FA Cup third round: 15 talking points from the weekend’s action

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jan/05/fa-cup-third-round-talking-points

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1) Fightback makes case for United to stick with back four

Gary Johnson looked slightly bemused when he wandered into the marquee that Yeovil had put up to cater for the media. Outside, a helicopter was taking off and Johnson’s face made it clear this was not the usual scene at Huish Park. “There were only three of you at our last game,” the Yeovil manager volunteered.

Manchester United can have that effect. Yet for long spells this was a strange performance from Louis van Gaal’s crowd-pullers and it was only after the injuries to Rafael da Silva and Luke Shaw – United’s injury list taking off in 2015 where it had finished in 2014 – that they started to remind everyone, in brief flashes, that there were 65 places between these teams in the league ladder.

Van Gaal had little option but to abandon his wing-back system and, even with two centre-backs in Paddy McNair and Tyler Blackett in the full-back positions, United looked like a more rounded team once they had swapped 3-4-1-2 for a more orthodox back line and a midfield diamond, with Darren Fletcher positioned in front of the back four and the two Spaniards, Juan Mata and Ander Herrera, patrolling just behind Wayne Rooney.

An argument could be made that some of United’s better performances this season have been with this formation. Ashley Young had been learning the wing-back role impressively before his hamstring injury but there have also been plenty of occasions when Van Gaal’s defenders have looked unsure when the team is set up with three centre-backs. The latest injuries might mean a prolonged run with an old-fashioned back four and that, ultimately, might not be such a bad thing. Daniel Taylor

• Accrington sell tickets for Manchester United game that will never happen• Yeovil Town 0-2 Manchester United• Van Gaal counts injury cost of win at Yeovil

2) Wenger can finally call on all his attacking options

Arsenal are currently close to having all their attacking players fit and available at the same time. If it actually happens (you never know) it would give Arsène Wenger the luxury of choosing from a broad selection of options. It is safe to assume that Alexis Sánchez hurtles into any XI, but who to accompany him?

The speed of Theo Walcott, now back in the frame following his first start in a year, and showing the buds of a rapport with Sánchez at times against Hull? The drive of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who has impressed recently? The brawn of Olivier Giroud who returns from suspension for Arsenal’s next match? The running of Danny Welbeck who is expected to return shortly from injury? The subtlety of Mesut Özil who is returning to full training?

Defending remains the area that needs most attention for Arsenal, but Wenger will be hoping a more potent attack evolves over the second half of the season. Amy Lawrence

• Arsenal 2-0 Hull City• Amy Lawrence: Bionic mosquito Sánchez steals the show

3) Pardew sets his stall out early at Palace

Understandably, 48 hours into the new regime, there was no real indication at the Crabble Athletic Ground of what Alan Pardew’s revamped Crystal Palace might end up looking like. What was clearer was what kind of Alan Pardew the new Crystal Palace are likely to be fronted up by. Management has always been a little about presentation, fresh starts, image and all the rest of it, and there were some carefully prepared words at the end suggesting Pardew has already sketched out how he intends to project himself at Selhurst Park.

Here was a manager on the rebound and spinning energetically. Newcastle Pardew was unpopular with the fans. Palace Pardew has - unless anyone is in any doubt - “a special bond” with the fans and could already be heard cosying up to the “lovely” away support at the Crabble, while also talking pointedly about the crowd’s role in boosting the team. Similarly, Pardew’s Magpies were criticised by some for playing dour football: Pardew’s Palace are, by way of contrast, going to be full of bold attacking invention, will “put the ball at risk” (no, me neither) and express themselves to the full. Perhaps there was a hint of this in the three-man front-line Pardew played at the Crabble. What does seem certain is Palace could do with a new striker. And also that they have a manager keen not just to succeed but to right a few perceptions from his peculiarly acrimonious non-sacking at Newcastle. Palace’s fans will hope the two are not mutually exclusive, and that Pardew’s thinking is unclouded by what went before. Barney Ronay

• Dover Athletic 0-4 Crystal Palace

4) Retaining Milner is a no-brainer for Pellegrini

After a James Milner double dragged Manchester City through to a 2-1 FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, Manuel Pellegrini used the word “hope” when asked if discussions over a new deal with the 29-year-old might end in a positive conclusion. Milner, who is out of contract this summer, is the ultimate utility player, though this is no slight on a footballer who prospers in any of the various positions he is asked to operate in – including the false No9 role that turned a tight contest for City.

