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Can't say I'd ever noted McCarthy's pace as being anything to write home about whenever I've seen him. Perhaps everyone at Walsall is just really slow.

The new Adel Taarabt. Waste of space.

No midfield at all to speak of. Romeu totally overrun on his own. Davis, Ward-Prowse and Tadic nowhere to be seen. I'm all for attacking football, but this is suicide.

Yep. And then seconds later, instead of the ball being in our keeper's hands, the ball's in the back of the net. Beaten again by a low shot from outside the box. He just can't dive.

No wonder Scotland are trying to persuade Sam Gallagher to switch allegiance if Cauley Woodrow is getting call ups ahead of him. Half as good, half as many goals...

No Josh Sims? Seems bizarre that we've got some young English players who have actually seen some Premier League action, but lower league and u23/academy footballers are getting selected ahead of them.

He's looked really good in the centre of the park for Arsenal this season. Such a powerful mover with the ball. Get Romeu a proper DM partner, pop Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 10, happy days.

Not convinced Boufal isn't another Adel Taarabt - a lot of self indulgent piddling about, little end product and a poor attitude. His cameo off the bench in the League cup final was absolutely appalling. Did nothing for the team, just spent his time finding elaborate ways to lose the ball. I would hope there's a hell of a lot more to come from him, but as things stand he's not been much more effective than Eljero Elia's mediocre loan spell.

And I think we conceded 13 in Van Dijk's last 8 completed games - so let's not buy into the fiction that Stephens has joined a watertight defence and been solely responsible for the floodgates opening. He hasn't had the benefit of playing alongside our best defender, Van Dijk, either. Yoshida has conceded 11 in 5 league games without Virgil at his side. Maybe he's "out of his depth" too? I could understand people getting on Stephens' back if he'd been calamitous, but he's done okay for what he is: an inexperienced fifth choice CB dropped into the deep end due to injuries and Fonte's escape act. A fully fit Caceras - should that status ever come around - wouldn't have solved our struggle against the high ball yesterday. Aerial strength is not his selling point. I think there are far greater reasons for our defensive frailties this season, from a keeper who is beaten by about 80% of the shots he faces, to an unbalanced midfield where only one player in the entire squad can tackle and perform anything like a screening brief. But we're playing some good football, attacking with verve and skill, scoring goals and creating chances. And winning on the road. We've become exciting under the most dour manager we've had in years! Enjoy the ride, I say.

I know he was talked of as a target when Schneiderlin left, but he's looked a nothing sort of player at Stoke (having previously bombed out at Porto) - providing little defensively or offensively. Don't see the appeal. Far prefer the look of young Billing at Huddersfield.

The thing is, if he is carrying an injury and his poor performances can be attributed to that, why is he always in the training pictures and videos? Surely they'd be wrapping him in cotton wool between games if he was struggling that badly, would he not? I think the veil has just come down and people have realised that he isn't actually very good. Reminds me of Chris Kirkland, who was going to be England's goalkeeper "for the next 20 years" as an overhyped youngster at first Coventry then Liverpool. 6' 6", boundless potential... aside from the fact that he couldn't dive. Literally had no spring in he legs at all. Couldn't move his feet. Like Forster, anything requiring a minor feat of agility was met with a slow, awkward flop to the floor in which he would cover barely any ground - and certainly get nowhere near saving the ball. I hope the club are thinking they can do better - as far as saves to shots faced ratios this season, they'd struggle to do much worse.

He isn't. Romeu needs a proper partner, not a stop gap, if we're going to be moving forward with 4-2-3-1. Hojbjerg looks the obvious fit from within the squad - Clasie and Reed are too lightweight, in my opinion. I wouldn't mind if the club went after another Chelsea fringe player - as Romeu and Bertrand were - in Chalobah, in the summer to fill the role. Good all round defensive midfielder, versatile, young, English. And unlikely to get much action ahead of Kante, Matic and Fabregas.

I said this elsewhere, but at the moment he's playing like an outfielder forced into taking the gloves in an emergency. Sure, he can save the regulation shots straight at him - as you would expect anyone to do - but anything that requires a bit of specialist goalkeeping skill (diving, sweeping, coming for crosses) appears beyond his repertoire. When we signed him, I did the usual thing of searching youtubes for compilation videos of him in action, and the fact that there were barely any of him making more than two or three saves rang alarm bells. Much like when we signed Gazzaniga and the only video showcasing his ability was 90% of him kicking. In my opinion, Forster's reputation has been built upon being fantastically well protected from having to do anything. At Celtic, he'd go weeks without having to face a shot. And at Saints, before this season, our defensive solidarity was our great strength. He's being exposed as a very ordinary goalkeeper. There was a reason why he didn't progress beyond third choice at Newcastle and they were happy to let him go. And it certainly wasn't because Steve Harper and Tim Krull ahead of him were anything particularly special.

Rank Xerox inverse Ajax kit has always been what I consider the classic Saints look. Even though it's just because that's what they wore when I first started following them, and they've shown no inclination to go back to that design since the mid 80s.

It's a roll of the dice, trying to hang on to a player who is actively trying to leave. The more level headed, professional ones like Schneiderlin might knuckle down and get on with job, or you could end up with the likes of Lallana and Lovren leaking to the press all over the place trying to force their move. Or Fonte and Wanyama being so distracted that their performances drop off badly. And at the extreme end of the scale you've got Berahino at West Brom, who basically went into hibernation for two and a half years, killing his own career and pretty much denying the club both the use of his services and the whacking great transfer fee on offer at the beginning of the debacle. Realistically, if any player from any club - even Barcelona or Real Madrid - decides he's leaving, then that's the most likely outcome. By hook or by crook. Players hold all the power.

