S-Clarke

I think that's a bit harsh, he was one of our best attacking outlets down that right side. He checks back due to a lack of movement/options at times in that final third, so I think if we flood that area with a bit more quality then he'll have more choice. He was on the front foot though, given a licence because of our extra men in midfield and it allowed us to play a bit higher up.

I think everyone was at least 8/10, but Lyanco has to take it. He will always be prone to a rash dive in during a game (as we saw when he dived in against Foden), but in the face of criticism, errors he has turned up. The bloke has balls, you've got to give him that.

Some of the language directed at him as been incredibly over the top, but he hasn't been perfect by any means. He still comes across incredibly defensive and what worries me is that he still believes we played well against Forest, and were just un-done by a defensive mistake. Not at all, no foundations were set in that game at all! But credit where it's due, tonight from a pure tactical stand point it was nailed. Everything was right. The players were on it 100% and that has to be down to how the coaching staff have put across their ideas. I can understand some of the spikiness of Jones interviews, as some of the noise directed his way has been way, way OTT, but he needs to learn not to react as this just comes across defensive and it will be very easy for fans to throw that back in his face if it all goes wrong again. Tonight was so far removed from Forest, so it's a step. We need to see this in the league.

It was an astonishingly good performance, the comparisons between this and the Forest game were ridiculous. It was like two different teams. Part of me wonders if pressure plays a part in that though, in many ways tonight was a free hit and the players could just relax a little - but in the league my fear is that they have become a bit big bogged down by pressure. Onto the game - from min 1 we were on them, it wasn't what I'd call a half hearted press - it was a rehearsed and well orchestrated process - everyone did in tandem, in time, met the triggers. There is an element of luck in pressing, and you do need to take those risks and be brave both on and off the ball, but when it comes off it's totally worth it. The first half was like us at our best under Ralph. Front foot, coordinated press, energy and aggression - but there were little bits of quality in amongst it all, notably Lavia (who is an absolute superstar player) and Mara, who first half particularly played his role brilliantly. One of the biggest changes tactically was our midfield. We had more numbers centrally, which allowed JWP the freedom to operate more advanced when we had the ball - so he was an option in the 10, or wide midfield. Lavia and Diallo, in tandem, with JWP dropping back in when required, avoided us being over-run in there as we have been so often. This is how we need to play - off the ball, we need to have 3 in the middle, 1 slightly deeper (Lavia role), but two more advanced willing to break the lines. Having those numbers also gave much more licence to the full backs, as there wasn't such a fear of being caught short. So I have to give it to us tonight - tactically spot on. Our issues of recent weeks in front of our eyes were addressed and we played to the strengths of the squad. The fluidity of the defensive unit was also a big positive, having 3 back there when we are on the ball provides licence to one of them (Lyanco in this case) to take a few more risks both on and off the ball. But then when we were off the ball they dropped and were very disciplined in how they played positionally, which restricted city and removed the angles they so often find. One other thing which impressed me tonight is how we didn't sink deep - a criticism of 2nd halves in recent years, even in the big wins against Liverpool and City of a few years ago. We had a tendency to lose composure and retreat so deep in that we had no out ball, and that is asking for trouble. Tonight however we didn't sink that deep, we always had options higher up the pitch to break and keep the ball in their third, we were never in a situation where our midfield were on top of the CB's - our distances were always spot on, which enabled the management of the game in the final moments. The acid test for me is going to be Saturday. If we approach it in the same way tactically and the players have the same attitudes then I think we're onto something, I don't want us to sink back into our shells and panic under pressure (as that game will have a lot of pressure on it). I hope we call it right on the weekend because tonight is exactly how we need to play.

There's no real 'think' about it, it is still the absolute priority and has been since September 1st. Would be the end-game if we fail in this window to sort that out.

I would probably look at this appointment as more of an SR one, rather than a dedicated Southampton one. Sure, he'll have most influence on us as of today but they'll use him across their club portfolio when that builds. It does seem as if SR have an odd fetish with City it has to be said, but I think they're looking at their multi-club model and trying to put in similar foundations by recruiting people who are schooled in that environment. The elephant in the room in all of this is Jones though, it just doesn't line up with anything else they're doing.

Agree, not enough concrete on this at the moment. Half-hearted links to Akpom, Beto and Moffi aside there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of concrete links. Whilst we do need reinforcements in attack, i.e wide/creativity etc, we surely cannot ignore the need for the focal point up top. Otherwise, what we're doing is just pointless, and it's frustrating because we're doing some good stuff, as we did in the summer (lavia/ABK), but if we continue to ignore that ST position it just renders anything else we do as pointless.

This approach isn't a surprise, and actually it's how all these multi-club models work. It's the only way it would work really, economies of scale and all that. I can see why the likes of Crocker and co are leaving, and I can also see how we are attracting the likes of Shields/Wilcox - as they will be part of SR, not just ourselves. Equally they have experience of working in a multi-club model at Man City.

