James

Rolan would be great. Is there any concrete link?

Shame if we don't bring anyone in. Would be interested in any update from the ITKs as to what happened to the other player we were chasing. Got to say that it does feel as though we are a bit short. We really are relying on Boufal to hit the ground running, if he doesn't then our team is basically as it has been in the first three games and, IMO, we don't have enough firepower.

So nice of you to take the time and quote that so you could gloat. Pathetic really. I bow to your superior insight.

A definite yes but zero chance.

If that turns out to be true then you really do need to question the club's transfer planning. Most on here think that we have it all mapped out and that everything we do is carefully planned. If JRod stays then it shows that, this summer at least, the club is purely reactionary. We were all set to loan out JRod and are now keeping him on the basis of a goal that he hit straight at the keeper and which should have been saved. Either that or Boufal's failed the medical.

Good post. It's pretty clear that Tadic (or whoever is playing in the number 10 role) is imperative to us doing well in this system. He was on song for about 20-25 minutes at Old Trafford and we fashioned a few decent chances and were generally on top but when he's struggling we just can't get anything going. No coincidence that we pepped up once Redmond replaced an ineffectual Tadic and started driving forward from deep, just wish we'd made the switch earlier. Completely agree about the taking a pass too many and overplaying we got caught so many times and it was telling that even decent players like Hojberg were getting caught and giving it away. On the fullbacks, Bertrand coming back will boost us but, if Cedric isn't good enough, is there anything we can really do about our lack of quality? My main concern is the apparent lack of team morale and mood in the camp, maybe we are all reading too much into it and they are just as frustrated as us at having dropped points in games we should be winning.

Agreed, you basically need a Sanchez type player to make this system work and clearly we don't have that. I think the Suarez Liverpool team (and probably the current one) would be relatively adept in this system but I can't think of many other teams in the league that could make it work to be honest. Boufal is clearly a talented player and maybe he can be our Suarez/Sanchez but it'll take some time and there's no telling how long he'll take to adapt to a new league especially after coming back from a relatively lengthy injury.

I'm not sure we can rely on JRod on the basis of yesterday's cameo TBH.

I would genuinely be interested to hear why you think Redmond is a big positive. From my point of view he was pretty anonymous and ineffective up front (and has been in all three games) but has looked better running from deep. That said, he only moved position yesterday with about 10 mins to go so would be interested to know what you saw that made him a big positive. Decent player I think but has hardly set the world alight yet (appreciate its only early days though).

Given that league cup games don't count towards priority for league games I'd be surprised.

When Koeman was appointed we went on an incredible run. If you're referring to last season I'd agree but, in his first season, RK got us playing pretty well almost immediately.

Well then we will have to agree to disagree. I only say what I see and I saw a stretch of 10 to 15 minutes where we really struggled to win the ball back from Sunderland and noticed a similar spell in the Watford game. I don't think I've misunderstood the formation to be honest but even if, theoretically, it doesn't sacrifice stability it has meant that we look less secure at the back (again, in my opinion). At the very least it looks to me that our players misunderstand how to implement the formation effectively. As for Forster not making any saves, I don't deny that, but I did say that we made a number of last ditch tackles (implying that he wouldn't need to be called upon).

We need another attacker (at least) and I think another defensive midfielder to take the heat of Romeu. But, mainly, we need a change of formation.

No doubting he was bad today but is anyone surprised? Came back late after the Euros, no real pre-season and off field distractions. If he stepped onto the pitch in top form after all that I'd have been very impressed indeed. He'll be back though, of that I have no doubt.

I'd like to know what the board saw in him when they appointed him. At the moment I see a manager with very little personality (although that is, in part, down to the language barrier) and that has ditched a successful formation in favour of one he knows but that doesn't seem to suit the players we have available. I'd like to know why, after all we've heard about the 'Southampton Way' and implementing the same formation in all age groups, we've appointed a manager who has ripped up that blue print in one summer. I'm still hoping he will come good as he has a decent track record and our board do seem to do thorough due diligence but I am slightly concerned. A heavy defeat at Arsenal won't do us any favours either.

Even if that is true, and I'm not sure it is, I don't think anyone can say we've looked compact. We look much more exposed in midfield in the three games this season than we did last year. Against Watford and Sunderland we, in my view, lost control of the midfield for long periods and against Man U Pogba basically had the freedom of Old Trafford. We've made an awful lot of last ditch and recovery challenges in these few games and I think it results from an over reliance on Romeu to provide defensive midfield cover.

