James

You sir, clearly have no appreciation of a good footballer. He hasn't been the player we hoped he would be I agree but he certainly hasn't been awful in all games he has played.

If you are going to accuse him of being awful at least get your facts right. He scored 2 in 2. He hasn't been awful, that goal against Man City was a strike that nobody else in the squad is capable of.

This is a given.

I just don't see it with Barkley. He runs forward about 15 yards and then gives the ball away... He is, IMO, massively overhyped.

You are, as usual, clearly on a wind up. They have barely had the ball in our box for it to be more than 1! Sometimes I wonder if I'm watching the same game as some of the 'experts' on here.

Everton really do not deserve their lead.

Another poor call by that woeful Lino...

There have been some dreadful offside calls this Xmas. Time for the FA to get them in for extra training.

Dreadful offside decision there.

That goal was down to Shaw. Poor positioning.

He is the worst keeper we've had since I've been supporting Saints. He can't catch, he can't even block, has weak wrists, awful positioning and never makes a save. I would honestly rather we still had Bart and he was dreadful. Not even a League Two keeper. Is Gazzaniga Argentinian for Forecast?

Jos Hooiveld has to go. Three major errors in two games. MP has serious questions to answer. Where the **** is Fonte?

When you consider who we've played and the circumstances in which we have played some of them I would completely disagree... The last two games have yielded excellent results.

4-4-2 seems sensible and so does giving Jose and Adam a bit of a rest. We got battered playing our usual formation last season so maybe MP thinks this will help combat it. If either Fonte or Lallana have a slight knock then its a sensible idea. Still, a strong enough team to give Newcastle a good game - they aren't any great shakes without Cabaye.

He has scored from open play, against Fulham.

All things considered, that really isn't a bad team.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black... Yes, Boruc dropped a clanger v Arsenal but if he had been absent and Gazza present against Swansea, WBA and Liverpool then we certainly wouldn't have 9 points in the bag. I also find it interesting that you criticise praise of Boruc yet don't point out any strengths that Gazza has (it's because he never makes a save). Tell me this, have you ever come away from a game thinking that Gazza's contribution preserved any points? We have, IMO won points this season BECAUSE of Boruc. Any points we win in his absence will, I think, be in spite of rather than because of Gazza's performances. That is the difference between a good keeper and a poor one. He has only ever played regular games in League two and, unfortunately for us, it shows.

I cannot remember the last time he saved a shot and every time there is a shot on target I assume it's in. He is ****ing awful and should be nowhere near a Premier League starting XI. I wonder if we will lose every game whilst Boruc is out purely because we won't score more than our opposition have shots on target....

Have faith - we beat Man City last year with a weaker side than the one which will go out on Saturday (despite the injuries). You'd expect to lose away at Arsenal and Chelsea and let's face it we ran them close..we played well in patches against Villa but got hit my three sucker punch goals. Yes, we defended poorly in places but how many times do you see 3 shots, 3 goals? It's a freak result and everyone gets those. I have confidence MP will sort out the defence. Let's just get behind the team. 4 defeats from 4 wouldn't be ideal but it looks worse as a stat and not quite as bad when you consider the circumstances. We have not become a bad side in the space of one week and I sincerely hope the players know that (even though many of the usual suspects on here think otherwise).

Last time I checked 8 of those 11 players are still out there. May be give them a little respect, credit for what they have achieved so far and the chance to turn it around before writing everyone off.

Oh well if the pundits don't say anything then you must be right.... I'm not saying it was a howler just that he could have done better and was very slow to get down to it. Fair enough that it was difficult but the making of difficult saves is what separates great keepers from average ones....Boruc is a great keeper, Gazza is thoroughly average.

Rather than making a cheap shot, perhaps you could explain to us what exactly Osvaldo has done, bar score one goal against a very poor Palace team.

A good assessment of the game. Although I disagree that Gazza couldn't have stopped the third, I think that Boruc would have kept that out.

Osvaldo was awful today - I just don't get what he is trying to do. He wants an extra touch always but there just isn't the time for it in the Prem. If Gaston wasn't up to it on last season's performances then Osvaldo has a long long way to go to merit a place in the team. Very disappointed.

Watch it again and tell me Boruc wouldn't have got a hand on it...