derry

More teams are playing aggressively with two strikers and two banks of four, old fashioned but who wouldn't change places with 4-4-2 Leicester. Today Swansea are playing a diamond four and two up front, West Ham 4-1-4-1. Bournemouth and Watford 4-4-2. We could too as our formations aren't working. Mane Clasie, Romeu Tadic with Long and Pelle the more I think about it the better it looks.

Liverpool 66% possession lose 0-3. Liverpool 12 shots 4/5 on target. Watford 34% possession win 3-0, 6 shots, 5 on target 3 goals. Last week we had more possession lost, numerous other occasions we have lost with lots of possession. Pace, Aggression, get the ball up front through the defence and hunt it down, press and harry to get the ball and get it up front. 200 passes in our own half is just a waste of time, it's not how much of the ball you have it's what you do with it when you get it. We play too slowly and shoot poorly. Sort it out.

Pick the same back four, work on their awareness this week especially Soares and VVD. Pick a midfield and attack that will tear into Arsenal and harry them to death. Clasie, Romeu, Reed (If Wanyama can't be trusted) Mane, Long +1, From Tadic, Seager, Pelle. Only Koeman knows but Davis and JWP won't harry Arsenal to death or win the ball.

Koeman needs to sort it out. Bizarre team selections and tactics that don't deliver don't help. Bertrand looked pretty angry at the Liverpool three at the back debacle and hasn't been the same since. Wanyama, VVD for all his talent, Davis are a lot of the time strolling but always picked. We cannot afford to play players that are not brave enough or giving everything because the others will react and that causes problems.

Fonte unusually last week called for signings in January. That looks like the better players aren't convinced at the team selections. May be Ron's favourites not delivering is coming home to roost and there is division in the dressing room. Bertrand certainly doesn't look happy and Koeman was having a non smiling chat with him in training last Thursday. If some of the players are giving less than 100% that will quickly cause friction. Unless Koeman gets 18 players out every match giving 100% we will continue to struggle. So leave anybody out who is coasting because it affects the players that give everything.

Watch him when he is a substitute, during the half time kick around, the ball never touches his left foot and even if he is hitting a shot at the empty goal, mostly missing, it is a right footed side foot. If he had smashed the ball by putting his foot through it yesterday and put it on target Lloris wouldn't have got near it.

He is very static and never makes a run on the off chance, often spectating waiting for the perfect pass and has obviously never heard of taking his marker for a walk to create openings for runners (Mane mostly). Austin on the other hand gets a lot of his goals by being on the move in the box and first to the ball.

Soares was again facing the wrong way and let Dele Alli in behind him. He needs to learn how to face the play, that's the coaches job and by the looks of it, if our shooting (side footing, eg Mane and JWP not for the first time yesterday.) is anything to go by there is precious little of that. One day a Saints player will hit a shot that will break the back of the net by putting his foot through the ball but probably not in my lifetime. When was the last time JWP used his left foot to shoot?

Unlike some on here I've never rated him as I think he is a bottler. He nearly makes tackles but not quite, he nearly closes down but is just too late, he will always avoid a hard tackle unless he can nip in from the side and tip the ball away. He made two good passes yesterday but mostly stayed out of the action and spoilt it by giving the ball away for the first goal but worse tracked back and when Soares was caught on the wrong side of Kane had the chance to make a crunching tackle on his strong foot and pulled out and let him go. He has often partly tracked players but let them go because he didn't have the determination to stick with it. He is an expert at playing meaningless sideways and backward passes when not under pressure, but under pressure bottles it and just mostly unloads, often to a worse placed colleague or like yesterday to an opponent. I will be glad when he has gone somewhere else.

It may be time to promote Reed and Seager to the bench. For me Davis and JWP are a problem with lots of nothing. Wanyama is ill disciplined and isn't holding but all over the place not shielding the back four, he needs reining in. One last chance could be holding alongside Romeu with Clasie in the Davis role then if Pelle is picked (although I'd drop him and on reflection play Mane up the middle) with a choice of Mane, Juanmi, Tadic and Long.

I watched him for QPR the other night, his movement and runs were very clever and he was a threat all night in the box with exceptional finishes for his two goals. A better finisher than anybody in this club.

I didn't try to absolve the defence but the back four is the least of our problems. When a team is in possession in the opponents half and prematurely loses the ball to a quick counter attacking side the defence will often be out of position. Abysmal was Davis giving the ball away, Clasie, Fonte then VVD were naïve, Kane needed to be obstructed early on but all the tacklers didn't stay on their feet so missed their chance. The midfield and attack were the real problem with the exception of Clasie who looked a decent player.

Losing the ball in the middle of the field opened us up and for the second Bertrand wasn't even in his position as he was caught forward and didn't get back. The back four is the least of our problems, midfield and up front is a cluster**** which then exposes the defence when the ball is turned over as it was time and again today.

