1) Rodgers has not bought the leaders he requires
Brendan Rodgers explained Liverpool's FA Cup embarrassment at Oldham thus: "Its not complacency. I've got good lads here. It's about strength in depth. We have not got enough depth here. We are trying to build a squad to compete." The argument does not wash against a team that is struggling to survive in League One and after a defeat in which his own expensive recruits – £15m Joe Allen, £12m Daniel Sturridge and particularly £10.5m Fabio Borini were leading culprits of a lightweight performance bereft of players willing to take responsibility. The Liverpool manager had lamented his "quiet team" and lack of leaders long before the FA Cup exit at Boundary Park. An outlay of £37.5m, soon to rise to £46m with the £8.5m purchase of Philippe Coutinho from Internazionale, should have begun to rectify that weakness. Andy Hunter
2) Benítez ponders Chelsea's strength in depth
Woe betide Rafael Benítez if Chelsea have a real selection crisis. For the FA Cup trip to Brentford Benítez was without the long-term knee injury victim Oriol Romeu and David Luiz, who has a calf problem. Petr Cech had a niggle and was stood down; Eden Hazard was banned for you-know-what and the Nigeria duo Mikel John Obi and Victor Moses were at the Africa Cup of Nations. A shock: Yossi Benayoun was sighted among the substitutes. Yet Benítez continued to give the impression that he was labouring in the grip of crisis. It is fair to say that League One Brentford would gladly trade places with him but here's a thought, which was put to Chelsea's interim manager: the club would truly be in the brown stuff if they suffered serious bad luck with injuries. "I agree with you," Benítez replied. David Hytner
3) Another south-coast surge awaits
Brighton v Arsenal felt like a Premier League fixture in waiting. Brighton may be six points adrift of the Championship play-offs but their development as a club is inexorable with the style and classy nature of their approach play reflecting their manager's principles. Arsenal needed to call on the cavalry – Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Kieron Gibbs, for a hapless André Santos – to prevail against a team who lost their captain Gordon Greer before the break and their most potent attacking threat, Will Buckley, at half-time. This club has the stadium. It will soon have the training ground. One day, possibly imminently, it will have a presence in the Premier League. Dominic Fifield
4) Luton's shock deserved to be seen live
Was it really commercial imperatives that drove the decision makers at ITV and ESPN to choose two all Premier League ties to televise on Saturday? Or, like their counterparts in the BBC who persist in using pundits like Alan Shearer, Mark Lawrenson and Alan Hansen (and pay them a small fortune) on Match of the Day, and the appalling Alan Green on Radio 5's 606, do they have no real understanding of what supporters are feeling and thinking? Either way their lack of empathy is as depressing as their arrogant insistence that they know best. Richard Rae
5) Villa's slump goes on
The worry for Paul Lambert as he prepares for Tuesday's cataclysmic Premier League match with Newcastle is that his team's defensive problems are getting worse, not better. The return of Ron Vlaar from injury just before the derby with West Brom was supposed to add composure and organisational acumen to a dishevelled backline but there has been little sign of that. West Brom and Bradford exposed the same old failings but the most damning evidence came at Millwall, where Villa's feebleness was embarrassing enough to suggest their problem is more a dearth of quality than a lack of experience. Eric Lichaj is a 24-year-old USA international who failed to prevent Danny Shittu from heading an equaliser from a corner moments after Shittu had headed just over from a similar set piece. Ciaran Clarke is bigger than his fellow 23-year-old Jamie Henry but was bullied off the ball by the winger before being saved by Shay Given. As the pressure increased, the errors entered the arena of dark comedy, as shown by Millwall's winning goal when 23-year-old Matthew Lowton jumped in the wrong place and at the wrong time as he apparently attempted to cut out a cross from 21-year-old Adam Smith to John Marquis, a 20-year-old striker making his first start after more than a year out with injury. Paul Doyle
6) Rooney puts left foot forward
Wayne Rooney scores with his left foot is hardly 'man bites dog' news yet the 50th-minute strike he blasted beyond Fulham's Mark Schwarzer at Old Trafford on Saturday was a collectors' item. Since the Rooney circa Euro 2004, who was a blur of surging runs, dribbles and goals that flew in off either boot, the striker has become a less unbridled force. The way he instantly turned Anderson's pass from his right foot to his left and pulled the trigger showed that, when instinct takes over, there is still another menacing dimension to his game. Jamie Jackson
7) Time to drop Jelavic?
After one goal in 12 league games David Moyes had considered omitting Nikica Jelavic for Saturday's FA Cup tie at Bolton. But, he said, "I wanted to play him, to give him every opportunity to get it right." The Croatian did not take his chance, however, and the manager added: "I will need to look at it now." Everton's winner at the Reebok came with Marouane Fellaini playing behind Victor Anichebe, just as they were more threatening in last Monday's draw at Southampton during the Nigeria international's cameo. So he could be the sole striker for Wednesday's game against West Brom and, if Jelavic is reprieved, it may be simply because Everton are short of numbers elsewhere, especially if Kevin Mirallas's hamstring problems rule him out. Richard Jolly
8) Park strife
Signing players like Park Ji-sung was supposed to usher in a new era of success at Queens Park Rangers but the South Korean has endured a miserable spell during his short time at Loftus Road. Expectations were high after his move from Manchester United and perhaps that explains why QPR's fans quickly targeted him when his form disappointed. Against MK Dons he was jeered when Harry Redknapp took him off in the second half. The problem is that QPR were kidding themselves when they signed Park. At United Park was a tactically useful hustler and a diligent professional but not someone you would want to build your team round. QPR have asked him to be something he is not and all parties have suffered because of that. Jacob Steinberg
9) Spanish influx continues apace
When the Premier League era opened in 1992-93, only one of the 13 registered foreign players, Tottenham's Nayim, was from Spain, and it was not until 1998 that the first full Spain international, Albert Ferrer, arrived. However, 20 years on the Spanish diaspora is gathering momentum, with more than two dozen now representing top-flight clubs. Arguably no English club has stronger historical links than Wigan, who signed the Three Amigos – current manager Roberto Martínez, Jesus Seba and Isidro Diaz – in the summer of 1995, and who on Saturday at Macclesfield's Moss Rose had four Spaniards participating in their fourth-round FA Cup win, including the debutant goalkeeper Joel, a team-mate of Michu at Rayo Vallecano last season. Richard Gibson
10) City's defensive quandary
Manchester City cannot really be short of centre-backs, can they? Most of their problems when Vincent Kompany limped off at Stoke were caused by not having Matija Nastasic on the bench as an instant replacement. Nastasic is a left-sided player, though, like Joleon Lescott. Ideally City would like Kolo Touré back from Africa or Micah Richards back from injury, though with versatile players such as Aleksandar Kolarov, Pablo Zabaleta, Javi García and Gaël Clichy they surely have enough strength to muddle through. Paul Wilson
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