 Welcome to Toffy TV, it is the match preview of Everton vs Fulham. I am joined by John Blane to discuss this game. John Fulham ar hwn, it's normally, it's normally a happy fix you for Everton, but we're all feeling a little bit vulnerable at the moment. Now, listen, I'm confident that we will be Fulham at the weekend, but I was confident we'd be Hodusfield am West Ham, and we didn't do that. You and me both, yeah. But we've got Britsiala sy'n bach in the fold and he seems to make a big difference, doesn't he? He does, he does. I mean, he's so energetic, isn't he? So let's see, let's see. You have more cahooners about you before that when you've done the last preview. It's like, oh, we'll win the game by two goals, it's normally slight. No, I mean, I said it, I was chatting to someone over the weekend because there was a bit of a negativity around after the result wasn't there at Arsenal, and sometimes we have to look at performances as well. And that's only a holding position, isn't it, saying, ah, but we played all right. Well, we did for maybe 60 or 70 of the 90 minutes, but the problem was in the other 20 minutes we conceded two goals where the second one wasn't a goal anyway, but they lost their way for a bit during that. But conversations with people since then, I still think, I think I've said the last time I was on this, par is a two goal win for me. But I also think that someone's going to get a tonkin one day, so maybe the half full side of me is staying too close to half full for too long. But I do see signs that, you know, that, well, certainly the signs against Arsenal were far better than, say, the West Ham performance. And maybe that's a query as to why we can perhaps do what the manager wants in an away game at Arsenal, but we apparently didn't feel the need to bother to try to do it in our own game against West Ham. So, you know, there may be a change or two, but I would imagine it's going to be mostly the same team, don't you? Yeah, I mean, do you think there's anything in the fact we seem to be, we've better performance as we've all been away from Goddison? I would suggest this season, I think we played very well. Oh, it's the fans fault then? No, no, but I think probably the way we play, I think we are a good counter to the second set. Well, we look like we've got the potential, let me qualify that, to be a good counter to the second set once we can keep some clean sheets. I think I thought we played very well at Wolls, I thought we played quite well at Bournemouth. I thought we played quite well at Arsenal for an hour of it, say. Where is that Goddison? I think first half against Southampton, we were very good and then the second half was a little bit of a struggle. Huddersfield wasn't a great performance, and West Ham really wasn't a great performance. So, I don't know whether it's something we've got, maybe it's the personnel who've played at Goddison, or maybe it's the fact that it may be something as simple as we did in average at Arsenal against Huddersfield in West Ham. It could be, it could be, and I don't know, I mean, I don't do analysis paralysis shows like you do. So, like everybody else I guess who's watching, I see the games live and I see what I see. And I don't, you can correct me if you want, Baz, but I don't necessarily see different styles of play whether they were home or away. What we have seen though is different levels, is effort the right word, I don't know, or confidence or whatever. I mean, one thing that surprised me a half time at Arsenal when you sort of get your phone out and start looking at stats and stuff, is apparently how much more of the ball they'd had than us, because watching the game that's not how it seemed. It didn't seem like that now. You know, because lies, lies, damn lies and all that sort of stuff there that fit them out of the ball in their own half playing amongst themselves. And it's to cut in edge really, you know, the ball from Tom Davis into DCL, which should have been 1-0 after less than two minutes. You know, goals change games. And to be honest, we're not taking chances. We're creating chances. You know, and we can all be disappointed that we've spent these hundreds of millions of pounds, you know, like we were saying last summer all on number 10s, but not a huge amount of money, if anything, other than Richarlison on guys who can finish. So I don't know, it could be the Richarlison thing. Clearly we seem a lot livelier. He attracts players to him from the opposition, so I think because he started so well, because of the type of player that he is, because he's strong as well and he can hold the ball and not easily knocked off it, there's always seems to be at least two players with a cover on him. Maybe that creates a bit of space. But we do push up wide. We do leave ourselves open. And maybe teams who are prepared to work hard, let's call that Huddersfield, or who have a bit of pace with some talent can counter and we looked wide open against West Ham. And Arsenal are not like that. They're not much a passing team. They do, in a way, give you time to get back, don't they? So we'll have to wait to see. I mean, Fulham, they haven't set