Pellegrini also used “hope” the other day, when characterising if Frank Lampard might finally join New York City FC from City in the summer – so Milner being given the fresh terms desired is either still in the balance, or this is merely the Chilean’s usage of English. To be short, though, the term to sum up whether the midfielder should be convinced to stay on is clear: it is a “no-brainer”. Jamie Jackson

• Man City 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday• MLS: City made ‘error of judgement’ over Lampard

5) Zouma is making steady progress for Chelsea

John Terry’s continued excellence at the heart of Chelsea’s defence offers the extra merit of enabling the club to prepare gradually for his succession. Rather than have to cast Kurt Zouma straight into a full campaign and risk him enduring the sort of adaptation that, say, Eliaquim Mangala has experienced at Manchester City, José Mourinho can choose suitable games for the French centre-back to find his feet in English football. A Capital One Cup game here, a Champions League or Premier League match there. In Sunday’s FA Cup tie against a tenacious Watford side, the 20-year-old offered further proof that he is progressing well, a fine headed goal crowning a commanding defensive performance. Zouma’s poise also helped Gary Cahill to recover from a rare bedraggled display against Tottenham. Paul Doyle

• Chelsea 3-0 Watford• Schwarzer set to leave Chelsea for Leicester City

6) Why are Sheffield United so good in the cups?

Nigel Clough’s side have beaten three Premier League opponents this season, with Sunday’s convincing victory over QPR following earlier wins over West Ham and Southampton in the League Cup. A League Cup semi-final versus Tottenham awaits later this month, as does a fourth round fixture in the FA Cup after QPR crumbled at home. For all Rangers’ failings though, United were excellent.

It begs the question, why are the Blades 15 points off automatic promotion in League One? Harry Redknapp said “they raise their game in the Cup” and one cannot argue otherwise, with United’s wingers causing havoc and the young midfielder Louis Reed excelling. With half the League One season remaining, Clough will attempt to utilise momentum gained in the Cup to secure promotion, something they failed to achieve last season despite reaching the FA Cup semis. James Riach

• QPR 0-3 Sheffield United• David Squires on ... QPR’s transfer window • Thousands sign petition urging Oldham not to sign Ched Evans• David Conn: Evans’s victim must always be remembered

7) Van Aanholt is one of the bargains of the season

Patrick van Aanholt’s return to the Sunderland starting XI after several weeks out with a dislocated shoulder highlighted just how much Gus Poyet’s side have missed him. Signed for around £1.5m from Chelsea last summer, the Dutchman’s arrival for such a modest sum represented quite a coup - not to mention a ringing endorsement of the club’s continental style recruitment system masterminded by the football director, Lee Congerton.

The left back has imbued Sunderland with some much needed pace as well as offering Poyet enhanced attacking width. Quite apart from scoring the winner in the 1-0 FA Cup victory against Leeds United at the Stadium of Light, Van Aanholt proved arguably the best individual on view. His importance on Wearside should not be under-rated. Louise Taylor

• Sunderland 1-0 Leeds United

8) Dale is more than an FA Cup nearly man

Robbie Dale, captain and star of Blyth Spartans, had little time to reflect on his brace against Birmingham – after all, he had to open up a pub first thing on Sunday. So far, so clichéd – but Dale isn’t quite the workaday hero you might assume. Having led Blyth into the third round for the fourth time since 2009, many Spartans fans are puzzled as to why the talented forward remains at Croft Park.

The FA Cup’s frenetic early rounds, are, we are told, a great leveller. The phrase conjures images of quagmire pitches and hulking, agricultural centre-backs. In Dale’s case, all the Cup did was give a very talented player the chance to find his level. Dale’s first half performance, particularly his slaloming run before his second goal, bamboozled an in-form Championship defence. Dale was not lucky to score; nor did he appear out of his depth. Cup shocks are as much about these individual performances as anything else, and it’s unfortunate for Dale that Birmingham’s second-half fightback means he won’t join Tim Buzaglo and Roy Essandoh in the annals of FA Cup history. Perhaps that’s for the best, though – you wonder what Dale could do to Football League defences on a regular basis. A career as more than a January headline beckons – if he can just get weekends off. Niall McVeigh

• Blyth Spartans 2-3 Birmingham City

9) Forgotten man Ambrose can play a role for Ipswich

Darren Ambrose never quite made the most of the rich potential that brought him a move to Sir Bobby Robson’s Newcastle United in 2003, and it can come as a jolt to remind yourself that he is no longer a fresh-faced youngster, but a 30-year-old whose career has rather drifted in the past few years. He is in territory also occupied by the likes of Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips, English prodigies whose powers waned long before their time – but there is an opportunity of revival for Ambrose at Ipswich.

