Say What? – FA Cup Fourth Round

The FA Cup Fourth round results gave us plenty to digest over the last few days. Jose Mourinho explains his reluctance to rotate, Arsene Wenger admits he’s still uncertain over his Santi Cazorla/Mesut Ozil conundrum, Gus Poyet calls for more creativity from Sunderland, whilst Brendan Rodgers concedes Mario Balotelli has much to do before returning to the Liverpool starting XI.

Tony Pulis talked up Victor Anichebe’s potential after the Nigerian bagged both West Brom’s goals in a 2-1 cup win over Midland rivals Birmingham at the weekend. After leading the line in a 4-5-1 at former club Everton in the previous Gameweek, Anichebe retained his starting berth at the expense of Brown Ideye and seems to have barged his way past the record signing in the pecking order under the new man in charge. At just 4.9, Anichebe faces Burnley, Swansea and Sunderland in the next four but, as Pulis admits, he’s still not match sharp:

“Victor’s ability has never been questioned. The big thing is keeping him fit. And if we got him to that level he’d be a handful. He was unplayable at times in the first half. We are coming in two thirds of the season so most of the work had been done with him but I would love to have Vic in pre-season because he is a handful. If you sit down and talk to him, he’s responsive. We have to get him fitter though.”

A home clash with Bolton last weekend looked the ideal opportunity for Mario Balotelli to be unleashed at Anfield as Brendan Rodgers rang the changes ahead of this evening’s cup clash with Chelsea. Instead, the Italian failed to even make the bench in the goalless draw and, according to his manager, is failing to prove himself in training right now. With Daniel Sturridge potentially back on the bench at Stamford Bridge tonight, Balotelli’s lethargic displays look set to leave him on the periphery once again:

“I am judging it every day in training – Mario is exactly the same as every other player, there is no special treatment for anyone. Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert are working tirelessly in training and when they go on they have contributed and young Jordan Rossiter, on the bench today, has been brilliant in training and I have to judge it on that. If you want to contribute you have to be at it every single day in training in order to be in the squad on matchday. It is difficult for him [Balotelli] but he knows the level of [where] this team is at – you see the aggression in our pressing and if you can’t do that you are not going to be a part of what this team is trying to achieve. We had an hour or so yesterday chatting and he understands where he is at.”

A 2-1 home win over Bournemouth eased the pressure on under-fire Paul Lambert last Sunday. The Villa boss revealed a change of formation proved key to the triumph and allowed new boy Carles Gil the freedom to work his magic on the flank – the Spaniard’s stunning strike was key to Villa’s win and his manager was quick to hail his immediate impact at the Midlands club.

“I thought the middle of the pitch was too congested in the first half. We changed it at half-time and played a different system. There was not much space. I put Carles wider and it stretched the game… Gil is lighting the place up and it was a world-class goal. Being a foreign player you can take time to adapt or hit the ground running and he has done the latter. He does the same in training. In training you can’t get the ball from him as he has a low centre of gravity.”

Gus Poyet rolled out a 3-5-2 formation for the second match running last weekend as Sunderland look to restructure following the signing of Jermain Defoe. The Black Cats boss watched his side fail to find the net at home to Fulham and, post-match, called on wing-backs Patrick van Aanholt and Billy Jones to up their creativity as he looks to get the best out of his new signing:

“Jermain will get into those positions, but it’s up to us. If you don’t really push into wide areas or produce, like in the first half, he’s not going to have the chances. I think that’s why at the end, there was more and more (chances) because Patrick (van Aanholt) crossed the ball more in the last 20 minutes than in the whole game. Billy Jones and Will Buckley the same in the second half. That helps. But a striker needs the ball in the box.”

A 3-2 win at Brighton saw the likes of Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott return to our Fantasy radars after bagging a goal apiece at the Amex. Arsene Wenger handed Santi Cazorla the day off on Sunday, and after the narrow victory, conceded he’s still not certain of his best line-up as the injuries ease for the north London side:

“I see him [Ozil] behind the striker or on the flank, where he doesn’t like to play. In our team anyway it is very flexible when you play on the flank to move inside. Usually we have one player who is a raw winger and one player who is more midfield player out there. Until now it was Santi [Cazorla] many times, but I don’t know I have not decided yet.”

The Gunners boss also admitted that his tactics for the Gameweek 22 win at City, which saw Arsenal sit deep and hand their hosts 62% of possession, was in part influenced by a pre-match talk with his players:

“At some stage you cannot go against the feelings of the team because it’s detrimental to the result. The team sometimes needs to be reassured and reassurance comes first from feeling solid and strong and then you can express your talent and our confidence in the big games had been damaged by these big results. Of course (I listened to the players). Your tactics have to be aligned as well with the feeling of the team and with the confidence level of the team. That’s why you hear so many times in the papers or on television “let’s get back to basics”. It’s not because a team doesn’t know the basics, it’s just to get the priorities right to reinforce the confidence of the team again because you gain it slowly back by feeling that you are not going to get blown away.”

Jose Mourinho was in scathing mood after Saturday’s capitulation at home to Bradford. The Blues boss made nine changes for the weekend encounter and, for the first time in his managerial career, fell to defeat after going 2-0 ahead – whilst he declined to point the finger at individuals, Mourinho nonetheless highlighted why he has a general reluctance to rotate:

“It is easy for you to understand now why I play almost every game with the same players. I don’t make many changes. I try to keep stability in the team. Maybe now you can understand a bit better why. I don’t want to speak too much about it. This is my squad — let’s move on. This result doesn’t alter may plans in the transfer market. I’m happy to go with the squad I have. I don’t think we are going to the market, unless someone makes a market with us.”

Wilfried Zaha heaped praise on new Palace boss Alan Pardew after an impressive 3-2 win at Southampton. The on-loan wide man failed to cement a regular role under Neil Warnock and produced a goal and assist in the opening 20 Gameweeks but with Pardew at the helm, he’s earned two assists in four appearances thanks to an upturn in minutes:

“Obviously there was a period when I was thinking ‘what’s going on here?’, but as a footballer you just need to not think about that side too much. You just have to remain professional and when you get the chance, to take it. You can’t just dwell on the past and I’m not the type to do that. I know myself. I know if I get more minutes I will get better so to find a manager that has got trust in me and to get me on the pitch and let me do my thing is great. Obviously I’m going to lose the ball – I’m the type of player to do tricks – but if I get the chance I will either try to score a goal or assist.”