What yesterday's game tells me is that our focus in the next window needs to be two Hall/Tino clones. Obviously not direct replacements-we have, imo, the best full-back pairing in the league, but yesterday showed how crucial they are to our style of play.

Not only do they offer fantastic defensive qualities-especially their ability to receive and play the ball under pressure-but their contribution to our attack-and the way this allows the midfield to play was there for everyone to see yesterday.

In a way, it's actually a worry that we are so different when they're not in the team-we don't seem to have a plan for when they're missing and it clearly has a detrimental knock-on effect on the rest of the team.

Let's be honest, much as Dan Burn is great at CB and will forever be a legend for Wembley (among other things), I think most of our hearts would sink if we reverted to using him at LB. As cover, Krafth is 3rd round of the Cup level and, whilst Trippier has all the nouse, his legs won't allow him to be as effective as he used to be.

When we bouught Tino and Hall, we didn't buy them for the first team straight away but it's paid off massively. I think we need to do similar in January.

Thoughts