James G

It's exactly what I was going to say. Liverpool didn't earn any goals, it was all mistakes again, and it's the same story every week. It's a shame

Liverpool press the space, anticipate the passing passages, so this will lead to goals from defensive errors this week. They also push players forward to overwhelm space, so to win, we need to go forward fast and outnumber them after they have come forward. If we play as usual, I can see Liverpool scoring a few

What's happening is, teams are blocking the passing route forward for Southampton and leaving the route to the keeper open. Martin is then shouting at the defenders to pass to each other to create new passing routes forward, but eventually a mistake occurs and the opposition attacks and scores. It doesn't matter what the formation is. This is what needs fixed

It's interesting, because Pep said Southampton were defending by having the ball and moving it around and not by actually defending. But there is an argument whereby the possession based game is deskilling the players by not allowing them to do the fundamentals of the game. And I suppose if the training sessions focus on possession, that is why the players appear bad and unprepared when the opposition has the ball

If Southampton have 80 per cent possession, that gives the opposition 18 minutes of the game to score a goal. Obviously, we've not been winning with all that possession. However, if we were to play differently and have less possession, would that mean the opposition with more possession would score even more goals. If you think our defense I bad, then I'm assuming it's not a good idea to give the opposition the ball. So, maybe if we are considering a managerial change, it has to be someone who plays in a similar way, but can turn possession into goals, if such a person exists

XG and statistics, in general, balance out over a long period of time, and statistically Saints are doing OK. It's all odd but it's the way it works. However, if Saints statistically deteriorate in the future, then we won't see everything balance out The defending is down to the system. If you watched Chelsea, Brighton today the defending was awful. The difference is, they are both scoring goals I think there is an issue with nerves in the team. Now, if that coming from the manager then that is a massive issue. I think with the players we have, we need to stick to the system we use, but it needs to tweaked so everything is happening further forward. For me, if Russ is the issue with the nervousness and if he cannot tweak his system appropriately, then I think he needs replaced, sooner rather than later. As others have said, every manager has their level and this might be a step too far

I think this is spot on and a great observation. If you are three at the back, there's an extra defender to keep an eye on when it comes to keeping the line and making challenges. It also means if you are playing out from the back, there is more likely a passing option beside you rather than in front. Russ needs to think about getting the ball forward to midfield quickly and defending from there, so if mistakes are made you have that line behind to protect the goal.

I think this is where the problem lies, it's not so much the style, it's the number of passes. If we have the best team of players with a 90 per cent pass rate, the ball is given away 10% of the time, so more passes means more mistakes. If you eliminate the side to side passing and just move it forward quickly, it's less transitions, and you can then push higher up the pitch. The reason we are passing to the side is because of the formation, there is always a higher chance of an available player to the side of you than in front

I agree. If he puts Les and Downes as the 2, then Fernandes as the AM 1, kwp and Sugawara keep some width, then the front two stay central. It felt like 8 in defence on Saturday and no real link to the front two who were often out wide. Smallbone and Aribo are effective in certain circumstances but I don't think they suit the current setup. Once Justin beds in, we might be able to go two at the back eventually which might bring Smallbone and Aribo back later. I think the three at the back just now is to protect the gk. I think with the current setup, there are always more passing options sideways than forwards, the forward options looked further away

I feel quite positive despite the result. We've got the new midfielder for next week, I think play AA on the right and Archer in the middle, put the new midfielder in the middle next to Downes. AM only made one mistake, but I think a new goalie would be good. I also think TP could be useful this season Saints dominated throughout, and kept their energy until the end. Forest will be the first marker.

He looks a good player, he seems like a natural finisher, carries the ball well, has a turn of pace and has good awareness.

Raya is statistically a better shot stopper and offers more valuable passes. Ramsdale is still a good keeper though

All teams have bad signings. Liverpool signed Keita for 50m, and ended up leaving on a free transfer. I don't think Paul is a bad player, he's just a victim of the Jones era and probably not suited to Russball

I studied in Leeds for 4 years ages ago, I went to one Leeds match but it was the scariest thing ever lol. On the way home, there were fans vandalising phone boxes and front gardens. There were people standing in the road and acting aggressive towards car drivers. It wasn't good

I think there would be a loan fee. One would pay wages within the club structure then the fee covers the rest, so it'd be 3m at least I would guess. It would be a great signing though

I agree, I think the stories are lazy journalism. I don't think Ings has an agent just now, and his wage is too high. From his perspective he'd be better staying at West Ham

It's 140 million minimum, upwards to 190m

What about the Irish GK at Liverpool. He's supposedly wanting to leave, available for 20m ish

It wasn't actually Leeds scoring for me, I thought someone was going to get sent off with all the yellow cards.

That second half felt like an eternity

Amazing 👏

It was by mutual consent. Poch explained to one of the owners that young players need experienced players to improve, but the club are planning on selling senior players this summer to bring in more young players, and Poch thinks that will take the club backwards, whereas the owner was saying that the players at the club now have experience. It was something along those lines, conversation was about 6 weeks ago

Crazy game

4-3

3-2 Southampton