the world on fire, have they? A half empty people were going. They've not run away from home, therefore. But we've not beaten Arsenal for, God knows how long, 20 odd years, 30 years, whatever it was. 22 years. And we got the outcome. That was consistent with that. So let's have the outcome that's consistent with that this weekend, which is we don't lose to them in the league. We occasionally lose in the cup. Yeah, I mean, at Godderson, we're normally very strong against Fulham. And we are quite strong at home anyway, I would suggest. I think the West Ham defeat was the first thing going on. Going back to probably, I can't remember the last time we lost a home game. Man City, sorry, was the second. We lost a city, was the first. We lost for a while. So, you know, you can look at it that way. I just think, and it's a confidence thing now, I think. Attitude. I think if we can start getting the momentum going, then the players believe a bit. I'm not saying that they don't believe in what they're doing, because they do. They're certainly working hard. I don't think I've seen a game. Even West Ham, we didn't play well, but I don't think it was because players weren't trying. I just think we just didn't play well. And yet, in that game, we still missed a lot of chances. I mean, Nias hit the bar when he should have scored. Towson missed the hat-tick of chances. You know, players are shooting wide when they're in on goal. Where there's West Ham, I think, three or four attempts were on target or something like that. You know, with goals, sorry, the ones that were on target. So, that's the difference for me. That's a key thing. I think we are making chances where last season we weren't. We were more economical last year. We maybe made three chances on score one or two, where this year it's 10 and we'll score them one. So that, quite clearly, has got to improve. What did you make defensively of us on Sunday? And now, obviously, we ended up conceding two goals. One shouldn't have stood. But overall, because I don't think Jordan Pickford had anything to do. It didn't, no. He had a relative. He had that one save that he was with his other save. And I think Keane played well on his comeback game, if you will. And they actually showed some mobility, which we thought they were a bit of an oil tanker turning around. I think Zuma can be a bit up and down, but his mistake for the other goal was awful. I thought John Joe was OK. I think Dina, Dean, Luca, Dean. We had actually, for the West Ham game, Theresa's Swiss-based cousin was with us, first game ever. They're in the mid-60s. They're into a game at all in their whole lives. And of course, they live in Switzerland, they're fluent in German and French. So the husband, Tim, he went up and spoke to Dean because he got managed in the match and asked him about, said to Luca, So how do you feel about, in French, this conversation, how do you feel about all these English people getting your name wrong? To which he replied, I don't care as long as they keep paying me. And then that journal, and he said his name's Dean, and English people can't say the little, it's almost like it's not there. But I've seen that video and it's Dean, isn't it? Which is funny, because Tim, his surname's Dean. So I thought he played all right. I think he's seen off late, I suppose, in the sense of who's first choice. I'm not sure about John Joe, in the sense of defensively. Clearly he can put a ball in, which is helpful. Clearly, because I sponsor him, a big fan of Mason Hullgate. I actually thought, if Mason was going to lose his place against Arsenal, that he might have moved him to right back. I thought that's where he'd go. I think you should look after it defensively. But I suppose, again, that's Marco Silva's, you know, help from thought thinking. He's thinking, well, in his opinion, John Joe may be put a better ball in than Mason. Undoubtedly he would. So where as I think Mason's probably a better defender than John Joe at the moment or certainly can do. Fensibly, to answer your question, even though we're still worried, because we've all got this zonal thing in our heads, in the absence of the nemesis called Girouf, not being a team anymore, it didn't seem to cause us any great problem. I think we've, I mean, if you want to go half full, then we played the last two games we played, we hadn't considered the goal off a corner. So zonal is getting better, you could argue. You know, they didn't have any, they didn't think they had an attempt off a corner. They had corners, but they didn't get anywhere. Because we won. But two of their corners, we won the first, had it. And I've seen Neville Southall on Twitter talking about it last night and said, whether you've got man to man or zonal. You've got to attack the ball and win the first header. If you do that, whatever system you play, it doesn't matter. And that's been the key. I think the goals we've conceded, we haven't won the first header. Well, that's right, and they've not shown the confidence to attack the ball. To attack it, and that's what. So we're going back to the back four and the keeper. Unless, I don't know where Sheamus has at, do you? No, I'm