 Welcome to Toffy TV for this Opposition Match Preview. I am joined by Phil Holloway from Leicester Fan TV. Don't forget this week's game is on BT Sport. Everton will feature twice in the next 10 days, including this week, 8.15pm kick-off, that's on Wednesday 27th of January. With BT Sport monthly pass, Everton is willing to watch Everton in the next few weeks against Leicester, Newcastle and Leeds Away. It is £25 for the next 30 days, with no contract. To sign up, click the link in the description. Phil, welcome to Toffy TV. Hi, Peter, how are you? Not too bad looking forward to this game. This is a big game, isn't it? You guys are sitting in third place, doing really well. We're not having a bad season ourselves, so this is shaping up to be a really good game of football. Happy days, isn't it? Happy days to see Leicester against Everton being up near the top of the table. We've had a few years between us where it's been a bit of relegation fodder and mid-table stuff, so it's quite nice to see both clubs up there challenging around. As you will no doubt think the so-called big six, it's nice to be showing that they're not always the same big six. Well, I mean, that's funny, isn't it? Because I think this season, Leicester have almost cracked that big six, and when I say that, what I mean is from a media point of view, Leicester City, I think, I mean, listen, you won the league a few years ago, when I was actually in, I was actually in the stadium when you got the trophy, and it was a very, very strange day, and I'm sure it was a very happy day for you guys, but I'm sure you also found that just a whole thing was just must have been surreal to you guys. But I think in the last couple of seasons on the Brendan Rodgers, this is something we really battle with, is that you guys are now starting to look and be looked at by the media and respected by the media as one of the big six. Yeah, I mean, from a Leicester fans point of view, we tend to feel like the media don't quite give us the credit. Here's a stat for you. Leicester City have been in the top four of the Premier League since August 2019, apart from one day, which was the last game of last season, when we lost to Man United at home and dropped out top four. Since then, we've been in the top four all last season, and all of this season. That's incredible. I mean, that just pays, well, it just shows how well Brendan Rodgers has done coming in as manager, but is this team, do you think this team is better than the team that won the title? It probably is, is the answer, or it probably could be, I guess, is the real thing. The team that won the Premier League was like the ultimate has-been's team. People didn't want them. We've got three B players. We've got a player from Villa. They didn't want Michael Brighter. We've got Jamie Vardy, a non-league player who paid a million quid for him. We've got Danny Simpson, who was rejected from Man United and Cupia. We had a right mixture, a mixed bag. It was a proper football team, if you like, of rejects and has-beens and all sorts. This team now that's been built is actually, they're all young, all fresh. They're all up and coming. There's quite a lot of British and homegrown talent in there coming up from teams like Norwich and Luke. Again, proper players with a sprinkling of good scouting from continental clubs. We take a bit, a bit like Everton. I think Everton tend to buy players who are a bit more established, tend to go for those who are on the whale and have a bit of a pun. It doesn't always work out, but it has been. To be fair, I think your system's worked a lot better than our system because I look at Leicester. I think you always seem to buy the players that we look at and go, no. James Madison has been in great form recently. I wouldn't say he's not carrying it. That's far too disrespectful. What I mean is, I think in the last few weeks, he's stepped up when obviously Jamie Vardley's been carrying this hip-hinsy, which is going to seem out of this game. But he's really stepped up. Now, he was a player that Everton looked at and mulled over for a whole summer, but we'd, and you got him and you just jumped in and got him, and that's fair play. But we'd got Guilfee Sigarton like the year before and for like 45 million, and that was the problem. Maybe not as much now, but certainly in those years when you were picking up these players, and we still are to a degree. We've been looking like you said, a place maybe we've got less risk, but are a little bit older, where you've been going on and taking the punt on the younger player and it's worked out and that's down to good scouting. And then when a player is ready to leave, you've been getting good money for them. And again, going back and replacing them with good, talented players for a lot less. So I think in terms of the system, I think your system has been a hell of a lot better. I don't know whether, I don't know why, less the city to me, you don't use as a team, as a club, don't seem to have any issues or chip on your shoulder about selling someone for 50, 60 million or higher, as we've seen with Maguire, and then bringing someone in. In fact, there's a club, you seem to be relishing that, and it's something that we're seeing a lot more now on the continent and people are getting a lot of praise for. And you're doing it in this country and I think it's very successful. And we've been at the other end of things where we've been buying players too old, too expensive, and really don't have the talent. I think it's frustrating from a fans point of view, but again, if you just sort of, I know at some point we'll all be talking about James Madison. Is he going to go to Man United or Liverpool, one of the big clubs, who's spending 60, 70, 80, 90 million pounds on it? We've had it with Mares, we've had it with Maguire. It just seems that is the model that Leicester worked to. The owners and the chairman are quite honest about it. We want to be up there, but we are going to run this as a business, we're going to have a go at bringing through fresh talent, but I think that helps bring in the talent, because when the players start thinking, I'm going to go Leicester, because if I do well at that club, it's going to go up and up. We've signed from Luton, a lad called James Justin, all back. Again, I think we paid three and a half million for him, but the Luton fans, as soon as we bought him said, it'll play for England. We've been talking about him, it'll be England's left back. To start with it, it took him a good few months to little bed into the Premier League. It was a big step up from Luton, but he is now his most fan's player of the season so far. Again, he's already probably worth 20, 30 million pounds now, but it's an interesting one from a fan's point of view. We just need to hold on to enough of them, enough of the time, so that we can challenge. