saintant

Have to say I'm struggling to understand the Tadic situation. Ok, it was a bad injury but he came back on and finished the match against Wales yet here we are two weeks later and he's not fit to play for us.

How do tennis players manage to play every other day for a fortnight at major tournaments? Some matches last 2-3 hours which is quite a bit longer than 90 minutes often in extreme heat and I would imagine they do far more intense sprints, twist and turns than your average footballer. From what I've seen of Saints the players spend a lot of time stood around so it's not as though they are on the go for the whole 90 minutes.Maybe tennis players are super-humans.

Haven't seen much evidence of pace and physicality from us this season - don't think we'd hold any great fears for the old Liverpool side. And I wouldn't mind betting that they'd have no trouble beating most of the current crop of Prem sides even with the influx of foreigners. I just feel we make far too many excuses for the players of today - you don't tend to feel tired or cry off with minor knocks if you're winning week in week out. Too many don't fancy a little hard work which, considering what they're paid, is a joke.

If I've over simplified it please explain how the great Liverpool side bucked the trend playing on far heavier, strength sapping pitches than the manicured surfaces today's overpaid prima-donnas perform on. Help me out - tell me how they did it. Explain how tennis players can play gruelling matches where they run far greater distances and expend far greater energy then recover to do it all again a couple of days later. Seems it's only footballers who need these long rest periods in between games yet back in the day Liverpool managed ok. You won't build understanding, confidence and match fitness by rotation of a squad particularly one as weak as ours.

To say that you can't stick to the same team week in week out and must rotate is nonsense. How much rotation was there in the great Liverpool side that dominated football at home and in Europe? They played pretty much the same set of players in every game - and all the players wanted to play in every match. This rotation thing is a myth perpetuated by the over bloated squads at clubs like Chelsea. Pick your best side, get some continuity and wins. You'll pick up a few injuries and one or two cases of burn out but just get on with it - these players are supposed to be trained athletes. How do tennis players manage to play gruelling five matches every couple of days at major tournaments? Stop wrapping footballers up in cotton wool and get them doing what they are highly paid to do rather than making excuses for them.

Nah, he's the next England captain don't you know.

Clasie and Ward Prowse in the same midfield is a recipe for disaster - they are like twins who unfortunately can't play football. That was dire from start to finish against a very ordinary Sparta Prague side. We are regressing into a side that is plainly awful to watch. Slow and laboured in build up, lacking invention and with zero flair. Oh for the days of the high press, and turn over of possession high up the pitch enabling us to get into the opponents danger zone. This propoganda sideways/backwards football is cringeworthy to watch. So slow and predictable. Maybe we should take up this walking football that the seniors play. Abysmal!

I think we'll struggle in our 'mini-league' as while Puel persists with his rotation system I think our form will continue to stutter. He needs to work out his best side and stick with it as often as possible so that they get used to one another and individual players build their confidence and performance levels. To change the team for every game is not conducive to getting the best out of what we've got. A player like Boufal will not get to grips with the pace and power of the Prem if he is in one game and out the next. Stop the tinkering unless an individual player is absolutely knackered. Continuity is what we need.

Always disappointing to lose but on reflection I thought we were a tad unlucky today. I accept we perhaps should have gone for the jugular in the first half but overall there is no doubt we deserved to get something from the match. It was just one of those games where we probably didn't quite get the run of the ball whereas Hull scored two good goals against the run of play and apart from that did very little offensively. It was a smash and grab really and we've won matches ourselves in the same manner - it happens. I don't think we should be overly critical of the manager or the team as they put a shift in after a tough game three days ago and created the better situations but in the end it was Hull's day. There are no easy games, every team has some qualities and yes, Hull took the points on this occasion but we were undoubtedly the side that showed far more quality. In football luck plays a part and today they had more than us - we fought back after the shock of conceding the two quick goals and created chances but didn't get the rub of the green. Not the end of the world and I'm sure the players are as disappointed as we are but they put the effort in so we can't ask for more than that.

So with squad rotation it seems that some would advocate you can play as poorly as you like and still get a game just to make up the numbers. What a strange concept.

Don't get why anyone would pick Clasie based on his recent performances.

