Barnes23

Really? I'd take him in a flash. I would too in the sense that he's better than Pardew, but in a hypothetical world where we could have attracted Moyes(in terms of finance and ambition), we would also be capable of attracting better managers than him. I'd also go along with Felipao in preferring Martinez to Moyes.

If we had got rid of Pardew in the summer I would have been ecstatic, but I would have been a little underwhelmed if Moyes had replaced him. Ferguson did overachieve with the squad they have, but Moyes isn't even close to good enough for where they want to be. Be interesting to see how long he gets- especially if they stay outside the top four for a while.

Neither do I. Cisse definitely has some problems at the moment which go beyond tactical questions, and probably doesn't warrant a place in the XI at the moment, but can be good for us (or someone else if we were to move him on) again. I still think Debuchy can be a good player for us. Didn't cover himself in glory yesterday, but some of the criticism of his performance was over the top considering the team performance in general.

. Debuchy was poor yesterday, but we lost because of the setup of the whole team.

Marveaux is much better than Cabaye as the furthest forward in a midfield three.

Him and Anita should be competing for the same spot in the team. Not utilising him properly further forward imo.

For the first goal he was in the wrong position because of the shambolic organization of our defence. In hindsight he shouldn't have moved, but he shouldn't have had to make a choice at all. Don't think he did anything wrong for the second. Would need to watch the third again to say whether or not he was at fault at all.

Below par today but he shouldn't become a scapegoat for our collective defensive failings, like when he was covering (rightly or wrongly) a gap created by our lack of organization for the first goal.

GW5: Norwich 1-1 Aston Villa Liverpool 3-1 Southampton Newcastle 2-0 Hull City West Brom 2-1 Sunderland West Ham 1-1 Everton Chelsea 3-1 Fulham Arsenal 2-0 Stoke City Crystal Palace 1-2 Swansea Cardiff City 1-3 Tottenham Man City 1-1 Man Utd

Don't think this is the kind of game for him tbh, he'll do well alongside Schneiderlin when they're hunting teams who actually try and keep the ball. Not sure why he's seemingly completely displaced Cork, who's a lot more reliable on the ball, especially in matches like this. He looks terrible on the ball when put under any pressure and doesn't seem to have very good decision making. Might look okay in games where he gets a lot more time on the ball, but he definitely doesn't look a £12m DM.

Not impressed with Wanyama at all.

Still want him to start against Hull. Probably as good a chance as he is going to get to open his account for the season and boost his confidence.

"Sylvain Marveaux vs Anzhi Makhachkala" on a popular video sharing site. Think he could be very effective in home games where we (should) dominate possession.

He's not the hardest working player around (in terms of tracking back, providing 'a tackle' etc) but I wouldn't describe him as lazy at all. First and foremost, you judge players like Marveaux on what they produce in the final third, and he's consistently one of our most creative players despite having little in the way of regular gametime. He's up there with the best in our squad in terms of technical ability, and uses the ball more intelligently than most. He might be a player who needs certain conditions in order to thrive, but I reckon he would have offered more than Cabaye as the furthest forward in the midfield three today.

Marveaux isn't exactly a pace merchant or at least fit enough to keep it up. Very good acceleration over shorter distances, perfect for roaming about in the final third. His fitness is a concern, though.

I'd rather see Marveaux as the furthest forward in a midfield three, personally, with Cabaye/Anita fighting it out for the deeper lying position. Cabaye is better further back where he can dictate the pace of the game and utilise his range of passing. He doesn't have the pace/dribbling ability to warrant being further up the pitch for large portions of the game imo.

Excellent game today.

Another dive imo. Already heading down before the contact.

Anderson really looks crap.

Cheers. Kept him in, but made Benteke captain . http://i.imgur.com/b7X3usn.png

Cheers. Kept him in, but made Benteke captain .

GW4: Man Utd 3-0 Crystal Palace Aston Villa 2-1 Newcastle Fulham 2-2 West Brom Hull City 1-1 Cardiff City Stoke City 1-2 Man City Sunderland 1-3 Arsenal Tottenham 2-0 Norwich Everton 0-1 Chelsea Southampton 1-0 West Ham Swansea 1-1 Liverpool

Wildcard played. http://i.imgur.com/jWpb6fQ.png

We've made an enquiry for N'Zonzi in case Cabaye goes according to the daily mail. Don't rate him at all. Not much better than Tiote.

The higher quality Amalfitano brother signs for WBA.