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, we've done something similar this. We went and got Ben Godfrey, but we paid a lot more for him because obviously he played in the Premier League, and it's similar. The fans take to those players, I think, straight away, because they are fighters, and that's what I see with a lot of the Lester players. It obviously came from Jamie Vardy in the first place. It's buying players that who are on the up and aren't established and want to make a name for themselves and want to fight for the team. You've got a really good mix day, as you said. Something like James Justin, you've got Harvey Barnes, a young player who's come through and with the mix for Fana, he's only young as well. There's a really good balance of plays. You're really hungry at the other end of the scale. You've got like Johnny Evans, who was a fantastic buy, absolutely amazing buy for £3 million. He's at the other end. He's still fighting for his Premier League career. He brings that experience, and it's just that really good balance. And as you say, because your owners are really honest, I think that really helps, because there's far too many clubs, and we've been far too guilty of this in the past. It's far too many clubs going round saying they're going to do things and never live up to it, or shy away from the fact that they will have to sell a player at some time. So when they come to sell a player, because of the financial reasons, everyone gets a shock, and then everyone gets on the back, where you know, you use absolutely love your owners. And obviously we all know what happened, you know, with them and stuff. And it's, it really just feel like it's really coming together. And you've got a really good coach as well. And as you said before, you've only been at the top four for one game. I mean, it was the last game this season, last season, but everything's going on the right way. You look at Harry Maguire, and you know, I still rate Harry Maguire as a really good centre-back, but I would say really good. But when clubs like Man United come in and offer, you know, silly money, £85 million, most Leicester fans will say, I don't want to sell him, but hey, it's the same with Jane Madison. I don't want to sell him, but if somebody comes on off as £18, £90 million, and we can go and reinvest that, it's just business sense, isn't it? It's club sense. But let's get it. Yeah. And I think, but the difference is though, I think, and this is the difference, I think with you guys is you want to keep them because you want to build that side. And I think what, silly what, Everton fans have been guilty of and clubs around maybe the top four or stuff. They're guilty of losing face because they're having to sell those players, whereas you've just said it yourself, it's good business sense. If you've got a player and you can replace them and you can, you know, with FFP and everything and you can bring someone in and you also trust the people at the club to replace them, then that makes a massive difference to the continuity of the team. You know, I think, you know, because at some point though, it might take them round. James Madison might decide, no, I'm on the up here because I think, you know, that's, we've seen it at other clubs. I think Liverpool were in a similar position a few years back where they were selling, everyone was leaving. And then it got to a point where, you know, the plays they've got now are probably turning around. I mean, no, we can win trophies here. And I wonder whether it'll be the same at Leicester, whether a lot of those players decide, you know, why go? Because I think what helps as well, and we've seen this loads, is you get a play and it's doing really well and then suddenly he wants to leave. And they go and they never, they never make it. They never make it at the big club they're going to. And then the career gets turned upside down. Ross Barclay at the moment is a good example of that. You know, he wants to get out of Everton, goes to Chelsea. OK, he's won a couple of trophies without really playing. And now he's a villar on loan. And you might find happiness available. It is that you want to find somewhere where you think everything's fine. I've got, I want to see how he created this club. And Leicester just seems to be a really good model at the moment. And he's doing brainly in the league. As I said, he's went top for a night this week, which must have been really good. We've had, we've had that ourselves this season. And you know, it just, it just puts a smile on your face. And I suppose the longer that goes on during the season, the longer you sort of still up there. I mean, as you said before, you had the woes of last season, but the longer you're up there, you must, it must become, this might happen. Because I think at the moment we're a little bit like, oh yeah, we're in and around it. We went out two games in a and we go third, but whatever, and we know what'll happen. But for you guys, the longer you stay up there, you must not start, must be starting to get that feeling that, yeah, we are actually a good team. I mean, we, we all cheered when Liverpool lost