Cronky

I wouldn't say he took control, but he showed his class every time he was on the ball. He took his goal brilliantly. For some reason, few people on this board rate him.

Krul 6 - Not at fault for any of the goals, but probably needs to boss his defenders a bit more. Simpson 3 - Typical performance. Doesn't really want the ball in attack. Content to just try to keep goalside in defence. Williamson 7 - Did well against a tough opponent. Coloccini 7 - Good reading of the game as per. Taylor 4 - Still looks a limited player. Obertan 3 - Occasional good moment, but as usual, lacked aggression. Tiote 6 - Got involved a lot. I just think he hangs on to the ball too long sometimes. Cabaye 6 - Looked comfortable on the ball, but didn't have much chance to create things. Jonas 4 - Struggled. When the opposition closes him down quick and early, he finds it difficult. Ba 7 - For effort and what could have been a brilliant goal. Vuckic 5 - Wasn't in the right role. Ben Arfa 5 - Tried to get involved but came on as the game was slipping away from us. Santon 7 - Adds a different dimension to the attack. Really ought to start. Sammi - Too late to make an impact, especially when the game was already lost.

In order to do what? Insane from him. Never seen owt like it. I've seen other players try that. The object is to cover the post behind the wall that the keeper isn't covering. But your timing needs to be right, and if the opposition is on to it, you have to adjust. I can't believe that Simpson decided to do that completely off his own bat, with no planning in training. He doesn't normally take that kind of responsibility. If it was entirely his own decision, his manager is going to be a teensy-bit angry.

Bit of a reality check. Our passing and control of the ball under pressure has improved, but still isn't good enough. I assume Simpson was following a pre-arranged plan with that dash to the post for the second goal. Trouble is, his timing was wrong and Bellamy and Carroll had plenty of time to react. Simpson lacks initiative. I get really annoyed with him.

Seems to need too much time, and as a result he plays the ball that was on half a second before, which then of course goes straight to the opposition.

What? Of course we do. I agree that the full-backs aren't the best footballers on the pitch for us, but we've got a crux of players through the middle that should enable us to play a bit of carpet football. There have been some fleeting glances of it throughout, and we've looked infinitely more threatening. I know what you mean, but a lot of attacking opportunities start with the full backs or at least involve them, and Simpson in particular just wants to hit it long or otherwise get rid of the ball. I find Simpson so frustrating, in attack or defence. So scared of making a mistake that he misses the chance to do something positive.

The system isn't working. If you play 4-5-1, you've got to try to keep the ball on the deck, and we don't have the players to do that - particularly the full backs. I don't know how bad Santon might be as a defender, but he can't do a worse job than Ryan Taylor at the moment. Vuckic doesn't seem to have the pace or movement for that role. Not his fault that he's struggling. Hopefully we'll still be level by the time Ben Arfa comes on.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01389/eric-cantona_1389972c.jpg In tests, turned out to be Man U's fittest player.

A problem for HBA and that No10 role in a 4-4-2 is that it does demand a lot of energy and fitness. Beardsley and Bellamy used to run their cods off every game. It doesn't look like Hatem is there yet, and perhaps ultimately it's not his optimum position. At some stage, I'd like to see him wide in a 4-3-3.

Going by Football First, it looked like back to basics with a hard working midfield that closed the opposition down, good defending by the keeper and CB's and victory gained by some moments of class up front. The pace of the game looked quite frantic with both teams denying the other time and space. It seemed very scrappy, but we had the edge.

He's not the kind of striker we need. If we've got money to spend, let's try and get in someone with pace and trickery

We’re finishing the year with a much better squad than the one that started, and things look good in terms of younger players coming through. It’s a shame we couldn’t have kept hold of Barton, but he had his foot pressed firmly on the self-destruct button and the club had no choice but to let him go. We’re still among the mid-table teams and it’s not clear yet when or whether we can bridge that gap between us and the CL-style clubs (ie the top six), who are capable of a different quality of football from the rest of the Prem. I’d hoped that we could have moved to a more modern three man midfield, but at the moment we look very committed to a 4-4-2. I thought that Pardew was aiming to change things with his signings this season, but it’s not happened. That’s the next challenge.