not obviously with doing this ahead of Marco Silva's press conference. Is it today, or is it tomorrow? Tomorrow, I think so. But unless Sheamus is fit, then you've got to assume that obviously the goal he's not going to change. And the back four will remain as is. And then you get the decisions around what goes on in front of that. Of course, yeah. I mean, if you look in it, you know, Yeri Mayn is not going to be available this week. He's injured again. He's got a slight knock, so he's not going to be available this weekend. He's thrown up the two centre backs. I should have match him. He'll be the same in Kane and Zoom. That's the case. I know Kane goes and attacks the first ball because he's about six foot thirty-five. So if he can start winning that first, that's gone, that danger's gone. But you're right. The midfield, somebody that splits a pungent more than anyone in teams. I don't understand why. Tom Davies, I thought he had the deal. I thought he was good last week. I thought he was okay, yeah. I thought he'd done well. I thought the midfield too. Me and Pett said this on a final word the other day. The midfield too. He never reacted then. I've gone it. He's got a comment today. The midfield too of Garner and Davies. I thought they were quite mobile. Well, they do look good together. Because of that mobility. Clearly it still leaves us a bit open as well. Tom was doing the discipline thing because Garner runs around everywhere. He's back at the top of the tackling charts again. He's great at intersecting, I think. He's a pickpocket like Mrs. He does, doesn't he? He just nicked the amount of time he nicks in. I just think the bulbs of them, all you need to be a little bit better from both of them. There's no question about that. I think it sets you off camera gilfy. And I've looked at his numbers and his numbers are actually really good from Sunday. But what I see with my own eyes is that there's not enough threat from him in that area where he's playing. We didn't pay £50 million for a workhorse who runs around a lot. And he doesn't actually tackle. He closes down and then he gets closed and he's disruptive. But you're right. Again, watching the game live, I didn't think he did a hell of a lot. Now he did a wall cut for that matter. No, he didn't. That's true. So those two senior players didn't really produce the goods. I just think with gilfy. I really like him. I think he's a very good player. I just think in our midfield, the way the make-up at the midfield is, I just wonder, and this would mean sacrificing Tom probably, which I don't know whether I want to do at the minute, but I'm just wondering if it'd be better until we get going. It's fit as the eight, and we have someone more dynamic in the ten-out role. Maybe Bernard. Or is it Bernard? Bernard, Bernard. Whatever you want to call him. Benny. Someone can ask him. B20, whatever you want to call him. Someone a little bit more dynamic who can buzz around a little bit and especially if Jeng Towson's playing. Someone who's going to go beyond Jeng Towson. So if he's coming and holding, we've got a little part now where you start decision-making then, would you play him? Don't say where. Towson? No, no, Bernard. Bernard? I don't know. The reason why I'm saying I don't know is because I don't know whether it's worth us trying with Charlotte. That's why I was asking. I don't know how managers think. Did Tom Davies play last week because he thought that was the type of player for Arsenal because Schneider's quite slow but his stats will look good won't leave for passing accuracy and all that sort of stuff. And certainly if he's instructed as he appears to have been done to be the holding guy proper to allow for Ghana to do and he's running around. But Davies and Ghana looks more attacking. More mobile. More mobile than Schneider and Ghana. We've had ages of people saying why do you have two holding midfail players at home and all that sort of stuff. But if you want to play consciously to that I'm going to play Bernard because I want the skills and the all that sort of stuff. Then you say, well, how do I accommodate him? Now clearly one way to accommodate him which is what you alluded to was to play him out wide and put Richarlison down the centre. You can eat it then. You can have Tom and Bernard. And Guilfe. It's a tough one because you don't know whether Richarlison's actually better just where he is. Well, him and Dean seems to have a good... Yeah, they've got a good... Well, look at Dean. They add there when they do the combinations for the tactics. That was the biggest combination of passion last week. Before the headless moment. Richarlison and Towson get a good rapport as well. But he tends to drift that side anyway. So it could be that. There's options. There's options which is good that we've got options in that final there because this is a team that full on will come and play. They're not going to come and do a Hothersfield and have everyone behind the ball because the manager's a very attack on manager. So it'll be a good attacking game of football. There'll be gaps for us to exploit and quite sure there'll be gaps for them to exploit