to Burnley. I'm sure you guys did more. Oh no, totally professional, totally. I was thinking no, that's, I thought that was a draw. Yeah. But it shows that this season is open. I mean, the media are saying it's man's cities to lose. But hey, if you look at the points, it's very close. There's going to be some strange result between now and the end of the season. So I think this season is really open. I think Leicester could be in there. I think you guys, Everton could be in there again. When you guys are on the song, watching Rodriguez, you know, when you guys are hitting form, you are probably one of the best teams in the league to watch. We don't hit form though, that's, I mean. That's the consistency, yeah. Well, I've been disrespectful to like, we're not, when we started the season, we looked really, really good. And then we had a drop-off where we didn't win a game. We won one game in seven, that was against Fulham. And then at the beginning of December, people were starting to question whether we had had, you know, the right mix of players. And then Carl Antons, he just went right. We're not conceding any more goals. That's it. We're not conceding any more goals. He put four centre backs at the back and you've seen it when we played against you guys. And we were like, no, break us down. Come and break us down. And we let you on the counter attack. And that's how basically we beat you at your gaff. And that's how we've been beaten by the likes of Leeds and West Ham at home is because we're at home. And this is where it's going to be interesting on Wednesday because at home, where we're not as good as we are away, we normally have a... It's the same thing, I think. We normally have a terrible away record, but this year it's been really good because we're sitting in, we're soaking it up. We've got good defenders when they're playing the low block. And then we hit teams on the counter attack. And we've seen it at Walls a couple of weeks ago as well. And that's where it's going to be interesting, this game, because you haven't got Vardy. It'll be interesting to see how we tactically set up, whether we sit in or because we are the home team, there's always that thing of where we better push on. And that's where we've been caught against. I mean, the last game we got beaten West Ham for 80 minutes, it was drab, it was awful. They didn't want to come out. We didn't want to come out. And then they hit us with a sucker punch and we couldn't really get back into the game. There's no fans there. And that's, I think that's the tale of a lot of teams this season. Teams just, they're just saying to the opposition, come on, break us down. Yeah. Well, like you say, in that game at the King Pass stadium in mid-December, you guys did come and do that. And it was a frustrating watch from Leeds's point of view because we could see what you were doing. And it's sort of like our frustration with, well, my frustration with Brendan Rodgers at times is we don't seem to have much of a plan B, a switch it up and just think, look, Everton are defending like this. We're going to have to do something different. And you did frustrate him and come and get to the goals on the counter attack. And you know, you sort of, when you get to the end of that match and you're scratching your head going, well, they just did what we thought they might be doing. But you know, it wasn't anything amazing, but it was well done and well played. And Leicester, I've got more hope of a screen away at you guys than if we were playing this match at the King Power, I think like you say. One of the keys for Leicester is at the moment, like you say, Jamie Vardy out. He's scored quite a lot of goals again this season, which is great. He is just, I think if you have him in the team, opposition defense just has to keep an eye on him. And that for us, that takes one or two, maybe three players at times to keep an eye on him. And that opens room out for Madison. And you know, we've had defender scoring even coming through. So without him there, and this is no offence to Kletcher and Acho, but he ain't Jamie Vardy. No, but he always seems to score against us. Well, yeah, but he's, he's not that fast. His first touch often is a pass. It's not, you know, he's just, he is not, there's only one Jamie Vardy for Leicester at the moment. I know, we always say he's like, he is like two players. He is like a forward line on his own. It's actually what we've started to see from Dominic Alvin Lewin this season. Yes, indeed. He's starting, he's starting to become. He's carrying the line a bit. He occupies two players now. They've both got to worry about him because he's so good in the air. He has got a turn of pace. He's not got the pace like Jamie Vardy, but he has got a turn of pace and he'll be back for this game. But we're missing this and we're missing, we're missing our best two midfielders, Allen and the Corey sitting in midfield. So you know, I'm, you know, I imagine we haven't got any similar like Vardy. We haven't got anyone else like the Corey. Someone big physical who's got pace in midfield. He's suspended for this game. He's paid almost every game, hasn't he? He has, he has. I mean, he should have been suspended for the Villa game, but obviously that got called off due to the COVID situation. So we haven't, we haven't been without both of those players. Allen's not due back to the beginning of February. So we haven't had both of those players missing. So this will be the first time that we've really played without both of them. So that's going to be really interesting. We're going to be back in the last season when we had like the likes of Gomez and the likes of Tom Davies and likes of Sigarton. We were absolutely dreadful in midfield, just dreadful. We lost every battle in midfield. And that's going to be an interesting one on Wednesday as well, at middle of the park. So both teams are missing really, really key players. And in a game of such importance, I suppose that balances it out a little bit. So I