I think Liverpool and their players are in the wrong, but I'm not sure you can further muddy the waters during an appeal process. They're not in a position to say what Suarez said or what his intentions were. Yes, they may be perfectly honest in saying that they feel that Suarez is a decent bloke, but in the heat of an argument all sorts of things can come out of someone's mouth that would surprise you.

It's not like the keeper was ambushed down a dark alley. He could have got away from the situation (however unmanly that would have looked) and he was in a very public place with people responsible for security close at hand. Drawing these analogies with other situations doesn't hold up. This sort of thing happens now and then, and it's the first time I've seen it end with someone getting kicked while on the ground.

Really? Looked like he misplaced it to me, and Ba only got to it because of his quick thinking and the WBA defender slipping. Good performance from him though. Would like to see him start ahead of Best on Boxing Day. I was convinced it was deliberate, but very unorthodox. Ba wasn't looking for that ball, but Benny made the instinctive calculation that if he dropped the ball into that particular area at the right pace, then Ba would get there before the defender. It's the type of ball that you don't see very often, and is completely beyond most players.

The defence looks rocky at the moment, but at the same time, we have to give a bit of credit to the opposition. All three goals were well crafted. For the first, a great through ball and a great finish. Second, the free kick landed in just the right area. For the third, a good run, a good cross, a good knock back and a good finish.

Shit play from Sturridge for the goal. He lost the ball and should have chased back hard after it. He might not have got it, but he'd have put the opposition under pressure. Instead he just jogged and watched. Great player, but his attitude could do with some improvement. Edit - I mean the Tottenham goal.

I agree. His reaction went beyond self-defence and the red card was correct.

The wider problem is that our three main strikers – Ba, Best and Shola – are all basically centre forward types, strong but not quick, and when we play two together our style does get a bit restricted. If HBA isn’t the answer, we need a different type of striker to add a bit of variety to our play.

Definitely a possibility, I wouldn't be surprised if he's been asked to play because there are no other options. Still, I think the general shitness of the defensive unit was the problem last night... and not many people can live with their strikers for pace. It may have affected his confidence. In the second goal, he positioned himself in a complete no man’s land for the set piece, as though he didn’t want to get involved at all. Maybe he was wanting to protect an injury, and in any event we never demand much of Colo on defensive set-pieces, because it’s not his strong point. But it looked like complete avoidance, which you don’t want to see from your captain.

Lovely ball for Ba's second goal. Partly for the execution, but mainly for having the imagination to see the possibility.

He looks as near a risk-free option as you can get - young, strong, quick, skilful, with Premiership experience. Trouble is, I'm sure at least one CL club will be in for him. I saw the second half tonight, and I thought he was outstanding. Where would we play him? RW. Or LW in a 4-3-3 with Ben Arfa on the other side of Ba. That would be the dream. Hoilett looks to me just as dangerous down the middle as out wide, so I could see him in any attacking role, except midfield anchor or target man.

He looks as near a risk-free option as you can get - young, strong, quick, skilful, with Premiership experience. Trouble is, I'm sure at least one CL club will be in for him. I saw the second half tonight, and I thought he was outstanding.

He looks a much better player than I'd thought. At Barca, he looked like the team clogger in comparison with the others. Over here, his all-round game looks outstanding.

I think Pardew has been put off by HBA's performance against Chelsea. He didn't seem to either click with his team-mates or create much on his own. He's really got to do one or the other. If he's going to be the maverick individual - and that seems to be the only role he knows - then he needs to achieve a higher level of form and fitness to make that work. But Pardew still sounds genuinely optimistic, so let's not lose heart.