Cronky

Liverpool were totally dominated physically, all over the pitch. City are a big lot, and they look tough to beat. I wasn't expecting Liverpool to be quite so toothless up front though.

Torres is having a shocker so far.

Also I dont think I have seen a team that has over half team that have played a fair bit at CB. Seven of them, if I've counted right. I expect Liverpool to win this fairly comfortably.

We've been here before though, haven't we? He seems perpetually about to move to a German club.

I started off dead opposed to this transfer. I couldn’t see why he wanted to join us, or why things would work out better with us than it had with his two previous clubs. However, despite a lot of pressure and what looks like opportunities to move elsewhere, the player hasn’t budged. If anything, the relationship between the player and those opposing the move to NUFC (OM and his agent) seems to have deteriorated. If Ben Arfa wins the game of chicken and he moves to us, then he will have taken a lot of personal responsibility in bringing it about. He will have no one to blame but himself if it ends in the same problems, so he’ll have a big incentive to knuckle down and make it work. Why he’s chosen us is unclear but he does seem to have a lot of confidence in Hughton.

The whole 'Hitler' accusation is shameful, because I don't think Barton's accusers believe it themselves. They question Barton's morality, but really need to look at their own behaviour here.

You mean Savage?

It's very hard to know what Robbie Savage is doing there. He's very inarticulate and doesn't seem to come up with anything but the blindingly obvious. Presumably he's there as a 'personality', but he isn't particularly funny either.

Throughout all this, it's been questionable who Ben Arfa's agent has been acting for. If Ben Arfa wants to join Newcastle, even if the agent thinks that's unwise, he's obliged to try to carry that out on his behalf. It's the player who instructs the agent, not the other way round. As it is, the agent seems to have been acting on behalf of OM to try and secure a move to a different club, where both OM and the agent would benefit more financially. That's why we've got this impasse. It's a very unusual situation, and therefore hard to predict. I still think that, in the end, things will fall our way. It's a battle for this poor young man's soul, and his Dad, his agent and his club President are all failing him. Step up Chris, with your air of calm authority.

Williamson has been a big bonus, in that he's proved to be far better than we could have expected, given his previous record and the transfer fee. He doesn't look particularly strong or quick, but somehow he manages to get to the ball first. All a question of a cool head and good judgement. When he does get out of position, he usually manages to recover as well.

Smith can play in that anchor position, but isn't mobile enough to do it well. Yesterday, the commentators were going on about how vulnerable we looked in defence because the back four were playing a high line. True enough, we did look vulnerable to a through ball and before Joey scored, we looked likely to go behind. I did wonder afterwards whether we were having to play a high line in order to squeeze the midfield and, in effect, not give Smith too much ground to cover. A quicker anchor man would enable us to defend deeper.

Brilliant bit of management by MacDonald to bring Beye on, with five minutes left, just so he could experience the thrill of facing his old club while they're 5-0 up. The worst mistake was Ireland and Petrov in CM, and I think MacDonald admitted as much afterwards. They're not going to offer the defence any protection, and when you start having to chase the game away from home, you'll then be in big trouble.

He was waving goodbye to the moustache, wasn't he?

He had a great game today. Back to his best.

I noticed today he doesn't like feeding the ball down the wing to someone who's making a run outside him. There were times when he was drifting inside with the ball, when he should have kept it wide. His pace and energy offers a real threat, but his technique is a bit limited. It's frustrating because he wastes some good situations.

I feel very emotional. It's a long time since we've had a day like that. The great thing is that we can, and will, improve.

Weirdly, the article finishes by saying Guerra, HBA's agent, has been mandated by OM to find a new club for him in Italy only... This is an old story re-hashed. HBA's advisers don't seem any happier than Dassier at his attitude of NUFC or nothing. They weren't able to come up with any alternative before.

I agree. In the meantime, I don't think there's much choice. A lot will depend on the battle in CM today, and in particular how well Petrov and Ireland do defensively. Villa carry a lot of threat going forward, but we should be able to get at their defence.

Well he's in the 25 man squad and counts as home grown and club grown, important for Europe. There's absolutely no chance of SWP leaving since Ireland and Onouha left the club, they need the numbers there. Have they actually named their 25 man squad? I didn't think anyone had to until the end of the transfer window. It's a long shot, but SWP was struggling to nail a regular place at the end of last season. With Balotelli, Silva, and Johnson ahead of him, I don't think it'll get any easier for him. I don't doubt that City will want him to stay, but I can't see SWP being happy with the situation, any more than Ireland or Bellamy were.

Good assessment by Wenger. Scholes has played some of his best football in his 30's. He's not quite as sharp, but his reading of the game and his decision-making compensates for that. Against us, he was an absolute magnet for the ball.

Santa Cruz!! Good player, but I don't think we need another centre forward. Swap deal for Best, maybe? (Yuk, yuk)

I think the NOTW are just trying to come up with an explanation for the current impasse. In fact, I just think that OM are trying to come out of this with the best deal they can, and with as much of their dignity intact. I think with the 'training' story, they've told the player that they'd be prepared to let him go if he resumes training. They don't want it to look like their hand has been forced. Throughout this weird saga, Dassier has been trying to look like he's in control, not Ben Arfa or NUFC. Appearances and impressions seem to matter a lot to him.

SWP may be a possibility. I don't think Mancini likes him much.

There is always a chance that could happen the longer the deal isn't done. OM might offer him the position he wants, he might get disillusioned at our reluctance to buy him rather than loan...any number of possibilities. No chance at all IMO. He's burned his boats.

I don't think it's just sour grapes. I think City are in too much of a hurry. If you make too many changes, then there's no chance of building team spirit. It also can't help that a lot of the new players have made the decision to leave CL clubs purely for the money that City are offering. And FWIW I don't think Milner is significantly better than what they already have. Ireland, on the other hand, offers them something different.