Dan Johnson

To be fair to Clyne, his first two seasons at Liverpool he was starting 11 pretty much every game, he got injuryed and Liverpool born Alexander-Arnold came in and done extremely well and has kept his place. If he hadnt got injuryed I think he's still be playing regularly.

Thought we were excellent tonight. Scoring 4, conceding 5 and getting 4 points against Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea was unthinkable under Hughes we have improved massively under Hassenhuttl. It looks like we have finally settled on our CBs which, Vestergarrd, Bednarek and Yosh were excellent, probably Vestergarrd and Yoshs best games in a Saints shirt for us last night. There is no way back for Hoedt imho. Cedric was good and is a better option than Target at left back even if he looked as though he lacked a bit of match sharpness. Thought it was valerys best game for us too, I’d like to see him keep his position as he looks to be improving game by game, very raw still but has only played 7 premier league games and last night he was up against one of the best players in the world who was kept quiet for the majority of the game. Romeu also looks to be back to the player who came into the team just after Wanyama left, he doesn’t offer a great deal going forward but works tirelessly and when Hojbjerg is back we will regain that attacking intent that was maybe a bit lacking last night. JWP had a good game although I don’t think Hassenhuttls style of play will suit JWP. He looked hurried in possession which resulted in a few misplace paces. Defensively he was getting stuck in and covered ALLOT of ground but he’s always needed an extra few seconds on the back to take a touch, if we’re looking to break quickly and play forward with a touch or two that slowness in possession will be exposed and he’ll frustrate more and more. Hojbjerg used to be similar in that respect but that part of PEH has improved where as JWP is still relatively 1 paced in possession. I think Redmond and Armstrong had really good games, Armstrong especially. If Armstrong’s form continues in this vein then he’ll be classed as a good signing. He showed a turn of pace last night that I’ve not seen before and we have an obvious first choice front 3 of Armstrong, Redmond and Ings now. Quick word for Redmond who I think offers a valuable outlet, his pace has the opposition defence sat a yard or two deeper which helps when breaking, he didn’t offer much of a goal threat last night but was a big part of the teams performance last night. Think he’s probably been our second best player this season behind Hojbjerg, it’s a shame he’s a bit of a fans whipping boy at times. Ings\Long were largely kept quiet, the game probably suited Long more as we looked to hit them on the break and run into space. Long, like Redmond works tirelessly and gives the defenders something to think about over the likes of Austin but isn’t really a goal threat. Gunn excellent, after Hassenhuttls comments after the game I think we may be seeing a new number 1.

He's played SEVEN premier league games and I think you could argue the case he should be starting over Cedric. He's 19 and very raw but there is obvious talent, he will massively benefit from game time. I thought last night was probably his best game, going forward he made attempts to beat players and won a few corners. It's easy to say his decision making isnt great yet but that skill will only develop playing against top class players rather than playing in the u23s. I also think for the first time since Pochettino we have a coach who is managing the younger players correctly, Hasenhuttl reminds me a bit of Alex Ferguson in the way he has already dealt with the younger players, subbing them when they're having a bad game to protect them and not leaving them out there to have their confidence destroyed. In six games we've seen Hassenhuttl utilise Ramsey, Valery and Obafemi with the likes of slattery making the bench. Non of them have done anything to disgrace themselves, it's very promising.

This sums up my thoughts, entertaining fixture but a terrible result. Going forward we looked OK, Austin was a dead weight again, thought Lemina was Decent, defensively we are awful. Ings and Bertrand improve the team put out today, only marginally though. People will blame Hughes but ultimately the squad just is no where near as strong as it once was, we need additions not just from a quality perspective but from a character perspective too, the squads temperament is so tepid we need some aggression, players who know how to manage a game, see it out Hoedt has been a terrible addition.

