 Welcome to Toffey TV. It is the Everton versus West Ham United preview. Let's hope this preview does not get wasted like the Manchester City preview. A few extra days rest for the Toffey's ahead of a first home game of 2021. We are in the future, Bas. Yes, 2021. Did 2020 happen? It feels like a lot of 2020 did not happen. But yes, the first game of 2021. I guess obviously losing the Manchester City game has given us, you know, losing the fix yet not playing it has given us a few days to give the players that extra little bit of rest they had and I suppose going into it the advantage is with Everton because obviously West Ham played in midweek, didn't he, as well? You know, our players have had a few of the rest and will have been able to nair through a few bruises from that Sheffield United game and hopefully have most players available for this game on Friday. Importantly, Richard Charleston. Yes, Richard Charleston's back obviously the concussion protocol is dealt with now. So he's back to that's a good boost and obviously just in general I suppose the general fitness of some of these players. Anyone who's been watching the games, I honestly cannot make a case for why that at least that midweek fixture goes ahead. I don't know anyone who can make a case for it. Every game is doing every game is crap every game. It's I know listen results fluctuating. Some teams will be happier than others, but I honestly can't make a case for those fixtures to go ahead. They are awful, absolutely awful when players are probably desperate for the rest. I just don't get it myself. I really don't get it and we've been fortunate in a way it's not the greatest circumstances. I appreciate that and we'll have to wait and see what happens with the Man City situation, whether they can play you know this weekend or next weekend the semifinal, but I just don't get it. I understand it's TV, but even for TV, I just think it's crap and I'll never understand why anyone feels like this is a good time to watch football other than when we can actually go the games and it's the social side of things and the game is almost like the excuse to go out and maybe have a go out on a night out with your mates or whatever or family after a match or before a match, but I just don't get it. I just think it's I just think for the quality of football it's a terrible time and I'm delighted we've had the break. I'm absolutely delighted that game was called off because I just think you know playing the team like Man City would have been you know hard enough with the way the way they play, but our squad being stretched and having that few extra days I think is going to give our players a real boost going into this game. This week should be football free as far as I'm concerned, but we know that TV and everything else dictates that there's games, but there shouldn't be a game between boxing day and new year's day. No chance you're flogging footballers and you know you're talking about and we are talking about TV audiences and what have you, but the games are terrible. The games are absolutely abysmal because the players in that he played on boxing day and you're asking them to play again two days later or you know the 27 to the 29th. It's just ridiculous and you get injuries and you get everything else so the quality of football is never very good and it is a case of just getting through games and for Everton we had some big games in close proximity you know and so that missing the Man City game you could say in the Sheffield United game at times we looked leggy you know and we done well to win that game given the circumstances and then obviously you know you dread to think what it might have been just the city where the polls but now going into this game you know we should have had a nice little break West Ham will have played like you said the extra game and hopefully that will work to Everton's benefit. One of the unfortunate things is Liverpool has moved into tier three so no fans at the game which is disappointing for those who could have gone. Obviously people would have had tickets for the Man City game as well they couldn't have gone so sadly it's going to be a while I imagine till fans are back in the ground certainly till the vaccinations start becoming more spread and into the general population so that's that's a disappointing thing it's going to be the first obviously the first time Everton will have played at home since November without without fans so hopefully the players can recreate that in their own minds they've sort of got a taste for it and understand understand it a little bit but yeah I and again another thing you know not having those fans in the ground but hopefully you know listen West Ham have been West Ham have been really consistent this season I think in a way they've you know they're right in the middle of the table they're only six points behind us you know you look at that league table it's absolutely mad you think teams are miles away I mean we've been sitting you know for the last couple of couple of games in the top four and being second and stuff but you look at the you look at the points and that's all I'm really being looking at I know a lot of people get caught up with the numbers sorry the numbers of the league positions but for me it's about the points and you know West Ham are on 23 we're on 29 and that's a nice for us that's a lovely little place but teams like West Ham they go on a little run like we've gone on a little run now you know there's a few of them there's a few teams and if they just hit a nice little run now in January they'd find themselves up there as well wouldn't they and it's you know West Ham I think they've started in a very David Moyes fashion and I think what's what's being good for West Ham this season is there's been no because this is his second time at the club and the first time I think they had you know there was expectations of he'd keep them up and then they'd go and get an amazing manager it's both similar to what we did or what we've done since this time he's gone in and it's been like no no it's this is this is we're going to leave this we've got no expectations of grandeur we're just going to let David Moyes do his work and I think because of that he's been able to do a proper David Moyes job and I think he's doing well so far at West Ham yeah he is doing well and you're right it's it's almost you know in settling if that's the right phrase it's it's allowed them to get that little bit of stability that they need it and we know David Moyes is a good manager you know we've seen it for 11 years whether he's appreciated by everyone is literally comes down to his persona I guess in the PR of random he's a good Premier League manager get your organised makes you difficult to beat and five out of the six games so you know okay they're on what 23 points at the moment one six games you know three I think it's three away games and three around so they're going to be solid they're