There's a lot of revisionism going on with those insisting we would've won if only Virgil and Fonte played. We lost 2-0 at Old Trafford earlier this season with both playing - in fact Ibrahimovic scored a not dissimilar header that day too. The defence did a sterling job today against a high calibre attack who'll score three or more against far better teams. In my opinion where we were undermined was with our midfield screen of Romeu and Davis. Romeu doesn't have the legs to do the screening job alone against the best teams and needs some help alongside him. Sadly, Davis isn't a natural in that role and goes AWOL too often. The free kick that lead to the first goal came from Romeu being stretched too thin and feeling like he had to make a desperate lunge. And on the second goal, Davis had switched off entirely and Romeu let Lingard run off him into acres of space. They were only a handful of lapses in an otherwise good performance, but we were punished ruthlessly by United for our mistakes. (The third goal was just a shambles borne of us not getting back into position quickly enough from our own corner.) The boys can hold their heads up high. They gave a great account of themselves and deserved better than they got, but that's football. Obviously the linesman dropped a testicle, but I thought the referee was all right. He might've sent off Lingard, but similarly, he might have gotten a bit excited and sent off Stephens for his wild lunge or Romeu for a flying arm when he was already on a booking. For me the only major negatives (aside from the result) were the goalkeeper's continued inability to save anything that isn't straight at him, and possibly the worst cameo since Ali Dia from our record signing Boufal - he was appalling. For what it's worth: Forster: 5 - he makes regulation stops you'd expect an outfielder playing as emergency keeper to make. And that's it. Inspires no confidence with his kicking or coming off his line. Cedric: 7 - kept Martial quiet and was up and down the right wing with conviction all day. Stephens: 6 - didn't let anyone down and wasn't overawed by the occasion. I think he's a decent prospect with a good head on his shoulders... one reckless lunge notwithstanding. Yoshida: 7 - like in the semi final against Liverpool, Yoshi came up big and seemed to be everywhere at times. One of our most improved players. Bertrand: 8 - solid in defence, a constant threat in attack. Brought his crossing A-game today. Romeu: 6 - fought well, but as I mentioned previously, I thought he was a bit exposed at times. Davis: 7 - busy, neat, Davis-y. His best moment was a lovely back heel to play in Cedric (I think). In my opinion he's more effective in those advanced positions than holding. Ward-Prowse: 8 - one of his best games. Used the ball well, his delivery from set pieces *****il Boufal bizarrely took over corner duties) and open play was top class, and he even won a few tackles. Tadic: 6 - never quite looked like it was going to be a Tadic kind of day. He's got great technical ability, but I think he struggles to get into fast paced, physical matches. Still had a great chance to score, but as is his wont, rather half heartedly hit the finish. Redmond: 7 - great work outside the box, but his "end product" still lets him down too often. The cut inside shank remains his signature move. Gabbiadini: 9 - he knows what he's doing. His runs off the ball are always so intelligent and beautifully timed. What more can you ask of your centre forward than a (should have been) hat trick? He had some lovely touches linking up the play too. Didn't deserve to be on the losing side. Subs: Not sure Long or Rodriguez touched the ball. Boufal touched it plenty of times - straight to the opposition with masterful frequency. Not the result any of us were hoping for, but I think we can be proud of our performance and that we had a right proper go (unlike the Arsenal cup final which, from memory, was a 1-0 procession). Safe journey to those traveling back.

Well deserved, that man. It's the hope that kills you... Come on, Claude, pull a rabbit out of the hat at half time. Boufal for Tadic - he's been predictably disappointing.

Useless keeper. All the agility of an oil tanker.

Don't they realise Cuco Martina's available on a free in the summer?

Great result - just the ticket. Now the boys can ride the feel good factor all the way up to the cup final, having found some attacking form, and put a 10 point buffer (11 if you include the goal difference) between us and the relegation zone. Pleased for Stephens, getting a clean sheet under his belt. Who knows if he'll make the grade ultimately, but I think people have been quick to write him off after barely a handful of games (which included wins and clean sheets against Leicester, Liverpool and now Sunderland). He's got a chance to play and learn on the job, so good luck to him. He'll never improve without having some kind of run in the side.

Good thing for him he's not being paid by the save.

Ake and Semedo for Fonte and Virgil? Or maybe we'll go back in for the dream pairing of Tasci and Jordi Amat...

I also think Jack Stephens could do an Eric Dier type job in the middle of the park too, if he's not yet trusted to play at the back regularly. Comfortable on the ball, plays it simple, and if I'm not mistaken, he played the holding role for Middlesbrough in a famous win at Old Trafford in the League Cup last season. (0 - 0 aet, Boro won on pens)

I would agree that Romeu can't do the screening job on his own. He just doesn't have the mobility for it. Whether it's Hojbjerg, Reed (has he ever been tried alongside Romeu instead of as a replacement for him?) or Clasie, someone needs to provide the legwork and the recovery pace to Romeu's physicality and positional strength. In theory that would give a greater platform for the front four to express themselves and the full backs to bomb on. - - - - - - - - - - Romeu - - - - Hojbjerg - - - - - - - - Redmond - - - Davis/Tadic/Prowse - - - Boufal - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gabbiadini - - - - - - Something like that. Apologies for the formatting...

Only two of them will be missed.