The back five were basically ok. The midfield is a cluster****. Davis is hopeless, he can't tackle, unlike Clasie he makes mostly backwards passes or if pressured just unloads the ball sometimes to an opponent or a poorly placed colleague. He is an ever open door which we cannot afford. Wanyama needs leaving out until he can be sold. We won't get much for him the way he is playing and anyway why would Spurs replace Dier with him. Clasie looks the real deal, shame he was replaced by 'Square Ball', still trying to side foot his shots, that worked, nearly gave a third goal away fiddling around at the back. Maybe it's time to change, Clasie and Romeu with Tadic (It's too late for Ramirez) and Juanmi, Long and Mane up front. It sure as hell will have a lot more fire, pace and enthusiasm. Up front was another cluster****, Pelle hasn't a clue what's around him, he plays with his head down and spends far too much time digging the ball out from under his feet.He is just an easily marked big lump, for the amount of possession he had he did nothing. In the short term leave him out. Make Austin an offer he can't refuse. Pelle has been found out. As has the way we play. If we can get good prices for him and Wanyama move them on. We could then go for a goalscorer, a strong midfielder, and a right back. Won't happen though. A slide down the table is happening so there needs to be change. Fonte is calling for new faces, that tells me he sees the weaknesses and that him and others aren't happy with the team.

One of the biggest downers for me and I've supported Saints Since the middle fifties is listening to Solent on the way in, hearing the team announced and can see straight away that it won't work. JWP and Davis in midfield together, Yoshida at right back, three at the back with only two forwards, Kelvin Davis in goal for example, or worse still a combination. How many times have we failed to score or dropped points with those selections? Too many, wake up Ronald. High tempo, get the ball up front quickly and support the strikers.

I'm not talking about Tadic not making chances, I'm talking about Tadic not scoring enough. I included Long because he is Pelle's deputy especially as we play only two forwards who may score. We need a forward like Austin that is lethal in the box and others to lend a hand rather than strolling up outside the box. Against Villa we had five shots out of twenty three on target and a couple of those were more like pass backs a disgraceful statistic and how much slow possession? In the end a well taken scrambled goal from a corner by Romeu.

For me our biggest fault and weakness is the amount of passing that goes on in our defensive third as our opponents retreat to the half way line while we indulge ourselves and when pressed often pass back to the keeper for a long punt downfield. Especially with JWP and Davis their first inclination is sideways or backwards. They are a big part of the problem as we really need the midfielders to get the ball up to our forwards much quicker and then get into the box in support. We just cannot afford three midfielders plus Tadic who rarely score and just pass the responsibility to a colleague. The full backs and midfielders need to get their share of goals and not just leave it to Pelle, Long or Mane. We have been worked out as a toothless team with about three danger players and as long as they are closed down quickly we struggle to score, not good enough by half. It's no good Koeman bemoaning the lack of goals unless he gets the team to attack much quicker, play with a quick tempo and press harder.

What we need is a player to score twenty goals a season taking chances in the box not another show boater. We have got loads of players that can pass and stand still or run up blind alleys, we don't need another one.

May be, but It's not only the fees, those four must have cost us over £150k a week on top for no game return, that's expensive. Reported £38k per week on contract since signing from Burnley.

Penny wise pound foolish. Score goals, win points, look at Leicester. Nine expensive players in a team that can't score goals plus two stuttering, equates to a slide down the table. It's not about possession and four hundred passes it's about averaging two goals a game. Austin has six months left on his contract so has his price unless he is now set on running down his contract. £13m for the Osvaldo, £12m for Ramirez, £8m for Clasie (not playing), £5m for Juanmi that's expensive if they don't play.

Forget potential, we need goals now. It's what Austin does probably better than anyone else.

I've just watched Austin score a couple of proper goal poacher goals. All night he made clever runs into channels and dangerous areas. We need a player that can score those goals, we have nobody that can work the space in the penalty area like Austin. Pay whatever it takes. We have far too many fringe players getting great money so pay what it takes to guarantee the goals we don't score now.

It's not only the formations, it's the willingness of Mahrez, Vardy, Albrighton and Ulloa to make runs and the Kante and the midfielders to pass to the runners and immediately get forward in support. Our midfielders pass it around or pass it forward and hold, nobody makes runs into the channels from midfield. We have become so predictable and easy to counter. A draw v Villa FFs says it all plus 23 shots and only 5 on target.

Koeman seems set in his ways, two up front equates to five defenders and three holding midfielders. Leicester play 4-4-2 and as soon as the ball is played forward the break is on for half the team. We play like Chelsea did last night slow oh so slow in the build up. Back five is OK but the midfield is utterly negative.

Just plays like it.