After his team's tactically dunderheaded defeat at Swansea there appears much work ahead for Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal. He himself has admitted he needs additional personnel. To many observers a central defender and a defensive midfielder appear to have been critically required for some time. But what was obvious at the Liberty was the more pressing requirement of a decent centre-forward. Van Gaal needs one urgently. Long before his injury on Saturday, Robin van Persie was playing as if time had called on his distinguished career. Radamel Falcao is clearly compromised by knee issues. And Wayne Rooney may be many things but a back to goal big man he isn't.
The recent use by the manager of Marouane Fellaini in that position can only have been a plea for additional resources. Certainly it can't have been driven by the Belgian's qualities in that position. His clumsy attempts to elbow his way to the ball were easily dealt with by Swansea City's defence, his presence a distraction rather than an assistance to team mates. How Van Gaal must envy Mauricio Pochettino. Right now his world view would have been so much more encouraging had he arrived at old Trafford to find a Harry Kane in his reserves. Jim White
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Is there a more ruthless Premier League manager than Mauricio Pochettino? The Argentine showed his tough streak once again on Sunday as he left Christian Eriksen out of the starting line-up for the game against West Ham.
Eriksen has been one of Spurs’ best performers this season and is the club’s second highest scorer with 11 goals, but a quiet display in the Europa League first-leg tie against Fiorentina was enough to book the Dane a place on the bench.
Mousa Dembélé has come back from the dead for Tottenham Hotspur in recent weeks, reviving his White Hart Lane career in the No10 role after being frozen out by Pochettino.
But Dembélé may find himself stuck on the sidelines once again after he was partly at fault for West Ham’s opening goal at White Hart Lane and he was replaced by Eriksen at half-time.
Mousa Dembélé was partially at fault for West Ham's first (Action Images)
Pochettino has no problems dropping players and then bringing them back from seemingly nowhere weeks later.
Emmanuel Adebayor has not been in a Tottenham squad since a transfer deadline day loan move to West Ham was blocked by chairman Daniel Levy and club captain Younès Kaboul has not been seen since January.
Who will be the next Tottenham star to fall foul of Pochettino’s ruthless team selections? There will certainly be a few nervous players ahead of his Capital One Cup final line-up being announced. Matt Law
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There was a surreal moment just over a week ago when Simon Mignolet essentially called a press conference for himself. Telling the assembled press corps that he had been over-thinking his goalkeeping, and crediting his fiancee with his return to form, Mignolet appeared, in more senses than one, to have turned a corner.
And in recent weeks, he has offered good work to back up his good words. Liverpool's defence deserves much of the credit for their recent run of clean sheets, but Mignolet has been at the heart of Liverpool's improvement: coming more decisively for crosses, venturing out of his area, doing the simple things right.
Simplicity was probably the word that best summed up his performance against Southampton. Mignolet is not the best goalkeeper with the ball at his feet. He will never be a Victor Valdes or a Hugo Lloris, manoeuvring the ball around the area, giving opposition strikers the slip. So Brendan Rodgers has allowed him to play to his strengths. Whenever the ball was played to Mignolet, he simply got rid, kicking the ball towards the wings, minimising the possibility of error.
Brendan Rodgers has allowed Simon Mignolet to play to his strengths (Action Images)
There are still legitimate concerns over whether Mignolet is a long-term Champions League-quality No1 - his poise under the high ball could still use a little work - but for now he, and Liverpool, are making the best of what they have got. Jonathan Liew
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While Stevan Jovetic has been the big loser of Manchester City’s decision to sign £25m forward Wilfried Bony, Edin Dzeko may turn out to be the player who benefits most from the Ivorian’s arrival. At first glance, Bony’s presence as a powerful target man would appear to pose a threat to Dzeko’s long-term prospects at the Etihad Stadium. Manuel Pellegrini is unlikely to pair Bony and Dzeko together and, having sanctioned the outlay on Bony last month, the City manager is likely to favour his signing over a player left behind by Roberto Mancini.
But Dzeko’s performance in Saturday’s 5-0 victory over Newcastle United suggested that the Bosnian has already raised his game following Bony’s arrival. Dzeko won the first minute penalty, scored by Sergio Agüero, which gave City the lead, while his stunning goal – a chest-trap and volley to make it 3-0 – deserved greater acclaim than it received.
It was also his first goal for City since September, ending his longest goal drought since completing a £27m move from Wolfsburg four years ago, and one which served noticed to Bony that he would not be waving a white flag anytime soon in terms of surrendering his first-team spot.
Edin Dzeko celebrates ending his five-month City goal drought (Action Images)
Jovetic, left out of the Champions League squad to accommodate Bony, did not even make the substitutes’ bench against Newcastle, so his future appears to be anywhere but the Etihad at the end of the season.
