Friday 22 December 2017 23:59, UK
Ahead of Everton v Chelsea on Sky Sports on Saturday, Jamie Carragher took a trip to Goodison Park to sit down with Toffees boss Sam Allardyce.
Former Liverpool defender Carragher quizzed Allardyce on his ambitions at Everton, how far he can take the club, his transfer plans and his tactical approaches to games.
Allardyce also discussed Wayne Rooney's form, whether Eden Hazard will be man-marked, and becoming an internet sensation in Marbella. Read on for the full interview...
We are here at Goodison Park, talk me through a Big Sam coaching session...
"It's all about who you are playing. Whoever you are playing and whatever you are playing against you have to weigh up tactically how you approach that game. That has always been a part of my make-up, having made my way through every division and finding out what management is all about. To say we have to play a certain way, or try to, every game is great in theory, but depending what players you have got you have to play to their strengths and cover up their weaknesses.
"When you play a side like Liverpool on their own patch, with them having scored 12 in their previous two games and playing free-flowing football, if you opened up to that it was impossible to combat it and you would get beat comfortably and the last thing we wanted to do in a derby was get beaten, certainly not by a big score.
"The other side of that is you can coach the players as much as you want with the ball and what you want to do, but if they don't deal with it as well as they should then you end up sitting back in Stanley Park. It wasn't pretty against Liverpool, I admit that, but in the end a derby match is about trying to get a result and we took full advantage of what little opportunities we had."
Is the aim for Everton to take the game to bigger clubs more away from home? Can they do that? Or will it always be sit back?
"I think we can. We have scored 11 goals in the five games I have been here. Chelsea will be a big test to see where we go and have we got any better. We will have to defend well again but then we have to see what we do with the ball to test Chelsea and how effective we will be with the ball. You can't hold out forever if you apply that tactic [like we did against Liverpool].
"I always say to the players that we have to be so much better with the ball than the opposition because we have it so many fewer times than them. Everton are a big club but we have had a slump and we are trying to get back up there. At the moment with the players out injured with great experience and the young players that are in - we have four or five players who play regularly under the age of 23 - we have to allow for their mistakes as they gather experience, and use the experienced players to help them along and get results as well."
What can you achieve here that you couldn't at other clubs you have managed?
"This is a bigger club than Bolton, but it's trying to replicate what we did at Bolton in that period of time where you bought top quality players into the club. It's about the quality of the player going forward and where we do we recruit and how well do we recruit. If we do not get that right - and we have had a few discussions with the owners and the recruitment area - we will not progress to where we want to go.
"That is the hardest job in football today in two ways. Firstly there is not enough talent worldwide and secondly, it's hugely expensive. There is little room for mistakes now and that money has to be spent well and you have to be spot on with your research and bringing that player in and knowing he will fit into your team and the Premier League and make you an awful lot better."
The owners have a long-term vision for the club and you have signed an 18-month deal, what do you need to achieve to be part of something going forward beyond that for five or six years?
"By the end of the 18 months, it will tell the owners and tell me whether we are the right fit. Hopefully we will have gone a long way and have a plan on and off the field for moving into the new stadium. There is no point building a new stadium for Everton without a team that can compete in the top six for me and there is big investment and big ambition by the owners. That runs along with my ambition to try to get the team playing as well as they can and be as high up the league as they can.
"Also to win a trophy. Too many times I have had to sacrifice a trophy or the chance of winning one because the owners have said you have to stay in the Premier League at all costs. I take the can for changing the side and people have said you have disrespected a cup, but the owner's instructions have been you must stay in the Premier League, that is the priority, and I have taken that on board and that has meant we have had to play weakened teams in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. I managed to get to the final once with Bolton and didn't win but I would like to win a trophy in my time with Everton."
You told us about your relegation blueprint when you were on Sky Sports. Most people would say Everton aren't going to be involved in a relegation battle, so does your style and blueprint change?
"It changes in the fact that the players will be able to express themselves more with the confidence they have gained and their talent will shine through more because they feel more comfortable and confident in possession of the ball because we have taken 13 points from the last 15.
"But I think we have a long way to go in possession. It got a lot better in the last three or four games and the way we played against Swansea, even though it was a slow start, our football through the lines with quality got us a couple of goals. That's what we are looking for. The young players here are exciting and they are only going to get better."
Is that a big thing for you? That the traditions here mean that you will have to give young players a chance more than elsewhere?
"If they are good enough we always want to get young players in the squad. To have as many in the squad as we do at the moment shows we are probably doing better than anybody else in the country. I have had a quick look at the academy and the school and the lads from the age of 14 come in four times a week and we pick them up and give them the hours and opportunities to develop into footballers, which really excites me.
