No, don't compare with Sakho, we don't own him. Keep him very quiet!

Maybe that was the issue. I have no insight into the training methods that AP or SA use, but just from seeing the difference team now over December, the improvement in fitness is obvious. Townsend (just as one example) is an entirely different player. At half time I was worried he would run out of steam, but he carried on to the 94th minute. I guess that was partly down to a confidence boost of a few wins, but it can't be all down to that.

“My experience of life is that it is not divided up into genres; it’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you’re lucky."