gutted Sunderland are in trouble now

regardless of the penalty decision, which was a blatant one
the pitch was the same for both teams

discontent in the camp now, fans are starting to get at Gus
the system isn't working, we need 2 out and out forwards
playing week in week out

not this 4-2-3-1
we are so narrow upfront its unreal
I would hate to be a forward playing alone week in week out
against 4 defenders

At this rate, United fans will probably claim that they deserve their league position and being in the next round of the cup.
Any fan of any other team will say, no, you dont deserve it

At some point, this is going to come and bite you on the backside, Falcao is dreadful, your best striker is playing CM, no pace upfront, and apart from De Gea, the defense is dreadful.

Phil Neville said if Rooney hadn't dive then the challenge would've been a leg breaker. Another awful 'expert' . Wayne Rooney, the man with polystyrene legs

I think they'd be saying something else if it was a Suarez, Costa or anyone from La Liga

Still playing I'll rephrase that, turning up at away venues but only playing half decent football in the 2nd halves. I don't know what has happened to Falcao, he just isn't settling and his movement is none existent.

We played better when Young came on and we played Di Maria in a free role. I agree the defence is very bad but has been better since Smelling returned, not only coz he scored 2 the other evening but seems more stable.

Looking at Pogba and Strootman in the Summer I'd much prefer Hummels and Varane tbh

Liverpool want Pjanic 37m - hope that's not a Pjanic buy

Edited at 13:16 Tue 17/02/15 (GMT)

Hummels says he wants to stay, he knows that wherever he plays, that he will still be German first choice CB and he wants to get BD back to the top.

Varane might go to United, unless Chelsea come in for him or he gets more game time (both are realistic options).

Pjanic would be a nice buy, is he worth 37m euros, I don't know, but he is a very good player, and would fit in nicely I believe, but I won't be holding my breath...

A weekend for plenty of talk!

Stoke comeback to end the Sherwood honeymoon before it begins, Burnley get a great point against Chelsea and Jose's moans actually have a basis this week, Barton gets another stupid red card - more fool QPR for still having him, Swansea come back against United to win with talk of United actually playing well , City rout Newcastle.

Today Spurs have fluked a draw from West Ham and Everton nab a draw after a Leicester comeback.

Now, 4 penalty shouts and a worldy after a scrappy half (good opening). If the first one is a pen then football is no longer a contact sport, was a 50-50 contact and Duricic was looking for a pen. Second one probably should've been a pen, albeit he again was just looking for it using his body to look for a foul instead of playing for the ball. Third (Liverpool one), looked stonewall on first glance but on second he did win the ball. The only issue with that is he still went right through Sterling with a fair bit of force, I think that one is at the discretion of the referee. 4th one was a ball to hand Lovren couldn't do much about. Overall 1 penalty to Southampton would be fair. Bring on the second half, more excitement (and surely a penalty) to come!!

Edited at 17:39 Sun 22/02/15 (GMT)

got to say
I got wrong with Liverpool
they looked awesome today

Jordan Ives looks really special

Edin Dzeko's goal
had to be up there with some of best goals

Could still do with Sterling not being played as a striker, hopefully as Sturridge gets back to full fitness we'll move away from that.

Hard lesson for Southampton, but for all the good possession they had they were terrible upfront. Whereas we took our chances. They looked most likely to score from penalty, and seemed to be more focused on winning one than pulling the trigger or getting on with things.

Man City next in the league, biggest test yet and if we come out of that with something then we'll be set up well for United and Arsenal which may well decide a top 4 place.

5 teams, 4 points. Great for the league.

Good solid win for liverpool, rode our luck at times, but it's only what we deserve after some of the shocking decisions we haven't got in the past.

Leicester starting to show some fight, shame they couldn't put our bitter rivals to the sword, but they put up a good fight. and scored some goals.

ManU, I don't need to say anything do I? Just gonna say, it was coming.

Chelsea were hard done by, Mourinho should be getting a ban, after this comments on Goals on Sunday, if you didn't watch it, go and watch it, and you will agree. The way he persecuted the referees, deserves a ban of a few games.

City took apart a horrendous Newcastle side, never seen a side perform as badly, apart from the reds defense (had to to do it )

West Ham were unlucky, spurs players dropping like flies, just like southampton players, in and around the box. Just looks terrible.

The interview with Uwe Rolser was very insightful, saying that when he came across here, he went down easy in the box, and Macca pulled him to one side and said, 'You don't do that here mate'

But now players are rollocked for not going down easy, shame the culture and money have changed our beautiful game.

Arsenal were lucky also, the fingernail of Ospina saving them the blushes of a draw against Palace, but it was a good game for the neutral.

Villa were unlucky, Stoke took advantage well.