The media will have us believe that it was Redknapp who discovered and developed him!

Yeah I don't know where time is going at the moment! It feels like only yesterday I was watching Bales debut. Now he's retired, and David Beckham's son has rocked up at Brentford FFS.

They're actually counting Alcaraz. Basically they have no idea.

Thanks for that, ok sounds like he's more of an AMC then rather than a conventional CM. We do need legs in the attacking third of the midfield to do just what you say though, drive forward and carry the team into the opposition half. I would argue we are still crying out for a more physical deeper lying CM though. Character is a plus, will be interesting to see how quickly he can adapt. Long contract until 2027 too.

Yeah I think it was nonsense if anyone expected a signing on day 1, given Christmas/bank holidays and the such! We've moved quickly in my opinion, almost got the 2nd and we're on the 9th Jan. Still a bit nervy that we haven't got that key centre forward though. That's one I'd have hoped we'd have lined up a bit earlier.

Thanks for your input. I've never seen Alcaraz play, is there anyone in the current European leagues you could compare him with? Is he another Alexis Mac Alistair, or more of a Leandro Perades or Rodrigo De Paul type?

Ok, I think it's safe to watch the youtube videos on this guy now! I always assumed this guy was a wide player, but he's actually more of a CM (number 8). So he'll be our CM signing, now just a CB and ST to go.

This is playing out exactly as it did at Stoke. He was at loggerheads with their fans most of the time, disagreeing with their opinions and being all defensive. I’ve seen some Stoke fans describe him as treating the entire fanbase with contempt when he was there. He obviously hasn't learnt sod all from that experience going by his press conferences with us. One win at Palace doesn't change anything, that Forest game will live long in many peoples memories as one of the worst, if not the worst, 90mins I've ever had to watch at St Mary's. If we see any more of that then there is only one way this ends.

Is it safe to start watching YouTube videos on this guy yet? I avoided doing that for Gapko just to avoid the disappointment. It does sound as if Alcaraz is being signed as our CM option, it doesn't seem as if he's a wide attacker.

I still think he was up there with Ronaldo and Messi for a couple of years, he won Real the Champions League a couple of times - pretty much single handily. Benzema, Ronaldo and Bale were a frightening 3 and dominated for a good few years. That’s why I’ll never understand the hate Real fans had towards him, he contributed loads to them even if it was condensed into 2 or 3 years.

He's obviously aware of the fans opinion of him, he posts on here at the end of the day so he's seen it all! Against Forest 'long ball' wasn't a myth, it's what I watched for 90mins. Long ball into the channels. Chris Cohen was even directing Salisu to do such a thing, at which point Salisu did it and then shrugged his shoulders (if anyone else noticed that). We weren't long-ball against Palace, but Forest was pretty frightening.

I reckon Alcarez is one of the guys already over here, sounds like that will happen. I hope we're not setting ourselves up for disappointment on the striker front though, that simply cannot be an option. For me a ST was always the biggest priority, attacking midfielders next on the list. If we get Orsic and Alcaraz but still drop the ball on a striker then it's all rather pointless and another massive ballsup. Beto would be good on attributes alone, but I’ve not seen any concrete links to him and we’d have seen then by now.

We've not been blessed with superstars in this team for many years, so anyone half decent is likely to be somewhat pined for when they're not playing. Armstrong is half-decent, no more than that. His lung busting runs and threat from deep were fun to watch, but it didn't really happen enough if we're totally honest. He wasn't particularly consistent and his injury record has been very poor. He's still one of our better players for sure, but that's more of a damming indictment of the rest of our players in that attacking third rather than Armstrong being a world beater.

He was up there with the best for a couple of years, it did peter out a little though. If I'm honest he should have retired some time ago, but he obviously wanted a last swansong with Wales at a World Cup which you can't really begrudge! I remember his debut against Millwall back in 2006, one of the last home games of the season I think. He owned that left side, so much power and pace at a young age. It's making me feel pretty old to have seen these guys make their debuts (Theo/Bale) and now they're retiring, or on the brink of!

This is the mega confusing thing for me. When we were going for the likes of Selles, Shields etc in the summer it suggested that we were after the top 'young' talent in all area's, not just playing staff. Like you said, going for someone like Liverpools assistant would have made a bit more sense in terms of our approach. Jones just seems a really odd divation away.

Jesus-h-christ.

Started crap, thought it would be same old. Palace could and probably should have had a couple in the first part of the 1st half. From about 30 mins we got to grips with it, kept the ball a bit but didn't actually create anything of note. A bit huff and puff. 2nd half we came out more on the front foot, more aggressive, more in their faces and it worked. I don't care who the defender is, they will always hate being pressed and that's what we did well in the 2nd half. There is a tinge of frustration that we couldn't play like that against Forest, and part of me wonders if once again the players are wilting under the pressure in the league, but a win is a win and you have to take them at the moment no matter where they come. Could build some momentum, could be a false dawn. Hope we get a decent draw in the next round.