Louis Saha's star quality starting to shine
MANCHESTER United do not spend money on duds and we finally got a glimpse of Louis Saha's star quality last weekend.
The towering header that secured three points against Fulham put the gloss on an energetic substitute performance and, in my view, should ensure that he is given a starting role at West Ham tomorrow.
Slowly but surely, I think supporters are starting to warm to him and once he gets fully attuned, the jury won't be out on him for much longer because it's quite evident to see Saha is a top quality player.
And the way he will go about proving to David Moyes that he should be starting regularly is by scoring lots of goals; if he does that, he will deserve to be first choice and it would be terrific to think he could recapture the sparkle that persuaded Alex Ferguson to spend ã12.8m on him.
But what does that mean for Ayegbeni Yakubu? In my opinion, he isn't doing enough to warrant being first choice and a run of a nine games without a goal hardly adds weight to the argument that he should be a regular starter.
His overall contribution has not been brilliant since his last goal came against Standard Liege, whereas Saha has been getting better by the game. That said, David Moyes will not be making that decision lightly.
I never liked taking goalscorers off during the course of a match, regardless of how poorly they were playing, as I always felt that they could pilfer a goal, and I'm sure David will be thinking the same way, as Yakubu knows where the goal is.
However, you have to go with the man in form and that's why I feel Saha should get the nod. He vindicated his manager's decision to be bold in the dying moments against Fulham and should be rewarded.
Bullard for the Blues
WITH the January sales creeping into view, David Moyes will surely have a list of players who he wants to bring in to strengthen Everton's hand.
And I'm pretty sure a holding midfielder will be top of that list.
Leon Osman has done well sitting a bit deeper than normal but is a natural attacker, while Marouane Fellaini also has the ability to get forward.
He may have been seen as Lee Carsley's replacement but is more of a 'box-to-box' man, can ghost into dangerous positions and covers the ground at his own pace.
We have been okay in recent weeks but it is only a matter of time before it shows how much we are missing in that department. It also shows when other teams lack an 'enforcer'.
Liverpool miss Javier Mascherano, Arsenal have never replaced Patrick Vieira and Chelsea certainly miss Claude Makelele.
What about Jimmy Bullard? He did well at Goodison, has something about him and would slot into the team. He's one to think about.
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Bullard is not a defensive midfielder, if you didn't know