Admittedly it has taken him a while to get going back at the club where it all began and Sunday’s game at Southampton was Ambrose’s first start for Ipswich since he rejoined them in September. Stationed on the right of their midfield, his touch was understandably rusty at times and Mick McCarthy admitted that he found it difficult to cope with the surges of Ryan Bertrand and Dusan Tadic. Yet the expert header that gave Ipswich the lead was a reminder that Ambrose still has something to offer and, although there are no guarantees, he could yet turn out to be a valuable asset in their bid for promotion to the Premier League. Jacob Steinberg

• Southampton 1-1 Ipswich• Mane will miss Africa Cup of Nations

10) Non-league clubs need to find out how to keep supporters coming back

Undoubtedly there would have been a few hangers on in the Wrexham end at the Britannia Stadium, but a non-league club turning up with a sold out allocation of 5,000 supporters emphasised something else. For the frequent talk of the struggles at the lower reaches of the English pyramid there is a healthy appetite and support for teams outside of the top four divisions. Wrexham are, of course, a former Football League club that have fallen on hard times but many other clubs higher in the pyramid would not have turned up at Stoke in the post-Christmas squeeze in such numbers. The disappointing thing for the club from North Wales, and something to which the Wrexham manager Kevin Wilkin alluded afterwards, is how to unlock that potential and keep people coming back through the turnstiles. It could just be clichéd ‘magic of the FA Cup’ that swelled Wrexham’s numbers at Stoke. Or is there more that leagues, governing bodies and the clubs themselves could do to tap into this potential? Tim Abraham

• Stoke City 3-1 Wrexham

11) Newcastle’s second string a concern for whoever takes charge

John Carver was widely castigated by Newcastle supporters for making seven changes in the defeat by Leicester, but City manager Nigel Pearson also made seven changes, and was still able to put out a starting eleven, and indeed bench, which had much more experience than Carver could draw on. This could be seen as a pleasing sign of faith in the work being done by the likes of Peter Beardsley in developing promising young players like forward Adam Armstrong, defender Paul Dummett, and winger Callum Roberts.

It could also, however, be seen as a demonstration of a lack of depth in the squad that Alan Pardew has bequeathed his successor. On Saturday’s evidence, Newcastle were unable to cope with the removal of so many key players, while Leicester continued to look and play like the organised and improving team they have shown themselves to be in recent matches. Richard Rae

• Leicester City 1-0 Newcastle United• Ben Arfa released by Newcastle• Carver says he wants Newcastle head coach job

12) Is Ibe be the man to fire Derby’s season?

Nerves were starting to jangle at the iPro Stadium when the clock ticked past the hour mark with Derby’s cup tie against Southport still goalless. The high-flying Rams had been on the attack non-stop since the first whistle but they had been unable to make the breakthrough. The post intervened and David Raya Martin seemed to be an immovable obstacle in the Southport goal. Steve McClaren acted and made a triple substitution bringing on striking pair Chris Martin and Johnny Russell.

Also thrown into the fray was Jordon Ibe, at Derby on a season-long loan from Liverpool. Such has been the 19-year-old’s form, there has been talk in recent days of him returning to Anfield for the second half of the season. Brendan Rodgers admitted he was weighing it up while McClaren has described him as unplayable. So an eyebrow was raised when Ibe came on, his appearance meaning he is now cup-tied. Maybe a hint that he will be staying at Derby to further develop under the coaching skills of McClaren. The former England manager issued a terse no comment when asked about the teenager, who can play up front or on the wing, after the match. He certainly made his presence felt, dancing down the left wing and ghosting past the defence at will with skill and strength.. Ibe was also involved in the build-up to the injury-time penalty which saw the Rams squeeze through to the fourth round.