Clasie is not good enough for the Prem in my opinion. I've watched him closely in the last two league games and his contrubition has been sadly lacking. He seems to patrol areas in the midfield where he almost knows he won't receive the ball or have to engage opponents. His passing is nearly always short and without any risk, he does not make anything happen offensively. To sum up he is a player who I believe realises he's out of his depth and so hides making him somewhat of a passenger - unfortunately you cannot carry passengers at this level.

Romeu! What a player. He ran, harried, intercepted, tackled, read danger, headed, broke up play and used the ball with intelligence. A superb holding midfield player. Compare and contrast with Man Utd v Chelsea - who was their holding midfield player, did they even have one? Time and again Chelsea walked through and engaged the Utd back four unopposed. How do Utd possibly leave out a player like Morgan? - they paid all that money for him, it's clear that they need a holding midfield player and yet they waste his talents. Hats off to Romeu who just seems to get better and better.

Romeu! What a player. He ran, harried, intercepted, tackled, read danger, headed, broke up play and used the ball with intelligence. A superb holding midfield player. Compare and contrast with Man Utd v Chelsea - who was their holding midfield player, did they even have one? Time and again Chelsea walked through and engaged the Utd back four unopposed. How do Utd possibly leave out a player like Morgan? - they paid all that money for him, it's clear that they need a holding midfield player and yet they waste his talents. Hats off to Romeu who just seems to get better and better.

I'd like to know how many minutes Charlie Austin has played for us - I would imagine his goals per minutes ratio is pretty impressive.

First thirty five minutes was dire. Then there was a light-bulb moment when we suddenly realised we needed to get our two full backs higher up the pitch. Bertrand started it and this led to Austin's goal which he took sublimely. Second half, with West Ham having to come out and both full backs bombing on, we tore them apart and could easily have scored six. Brilliant assist from Austin for Tadic - not many players could have picked out and executed that deft pass, it was pure quality. I'm not JWPs biggest fan but he did take his goal very calmly - when some might have lashed at it he tucked it neatly into the bottom corner. Bertrand MoM for me. That second half was very encouraging. As for West Ham, they look a shadow of the side they were last season but I think Slaven will sort them out eventually.

Arsenal's first goal should have been disallowed for dangerous play - two of our players tried to head the ball clear but were faced with Koscielny's flyng boot. Spectacular finish that it was under the laws of the game today it constituted an act of dangerous play. In Europe you only have to raise your foot above knee height. The penalty was of course even worse. Does anyone doubt that had we cleared the ball and broke towards Arsenal's goal Madeley would have stopped play to allow treatment to Koscielny for an obvious head injury. Yet, because Arsenal were attacking he blatantly chose to ignore the rules of the game, let them play on and then compounded his error by harshly awarding a penalty for a tangle between Fonte and Giroud which could have been called either way. The fact that there was a long delay for the penalty kick while Koscielny received treatment says it all really. One of the most blatantly biased pieces of refereeing I've ever seen. Disgraceful and Madeley should be taken to task over it and forced to explain his decision to representatives of our club.

Will never play for the senior England team let alone captain them.

Any stats on how many of those shots have seriously troubled the opposition 'keeper? My guess is that it would be extremely few.

No pal, was thinking of the 18 games we won, plus the draws and even some defeats where we could easily have taken three points given the rub of the green.

You can't polish a turd and I don't believe we can make this diamond sparkle. it's clear that the players do not buy into it - if in doubt watch VVDs interview after today's tepid affair. Last season Saints gave the impression that they could give any team a run for their money and beat most of them and so it proved. I fear this is going to be a season where we wonder where the next win is coming from and we go into matches not expecting wins. It is evident that confidence is not high and we look beaten almost before we kick off. Where are the smiles, the swagger and the team spirit?

Some people keep banging on about how many shots we've had as though this is some indication of how well we must be playing. A better indication is to look at how many of those shots were genuine chances and did not result in goals due to bad misses - it will be very few.

Heat-maps do not score goals or win you points or affect your league position. If you're going to change your system at least change it to something that work. Madness by those making the decisions.

I can answer that - it doesn't work in the Premier League. Might be ok in France but that's not where we play.

How do you have 0.7 or 0.3 of a shot? Just asking.