Thiago

I also think that's part of the problem. The second you start picking games out like that you take your eye off the ball. The teams that pull away from the shit tend to pick up a surprise result and don't focus on 'the bankers' against teams near them. Palace aren't a bad side, and Brentford will take a lot from that win against Norwich and the increased influence of Eriksen. Watford are a sneakily good team on the counter-attack and I wouldn't like to see Michael Keane against Wout Weghorst. Everton need a win desperately right now if only to restore some confidence. They beat a Leeds side in similar form that were missing several key players. After that the Cup wins have papered over the fact they've won twice in the league since December 6. It's a massive job for Lampard and his two big aces in January were a loan signing and a player that's desperately trying to rehab his career.

I must admit I really struggle with a lot of Sky's output. They've shifted slowly towards a more American/ESPN/Stephen A and Skip type of coverage. I have no issue with pundits disagreeing, where I struggle is when it becomes a shouting match.

They went into that season expecting promotion.

He's a 11-16th place player.

Swoon.

Oh yeah he's playing the game the right way.

Man City are wonderful, but fuck Maguire is woeful. Slow, error-riddled, and not even that physical just clumsy.

Good post and great comparison. The Brighton system falls down when you open yourself to a counter-attack that easily and don't mark well from a freekick. That element of control would have killed us if they'd scored first and I think that's a big part of their strategy. Looking at their squad their blindspot in terms of recruitment is a striker. Someone like Ivan Toney would give them such a different dimension. I wonder if they're hoping one of their loanees will come good next year (Deniz Undav for example) but either way what started as a consistency in their plan quickly became a limitation. Even the one through ball I can recall was heading away from goal and just needed a shoulder barge from Schar. I like Potter a lot, but part of me wonders if his style mirrors Guardiola's in the sense that it does require quality to execute on a consistent basis.

Yeah, I don't debate that, I mean more that now things are moving in a positive direction are we about to see some consistency. You could usually set your watch to our fortunes fading when his does.

I'm surprised Murphy got the nod over him tbh. I think he scores that one on one and he squares it to Fraser.

People are going to keep going round in circles on this lad. In a traditional market he is not worth £25m, we know that. To a team in the bottom three that had just lost their best striker he was worth £25m and that's before we talk about what it did to Burnley. You always want - and expect - your forward to get goals, especially when they have that price tag. I won't chronicle his chances in front of goal, but I'd have liked to see him find the net once or twice during this run. That said, while the points are coming in I see enough in his overall game for him to stay in the team. He occupies defenders, he doesn't let them win headers easily, and yesterday he played a pivotal role in a goal we scored. I also think people forget we simply don't have another option. Gayle is anonymous at this level. This is the biggest club he's played for, so I'd rather get behind him and will him to score over bemoaning the fact he's not value for money (he is if we stay up).

I'm desperate not to be conned, but has the penny finally dropped with him? He could easily have just moved past this but the fact he's holding himself accountable can only be a positive. It's important he now puts on a performance against Southampton, but I must admit it's refreshing to have him do this at a time in which we've won and not after a red card or something daft.

They're very well coached first and foremost and I think they've done well to sign players suited to Ralph Hassenhuttl's style. Armando Broja is the one I feel like stands out when I watch them, but it's not all that regularly. The big question mark for me is whether Salisu makes it back. He was absent today and appears to be a rock at the back for them.

I feel sorry for him. He's come into the team to replace an England international that managed to do more in three games than he has in going on three seasons. He falls into the same boat as Murphy for me. He did well today, but only by his usual standards. I was worried Cucurella would tear him a new one and I'm hopeful Manquillo can come back in soon. He's top of the list to get rid of in my opinion. He won't generate much for us, but he's not good enough defensively to make up for his lack of input in attack.

He puts the work in and it shows. I also appreciate how his message doesn't change. We're in great form and he could be lapping it up like some of our former managers would. Instead he doubles down and preaches the need for the same level of hard work, focus, and commitment. We've heard a few players - most notably Ryan Fraser - talk about the level of detail that goes into our preparation and I'm delighted.

It was a foul.

Wood lost Dunk. I also think the deliveries were different. Brighton whipped their corners in, we floated them. Those are much harder to read and claim.

This was probably our hardest game of the run so far. Brighton are very good in possession and if we'd come out and tried to match them I think we'd have been picked off. For all the possession they had I don't think they caused us any major issues in open play. Their system isn't great against a low block and that's exacerbated by the fact they don't really have a striker with presence. I thought things got slightly nervier when Maupay came on as it added another body in attack, but I was surprised to see Potter wait so long to throw one of Dunk/Duffy up there as they had us pinned in for the last 20-ish minutes. Given how good our midfield looked today I think we saw its limitations, but the fact we held on is massive and should give us more confidence moving into this tricky run.

Love him. Back to looking confident and composed.

Another top performance from him. He should have had two goals but Murphy didn't get his head up. I love his work ethic too.

Would be near the bottom of my list to sell in the summer.

He'd absolutely fuck Cucarella up in the worst way. On a day when the whole team lacked quality he was another one that did the hard stuff.

First half I thought he was decisive, dynamic, and what I picture him at his best. He also missed a one on one and failed to spot Fraser for a simple finish I feel bad as he's a good lad, but I think if we could flog him to a top end Championship team we should be all over it.

His through balls are delightful.

A tough afternoon for the lad. He didn't really offer what we've seen in the previous games and looked a yard off and easily frustrated. He still did his running so I commend him for that.