never going to be in any trouble while David Moyes is in charge of them in terms of worrying about going down whether he can you know get better and better and finish higher up the table remains to be seen doesn't it because they've had false stones before but he's certainly got them playing in a way that makes them beat and you know this league if you're organised in this league you can you can get yourself halfway up and challenging for your overall league positions because let's be honest the quality in this league is brilliant despite what people tell you it's so it's more about organisation and power this Premier League and and we've seen that you know we've seen it ourselves we've gone more organised in the last five or six weeks and we flew up the table and started winning so all of these tales of it's the most exciting you know skillful league in the world it's all PR it's nonsense about power and organisation the best team in the land and as great as they are are basically a powerfully well organised well drilled machine yeah definitely you know and that's that's the prototype so Moyes has done really well for West Ham and they look like a tough side yeah and listen you know the league is what it is and I think this especially this season with with the fact that there was a short pre-season and the teams that I don't I think the teams that haven't got the quality in the Premier League I just didn't have the time to prepare you know and it's taking them you look at a team like Bayley Bayley the classic case they are they they don't have a massive budget so it's about it's about the manager working with the players and it's took them a lot and you can see it's took them longer to get come back and now they're starting to pick up a few results and they're not a drift at all and that simply becomes from you know he has to work with the players and I think it's been similar with David Moyes the difference is he came in from last season he put the ground rules down and um he's got better players and he's bought some really good players you know su check isn't it he he reminds me of like he's like a hybrid he's like the hybrid Fellini Tim Kale isn't he in a way it's like you know what I mean he's that player who's reliable who'll come in and score a late goal or you know you can you can bank on him to just get one now and again and he seems to be on a really good run of form and um it does feel like it does feel like after all the criticism David Moyes just took since he went to Manchester United and obviously went to like Sunderland and stuff like that I think this West Ham really shoots them and the second stance is really shoot them and and you write the organisation it's such a big part we did something like this in November if everything could get organised they've got the goals and um if they could get themselves organised and we have got ourselves organized I think you shut that little bit of class that we've got that is that's the difference certainly in the final third between us and us and West Ham we've got someone in Dominic Armillwn who's scoring goals or when he's not scoring goals like he has been ironically in that four games he's making a big difference and as Carlo Ancelotti said in his press conference you know he's won a penalty and he's uh the own goal there are some things like that that's what we've got going for us at the moment and we've just got that little bit more quality and obviously we've played West Ham already in the league cup and I know it wasn't their first team so I wouldn't for one minute say that's what I was expecting again you know they had a lot of players that missing that night but we our quality on that night really showed and obviously Dom got a hat to him in the game so um or we can hope for if we get something similar but for me this is going to be a really tough game as you've already said they played Southampton away to Neil Nils so their legs will be feeling a little bit more than ours um which I think is it seems like that's annoyed obviously um David Moyes because he's come out and said sit not on our part obviously but he's come out and said this needs to be investigated because they've had problems with goal with and they never got a game called off so he's obviously looking at that and thinking haven't they've had a couple of days extra off um so we've got to use that haven't we we've got to hope that you know our players have got that little bit of energy and players who are ready to go are in near and just be solid again isn't it be solid again and try and hope that extra little bit of fitness a little bit of class a little bit I think that we've got a little bit more than Westam shows on on the night got to we've got to we've got to wake them up at meet you know we've got to stay defensively tight you're right about suit you know he's he's someone who is a threat of plays definitely goals they've got Antonio he's a handful um depend on what mood he's in but he can be a handful he's done well with Jared Bowman from Hull brought him in probably about a year ago now I think in January window and he's done quite well for him so be it you know again that'll be another battle but like you say we should be fresher um and it'll be it'll be up to us to force the issue you know and hope that we can get the charlots in the game you know it's up to the likes of Alex of Wowy to try to unlock them and um and Dominic Alvaloon to put the ball in the net and if we do that then we'll have a really good chance of beating them you know we did beat them in the league cup you're right they didn't have their full team out but we didn't have our full team out either but you know we weren't able to win that but um expected to be a tight game but hopefully hopefully everything will come out on track I mean you know in terms of organisation we're talking everything you can see in the top four now which is mad a few weeks ago you know goals were going in left right and centre against us when you know so yeah that's what we've been able that's what we've been able to to short um West Ham they've only conceded 21 goals haven't they conceded 19 so they don't let loads in now no no so no he's got them organised you mentioned you mentioned Antonio there I really I really like Antonio I think he's I think what what they've got what what they get out of him is huge I think he played the last 13 minutes at Southampton and now he's been injured again so he'll probably start this game I think he'll start against Southampton so you'd imagine he'd rotate them so he's he is he's an absolute handful he does score goals um don't know whether he obviously where he is in stage of his fitness whether he'd be at his best but um he is one definitely to worry about and you mentioned the likes of of of Jared Bowen and um Barahima you know these by my arm I'm sorry these are these are players that they've got that little thick little bit you know Yamalenko whether we like him or not uh