I'm not particularly concerned by the results or the number of points we've got, that's all irrelevant at this stage. That said, the way we are playing is a cause for concern. I don't buy all the posters who are saying we lack talent, we don't. We've got a decent spine with Forster, VVD, Hojberg and Long. The formation is the problem, pure and simple. On a purely theoretical level I can understand why the diamond is an attractive formation for managers and was in favour of Hodgson trying it with England prior to the Euros. However, in practice, I don't really see any advantages to it. By playing two up top you sacrifice a midfielder and therefore some stability in the middle of the park but we seem to be weaker defensively and weaker going forward. There were times in the second half where we couldn't really get the ball off Sunderland and were completely overrun in midfield, slightly concerning against a team that really aren't great, although one that does seem to have developed a spine under Moyes. I could see the diamond working well for a team like Liverpool where you have a transient front three that all have pace and strength (Coutinho, Mane and Firmino) but we just don't have the players for it. Tadic's best moment, for me, was when he beat a man on the left wing (like he used to) and whipped a decent cross over, playing in the centre he just isn't as effective. A few decent touches and through balls but he is, in my opinion, much better on the left. Austin doesn't look right in this formation, he hasn't got the pace to close players down as the strikers are asked to do in this formation and frequently receives the ball much too deep and hasn't got the place, strength or dribbling ability to move forward with it effectively. As others have said, Redmond isn't good enough as a striker at the moment but did look much better as a number 10 running forward from deep. The only striker who looks as if he might fit the system at the moment is Long, he must start every game from now on for me. I also think that JRod would be perfect for this system if he was fit. He looked decent in his cameo but I hope we don't change our decision on bringing someone better or more reliable in because he scored a scuffed shot that should have been saved. I applaud him for taking a shot on goal but, realistically, it should have been easily prevented. If he's fit and firing we must keep him, but we shouldn't change our decision on him for the sake of that goal. My other concern is that we move the ball much too slowly and there's too much focus on keeping possession and almost 'overplaying'. By playing more and more short passes we only increased the number of opportunities for players to make individual errors and miscontrols. Even our best players, like Hojberg, miscontrolled and gave the ball away in midfield as a result of us playing so many passes and playing such a slow build up game. It seems counterintuitive to me to be implementing a system that's based on slow, possession football when last season we saw Leicester win the league by playing counter attacking football and having very little possession. I read that Claude had said we were focusing on a possession game to try and conserve energy when we have to contend with two games in a week. To me that's a lame reason, Spurs, for example, will have to play two games a week but you don't see Potch compromising his high press, all action style to save energy. I appreciate they've got a larger, higher quality squad but I think its a shame to compromise our weekly playing style just to manage our playing schedule. It's clear the St Marys crowd are incredibly frustrated and edgy and, whilst I think it ridiculous, the booing of the Tadic substitution was worrying. The atmosphere around the club seems quite negative at the moment, many around me who are usually pretty upbeat are frustrated with our board's willingness to sell our best players and our sluggishness in the transfer market. The signing of Boufal seems imminent but I'm not sure he'll do much to turn the tide in the short term if he's injured. Once he comes back he will take a couple of weeks at least to get into it so it could be almost Christmas before he makes the impact we are hoping for. I hope I'm wrong but the pressure could really be on by December if we carry on playing like this. As FF says, I do really hope that we don't have another Sturrock situation on our hands as the players do seem frustrated and to dislike the system. I've noticed a few arguments amongst the players in both the Man U and the Sunderland game so hope that doesn't come to a head. When our best player (VVD) comes out with quotes like he has after a game then the alarm bells do start sounding for me. Puel needs time but he also needs to recognise when something isn't working and change it. I hope that he is prepared to revert to 4-3-2-1, at least in the interim, as I do think we are better suited to that system. We played the wrong system in the early games under RK last year and got murdered by Everton but we changed things and results did turn. Here's hoping CP can do the same. There has, no doubt, been some overreaction on here but the fact is we finished 6th last year and had a chance to push on and make a real statement but that just hasn't materialised both in terms of the managerial appointment and our transfer activity and I think this underlying frustration amongst the wider fanbase is exacerbated by a slow start and a couple of pretty poor performance. Shame that it's Arsenal away next as we'll do well to get any change out of them. Oh well, on to the next!

Blushes spared thanks to a goalkeeping mistake and some last minute kitchen sink throwing. Awful, awful game. Can see us seriously struggling here.

Completely agree. Hope we don't persevere with Puel until it's too late. Dire football over the three games, just dire.

This is awful. Puel has a lot to answer for.

Have sent you an e-mail.

Yeah I do, send me a PM.

Wonder whether the 'Pelle type rise' refers to Haller. Scored a lot of goals in the Dutch league last year. Just guessing though.

What did you expect? I mean, seriously?

If only you got a medal for winning the net spend league? You're right about next summer, what an incredibly depressing thought.