VictiAbNonem

Haven't seen anyone else do it, so thought I should mention Theo's lovely finish of our best goal today. He gets a lot of (deserved and undeserved) stick, but definitely earned a bit of credit there.

Agree on Stephens entirely. But think Ralph was restricted in his sub option by needing to manage Ings and Armstrong's minutes. Danny's not long back from injury, and Stu runs so hard so well that I think I'd rather get 70-75 minutes of him playing like that than 90 of him conserving energy.

I still love that stat that Alderweireld didn't make a single defensive error in his season with us. But then get depressed after imagining what might have been if we could have kept him AND got VVD..

I think he has already got much better with age and experience. There were some jitters on here when he was first brought back in to cover for Bertie, but he's been mostly very solid and put in some absolutely crucial, and occasionally fearless, tackles and blocks in the few games back that have almost certainly saved goals. I think he's earned consideration as an important squad member, and possible contender for a starting spot.

Agree on Che MOTM, but it's remarkable how close Tella came to pinching it. If he'd scored the second he so nearly took late on he'd HAVE to have been. After half an hour on the pitch.

Seems a really likeable, positive lad. I'm delighted his impressive performances have now got him a very well deserved first goal and assist

There's so much potential there for headlines, and much else! Tella-vision, Tella-graph, Tella-phone, Tella-scope, Tella-kinesis, Tella-portation.. And Tella-vangelists for us worshipping fans

Adams, Tella and Walcott almost telepathic there. Maybe Tella-pathic?!

Did anyone watch the Swiss U21 win he played in against England? In the highlights, I can only see him covering a bit, backing off a few times and jumping on top of their goal scorer England U21 0-1 Switzerland U21: Swiss grab deserved win over Young Lions in Euro U21 Championship opener | Football News | Sky Sports

Voting for Stuart Armstrong as player of the season is open on the club website https://www.southamptonfc.com/player-of-the-season-20-21

Jack made more, and more threatening, runs forward against Leicester than I've seen from Bertie for ages. I hope he continues to cover there while RB's out and does well enough to get back in Ralph's good books

Good to see Romeu back sooner than expected, even if not next week. We've really missed his tackles.

I didn't say he was good, just better than usual! He gave me far fewer arse-clenching moments than he has in recent games. And he did seem to step up after JV went off.

Wow. Thought we were heading for embarrassment after the ridiculous sending off. Credit has to go to all of the defence. KWP had one of his best games for us. Jack had his best game of the season. Salisu looked too good not have started. Bednarek looked far more solid than he has in a while. Vesty better get that red turned over. I thought Stu and Che worked very hard to keep us looking a bit dangerous throughout. We might even win a couple of games before the end of the season..

Whatever happens in the last few minutes, I think this has been Saint's best performance this year. Down to 10 after 10 against an in form top 4 side, ref wearing dark blue, we've defended really well and kept threatening them all game.

Both have been good, and Bednarek hasn't screwed up yet either. Probably just a matter of time..

We're looking better with ten men and no Ings than we did in the semi.

Jack's playing pretty well..

Before the semi-final I was thinking that it might be an idea to play Salisu in a defensive midfield role. Thought he might be a good replacement for Romeu's much missed tackling in midfield, and with his pace could have covered any forward runs from their midfield. Seemed a pretty risky new ploy for a big game, so I just thought it rather than posting it! Given how the game went though, I think we should have taken more risks. And now, seeing how well he played last night out of position, I reckon we should give him a try there. It does mean playing Bednarek or Stephen at CB, but gives us far better defensive cover from midfield than we get from JWP or Armstrong. Stu's covered really well at CM, but he's better further forward or out wide; JWP could play with a bit more freedom, as I think he was when playing with Romeu. We need to do something to shore up the big defensive hole in our midfield. If Ralph can't trust Jankewitz, is this worth a try?

Another way we're missing Romeu

He wasn't missed when a centre back played in his place.

I think we're desperately missing Romeu. I know our form wasn't great before his injury, but he's one of the best tacklers in the league and nobody has filled his very big boots since then.

I know we were shit in throwing away a lead that should have been bigger after our first half. But we were really impressive in that first half. Against a team that has, as far as I can tell, 13 players who are better paid than our best paid player. One of their players cost, and costs, more than half our squad. We do quite well on a shoestring Premier League budget.

Are there any mountains where the players can train at altitude near Southampton?

Like your assessment, except I think you missed Salisu from the positives. He made some crucial defensive interventions, and showed his pace and some skill going forwards. I reckon he could be a decent player for us.