"You know as well as I do that Finch Farm is a fantastic facility and we have the qualifications and the staff and everything we need to get youngsters into the club as quickly as possible and develop them for Everton."
There was a lot of money spent in the summer, and you have your own ideas, is the onus on you in the second half of the season to see more of the players that were signed and if they can help you going forward?
"We are on our 31st game of the season and because they qualified for Europe and started in July and because so many new players came in there was never a stable base established by Ronald [Koeman] and when I got here there were nine players injured. I know a lot of them were long term and if I get those players back we know how good those players are.
"That lifts the squad when they come back and then I say to the other players who were perhaps bought in by Ronald that you decide whether you stay or go, because it will be how well you play whether you make me want to keep you and give you an opportunity in the team or if you are not ready to play in the team and get an opportunity and let yourself down.
"I listened to Jose [Mourinho, post-match comments after Bristol City defeat] and I am very much the same. Those lads are probably moaning and groaning about not getting a game and then they play and lose to Bristol City. That's not what you want. You want them to knock on your door the day after and say 'I can't play any better than that, do I get in the first team?' Not turn round and say there you are, I give you an opportunity and you let yourself down, the club down, everybody down.
"Those things are what players have to get in their mind and keep themselves as fit as they can and wait patiently for their opportunity and make sure they are fit enough and mentally strong enough to take it and say I want to be here and play for Everton and then you get a chance."
Wayne Rooney. With England you mentioned he can play where he wants and he's played in different roles for you here, is it just a case of getting him on the pitch and he can use his football intelligence and play?
"It is, no doubt about it. The nicest thing about Wayne Rooney or other players of that level or quality is you need to tell them only once, maybe twice at the most, what you are looking for, and they get on with it.
"He's playing a little deeper in this role to support the rest of the lads and getting the ball and starting to become a provider as well as a scorer, and he is doing both. I think the deeper role suits him. And his knowledge, brain and experience, and the fact he is still a fit lad, allows him to create more than some of the players we have got, and that's a good blend.
"We have got some legs around him. I wouldn't say we are the quickest team in the league, I would like to see us have a little more pace and with Yannick [Bolasie] and Seamus [Coleman] perhaps that will come. That will be interesting.
"Wayne is an Evertonian and has a bit of adjustment coming back from Manchester United and I think he has come to terms with that now and he has realised the position the club was in and knew he had to be one of the big performers to get us out of the position we were in. Along with all the other players, he has done a fantastic job since I have taken over.
"I have maybe tweaked the team once or twice but they have just gone on and stayed fit, which is important, so we are going in the right direction. We all want to play open, attractive football, if you want to call it that, but there are two ways you have to succeed in the game; with and without the ball. If you don't succeed without it you will rarely win a match because you will concede too many goals."
Talking about star players like Rooney, you are coming up against a few for Chelsea. Will it be a similar plan like at Anfield, or different? More on the front foot?
"The other scenario is how well do we stop the opposition and how well do we get the ball off them. If we can succeed in winning the ball back I would say a little higher up the pitch than Liverpool. What can we do to attack Chelsea's back three? How can we get at them?
"We know throughout the team they are very good but the top players can turn a game in their favour at any time, particularly Eden Hazard."
Will you think about man-marking him?
"I don't think we have a player who would cope wandering all over the pitch with him. He is intelligent enough that he would take you in areas you wouldn't want to go and the minute you switch off he might run on the blindside and get away. It's one we have to pay attention to.
"We have to have to the belief and get on the front foot and say we are going to challenge. Those challenges need to be won in the right areas and we need to use the ball better than we did against Liverpool."
You're new to the city but I'm sure you know about the club from your big mate Peter Reid. Has he filled you in on the traditions and the club?
"Absolutely, the whole lot. It's not just Reidy, it's Brace [Paul Bracewell], who worked with me at Sunderland, Andy Gray...They have all given us a rundown on how great this club is. I never thought I would get a club like this in all honesty, but here I am and looking forward to working as long as I can to bring as much as success as I can."
Who's in the earpiece?
"Craig Shakespeare. We are getting the overall picture of where we are strong and where we might be lacking a bit so we can get that information to the lads to do a little better. It's a bit of a chat before half-time about what you are going to say and tactics. Because up there you are much calmer and can see a lot more tactically. In the dugout is below pitch level so it's not easy to see the shape whereas Craig can see that from upstairs."
You're an internet sensation from Marbella for your singing and dancing, if you beat Liverpool in the FA Cup will we see some more of that?
"Yes, no problem! Somebody needs to get the music for me so I can get the timing right!"
Watch Everton v Chelsea live on Sky Sports Premier League from 11.30am on Saturday