think it's going to be a really, a really good game. And I think, you know, both teams are up there, they're looking to take it. Because as you said, it's wide open. It's absolutely wide open. You know, the stadiums without fans, you know, there's going to be the back end of the season. You guys are still in the Europa League and you've got a really good chance of that, I think, as well, just because of the squad you've got. But that's going to take up your Thursday nights. You know, the fixtures are starting to pile up. You know, we've got to play Man City there in the Champions League. When's that game going to be played? So there's a lot of factors still in playing. We haven't come in as a team. We haven't even reached the halfway market of the season. So we're not going to reach the halfway side of the season until the back end of January. So there's still a lot to play for. And it's going to be a very, very unique end to the season. I'm fascinated of what the points tallies are going to be. Because we've all got it in our head, haven't we? Like 85 will get you the league and 65 will get you the Champions League. Yeah, it'll be different this month. Staying up might just be like 20 points this season. Yes. So who knows? Who knows? Well, the irony of most Leicester fans is when we actually went top of the league, we got to 38 points and rather than celebrating being top of the league, we said, well, we're nearly at 40 points. We're nearly safe now. That's our mind. That's in our minds that you get to 40 and you go right now. Now the season starts. Now the pressure's off. You can have a go now. Like you can really, really have a go now. It's weird, isn't it? Having that mind. So that's David Moy's mindset still in my head. Well, the Man City fans and Man United fans just don't think like that, but for us, it's that. I'm still pleased we stay up at the moment. I think this is our sixth season on the track. I mean, you guys have been in the Premier League just ever, but you've diced around with it a few times. No, this is not that many times. You'd be surprised, you know. Does it? Again, it's a media narrative. See, when, if you go back to like again, if I go, if you go back to like pre-allist nonsense with all the managers, you had in the last four or five years. Before that, we were a very consistent top six team for a good like 12 years. We genuinely finished in, and we finished 11th twice in like, twice in like 14 years. We were always in the top six top. We were, see when we were finishing top, when we were finishing fifth and sixth. Oh, it was only a big four. You know, it was only a big four then. Now suddenly it's a big six. I love this big six, Peter. Like, I obviously remember how a Kendall in the 80s. Well, I put Everton up there with Liverpool and Man United. I think your top four, definitely top six club. I don't know where Spurs get into this top six from. They've done a week since 1961. We are, unfortunately, we decided to have our worst run of years in most publicised years. So, we all sit here and go, there was football before 1992, but a lot of people don't think there was football, and unfortunately that's now the... Like, a lot of people don't remember last week. Never mind what happened in 1992. That's lockdown for you. That is the way we live it now. People don't even... Oh, what's that thing from last week? Oh, we're on to a new thing now. So, and you have to adapt with it, you have to. And that's why you guys are doing great. As I said, there's a club, and everything can really, a really doing what I think clubs should be doing now, is puffing out the chest. I mean, going to get bit in the Rogers for a start, I think it was a brilliant move, and it's proved rightly so, and yeah, it's going to be really interesting to see what happens. And as I said before, that Europa League, I would be throwing everything at that Europa League, because I think that could be a brilliant way to win a trophy and get a Champions League spot as well. It's going to be a really good game. There's going to be goals, I think, between Leicester and Everton. There's normally a couple on each side. So, I think there will be some goals. I wouldn't like to put any money on it though. No, I wouldn't predict it. No, I wouldn't put any money on it, because I honestly, I can predict Everton from one week to the next. So, I think it's going to be a really good game, and everyone will get their pounds worth, and who's watching on TV. So, may the best team win, I suppose. I mean, that's what I've got to say, haven't I? You know, really, I don't... I'm not. I'm going to say, hope Leicester win. I hope we bat ears. I hope we bat ears. That's what I want. I hope we destroy ears. Yeah, because we can take six points. I feel that maybe people will go. Yeah, they've got an outside chance for top nine, I think, in Everton. Let's create a graphic on the TV that shows the top six, but doesn't include Everton. I don't know where we're going to have to get in the league table for where people start including us in graphics. I'm not sure, but... Yes. Yeah, but then it'll be the race for the rest, then. They'll just leave us out. Phil, it's been absolutely great to speak to you, and I'm looking forward to the game. It's going to be, I think it's going to be a good one. And whatever happens, let's just stay friendly. Let's enjoy it. See you later, Phil. Cheers. Big thanks to Phil there from LeicesterfanTV. Really looking forward to this one now. Don't forget it's live on BT Sport as is the game against Newcastle on Saturday and the game against Legionite of the Way, which is coming up. Don't forget if you want to get BT Sport, it is £25 for the next 30 days without a contract. Every single Premier League team will be featured twice in the next 10 days. Click the link in the description if you want to get that service. Big thanks to Phil, as I said. Give this video a like. Subscribe if you haven't already and if you want more great videos, join us over on Patreon. See you later.