I’m surprised we scored?! Otherwise the result was exactly what I expected, said to my dad this morning it’ll be 5 or 6. They put 5 past Burnley, 5 past Cardif, 6 past Huddersfield now 6 past us, shows exactly what our level is. This won’t be the worse result of the season, Man City are exceptional! Doesn’t make up for how crap we are but I expected to lose heavily all the same. Next weekend will be a far worse result if we don’t get 3 points, homes games against clubs outside the top 6 are all must win as far as I’m concerned!

I largely agree with this, I liked the appointment of Hughes for the last few games of the season because he's what we needed to stay up but not what we needed to change. The last 3 managerial appointments have been dire, i'm not advocating Hughes gets sacked but I feel there's enough talent in the squad to achieve comfortable higher mid-table (8th-10th) I would say Austin is the only player that worries me, purely because he's just not mobile at all. I'd honestly prefer to see Long over Austin pulling defenders wide and at least unsettling defences and creating space for others to exploit. We are team hugely low on confidence and it shows, that is the managers responsibility

I said after both the second half of the Everton game and the Leicester game that I’d seen enough to suggest we were better than last season and today has furthered my optimism. Saw 11 players that seemed to be enjoying their football and playing for the shirt. An unchanged starting 11 would also suggest that Hughes is close to finding his best team. The left flank of Redmond/Bertrand is a real highlight already this season and Ings is looking a barging at £20m after my intial thoughts of him being excessively priced. I’m glad Hughes has indentified that the Lemina/Romeu partnership wasn’t dynamic enough as Lemina/Hojiberg look great together, both technically very good, Lemina showing how good of a player he is! I still worry we lack pace at the back but we are looking to release the ball early and play out so maybe Hoedt/Vest is the right pairing, Maya may add the pace we need in there though. Elymo seems to be improving with each game. Felt we struggled once we changed the front 3 and went to 5 in the middle as it allowed their CBs to push up and pin us in more, but we got the result. Looking forward to the rest of the season

Relatively good performance up until they equalised then both fans and players knew what was coming and confidence, effort and application seemed to fall off a cliff edge! We are so so fragile, I hope it’s a hangover from last season because if it’s not then we are in for a long season. What’s so frustrating is I thought we were better than Leicester for large periods. Lemina and Redmond both looked good, we looked better with hoj in midfield more industrious than last week, created some good chances should have put the game to bed then as soon as they scored all the good work was undone and we reverted to being as poor as last season.

Ridiculous comment, players can improve, players form will fluctuate along with their confidence. Redmond has the potential to be a top premier league player, I hope he's given the chance and encouragement to achieve that under Hughes.

Don’t think the performance was as bad as some are making out? We’re better than this time last season yet ultimately it’s the same issues dragging us down. The team needs more bite, we looked naive in the first half, very timid. I don’t know if it’s a lack of confidence/belief in the squad or a lack of application from certain players? Defensively we look poor and our lack of quailty at Center back hindered us today, both in possession and defensively. There’s not much difference in quality between Stephens and Hodet, I’m not sure if either would benefit from a stronger partner but for me that’s our weakest CB pairing and it showed today. Second half was immediately better, same as last week in both games I’ve seen enough going forward to show that we aren’t as bad as last season, I’d also say that Austin has offered very little in both games so far. Positives For the second game running I thought Redmond looked lively going forward, making positive runs and facing defenders up, I hope it continues and we see the best of him this season. Ings is looking every bit a £20 million pound striker from what ive seen of him, he’s shown more quality than all other attacking options out together already this season We were poor first half but showed a bit of fight second half which was pleasing, Everton were better than us but not by miles. We had Gabbi, Mo and Vestergaard out the team today. I think bringing those three in would make a big difference. Leicester are without Vardy next week All in all, not great but I’m not upset either, enough in that defeat to a good Everton side to show me we will be alright this season.

For what it's worth, i'm really looking forward to seeing him play. I havent seen him play much but I know he was rated at Liverpool and there is no shame being behind their strike force in the pecking order, a local lad with passion, something we missed last year.

