record gold scorer. If you don't play the way I want you to play you don't play. And you know, when they did that thing on Sky where almost like the masterclass from Pep and I might have said this on your show before but whoever the host guy was says, well, you know, these multimillion pounds players world class one this one that one the other and you've got this work ethic into them. You know, how do you get them to do it? And he just says they don't do it, they don't play. No, that's it. You know, and that's it. You know, full stop. Whether we think, you know, player A is better than player B if B does what the manager says and A doesn't, B plays. That's human nature isn't it? That's clearly why I think Michael Silver likes with Charleston as well is because he understands that the Charleston's got a work ethic and will run through brick walls and when he's not playing well. Okay, he might put the sulky face on whatever but he'll still run round and do and he's prepared to be far and he's prepared to put himself in difficult situations and that's what other players have got to do. That's why he likes Dominic Avalon. He probably says to Dominic Avalon, do this job for me old game and another player might go, I'm not prepared to do that. What run round for 90 minutes and there's zero chance of actually scoring a goal Yeah, that's your job. But you talk about that trust thing, trust in the formation, trust in the process and then trust that the outcomes will come. Yeah. And it is, I guess in some respects, interesting if the outcomes don't come, I guess the coaches who are coaching that say that's because you and you and you didn't do what we should do and so it's not just individuals have to trust and believe all of them do. Yeah. And your audience can decide which one of the start and 11 from Villa or how many of them didn't believe. Yeah, yeah. And it shows in the performance. But then that comes down to the manager. Or believe but can't do it for some reason. That might come down to when the manager picks the team, isn't it? If he picks a, I'm not saying he's going to pick a completely different team but if he picks, there's a couple of players there on Sunday and you go, oof, I didn't see that. Well then it's because they weren't doing their job last week and that led the rest of the side down. It is better or easier if you're pep and you've got 25 players who would all get in a Premier League team and you can only pick 17 of them, then the marginal impact of saying Aguero, you ain't playing mate, is less than if we just decide, well Pickford, you haven't been doing as you're told so we're putting the young lad in. So that's where all the psychology comes in. So what do you think's going to happen now? I'm going to say it's going to be a difficult game. Hopefully you can get the three points. Hopefully. Well listen, it's not a full gone conclusion. Wolves are a very good side but they are a very good, and they've got a bit of that in them now. They are a well drilled, well coached team that have almost got that opposite thing where there's other clubs that've got big squads, they've got a small squad and he's said to them, some of them have come through Wolves through the divisions and some of them have come from outside but what he's done is he's got that idea of we play a same way but as I said at the top of the show the difference with Wolves is, and this is where they've come from it, they had a Premier League team in the championship and they went through a whole season of being able to just do what they want and that's why they're so good. Isn't it interesting though, and this is where the fun starts again. So if you get that drilled, you can get to the point where you're drilled so you can't change. So if you get found out, whatever that means, Wolves will have a second season syndrome because all these coaches have watched them and this, that and the other, but then again they could have seen them in the championship couldn't they, but they have the comfort of saying that it's a lesser league and so on. They'll continue to do the same thing. So disrupt it, you know. Maybe you do, but we don't see them enough as we see our own team to know how do they perform when they're behind. You know, they're not a team you want to concede first to, are they? You know, because the counter-attacking style and the fast passing that they've got. I watched them versus Man United the other night and Man United were very, very comfortable half-time when they looked and what I thought about Wolves was, game finish 1-1, but they're a team that can score out of nothing. They've got plays in the centre of the park. That's where their strength is. Who are fantastic, who can score from nothing. They're not one of these teams who are ever down to us. And I think the other thing they've got as well is you're scoring like 5, 6, 7 minutes into added time. You're going to the end, aren't you? But they've also got this thing as, because they've got a pipeline of being able to buy good players because of the agent who basically is in the hierarchy, they know they're always going to bring in good players and I think that keeps people on their toes. They have got very, very good players. I think not seeing what we've got a hope for, because we can beat them if everything's level. But I'm hoping that if we can take the lead on Sunday and keep going at them, that some of them might just go, you know what, I feel a little bit tired after those games. It's an international weekend. Sometimes you see it with teams, sometimes you don't. Classic case was last season when we played Chelsea. They just basically packed in at home when we went to... Isn't that the point? And that's part, you say, it's about how you brief, one of the phrases, the pep talk that says, let's get at these guys, let's do this, that and the other. Let's see if we can remind them they played a few days ago. Let's put some intensity into it. Let's have a few tackles. Find out who doesn't quite like it when you blatantly cut him in half. If you get on the book. Let's find out how much Model 5 they've got, where the psychology's at, all those sorts of things. Because I think teams, a bit like City to a lesser, they're allowed to play, aren't they? Yeah. Don't let them play. If you can get on top of a team and you can get a goal and then you're pushing for a second and you get that second, then you, I'm not saying that adapt them, that relies a lot on us, but it's that, you're saying to them, what have you got in the tank? What have you got in the tank from Thursday nights? A lot of plays will just go... I think our captain needs to understand we need to play into the Gladys Street in the first half, not in the second half. What do you say about the park end? Yeah. No, no, but I think it's a case of just trying to wear them down and stay on top of them and we don't do that enough. We let teams off the hook too many times and we've seen that at Lincoln when we were 2-1 up. Keep going, keep, for a better phrase, keep your foot on the throat and keep going at them if there's an opportunity. Cos teams will always have spells in games where it'll be the flip side. They'll have the ball from it. You've got to push teams, and that's where the bravery comes in and saying, are we braving up, go 1-0 up? Are we braving up to go at them, to keep at them? All right, being on the counter, it's fine, but are we braving up to say, we're going to keep going, we've got good players, and that's what we've got to start seeing and hopefully we see that Sunday and get the three points. If we get the three points, it's not the way to start and the way to the season. If we've won a couple of games, drawn one and lost one and we're throwing the league up, it's not the way. And it's keeping that goodness and thing going. Yeah, definitely, yeah. Two home games, two wins. That's what you want. Definitely. Cos again, we're in that bit of we've been the ones with two away, haven't we? Yeah, so. Definitely. There you go, let us know your thoughts in the comments. We're going to be out there then, didn't we? A bit of a tactical discussion without any images as well to back it all up. Let us know your thoughts in the comments, your fanciers this weekend against Wolves. Who would you start? Let us know in the comments. If you liked this video, like, don't forget to subscribe and if you want more great videos, join us on page and big thanks to John for joining us as well. See you later.