00:00in here this morning
00:14good morning everyone welcome to our pre-match press conference to preview our game against
00:18Arsenal we'll start off with Vinny for this game
00:20David obviously you've had another extended break between fixtures
00:23I just wonder is it advantageous given the workload that Arsenal have had in between that time
00:28or is there a danger that it interrupts rhythm a little bit particularly after two straight wins
00:32well there's two different parts of your question you asked about Arsenal's workload
00:36are you talked about us not having quite as much so look I think I'd rather have my football
00:43having more pattern to it than what it has been I think we've had too many periods of
00:49time off it's partly my own fault when you're out of the FA Cup then quite often you miss
00:56the games but we've also found ourselves quite a lot of mid-week fixtures this season as well
01:01from Arsenal's point of view they're very lucky that they're in all the competitions
01:06but also know how difficult that is when when you're in European football and getting yourself
01:10turned around and getting ready for another game it's not an easy thing to do
01:13for yourselves though how important was it to get those back-to-back wins when you're going into a run
01:17of four games
01:18and teams have brought you in the table yeah it was really important because it keeps us
01:22keeps us probably in the position we've been for a long part of the season we've been sort of bobbing
01:27around the middle of the table
01:28sometimes we've moved up a bit sometimes we'll drop down the league's been really tight you know whether it be
01:34a point or a goal or whatever it may be could make a big difference
01:39so we've probably been there for most of the season so hopefully we can sort of get another couple of
01:45back-to-back wins between now and the end of the season as well
01:47It's easy for us to say you should take confidence going to the Emirates as well given your away record
01:51how you acquitted yourselves on the road as well
01:54and how you acquitted yourselves against Arsenal at Hill Dickinson earlier this season but how do you see it?
01:59Well we've not got a great record going to I was nearly going to say Highbury
02:03we've not got a great record going to Arsenal but I don't know many teams half of this year that
02:09have got a good home record
02:10but we've done quite well on the road but look we've got a bit of confidence we've been playing well
02:17in the last few games
02:18so we can only go and try it against who are probably the best team in the country at the
02:23moment
02:24You've also had a habit of changing records though since you've been back
02:27Yeah and that's part of the job isn't it? We played Arsenal at home and we've done pretty well on
02:33the night
02:34they won the game by a penalty kick but we've got to try and make it close and tight again
02:40and give ourselves every opportunity
02:42And you should have had a penalty
02:43And yeah we should have, it was proved that it should have been a penalty
02:49Finally from me David, what do you make of the criticism of Arsenal this season though?
02:53Being over-reliant on set pieces and that's negatively impacted the Premier League as a whole
02:57I was going to say to you what criticism, you know, they've done brilliant at Arsenal
03:04Mikel's done brilliant, I know they've been runners up to Man City where there's absolutely no shame in that
03:09over the last sort of decade how good Manchester City have been
03:14He's done a brilliant, brilliant job at Arsenal, he's got a great team
03:21And I think they're probably in as big a chance this year of winning the league as they've ever had
03:27They're right in the mix with the Champions League, we've got a League Cup, they're in the FA Cup
03:34So I'd have to question the people who have been critical, that's for sure
03:37Thanks David
03:41David, just picking up on what Vinny was saying there
03:44How do you prepare your team for a challenge like Arsenal?
03:47Because yes they are physical, yes they do well at set pieces, but they're a lot more than that aren't
03:51they?
03:52Well what's up with any of those things you say, you're making it sound as if that's a problem
03:55because they're good at set pieces and they're a strong physical side
04:00which I don't see any problem with any of that, it's part of the game
04:06And if there's this thing out there where everybody has to play the beautiful game and everything has to be
04:10perfect
04:11Well if we'd all done that it would be boring, the football would be boring
04:14Part of the reason you people are talking about it because it might be slightly different from what we've seen
04:18for a few years
04:19And people are talking about it, but it's giving you something to talk about
04:23And again, I would hate to be going to football matches all the time and seeing football played the one
04:27way
04:27I think I want teams to play different styles, I want them to play different ways
04:31We've got some unbelievable managers, Mikel is one of them, who've come into this country and shown us what they
04:39can do
04:39But maybe they can't really stay with it and do it all the time
04:43So you can bring in something in, but you've got to have something which is going to work
04:49Mikel has been able to evolve his team and move on
04:54And he's certainly got a very good team at the moment
04:56And on Mikel, he's obviously an individual you know very well
04:59Both when he played with you here at Everton in years gone by
05:02And now he's progressed to being a successful manager
05:04What's impressed you most about the way he's adapted, evolved into that role of us?
05:10Well I think all managers change
05:13I remember the early days I'd be jumping about the touchline and looking and doing all sorts
05:17Mind you, I still am now at times
05:18But I have to say, you saw Mikel over the few years
05:24He's got dark arts, like we all had to have at different times
05:28Because you're desperate for your team to win, you have to find ways of winning
05:31That's part of the job
05:32I say it all the time, you can play as good as you like
05:35But winning is the thing which really matters
05:37But I think Mikel looks as if he's maturing a lot into the role
05:42You know, he's steadying down
05:43And it looks like it
05:46But with age everything, you mature a little bit as you get a bit older
05:50And from your own perspective, the team he's going into this weekend
05:52Is there anything new?
