Scout Notes – FA Cup Third Round – Sunday

Wilfried Bony’s late winner helps Swansea knock United out of the FA Cup. Oscar is amongst the goals as Chelsea register another clean sheet in a win at Derby, Daniel Agger picks up a knee problem in Liverpool’s victory over Oldham, Adam Johnson helps Sunderland into the Fourth Round, whilst West Ham are annihilated by Forest as Big Sam’s rotation backfires:

Bony the Swans Hero
Having bagged a brace against City on New Year’s Day, the Swansea forward continued his impressive start to 2014 by netting the winner at Old Trafford. Michael Laudrup’s side were far from full-strength – Ashley Williams and Ben Davies were rested to the bench, whilst Pablo Hernandez and Roland Lamah both missed out from injuries picked up in the last few days. Wayne Routledge was also in the goals as Laudrup’s side won for the first time in seven attempts but Fantasy interest will be centred around Bony after yesterday’s display. The Ivorian has now produced 13 goals in 27 appearances across all competitions since arriving at the Liberty and, with a repeat trip to United up next in the league, his current form makes him one to consider. Given that Swansea then have a home game against Spurs followed by showdowns with three of the bottom five (FUL, whm, CAR), Bony, at just 7.3 in FPL, may well be set for increased investment, with a current ownership of just 3%.

Problems Pile Up for Moyes
Javier Hernandez’ solitary goal was no consolation for David Moyes as his side crumbled at the first hurdle. The United boss was without Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie once again, yet decided to hand Adnan Januzaj no more than a 27-minute sub appearance. With the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final against Sunderland tomorrow evening, David de Gea, Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick were amongst the unused subs. The problems at the back mounted up, though, after Rio Ferdinand limped off with a knee complaint, whilst Fabio was dismissed just four minutes into his appearance from the bench and will now serve a three-match ban. Ferdinand’s potential absence, allied with injury doubts over Phil Jones and Rafael are likely to ensure Chris Smalling is fielded at right-back, thus securing Jonny Evans’ starting berth in the centre. Granted, United’s backline has hardly offered much security in recent matches but, with home games against Swansea, Cardiff and Fulham in addition to a trip to Stoke in the next five, the schedule at least remains on Moyes’ side.

After the match, Moyes was typically non-commital on the subject of player injuries:

“It’ll be great when we get them [injured players back]. The sooner we get them back the better. We’ll get them back when they’re ready but they’re not ready yet.”

Oscar Nets Again as Chelsea Notch Another Clean Sheet
The Brazilian was one of six changes made by Jose Mourinho from the midweek win over Southampton, with John Terry and Eden Hazard dropping out of the XI along with the likes of Petr Cech, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata. Having climbed off the bench to bag a goal and pair of assists on Wednesday, Oscar maintained his impressive upturn in form by firing Chelsea’s second in a 2-0 win at Derby to strengthen the suggestion that, at 8.7 in FPL, he may well be an alternative to Hazard should be reclaim a regular role once again. With the game goalless on 55 minutes, the Belgian was introduced for Michael Essien as Mourinho went on the offensive to ensure his side progressed – the victory means Chelsea have now conceded just a single goal in their last five in all competitions, with their backline starting to find form as the season picks up pace.

Agger Calf Concern for Reds
Steven Gerrard was handed his first start since recovering from a hamstring injury as Liverpool finally overcame a resilient Oldham 2-0 at Anfield. Brendan Rodgers made six alterations, with the likes of Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho dropping to the bench after a hectic festive period. Both featured in the second period, however – Coutinho came on at the break with the score goalless and Suarez featured for the last 15 minutes at Gerrard’s expense in a game which saw Iago Aspas finally score his first competitive goal for the club. The Merseysiders were forced to play the last few minutes with 10 men after Daniel Agger was forced off with a calf problem – Rodgers, who had already made three substitutions by that point, gave a post-match update before explaining Coutinho’s half-time introduction:

“It’s too early [to tell] yet. It looked like his (Agger’s) calf had cramped up. We’re just waiting and we’ll probably know a wee bit more tomorrow…You hope in a game like this to rest a number of players and give them that recovery period. Lucas and young Coutinho, and a few others, have played hard games all over the Christmas period. The ideal scenario was to let them recover, but we also wanted to win the game. We didn’t want a replay, we wanted to get through into the next round. And with Coutinho and Lucas coming on, we had that bit of intensity and purpose to our game. That allowed us to get better control.”

Under-Strength Hammers Humiliated by Forest
With the upcoming Capital One Cup semi-finals and fight against relegation to consider, Sam Allardyce retained just one of the XI that started against Fulham in midweek. Three debutants and a couple of Development Squad players got the nod for the trip to Forest – Alou Diarra was the only player to keep his place, though the visitors also had the likes of Stewart Downing, Matt Jarvis and the fit-again Ravel Morrison in midfield, with the latter handed the full 90 minutes upon his recovery from a groin injury. A 5-0 defeat left the Hammers humiliated and their manager admitted that the club’s current injury list, allied with next weekend’s vital trip to fellow-strugglers Cardiff, limited his selection options severely yesterday:

“My priorities meant I put too many youngsters in and they were not able to withstand Forest’s pressure in the last half an hour. I picked the team so it is my responsibility. You know what my priorities are: the priorities are the Premier League first and then Capital One Cup (semi-final against Manchester City). It’s leg one on Wednesday and we need to get back to the second leg with an opportunity to get to Wembley and then get some points at Cardiff. My hands are tied behind my back every time I see what’s available and the team is almost picking itself. It’s a disaster at the moment, a total disaster and in certain areas we’ve not been able to cope.”

Johnson Amongst the Goals as Black Cats Cruise Through
Gus Poyet made six changes to the side that lost to Villa on New Year’s Day, with the likes of Phil Bardsley, Steven Fletcher and Emanuele Giaccherini amongst those dropping to the bench. Adam Johnson fired home a free-kick for the Black Cats’ first in a 3-1 win over Carlisle to potentially stake a claim for a regular role under Poyet – the wide-man has failed to start any of the last five league games and has been solely reliant on game time off the bench in recent matches. At the back, Wes Brown returned to marshall the defence after serving a three-match suspension, though John O’Shea missed out through injury again. New loan signing Marcos Alonso still awaits his debut – the paperwork was not completed in time for the left-back to take to the field yesterday.