Dzeko has chosen to meet the challenge posed by Bony, though, and after his performance against Newcastle, he deserves to start ahead of the new boy when City face Barcelona on Tuesday. Mark Ogden
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Roberto Martínez has a reputation for finding a ray of sunshine in the most overcast conditions, but he must work overtime in an effort to get Goodison Park beaming again this season. His side has won just three times at home in the Premier League so the mood from the punters is – understandably you might argue – decidedly downbeat.
That is not the language of the manager, however. For Martínez, there is no such thing as a poor performance, just opportunities to improve in the next game. Mistakes do not qualify as errors worthy of public censure, but are mere rites of passage on a perpetual journey to become a better player.
Where some might see a side struggling to overcome opponents organised to defend and frustrate, the manager takes comfort in the compliment of rival managers seeing Everton as a team to be nullified. When Everton are winning, such positivity is infectious. Evertonians certainly embraced it last season, welcoming the antidote to the era of Scottish dourness under David Moyes and previously Walter Smith.
The trouble brews when the results are not backing up the unapologetic desire to talk about the light when everyone else feels they’re still digging their way through the tunnel. Martínez will not change his philosophy. He clearly believes the way to maintain or enhance the confidence of his players is to eulogise rather than criticise, no matter how out of tune it sounds with the public mood.
Robert Martínez will not change his philosophy (AP)
But he would be well-advised to tone down the compliments regarding how marvellous his team is just a tad until Everton look like the team of last season rather than the one scratching around in the bottom half of the table. The alternative is positivity fatigue setting in on the Gwladys Street – if it has not already.
Supporters understand the difference between the strategic talking up of a player to get the best from him, or what sounds like deflecting attention from the reality when a team is clearly underperforming as much as Everton in the Premier League this season. Chris Bascombe
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Tony Pulis will never be everyone’s ideal manager and there will come a time at West Bromwich Albion when supporters will come to resent travelling away from home to watch their team muster just one shot on target.
It happened at Stoke. Pulis did a magnificent job, took the club to a FA Cup final and into Europe, but in the end the fans got bored of watching his teams play. They needed to have a little more excitement in their lives. After all, there has got to be more to football than just surviving in the Premier League, year after year.
However, if you are a Premier League club who need to remove the worry of relegation from the boardroom, dressing room and stands, then he is just about the best you can get.
Pulis: The best a struggling club can get (AP)
West Brom have lost just one of their nine games with Pulis as manager. Just as he did with Crystal Palace 12 months ago, Pulis has turned a relegation battle into a relatively straight-forward survival mission.
The Baggies were awful to watch against Sunderland, they rarely got out of their half, but they were absolutely brilliant defensively. Sunderland never really looked like scoring, despite dominating territory and possession.
Pulis will turn WBA into a team that no longer has to worry about the disaster of relegation. As a manager, that makes him priceless.
And, who knows, with a FA Cup quarter-final against hapless Aston Villa to come, Pulis might just be back at Wembley soon. Not bad for an “unfashionable” manager who plays “obsolete” football! Luke Edwards
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Off the ball, by Alan Tyers
Alternative Analysis: A Mourinho monologue
Deconstructing the Chelsea manager's post-match interviews – what are they made up of?
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Tweet of the week
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Performance of the weekend: Paul Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne, looking better than we could have hoped, got off a good one on BT Sport's Fletch and Sav interview. Talking to the Tottenham groundsman, the guy expressed concerned about pigeons in the stands' rafters. Gazza said: "I'll help you out, I'm not doing anything." He climbed onto the roof. "I could hear the pigeon go 'coo-coo'. I thought I've got it. Then I heard the roof go 'crack' and fell through it. 30 feet! I had a bruise all the way down my arm, down my shoulder and leg. I saw the manager and said 'Gaffer I don't think I can train today'. He says 'what for?' I says 'A pigeon did it.'"
Pigeon fancier: Paul Gascoigne (BT Sport)
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Made-up numbers: 30, 33, 43, 69
Mourinho's conspiracy minutes; also secret Illuminati password..
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Chant of the week: Cristiano Ronaldo does not drink water!
Barcelona fans make allegations about the Madrid legend's refuelling habits. Probablysounds punchier in Catalan.
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Offer of the week
Spurs fowl news (nothing to do with the one on Harry Kane by Alex Song) as we turn from pigeons to chickens. As if the prospect of a cup final next weekend wasn't exciting enough, the official club website is providing a recipe for Cup Final Party Sticky Chicken. Truly, these are the good times.
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Most charming piece of punditry of the week
"I've seen old women in the street take more contact than that and stand up" - Danny Graham's reaction to a challenge from Joleon Lescott did not impress Tony Pulis. Where are these incidents happening? Should Pulis not be reporting them?
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