Chez

we've parked the bus. five at the back and zero attacking threat. Good plan. The more we attack the more we look like we will concede. Keep it tight chaps.

tiny insignificant thing, but JWP is so slow to that second ball. Nothing came of it, but that lack of pace in midfield hurts in the end as we send so much energy chasing after the ball.

in this formation the wing backs are the outlet, but neither is doing enough...again

he really didn't. Neither are ready.

Cedric really doesn't want to cross with his left...but when he did it wasn't too bad at all.

Valery is too casual for me.

decent start. Romeu chases so hard. He gives it everything.

Maybe the club has no choice. If Forster is going nowhere (when they expected he would leave) then maybe they cant afford to keep all three.

like your thinking. Might be a good option for a wing back role too. Victor Moses might be another option. How about both of those two and Bolasie. It would bring in some much needed pace and strength that's for sure.

Begs the question, why didn't he play Cedric against City? Bizarre. Is Targett injured or has Ralf just decided that pretty much anyone else must be a better option at left back? Makes a lot of sense for him to get a loo at everyone, although can you really make a decision on players based on one game, especially against city or Chelsea?

I'd look to trade pretty much any player we have with an alternative. We desperately need some size and pace. Has Bolasie got back to anywhere near his best at Villa and if so can we hijack his season long loan somehow? One of my favourite players to watch when he was at Palace and would love to see that attacking power and pace and tricks added to our forward line.

he will need to find out what the selling terms are, the fee and percentage of wage we are willing to pay etc. and how much money he will personally be paid for finding his client a new club.

the ref felt guilty about not giving the first, so evened things out?

not the most intimidating of grounds, thats for sure, but to be fair the whole stadium stood up and bayed for a penalty.

- Premier League clubs may not register more than two players on loan at any one time. - The maximum number of loans registrable in the same season is four, and, under no circumstances, shall more than one be from the same club at any one time. - Premier League clubs cannot loan to another Premier League club a player they have acquired in the same transfer window. - A Premier League club may loan not more than one of its goalkeepers to another Premier League club

lack of pace is a concern, but those other facets sound good.

net spend doesn't include signing on fees, paying loyalty bonuses and **** manager redundancies. Also, our wage bill is ****ing massive. It consumes pretty much all the TV and Prem revenue. Do we have massive funds in the bank waiting to be spent? I'm not so sure. We certainly don't appear to have an owner prepared to spend money not generated by the cub. Prepare to be disappointed by our transfer dealings.

I thought he wasn't too bad today in the first half. Not great, but not terrible either. Didn't do anything in the second half, but then again, who did? Don't get me wrong, I am not saying he's a good signing. He's hardly played and done little in the cameos Ive seen.

I could not agree more. Not quite as weak line up as the Arsenal cup game, but similar lack of any attacking notion in the second half. A flat back five with fullbacks that didn't press at all was a complete surrender.