05:54Nothing really new, no, no
05:56We're hoping everybody's fine
05:58Jared we think will be okay
05:59So we'll go into the game and hopefully we're all fine
06:02How much do you relish challenges such as this?
06:07Look, I relish the challenge to see if we can do it
06:10But also know that the level we're going to play
06:13You're arguably going to play the best team in Europe at the moment
06:17Certainly the best team in the Premier League
06:18There might only be possibly PSG and Bayern Munich out there
06:22Who would be competitive with them
06:24So when you think that you're putting your team out against that level of opposition
06:27It can be daunting
06:29But we've done quite well against some of the teams
06:32We've not always won the big games
06:33But I always think I need to give them a game
06:35That's the big thing for me
06:36And we give them a game when we're at the Hill Dickinson
06:38So hopefully we can give them a good game when we go there this week
06:42Best of luck
06:43Cheers, thank you
06:43Thanks Richard
06:44We'll go to Julia
06:46Hi Julia
06:49Just on Jared
06:51Obviously you do have to manage his minutes and how he's training
06:54I would imagine because of the type of injury and the surgery he had to have
06:58I assume that obviously comes from the medical department as well
07:01It must be frustrating for you as a manager
07:03Because you would want to play him I would imagine
07:05Well we do
07:06I mean we had to leave him out one of the games
07:09I think there was a bit of criticism because we changed the team around for different reasons
07:13But it was mainly because we couldn't play him at the time
07:15But he's now back long enough we played him Saturday, Tuesday
07:19Also partly because after it we've had the best part of a ten day rest and recovery period as well
07:24So I think there is times where you have to look after the players
07:28I think the time of Jared's injury, the length of his injury meant that we were always going to have
07:34to be mindful of it
07:37But look he plays a big part, he's a really good player
07:40We want him fit for every game
07:44But we've also just got to take some advice at different times
07:48I remember you said to me towards the end of last season
07:50You wanted to assemble a team
07:52It was going to take several transfer windows to do so
07:54But there was making progress throughout the season
07:57So it's about nine games left now going to the league leaders
08:00Do you feel you've started to do that and there's been progress?
08:03Well I think if you'd said to me I'd be in this position when we were having that conversation
08:07I think we'd have said absolutely we'll take that all day long
08:11I think all the Evertonians would as well
08:13I think that we've done a lot of good things this year
08:17Put ourselves in a decent position
08:20We've got something still to go for
08:22We'd have liked to have done much better than the Cups undoubtedly
08:27But probably if you're thinking about something this year
08:30We're probably not a club which is ready to be competitive in all these different
08:35Whether it be the Cups and the league as well
08:37At the moment we're doing a really good job away from home
08:39And start to pick up a wee bit more at home
08:42Getting a good result against Burnley
08:44So with nine games to go
08:46We'll probably have to win a good bunch of them
08:48If we're going to give ourselves a chance
08:49But if the way the European competitions might go
08:56I don't know how many teams are going to be into Europe this year
09:00Over the recent years it's probably been six I think
09:03Or maybe seven
09:04It could get knocked down a little bit further
09:06So we've got to hope that we can hang on to one of those places
09:10But if we don't we've got ourselves in a really good place
09:13And I think we've improved this year
09:15Will that help you going forward in the summer?
09:18Because I think prior to your return and prior to the takeover
09:21Everton was seen up and down the country as a problematic club
09:25Does that now make it seem like it's a much more successful club
09:28And will help with players wanting to come?
09:31Yeah, I think that I said in the summer
09:33I was probably more surprised
09:35The amount of players who didn't want to come to Everton
09:37As the ones who did get
09:39Unbelievable the amount of players who I spoke to
09:41Tried to get here
09:42And I couldn't get them to come
09:44But that's because of the things we talked about
09:46Because of the problematic situation
09:48Had been around Everton
09:51Also, you know, if you want really good players
09:53A lot of them want to be in Europe
09:54And that's why I know for us to build quickly
09:59The quicker I get the team in Europe
10:00And I might be next year saying
10:03If we did it and we were fortunate enough to do it
10:04I might be saying my goodness
10:05I can't believe I was saying that
10:06Because of the workload and what might come with it
10:10But I think if we want to try and get the level of players
10:12That we'd like to get in the next window
10:14And the windows coming up
10:17I think Europe is really important
10:19You mentioned your away form
10:21You know, you did have the results at Manchester United
10:25Aston Villa, Newcastle away
10:28Do you think teams, do you think Arsenal will be looking at this
10:30And fearing Everton?
10:32Do you think they actually, if Everton are on the road
10:33Do you think will the teams fear them?
10:35No, I don't think they'll be fearing us
10:36Because of the level they play at
10:38But I hope that they'll give us the respect
10:41Which we deserve
10:42Because we have, we've been performing well enough
10:44We've been trying to be tough to play against
10:48And we've played some really good football as well this year
10:51So I hope that they give us that respect
10:54Thank you, good luck
10:55Thank you
10:56Thanks Stuart
10:56Any further questions in the open section before we move on?
11:00No
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