To be honest, it's irrelevant how much Liverpool paid for him, the value of the player is set by the current market conditions, which are absolutely mental at the moment! I paid £80k less for my house than it's supposedly worth today, yet its not done anything in 3 years either.

This kind of thing really interests me, I would love for someone like Dyche to get so frustrated that he just starts calling players out and quoting the wages they're demanding so we can actually see just how crazy the transfer market has become, it looks mental from the outside so if someone like Dyche is completely gobsmacked when having inside knowledge it must be allot worse than we can imagine!

His Agent was quoted as saying he "deserved" £7.5 million a season, which is why he left Schalke because he wasnt offered anywhere near that, so I wouldn't be surprised if the figure was close to 170k a week as he was demanding 144k from Schalke and turned it down! http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11443137/max-meyer-former-schalke-wonderkid-without-a-club

Transfers are just utterly mental these days, £22 MILLION for a player who didn't make it at Newcastle?! Gobsmacked, you can see why allot of people are loosing interest in the game these days! In fact the World Cup reminded me how excited I used to get about football when it wasn't orientated around transfer fees!

In Sky Sports Transfer Center this morning we are linked with Danny Drinkwater. "Crystal Palace and Southampton want to sign Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater, according to the Daily Mirror. Drinkwater joined the west Londoners from Leicester last season but has struggled to make an impact. Maurizio Sarri has given Drinkwater game-time in Chelsea’s pre-season campaign but seems willing to listen to offers for the player"

Part of our problem as a team over the last 24 months has been our complete lack of character and identify, our performances have been a reflection of our dreary\dowdy managerial interviews both of whom seemed to have very introvert personalities the team didnt seem to have any "oomph" I would say that's in part because personalities like Charlie perhaps felt a little out of place in that kind of environment. Personally I feel like you need characters like Charlie in the dressing room, they will be the type of players who will call team mates out when not performing, they maybe brash and they may not be that well liked by everyone (not saying thats the case with Charlie) but they have their place. Every majorly successful team will have someone loud, outspoken and who gives the team that "edge" and I believe Mark Hughes has given players like Charlie a platform to re-take the dressing room and make it a much more vibrant place. This is all just my opinion of course, but a flat dressing room is good for no one.

It's not worked out well but id be interested to read the comments in the thread started when he signed a new contract, it seemed like good business at the time we'd set a new clean sheet record, he had won numerous motm and player of the month awards in the months prior to him signing a new deal at a time when we were looking to establish ourselves as a non selling club, it was a statement by the club that allot of us, my self included thought was the correct move

spot on imho

Fans on here are bat **** mental Saints miss out on signing an ACTUAL CHAMPIONSHIP player for 24 million and some posters go into melt down, we then go for Armstrong and and the same people THEN COMPLAINS he's Championship level??? So by their mental standards we're getting a CHAMPIONSHIP player for 17 million cheaper than we were last week and those posters are complaining about it. Give the lad a chance FFS.

I'd have driven Tadic to Amsterdam myself at some points last season, he was that terrible on occasions! He has struggled the last two seasons, of course you can argue that he has been badly managed and his form in the last few games of the season would suggest that. However at 30 this year and his inconsistency over the last two seasons i'm not too disappointed to see the back of him, he wont improve, he's likely to get more inconsistent as he ages too, I accept that him leaving will leave a hole in the squad that will need replacing with a senior pro, maybe Jack Wilshire?

Stop talking common sense, posters on here don't debate about common sense, just hidden agendas, cloaks, daggers and pre-conceptions.

Yep!

Extremely Active? 3 of them have signed 1 player, the others haven't signed any yet?! Liverpool In Fabinho (Monaco) Undisclosed Details Naby Keita (Signed last year) Arsenal In Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus) Free Details Manchester United In Diogo Dalot (FC Porto) Undisclosed Details No Signings Chelsea Man City Tottenham

Why do the admins allow blatant trolls to ruin this forum. you literally have to sieve through the **** to find anything worth reading! It's gone from a decent source of information and debate to a playground in the years I've been using it!