as well. But I think wide areas they've been done a few times down the flanks just for the way... So we want space that way. So we need to create that space and get it behind them. And I think it's a game, you know, some of the stats they haven't kept the clean sheeting any of the last 21 away games. You know, Everton haven't lost this and Fulham have never lost four games on the run to Everton. And all of that, that comes up when these two play. Doesn't mean anything does it. Let's be honest. The three o'clock on Saturday we've just got to make sure we're straight on it. The crowd behind us and get this win. Cos I think a win at the weekend starts, you know. And then we've got Southampton on the Tuesday and so if we can get that win momentum start to build then people go, yeah, hang on. We've won, we're all. We're doing all right here. We've won again. We're doing OK. Let's build this up now this momentum and start to really because, you know, two defeats on the runs never good. Obviously, we don't want to get into that habit. We want to get the win and feeling back. It's interesting. We talked about Richard and then he's been successful down the left. He scored goals and I'm sure he'll score goals from there. If he plays there the weekend. But the manager ends up having to make a decision doesn't he between a centre forward called DCL who doesn't score goals or Towson who doesn't score goals at the moment. So to me it looks like if I was a manager I'd perhaps don't know about you. Now I'd leave Richard on down the left and probably bring Towson in to see if they can put that sort of trinity together and have DCL on the bench. But then I don't know enough about Fulham and the way they're set up defensively and whether they need a bit of a battering around like DCL or not. Because he's all effort and stuff but he needs to score. He doesn't score goals. He doesn't score goals. I think Towson at home. I don't understand why he played Dominic last week because he's quick. So it made a very athletic DCL not play. Front three. But that was because of the way we played. So I don't mind this manager going you know what we're away here. These posts are peaceful. Get a symbiote right. I'm changing the flow. I don't mind. That's great for me. I think that's brilliant because he's looking at everything. Obviously if you've got a centre forward he's banging them in you don't take them off. But Towson isn't so it was an easy drop last week. Now if I was Mark O Silver Calvert Loom's an easy drop this week because he missed chances and he didn't really do anything. Runs a ram but we'd all run a ram on me to be honest. So it can dress it up as a rotational thing. Of course and he could go you know once you end because he'll hold it up or he's a bit more experienced or whatever or he could do what he just alluded to and throw binad off the left and the charts in through the middle. It's good that we've got the options. But hopefully Seamus will be back very close to being back as well because it's just that experience gives us that extra body as well and hopefully next week you know yet he may not be available hopefully for Southampton maybe. So it's just a bangin train a bangin train so it's one of those things. Oh that's more of this misinformation Neil. That'd be lovely wouldn't it be lovely to think he's not out and he plays but he's the bumpy plane of the week. But hopefully he'll be all right for next week and hopefully Andreika Omes will begin like Mark O Silver. He's joined him with the face. So hopefully that is that is the case that we can get to. That's what the manager needs isn't it is to get the players he's bringing brands of brought in onto the field. That's it and work with everyone you want to choose from the best plays you've probably thought or expected Bernard to be a starter didn't we. Well I think he will. You know he's had a couple of subs now. He's had a shall I say. He's going to start starting at home. I think he may be on the bench and that might be the catalyst for him then if he gets it a full game. Fingers crossed full and below us at the moment in the table by a point. They've got a minus five and we've got a minus three. So let's try saying that that weekend. Please please but it won't be easy because like you said these are a good side and in Mitrovich you've obviously got Seri who's very good Sesi on who's good and Mitrovich who's good amongst others. So be a tough game but it's a game I expect us to win. Well I do power is to those again. That's it. So three one. Cos Cos we can't see a clean sheet. Well you know what do you all them might celebrate a six year contract with a clean sheet? Let's hope he does. Indeed. Let's hope he does. Big thanks to John for joining me for this preview. Let us know what you think in the comments section below are we going to be full on at the weekend and if so how many bye. One will do for bonnet. Let's be honest. If you haven't subscribed please do so only takes a second and if you want more videos get over and join us on Patreon. There's an offer on there with the t-shirt as well. Get over now and do it. Just do it. It's worth it. See you later on Sophie TV.