qwertyell

Salisu's our strongest player in the air and takes unremarkable throw ins. It makes no sense.

Have to be happy with the win to cap off a decent run of results. Deserved points on the back of a dominant first half. The second half, though, was the worst we've played all season. Worse than Everton away. We just lost all control of the game from minute 45 and our composure and decision making followed suit. So many heavy touches and misplaced passes. It wasn't a great suprise - we ended the Watford game in a similar panic. Livramento, Bednarek, Sarmstrong were really poor - Salisu a mix of great interceptions and suicidal passing. And yet McCarthy had nothing to do. A very strange game all round. Good for Aarmstrong getting back in the goals again. After a rough period wondering who was going to score for us, we've suddenly got three strikers in a bit of goalscoring form. That's got to be positive. And Lyanco getting some more minutes (and only dropping one bollock) can't be a bad thing. Let's hope for a quiet international break and go bank another three points at Norwich.

Pathetic start to the second half. Second best everywhere.

Really frustrating half. Instead of attacking their weak link Targett with our best attacker Livramento, we've focused almost exclusively down the other side, where Walker-Peters' short comings as an out of position right back have scuppered every promising move. Coupled with Ward-Prowse delivering a disaster class of corner taking, the fact Villa should be down to 10 men, and the inevitability of our hopeless attempts at passing the ball around at the back costing us a goal eventually, you can't help but feel we're going to pay, again, by not putting the game to bed when we're on top. Apart from that, nice to be 1-0 up...

And also was in the Championship.

That was only McGinn's 4th yellow, I think, so no suspension.

Hamstring, supposedly.

Everton away in the second half was worse. But, yes, the longer we couldn't get the second goal, the more anxiety crept into our game and our decision making became increasingly poor and panicky. Composed, we were not. Would have been a travesty if we'd let Watford steal an equaliser. mind - they were garbage. But we've got to put these teams to bed early.

Well that was fucking agony. So many poor decisions in the second half, heavy touches, general incompetence. Comical lack of composure all round. A big save from McCarthy (after Romeu's latest headless chicken act had overrun the play) preserves the points. This season is going to kill me off if we can barely manage a goal a game and are dependant on holding on to clean sheets to get anything. Yeesh. Anyway, bank the points - 7 from 9 from our "easy run" - breathe a sigh of relief and move on. MOTM? I think Walker-Peters did a solid job down the left and just about came out on top of Watford's best player, Sarr.

Should be all over, but our inability to kill off our opponents when we're on top is a fucking nightmare. With Burnley getting their first win today and Leeds having a bye against Norwich tomorrow, this game is already looking like a must-win. Fingers crossed we don't drop our level again in the second half. Watford haven't even been mediocre so far.

I think Koeman might go into semi retirement now. He's made his money, managed his two dream teams (Holland and Barcelona), and seems increasingly keen on playing golf and simply enjoying life. He could return if the Dutch national job becomes available again down the line. He was a great manager for us. The best we've had in the PL era. Cold as a dead fish and couldn't give two shits about the club, but there's no denying the job he did.

Brentford keeper Raya out for five months with a knee injury. Big loss for them. Still unlikely to be involved in the relegation fight, though.

Missed all our chances when we were playing quite well in the first half, created next to nothing in the second, customary defensively lapses, lack of quality etc. Just another weekend. I don't know why any manager would start Theo Walcott these days. All he ever had to his game was pace, and that's long gone. There's not another person alive who expected anything from him today. What on earth is the point?

Fucking Bednarek again. Honestly, I think he might be less mobile even than Vestergaard.

Nah, Burnley will be all right. They've actually been playing pretty well - by their standards - and will start shithousing points again soon enough. Hopefully not this weekend, though.

Brentford look horrible to play against. No chance they're going to be down at the bottom this season.

Well played. Win. Clean sheet. Played okay as well. Made an absolute meal of an appalling Leeds side, mind you. I mentioned a couple of weeks back that they might be in trouble this season - they're a couple of injuries shy of being a mediocre Championship side who can't defend. We need more cutting edge. Can't be barely managing a goal every other game. Broja took his chance well and is a handful, albeit quite raw at times. Redmond had a good game, but he needs to be on the wing not as a strike pairing, IMHO. Also, Diallo balances the midfield far better than Ward-Prowse because his mobility is on a different level. Not sure how we resolve that moving forwards, but that's tomorrow's problem. Anyway, something to build on. Let's back it up against Burnley.

Can't say we've played badly, but still nothing to show from it against probably the most open defence we'll face all season. Both quite promising and quite worrying all at the same time - impossible to believe Leeds can be that bad for 90 minutes.

What stars? If we actually had some stars, we might not be in such a mess. The podcast interview with Martin Semmens the other day didn't really betray any sense of urgency over the ongoing death spiral.

He's got all the way to the middle of October leading the worst team in the league in 2021 - I think it's fair to say the club consider him untouchable. Or can't afford the pay off.

And the previous 21 fixtures? Were they too hard as well? What is it, 18 points from our last 28 games? When your team's in a nine month death spiral, we're the only easy-looking fixture on the schedule.

Shame that doesn't include winning a few games.

You don't think the last 28 games were a time to earn his wages (highest paid manager in our history)?

For all the flak the defence rightly get, they're exposed time and again by a weak midfield pairing that is overrun and outnumbered every week. Looking like we're going to be 17th after 7 games, 0 wins. Or 18 points from 28 games, if you like. It's not working.

Said it before, but the danger of having a dogmatic "philosophy" manager is if/when their philosophy turns out to be fucking useless. Where do they go then? The egomaniac's written his own football "bible" FFS. He's not going to admit he's full of shit. It'll be the same with Leeds and Bielsa. If their form continues to flatline, he'll walk away before he admits his methods are wrong. Same as he's always done. We're a piece of piss to play against. Most sides have our number by now: let us have the ball and we haven't got a clue what to do with it as the only way we can "create" chances is by winning possession high up the pitch. Then wait for us to overcommit and hit us on the break, as we've got a two man midfield who can't run - or simply just wait for an inevitable defensive/goalkeeping mistake to provide an opportunity on a plate. The "philosophy" is actually half decent against the best sides as they want to control possession and build from the back, which gives us plenty of chances to intercept in dangerous areas - we'll probably give a reasonable account of ourselves at Chelsea. But plucky performances and the odd point here and there against the big guns is small comfort if you can't beat the lesser teams. Which we can't. Can a different manager get a tune out of this squad? We'll never know unless we try. They might unlock something by throwing the bible into the Solent and trying to play actual football, though. Something's got to give, I'm afraid.