I thought from my poor angle that Kompany's challenge looked reckless and thus a red card. Was that the case? I don't think I have ever come across a player that makes so many fouls and bad tackles ad gets away with so few cards. He is a very articulate nice fella and refs seem to judge him on that rather than individual fouls. Having said that, the ref was very lenient when choosing to ignore Hoj volleying Sterling five feet in the air in the first half. I'm surprised at how many people on here were satisfied by so many of our player performances. It could easily have been 6 or 7 today. How they didn't score from their first attack I will never know. McArthy made some excellent saves to keep the scoreline respectable, the one with his head was especially good, but he perhaps could have done better with the second and third. Ramsey looked a bit slow to me. Is he a centre back in the U23s? I know Ralf needed to rotate, but why on earth did he select Ramsey, who lacked pace, to mark Sterling/Sane? In the second half he did absolutely nothing except mark space. Him and Valery were like synchronised right backs, mirroring each others movements, yet between them they still couldn't stop Sterling. We effectively played with 10 men. That was mostly down to the formation. I am not sure what he could have done other than move out to Silva a bit more, but that would have left space behind him. I found that incredibly frustrating in the second half. We didn't give it a go, we just sat deep and filled space. As against West Ham the wing backs sat back and didn't push on which crippled us. Valery - he isn't lightning quick either. Ive said this for years that pace is essential at fullback. Are there any top class fullbacks that are not quick? Most seem to be former wingers that are incredibly comfortable on the ball. By and large I have liked what I have seen with him, but he was rubbish today. Completely done by Sterling who he hacked from behind for a stick on pen. Bednarek is also too slow for this level. Can't fault his commitment and he made some tackles and blocks, as you would expect really, but his lack of pace is an issue and has a knock on effect. I was concerned he would be exposed in a four man defence, but we changed it quite early to a five. I really don't rate him, but maybe I need to cut him a bit more slack...not sure why. Stephens did OK, but his ability on the ball catches the eye and thats never been in question. I'd pick him over Bednarek. Targett - when your fullback is being beaten in the air by Mahrez the time has come to look for a replacement. He is as slow and weak as he was before he went to Fulham. Great first touch...but not good enough at this level. We need winners and he isn't one. Hoj looked like the only Saints player physically strong enough to dominate an opponent. He seems to get better every time I see him. Shame he lost his head. That is very bad news for us. Romeu - Did OK, but we certainly didn't control the midfield area. I was surprised he was subbed so early as he looked like he still had the legs, but maybe was being rested. Lemina - sorry but you have got to win those block tackles or a least show the commitment needed of a relegation threaten side. Fans won't accept a flimsy attempt to win the ball. A below par display not helped by looking totally lost on the left hand side of a three man midfield, but much better on the right when we moved to five at the back. The game seemed to go on around him but when give the chance to make a mark he tackled with the outside of his boot. Elyounoussi - contrary to forum opinion I thought he had quite a good game. He ran down some blind alleys, but there was often very few passing options. He retained possession quite well and I actually thought his sharpness and desire was the spark for our first half resurgence. In the second half he did little I suppose, but 8 men so deep the front three had no chance or doing much. Austin - what a great chance fluffed in the first half. He wanted to control it and shoot both on his right foot. That gave him no room for error and the chance was lost. Not sure I understand why he started ahead of Long. He doesn't lead the line well. He does hold the ball up and bring players in. He's a goal hanger, no more no less that should come on for the last 20 minutes if we need a goal. Redmond was totally infective when he came on, but as I mentioned, we gave up any thoughts of getting back into the game when reverting to a flat five at the back. Long did his best but had very little opportunity

the more Valery plays the better he will become. I just wonder if he might be better suited to right back rather than wingback, which requires a more offensive player.

lucky them. Looked top draw last night. It was a great battle between him and Romeu by the way.

amen to that. Mind you if it means that we have someone other than Targett dropping back that can only be a bonus. Seriously though, the number of times we have conceded from our own corners is ridiculous and needs addressing. Changing the taker is probably just the start.

very few attacking options at his disposal. We badly need to bring in an alternative option to Redmond. Bringing Long or Austin off the bench is not enough to change a game. We need to keep adding more flair to the final third, and strength and pace and and and...and better players everywhere.

I'd be interested to get yardage stats fir players. Romeu and Lemina seemed to be covering a lot of grass to me. Lemina also made quite a lot of gut busting box to box runs too. I thought those two were making up for the inadequacies of the wing backs and the ineffectiveness fo Ings and Redmond. Armstrong was quiet in the first half too, which left our midfield to do a lot of work. Lemina's body language can be terrible after he has made one of those long runs forward. He looks absolutely shattered, with shoulders hunched forward. That might be interpreted as him being deflated or dejected by some. Personally I love his effort and ability to recycle ball. He does give it away cheaply sometimes, but the flip side to that is he beats a man, gets between the lines and creates the attacking opportunities critical at this level. Without him we often look very one dimensional. The biggest drawback is that he wonders a lot leaving us exposed.