Edited at 09:52 Mon 23/02/15 (GMT)

massive games again this weekend for Sunderland
Man Utd on Sat and Hull on Tuesday
both away

we need 3 points out of these games
with Lee Cattermole back at least we have a fighting chance

and the Derby is looming soon as well

We need to perform or Defoe & Co will run riot against us, defence is non existent, come to think about it Nothing's existent lol.

We need put Rooney back up front and play Di Maria just behind with a free role. Defence needs kicking in to gear only decent player on a consistent basis has been Rojo if wasn't for him and De Gea would be in a lot worse position.

I like Sunderland and think Gus Poyet is a good manager but on this occasion we (United) need to win to keep our fight for CL spot alive. I think Sunderland will win the derby and survive this season, Burnley, Hull City and Leicester City are my candidates for relegation. For some reason I think QPR will survive too.

Sunderland have quality players

but if not played right are very average

Gus needs to go back to 4-4-2 at home

I hope he sticks with a 4-2-3-1 against Utd
a point would be good

at Hull I think we should go
4-4-2 but a point isn't a disaster

I've always said the table doesn't lie, Gus cannot keep the same system or we will go down

What a result, pretty good game and both were on top during the game. I was worried at the line up, no out and out striker against a team like Man City, but it worked brilliantly with the fluidity of the attack.

Coutinho, what a player.

Up to 5th!

A nice 11 goal win for Everton would do just right too

Very good win for Liverpool, cracking winner from the little maestro in Coutinho. Well played and Man City 1 shot all match, absolutely abysmal.

Good Win for United yesterday too,

I guess you mean one shot on target , I was thinking that but that's a little deceptive because they had a few chances which were very nearly a goal (Aguero hitting the post).

A bit of nerves in the first half from Mignolet in a big game, but he got away with it. Lovren did well, I was surprised he was kept in but he did well and he's now earned a chance to get a first team place I think. The attacking midfielders all did well, Markovic was a little quiet but I think that's because Zabaleta was having a mare in the first half so we focused our attack more on the left.

This is the start of the proper top 4 fight now I think. Southampton are fading, Spurs look good but I don't think they'll break the top 4 now.

United, Arsenal and Liverpool. 3 into 2. Bring it on!

Yeah that's what I meant, 1 shot on target, Aguero is still brilliant, such quick footwork.

I agree the fight for top 4 is on now and I think Arsenal will be the side to miss out. Atm however United still look too vulnerable so that needs to be addressed ASAP or we will miss out.

Tottenham I think have too much to do BUT if they beat Chelsea in the Cup Final today then their confidence will be sky high and they could upset all three of us. Man City seem to be on a slide too, so I await to see how they recover, they are not the force they once were.

Still have quality in abundance but not gelling as well IMO.

Arsenal: 1-0 up at Everton (H), QPR (A), West Ham (H), Newcastle (A), Liverpool (H), Burnley (A), Sunderland (H), Chelsea (H), Hull (A), Swansea (H), Man United (A), West Brom (H).

Man United: Newcastle (A), Tottenham (H), Liverpool (A), Aston Villa (H), Man City (H), Chelsea (A), Everton (A), West Brom (H), Crystal Palace (A), Arsenal (H), Hull (A).

Liverpool: Burnley (H), Swansea (A), Man United (H), Arsenal (A), Newcastle (H), Hull (A), West Brom (A), QPR (H), Chelsea (A), Crystal Palace (H), Stoke (A).

Southampton: Crystal Palace (H), Chelsea (A), Burnley (H), Everton (A), Hull (H), Stoke (A), Tottenham (H), Sunderland (A), Leicester (A), Aston Villa (H), Man City (A).

Spurs: Swansea (H), QPR (A), Man United (A), Leicester (H), Burnley (A), Aston Villa (H), Newcastle (A), Southampton (A), Man City (H), Stoke (A), Hull (H), Everton (A).

I have about 3 points between 4 teams at the end of the season , won't say what order because I don't believe it myself haha. But it's set to be tight. All have 3 big games except United who have 5, that could be important. But United, Arsenal and Liverpool all have to play each other, that will be crucial.

Well, clearly the top 4 is well and truly in our own hands now.

Everyone could see yesterday that we over ran city's midfield and were dominant, and taking nothing away from Liverpool's 2 goals, but it took 2 worldies to win the game when we were so dominant.

We looked a lot better side after Studge came on, but hopefully the momentum we have and the teams around us drop a few cheap points, will make for a great run in!

Here are what the bookies say on the odds of getting into the top 4:

Arsenal - 1/5
ManU - 8/11
Liverpool - 6/5
Spurs - 6/1
Southampton - 13/2

I'm looking a lot further down that table

getting more worried after each game


if Man Utd are playing crap and are where they are
where will they be when they start playing well