qwertyell

Stephens actually won a header in the box today. Just the one, but it's a step in the right direction. I think many of us have felt he'd go well on the right of a back three, and he certainly backed that up with his performance. Echoing what others have said about us being too negative in the second half - if that was the plan, why did we leave Tadic and Redmond on for so long when they were only turning the ball over? If we could've just retained possession a bit better we would've won that, but we gave it up so cheaply time and again. Why Lemina wasn't called into action was puzzling. He can tackle, pass and also carry the ball forward - attributes we were crying out for. Great effort, lots of huff and puff, but a lack of quality on the ball generally, I thought. This isn't a vintage Arsenal team but we treated them like they were Barcelona. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

1-0 h/t. Not sure how we're ahead, to be honest. We look shaky in defence and horrible in possession - don't think this line up is working. Ward-Prowse is again a passenger, Redmond is just a terrible player, Romeu is getting bypassed too easily in transition when we (inevitably) lose possession after three passes. Great finish by Austin, a quality save low down from Forster, and Hojbjerg has been excellent. I think a reshuffle at the break is in order, though. Can't believe Lemina isn't on the pitch. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

A draw's better than nothing, but we remain that worrying combination of sluggish in attack and uneasy at the back. If we can only win games against clubs in midst of a crisis, it's going to be a long journey to 40 points. Ward-Prowse must've been dragged off at half time around four times now in his last ten to twelve starts. Quality. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Really poor - Bournemouth deservedly ahead, should've had a penalty too. Zero counterattacking threat due the sloth-like make up of our forward line. Pretty grim viewing. Even without his mistake, Hoedt hasn't been impressive - badly caught flatfooted by Ake in a carbon copy of his goal in this fixture last season. Where do we go from here? Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Typical - first game of the season I miss and we suddenly kick into life. Much needed result, and by all accounts the performance to boot. Nice. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Well, Fulham turned down £25m from Spurs in the summer, so a) he'll cost more than we can scrape together and b) he'll know he has much better options than joining us. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

What is most depressing is that we've sold so much talent, with the promise that all the funds will be reinvested, and THIS is the squad we've ended up with after peeing all that money up the wall. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

I can certainly believe some of our tactics have been pulled out of Eric Black's box. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

"Set piece specialist Ward-Prowse"-watch: 71st minute. Men against boys here. Prime steak verses something that probably isn't even food. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

I think it's fair to say Liverpool are a bit better than us. Their attack is Salah, Mane, Firmino and Coutinho. Our is, uh, Shane Long. Both goals pretty soft. Tadic predictably dawdling on the ball, and Forster predictably beaten from outside the area not moving his feet. The second goal was poor from everyone. Coutinho had all day to pick a pass in behind, Van Dijk for some reason was five yards ahead of the defensive line, Hoedt had no idea where Salah was, Bertrand couldn't be bothered tracking the inside run. All very routine for Liverpool, unfortunately. We have no goal threat, the Romeu-Davis midfield axis is continually overrun (as it is every time they're paired) and concede very soft goals. This game's over. By Christmas our Premier League status could be headed the same way. There's no obvious thin sliver of hope to even cling to. Unless Josh Sims is going to come back from injury as Leo Messi. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

**** Advocaat resigns as Holland boss. I wonder if Ronald has played a blinder and gotten a fat pay off to leave a job he never really wanted, only to walk into one of his two stated "dream" appointments a few short weeks later? Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

He looks slow and out of shape. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

I don't see us making 40 points, so survival is going to come down to how poor everyone else is in comparison. I think all three promoted sides will stay up, so there's going to be some "established" names falling through the trapdoor this season - Saints' mixture of self-important prima donnas, arm-waving, shoulder-shrugging lack of fight, and general lethargy is not exactly well suited to a successful relegation battle. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Quite similar in style and build to Gabbiadini - and injury prone to boot. Not sure this story rings true. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

If nothing else, he's certainly prettier than Forster. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Well, we can't change the players for at least another two months, so the only other meaningful change we can make until then is the manager. It's not going to get better. He hasn't shown even the merest inkling of having any answers to our myriad of deficiencies. Another couple of months of this and we'll reach the new year in the bottom five - or worse. Time for the new owner to step up and take charge of the grim direction his investment is headed in. The whole set-up needs a complete overhaul. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

The most predictable h/t 0-0 in history - anti-football Vs timid-ball. Credit to Redmond. Worst player on the pitch for 20 minutes, but at least kept his head up and kept trying - and finished the half looking like our most likely attacking option. Tadic invisible again. Cedric poor. Going to need some Boufal magic or it'll be another blank, I'm afraid. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Yes, most players who do their ACL rarely return at the same physical level. Walcott's game is so one-dimensionally reliant on pace that his game has clearly dropped off since his knee injury. Frankly, I don't see the point in selling Rodriguez because he wasn't the player he was pre-injury and then signing Walcott for more money when he too is a lesser version of himself - for the exact same reason. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

MLT on Sky complaining about how boring Saints were at the weekend, passing side to side instead of attacking. Says Gabbiadini makes amazing runs but it's a total waste of time as no-one will pass the ball forwards. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Another listless performance with no attacking threat, no sense of urgency and no impression that the new manager has the slightest idea how to get the best out of his squad. When is the time to panic? That's all three promoted teams played now and we haven't beaten any of them. Scraping together a minimal amount of points against one of the easiest opening 10 games we'll ever have is going to be put into stark, bleak context by the time all the decent teams have met us, I fear. Forster - 4. Worst keeper in the league on current form. Seven year contract extension incoming... Cedric - 5. Can't help being short, but the frequency with which opponents are standing the ball up to the far post for an easy towering header over Cedric's non-challenge is a serious problem. Bertrand - 5. Phoning it in. Van Dijk - 5. See Bertrand. Hoedt - 5. Knock a point off for whinging about not playing and then being bang average when he does. Romeu - 5. Is he just not good anymore? Davis - 6. Davis-y. Ward-Prowse - 4. Takes a decent set-piece. And there begins and ends all of his attributes of any worth. Anonymous in open play. Boufal - 6. Some flicks, some tricks, some flailing around. Not great. Tadic - 5. Nothing much. Again. Gabbiadini - 4. Might as well have not played a striker if we had no plans to attack. Must've really relished having to contest aimless 70 yards hoofs with two 6' 4" centre backs and no support within the same county. Subs: nothing. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Jesus Christ, Forster is a liability. Has all the agility of a tree. Standing the ball up to the far post for the striker to easily beat Cedric in the air has been a fruitful opposition tactic for too long. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Successfully boring them to death so far. It'd be nice if we could give Gabbiadini some support and try for a second - I think we'll find it hard to get back on the front foot if we keep sitting deep and do concede an equaliser. Come on, Saints, show a bit of intent to take charge of this game. Passive football is rife with pitfalls. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Amazing how much weaker we'll be with just the loss of one midfielder. I think it's time Hojbjerg had another shot, but I suspect we'll get the much tried and failed trio of Romeu, Davis and Ward-Prowse instead. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Perhaps he didn't have any choice but to play "slow tempo" football with a squad full of one-paced sideways passers. It's not as though we've been rattling around at breakneck speed since Puel left - it's been more of the same: slow, ponderous, unimaginative. Good luck to him if he goes to Leicester. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

But a worldie for cement legs. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk