qwertyell

Given that Jose Fonte has more than held his own for us for 7-8 years, I find it hard to believe anyone thinks a lack of pace is the be all and end all of a successful centre back. In any case, Stephens moves pretty well - far better than Fonte ever did - and has shown enough mobility to do a job at right back too. His reaction to danger might be slow - as evidenced with West Ham's first goal yesterday (not that the more experienced Yoshida reacted any better) - but I don't think Stephens' pace is going to be the attribute that makes or breaks him at this level. I thought he did all right yesterday - certainly not the worst player in a Saints shirt, in spite of being the least experienced.

Insipid in attack, weak in defence, plodding in midfield, a keeper who can't save anything - it was only a matter of time before the continual downgrading of the team caught up with us. Big half coming up, in the context of the season. We're sleepwalking towards catastrophe, but the powers that be appear in total denial.

I'm sure Claude will be watching West Ham's defence capitulate to pace, movement and decisive forward passing... and working out how to set us up to play exactly the opposite...

IIRC Reid is on crazy wages at West Ham. Way out of Saints' budget.

If John Stones had put in that kind of performance, the papers today would be frothing with "new Bobby Moore" hyperbole. Stephens stepped up magnificently. If he can push on from here, we could have another gem on our hands. I don't see why he shouldn't. He moves well, is calm and comfortable on the ball, reads the play and generally puts himself in good positions. There's plenty to work with. But, of course, it's difficult for teams at the top level to give experience to youngsters in key positions (like cb or gk) where a mistake almost always results in a goal. The stakes are usually too high. Good luck to him.

It was the best thing he did. He was pretty poor when he came on - I thought Clasie's extra experience and tenacity would've been a better bet. Can't make my mind up about Hojbjerg. Bags of enthusiasm, a few touches of class, but he really hasn't found a consistent level of play - some days, he's rank awful. And he's comically inept in front of goal.

It's got heartbreak written all over it - the better team, missing our chances again; we won't keep Liverpool out all game. Really good performance from the lads, though. Doing themselves proud. Redmond playing the best he ever has in a Saints shirt. Tadic is so half assed in everything he does - such a frustrating player. Right, back to the second half. I'll be behind the sofa if anyone needs me...

Wow, Hojbjerg is utterly woeful. Composure of a startled kitten.

Or perhaps teams have worked out if you place the ball even fractionally to the side of him instead of straight at him, he hasn't the mobility, agility or ability to do much about it...

He's shown some bright moments, but I think he's at Celtic on a two year loan in any case.

Most predictable result of the season, after a half decent performance in midweek.

The opposition have worked out that as long as you don't hammer the ball straight at him it'll go in. It doesn't even have to find the corner, just placed far enough away from Forster that he has to move or twist his lumbering frame with a modicum of agility. Then he's screwed. He's not a terrible keeper by any means, but is massively overrated by our supporters. No better than bang average. He has size and presence, but the rest of his skills are nothing special in the slightest. I doubt we'd have done much worse in the last few years with Boruc between the sticks.

Bertrand's taken and scored one for us before, hasn't he?

Tadic looked hesitant and his movements were slow and deliberate. He didn't seem comfortable out there in the heat of battle at all. It probably hurts like hell playing with a smashed nose. It might be the case that he just needs to be kept out of the firing line for a while until he's healed up. From what we've seen of him so far, in the mask, he's nowhere near his usual standards.

Maybe we'll finally be able to play with some freedom without our bras restricting us...

4 goals in our last 8 league games. Only Boro have scored less goals than us this season. Miserable. Dour and predictable football, going nowhere, an abject lack of quality up front. And a manager who continued to play three negative central midfielders for the whole game, in spite of facing 10 men for 70 minutes. Why did he make like for like substitutions when bringing on Tadic and Rodriguez? Was he scared we'd be overrun with an extra attacker on? I suppose we would've taken a point before the game, but there are worryingly few signs of improvement in the team after six months of the Puel revolution.

He also needs a couple of months of physical conditioning after peeing away the last two years of his career dreaming about his future earnings, and eating. A pointless January signing as he won't be properly fit until the last handful of games of the season at best. Can't imagine the club would be so desperate as to take a punt on such an unprofessional waster.

It'll be 0-1, with us never looking like scoring and either Gaston or Chambers scoring with Boro's only shot of the game. That's just how it's going at the moment. The manager doesn't appear to have any answers to address the malaise. We're truly awful going forward, and Boro are very defensive - can only see us drawing another blank. I'd happily be wrong, of course.

Great result and performance to go with it. 5-0 wouldn't have flattered us. Yoshida continuing his claim to being "most improved player". Clasie came to the party. Even Cuco was less inept than usual. I must say, the academy boys were excellent: Reed was tenacious and tidy in midfield, McQueen put in a steady shift on the right wing before looking much more at home on the left, and Sims proved he wasn't a one-game wonder with some lovely touches and movement. Well played.

Best half we've produced in ages. Fast and dynamic on the counter, snappy and tidy in the midfield, compact and organised in defence. Boufal has been outstanding. If we were actually playing with a centre forward who wasn't at all-the-things-wrong-with-Shane-Long level, we might've wrapped this up by now. Claude needs to find more minutes for Harry Reed, moving forward. He always looks like he belongs. Come on, chaps, bring it home.

Boufal looks amazing. Long looks appalling.

Much needed victory - and finally played with a bit of urgency. Should never have been hanging on at the end though. Our profligacy remains a huge issue. Really pleased for Sims. He looked a prospect and a half a couple of years ago but then seemed to lose his way. He has a lovely first touch and quick feet. Lallana-esque, albeit with more pace. The beard is equally crap, mind you. I thought Cedric played fantastically as well. Ward-Prowse and Hojbjerg were decent, Austin actually held the ball up quite well and generally the performance was a promising step in the right direction after a mediocre spell. On the downside, Redmond was poor. Has he just been overplayed? Where has his pace gone? Presumably the same place his touch and decision making are hiding out. I can't help but laugh every time he cuts inside and goes to curl the ball into the far corner with his instep - a la Henry - and every time contrives to cut across the ball and slice it miles wide. It's Redmond's signature move. And I think Van Dijk was lucky for the second home game in a row not to concede a penalty for a needless lunge on Lukaku. He's an immense defender for us, but there's a streak of carelessness about him that comes out at least once a game. Puel's substitutions were a bit detrimental as well. We were well on top, but he sacrificed our shape and counter attacking threat with his changes. Long came on way too late. For ten minutes there our dynamic forward line was a knackered Austin, nominally supported by a left back. Credit to Stekelenberg - or whoever that was impersonating him - for some top banana saves.

I genuinely think we're sleepwalking towards trouble this season. Our attacking play is absolutely insipid - and showing no signs of getting better.

He's not any kind of player anymore...

He's a top ten keeper for a top ten team. No better or worse than that. It's been a common theme of his Saints career that the opposition don't need many shots on target to beat him. He's a good organiser and presence, though, and that shouldn't be discounted among the many clean sheets he's kept where he's had nothing to do. My bugbear with Forster is how poor he is in coming off his line and how many goals seem to be conceded without him so much as bothering to put a dive in. It's probably not the case, but it feels at times like he's only ever going to make saves if the shots are straight at him.