McClaren is seemingly set to stay with the Rams despite apparent interest from Newcastle, with former England striker Darren Bent joining on loan. Throw in the possibility that the twinkle-toed Ibe could stick around, and it could be an exciting – and fruitful – second half of the season. Liz Byrnes

• Derby County 1-0 Southport• Derby confident McClaren will stay

13) The Pulis effect takes hold

Tony Pulis’s galvanising effect at West Bromwich Albion has been obvious from the start. Having breezed his way into the training ground on Friday morning and blown away cobwebs with sheer force of personality, the new head coach effectively doubled the gate for Saturday’s FA Cup third-round tie at home to Gateshead – 7,500 tickets had sold 48 hours beforehand, 16,500 turned up – and had the fans singing his name by kick-off with the briefest of on-field waves.

Not only does Pulis want everyone singing from the same hymn sheet, he expects this to happen quickly and to his tune – the former Crystal Palace boss has demanded full control over transfers. The FA Cup could provide West Brom with some necessary impetus in that direction, after their biggest victory since beating Aylesbury United 8-0 23 years ago. Pulis knows from taking Stoke City to the 2011 final what a springboard the competition can provide for a middling team. Peter Lansley

• West Brom 7-0 Gateshead• Berahino: no need to explain lack of celebration

14) Lambert risks the wrath of a forgiving Villa faithful

The discrepancy between Paul Lambert’s press conference assessment and the FA Cup tie witnessed at Villa Park yesterday left the attendant media somewhat bemused. The Holte End had just turned on the Aston Villa manager for the first time in his tenure, three minutes before Christian Benteke’s winning goal broke Blackpool’s resistance. Lambert said he found their vehemence “strange”. With 12 goals from 22 games this season, and three wins from the last 17, it is stranger that Villa fans have remained supportive of Lambert. In these days of short-term reigns and so little loyalty, strange but laudable. It is as if, with Randy Lerner hitting stony ground thus far in his attempt to sell up, the Villa crowd have become accustomed to mediocrity.

After the relatively heady days of three successive top-six finishes and two Wembley visits under Martin O’Neill, Villa fans never bought into Gérard Houllier. They positively howled at the moon until delivered with Alex McLeish’s head on a plate. Yet after finishing 15th in the Premier League in each of the past two seasons, with one run to the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup (where they lost to Bradford City from League Two), and now facing a third successive campaign endeavouring to keep their heads above the relegation parapet, Lambert has received very little grief from the crowd.

Benteke was a superb signing, even if he has flattered to deceive in the past 18 months, and the likes of Ashley Westwood and Fabian Delph have developed into good Premier League midfield players. The players work hard for him and are now trying to adapt to a preferred passing game, but still lack touch and movement. Lambert is deluded if he thinks maintaining harmless possession in recent games against Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Blackpool equals progress. Lambert has been fortunate to avoid too much criticism thus far. But if he continues to praise Villa’s performances every week, not distinguishing between the good and the bad games, then he risks alienating supporters further. In these dour, difficult days for Villa he needs to keep a forgiving fan base onside. Peter Lansley

• Aston Villa 1-0 Blackpool• Memory lane: the FA Cup third round – in pictures

15) Jackett has fingers crossed he will see Sako again

The timing of the Africa Cup of Nations is particularly tough on Wolves’ Kenny Jackett. With his side rekindling their hopes of successive promotions thanks to a pair of victories in the Championship over the festive period, the last thing Jackett would have wanted was to lose his best player Bakary Sako for up to three weeks. But after starring for Wolves in their otherwise drab 0-0 draw at Craven Cottage against Fulham on Saturday, the powerful winger is off to Equatorial Guinea to represent Mali this week with major doubts whether he will ever be seen in an old gold shirt again. The 26-year-old who joined from St Etienne in 2012 has just six months of his contract at Molineux remaining, with Jackett admitting they would be powerless to stop him leaving if a Premier League club comes in.

“I try to be as honest as I can with the player about the situation,” he said. “His ambition is the Premier League - so is ours - but as and when something comes of that sort of level, we’ll deal with it then.” Perhaps Jackett will be hoping that Sako seriously underperforms for his country to put off any potential suitors, before returning to his best just in time for 3 February? Ed Aarons

• Fulham 0-0 Wolves• The Dozen: FA Cup third round special