Jagalenko he still seems to pop up and have these moments doesn't he so they have got they have got players you can't hear yeah but as you just said there it's about us being organised and doing what we've been doing and going for uh the clean sheet and then trying to grab something which which we we seem to be getting a depth back very very Italian way of doing things and it gets you through and you know as much as it's funny because you know Carlo Ancel is just on his press conference and he's saying you know Hamas Rodriguez isn't isn't back yet and hopefully be back for Rotherham and then fans get oh what's going on they think it's all kinds of conspiracy theories but if Hamas Rodriguez hadn't been fit who knows whether we would have gone into this kind of shape and who knows whether it would have worked with Hamas Rodriguez so it's been a blessing in disguise and if he has you know if he has it was a calf injury and it has if it is in the month and it's you know he's going to come back and he's going to be fresh and he's going to be fit and we come out the other side of it and we don't have you know what we haven't had you know we've gone through all the games and we have got thing have a player like Hamas Rodriguez to come back it it could be a massive blessing in disguise couldn't he you know and and hopefully this will be the last of those games that he'll miss yeah I mean we've had so many games together that his loss has felt like obviously much worse if there'd been a game a week you know we'd have missed three games so far and you'd be like well you know a month with a calf injury um and he knows you know like you just said that him not being in the team has allowed us to play in a different way which has allowed us to you know kind of re-jigged away we were doing things you know get solid and go from there and we might not have been able to get solid with Hamas in the team you know but now when he gets fit and he comes back into a team that is solid hopefully then we can get more out of his creativity because we've got a good backbone behind us and we'd lost our way a little bit in terms of that backbone so just getting him back will obviously be a class player and it'd been great to have him on the bench at least at the weekend on Friday just for maybe the last 20 minutes but if he's not fit then what can we do it it's nobody's fault we knew this when we were getting him you know we hadn't played a lot of football for Real Madrid and he'd had some injuries and he's done well for us you know he's been available up until this injury most of the time you know the van Dijk challenge for him you know really halted his progress you know a nasty challenge you know knocked him it's knocked him back for it you know now he's got the car things but hopefully come the other side of new year when he's fit again we'll be able to reap the benefit to that he'll be back fit and like I say the team's got that solid base and hopefully he'll be the cherry on the top which can can you know combine with that solid defence and start to pick defenders out and again like he was doing in the opening four or five games of the season when he was when he was exceptional yeah and it's the start of a interesting sequence of games isn't it you know West Ham Wolves Villa and then Leicester you know four you know four no we've already played Leicester but that's four games isn't it they they they're very interesting games because they are clubs that are sort of probably people at the moment but in the same bracket as us aren't they in a way you know Leicester maybe but even though we're even even though like we've been hiding Leicester times and Wolves aren't maybe doing brilliantly Villa are doing really well and West Ham are right in the middle I suppose people from the outside looking in would say these are four clubs that are that sort of feel the same in the bracket that the teams that are chasing to become part of of a new new top six or whatever or to take Arsenal spot or whatever so I do feel like these next this next month is really gonna really gonna figure out where we are as we get to you know the halfway point of the season and or just over the halfway point so I think this does this game does start that next sequence of you know not like it's obviously it's not the it's not the running or anything but it we are getting to that middle point now of the season where we're trying to figure out where we're going to be come the final third up you know and what we're going to be jostling for so for me you know every game is massive every game you know you're looking to get three points but I do it does feel like this is a really important sequence of games now where we're going to have to be at our best whichever whichever way you look at what our best is yeah definitely there's a there's an opportunity to consolidate our position where we are because we are playing teams around us you know and the biggest thing will be I guess when we play those teams it's certainly not used to them you know eat them then don't lose to them and you know so you don't lose any ground but the opportunity is there that if you can get wins against those teams you know villar and wolves who are right in the hunt they they will be huge victories for everything but I think we've just got to take it game by game you know we've got to try to get past this West Ham game um this will be a tough game and if we can win this and be on 32 points on New Year's Day it's outstanding for us you know going into that second half of the season we still will have only played 16 games and we'd have two points a game which would be incredible you know of evidence to continue that through the season we'd end up we'd watch 76 points or 76 points or whatever it is a hell of a totally that was the case but we've just got to get win that game at the Friday and then we've got what eight days then haven't we before rather in the cup and again we can lick our wounds and get everyone rested and you know and who knows then hopefully hammers is back and we'd be you know everybody else will be freshened up by then and you know we're closer game and we're closer to getting Luca Dean back and Alan back and people like that so that's all we can do really is just this is a big game Friday you know especially with the city game being called off so and it's a tough game but if we can beat these then we put ourselves in a great position and going in both for the rest of the season basically because 32 points for us at this stage is a fantastic return yeah it will be absolutely huge do you go let us know your thoughts on this game in the comments are you happy that we didn't have to play Manchester City just from a purely physical point of view let us know and what are your thoughts on this game are you confident are you a bit wary of West Ham saying if David Moyes West Ham let us know your thoughts in the comments make sure 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