Cronky

Ba on loan sounds like a good Plan B, but there are obvious implications. He didn't form a good partnership with Cisse, and made it clear that he wanted the central role. There were credible rumours that there was tension between the two behind the scenes. Ba and Remy has potential, but Cisse would need to take a back seat. I just hope Pardew has the cojones to make the decision and handle the aftermath.

Arsenal are a top striker away from being serious title challengers IMO. Trouble is, the asking price is now £40m+, and they're still having to compete for those players with richer clubs, although their own purse strings seem to have been loosened now. Wenger is the master at getting the best out of individual players, and can't be written off.

I'd see McCarthy as a midfield anchorman, and we've already got Tiote, Bigi and Anita for that role. I think McCarthy is better than any of those three, but my fear is that we may be buying him in the hope of playing him further forward.

Bale, Van Persie and Rooney. Sca-ree.

Moyes looks like he's aged 5 years in the job already.

Yeah, he had an excellent game. Evra's not what he was and you can see why Moyes wants Baines. Cleverley often plays a safe ball instead of trying something positive. Again, you can see why they want(ed) Fabregas.

Can be clumsy, but makes things happen. He's a player where we have to take the rough with the smooth.

Unfortunately there may be some truth in this. It would explain why the team looks like a collection of individuals rather than a coherent unit. You also wonder what morale is like behind the scenes if there's a battle for control over transfers. I don't see how it can work if the Manager and the DOF equivilent aren't working well together. I can see how the club have got to this situation, because while I think Pardew is a good coach, I'm not sure he's a great judge of a player. I worry that he seems to think that he can get more out of a player than is realistic, especially if they're not in their best position. As a player himself, he rose from quite a low level of non-league football right up to the First Division. Maybe he over-estimates how much a combination of good coaching and the right attitude can improve an ordinary player.

With Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey and Arteta, Cabaye will struggle to get in. I certainly wouldn't pay more than £13m for him.

Whilst I don't like to agree with Supermac, he makes a very good point here - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/tiote-out-under-feet-nufc-5780682# I didn't think Anita did anything outstanding yesterday, but it did help that he played a bit further forward than Tiote. We ended up with a better shape in possession. It always annoys me when I see, at that level of football, a midfield player running back to collect the ball from the central defenders, when the CBs ought to be capable of taking the ball forward themselves. Especially when that player isn't that great at passing, like Tiote. I'm sure he prefers to receive the ball in a lot of space, away from the opposition, but it doesn't really achieve much.

For a split second on MOTD, Gary Lineker reminded me of Michael Portillo. Maybe in a few years time.

He needed service. He gets f*** all of it. That's only half the problem though. His hold up play has been discussed at length, but his movement isn't great at the moment and he doesn't look sharp at all. It's easy to blame a lack of creativity from other players, but I don't think he's particularly helping them either with his forward-play. His play outside the box is rubbish. We were told that when we signed him and we can't expect him to be something he's not. He's a poacher who shouldn't be starting if we don't plan to create chances for him. This and to be honest poacher have no place in the modern game. Exactly.

It looked like there was something to build on there. We did improve as the game went on, and in the end were unlucky not to win. I was pleased that Pardew took Cisse off. At least it indicated that he's not stuck on the idea of building the attack around him. The linking between strikers and midfield needs to improve. Cisse and Shola both looked poor, as individuals and as a combo.

Midfield isn't really the issue its the shit shower of a final third which is the problem and has been for ages. And who the hell is responsible for creating chances in the final third? Midfield and strikers don't operate as separate units. Both are responsible for opening up chances. I agree with MT. It's the inability of the strikers to link that's holding us back.

Two number 9s = no link between midfield and strikers. I don't know why Pardew keeps making the same mistake. We're getting into some decent situations, but then snatching at them.

Cisse and Shola don't look like a combination in theory, and practice is bearing it out.

It's quite an attacking side, so I really hope they do well. I wasn't expecting him to pick Marv and Benny together. Defensively we look vulnerable. We need Timmy to have one of his blinders.

West Germany 3, France 3. Semi, 1982. Drama upon drama.

Wyn the leap.

In the middle of a bad day at the office, it's always nice to come in here and be cheered up.

They don't indulge in a lot of wild transfer speculation on that site. I'm more inclined to believe this than not.

At this level, you can't shield a striker from having to hold the ball up from time to time in close quarter situations, or from having to drop deep or wide occasionally to help the team's movement. They have to be able to help out in those areas. The idea that he can just wait between the centre backs for chances to come his way, and the rest of the team will fit around him, is completely unrealistic.

Ian, there was a situation in the first half where a long ball was played up to him, and he just let it bounce along the side of the penalty area over the goal line. It wasn't a perfect ball, but he had plenty of time to control it and his marker wasn't particularly close, letting him have the ball rather than putting in a challenge. It was an easy opportunity to hold the ball up, but either through indecision, or a lack of confidence or an unwillingness to make the best of an imperfect situation, he did nothing. Against Man City he's not going to get lots of chances, but it's important that his team-mates see that he has the right attitude.

My fear is that we'll land Gomis and then waste half a season trying to get him into a partnership with Cisse. It'll fail in the same way that Ba and Cisse failed. We need a replacement for Cisse, not a partner.

After the first few minutes, I thought we could end up with any score. Four is a bit of a relief.