The Kraken

Or longer.

We’ll see on Livramento as he’s clearly a great talent, but KWP is also an excellent right back and I’d be surprised if he’s usurped so easily. Perraud looks ok so far but I rate Bertrand better on this seasons potential alone ( or at least I did before he got the ‘rona). Losing Ings, however good a replacement we’d have realistically got would have been would be a downgrade, that’s no offence to AA who looks lively but I don’t see him scoring 20+ this season (hope I’m wrong). In think the squad, overall, is more even than last year, but I don’t see that it’s better. A step up,in some positions, a step down in others, overall even but with some young players in who offer a bit of an unknown. Time will tell, always.

Do we have a better outfield XI than last season? Not sure myself, in fact I’d say no on early impressions. The notion of a more balanced squad doesn’t strike me as a big win either, it just means we’ve got more players who don’t merit an automatic first choice pick. Squad depth is great when there us genuinely decent PL quality throughout. I don’t see that with our squad.

Every silver lining has a cloud

Stop stamping on people’s dreams ffs

And like Keane and dumbo Campbell, I don’t think it was a foul from Stephens that led to our goal. Stephens got his leg across the player and nicked the ball fairly.

That’s exactly what they’re doing, it’s utterly pathetic. Keane even said at half time that Saints were punished for loads of silly fouls, the idea we got away with much is ridiculous.

The shot wasn’t deflected, was it?

I don’t think he’s limited as such. He reminds me of Fonte in the very early days, and when he played for palace before us. Very good for a lot of the game but capable of an absolute ricket in terrible areas that can get punished very easily.

Not seen a good replay of it yet but it did look like his shot was a big swipe left.

Yep agreed. No problem with a 4 against fellow bottom half sides, but an extra CB against the top sides is probably wise more often than not.

I was interested in team/squad values so looked it up. United had a guy on the bench (Sancho) who cost more than our entire first team put together. They had another one in the starting XI (Pogba). Aside from Greenwood, a youth product, they had ten players on the pitch at the start of the game who all cost more than Saints’ record ever fee paid for a player. The gap between the haves and have nots in this division has never been greater.

Absolute shambles at the back. Horrendous defending.

Just £50m gets you a Ben White these days. The new Bobby Moore at RB looks very shaky. Arsenal are getting totally bossed here.

We’ll see what comes in, but if Salisu and Bednarek are our starting 2, I will not be very confident at all.

Yeah true. I first just noticed the negative comments but you’re right.

Maybe just me, but I think Vestergaard will end up looking pretty decent at Leicester, I think they’ll suit his style. He’ll get a bit more protection all round and will have better outlets. I can see him doing well there.

I’d wager he’s no certainty to be ahead of Shane Long on some occasions too.

It’s all very well saying take the money, and I think the club will, but it all depends who we get in as a replacement and are they better than what we have. The club have done alright this summer in bringing in bodies quickly, but there’s an element of running just to try and stand still. I feel the same with Vestergaard and struggle to believe we’ll get someone equal or better to him in if he goes. Plus we’ve got a pretty young team, he adds some much needed experience.

Looks like kinesiology tape. Physios love a bit of that. When I used to do a bit of running and saw a physio, he’d be keen for me to use plenty of that tape if I had any ongoing niggles. Can be a right bugger to get off, mind, especially with body hair.

Not necessarily. If the club have already sold any number of Armstrong 17 shirts, it could be a bit awkward. When the Nevilles both played for Man Utd, Gary had G.Neville while Phil had just Neville.

Agreed. Diallo seems a lot more forward-thinking than especially Romeu and also a bit more than JWP for me. Different player entirely to Romeu and doesn’t offer as much sheer protection to the back 4. I like him as a player though.

Boulahrouz, Chelsea right back, wore 9. One of the worst.

Tomasz Hajto 7 was when I knew we were really in trouble.

I’ll be honest, non-traditional shirt numbers are my OCD kryptonite.