Graffito

What I found different about yesterday's performance was how individual players drove at City. Rodrigues always runs with the ball and commits the opposition. Lallana did it a lot yesterday, as did the fullbacks, Chambers on the outside and Shaw both outside and cutting in. It was very effective and City was uncomfortable with it. I expected Pellegrini to get Toure to run at us second half rather than us running at him but it didn't happen.

Some took offence at a shirt behind some dry lining at Staplewood.

He had a good game and is another fine prospect from the academy. It wasn't a flawless performance. He failed to cut out the cross that led to their goal, though three other players failed as well. He needs to be careful about being caught out of position as he isn't the quickest. That could be down to lapses in concentration. Fonte had a word with him about it in the second half. Quite animated.

Osvaldo created the goal for himself but the move that put him through started with a tackle deep in our penalty box.

He's never let us down. Get off his back you winkles.

And Davis will want to do well against his old club.

We'll I was quite happy with a bottle of London Pride in the Saints end, something you can't get at St Mary's.

There's an edit function if you'd like to reconsider this one.

We're giving the youngsters a chance aren't we?

Mourinho saying the win down to going 442 and pressing us as we play from the back. They are not the first team to play 442 against us. If only it were that easy to counter our system they'd all be doing it. Having said that their substitutions improved them and our enforced substitutions didn't improve us. More about quality from the bench than tactics.

He was poor but we didn't create nearly enough. Lallana had on off day (is he carrying a slight knock or injury?). Lambert wasn't on the pitch for most of the game. Chelsea crowded out JWP, so few crosses. The missing piece of the jigsaw is the no 10 that Ramirez evidently isn't. Hope we get someone in in January.

Where I've lived for 20 years it's 50/50 Arsenal/Tottenham. It's very difficult to generalise but Arsenal's demographic does seem to be younger where I live. Other than that, Arsenal are Tottenham without the passion...and the moaning. I used to live in SW London and there are great swathes of the area that were disenfranchised Chelsea fans who couldn't afford to go.

No you are not being unkind. He's smart. I think you have to be clued up to make this system work. My comment was tongue in cheek.

We close their arses down.

Interesting to read but there's little in there that other coaches won't have known. One thing I noted was that MS thinks still we have no effective solution to the problems we have had with teams that don't build from the back and hit us down the channels. We did beat West Brom but they were without Lukaku and Jaskelainen, as he said, played a blinder for West Ham so maybe the more cautious approach against those teams is the solution.

For some teams this style might mitigate deficits in technique but once you've won the ball you have to keep it and turn possession into goals, which require technique. Saints have kept possession very well and turning it into goals is improving. We need another playmaker though.

Portsmouth Community Football Club regret to announce that Guy Whittingham has left his post as manager after his contract was terminated. Only a fool would stick around if he'd just been sacked.

MS mentions the top 3 and he mentions the top 4. I can't see where he has referred to top 6.

It's Boruc's character that allows him to think he can do things which others wouldn't attempt and it's the same character that will see him pull through. Could be wrong, as ever, but I think he's less likely than other keepers might be to let this and the Stoke fluke get to him. Other high profile keepers, Hart, Ruddy, Lloris on Sunday, are having their problems. Not all will handle it so well.

Tottenham is a bigger club. The rest is tittle tattle. 6 - 0 really cheered me up after Saturday.

Couldn't see it from the away end but just seen it on the box. No complaints, it was a penalty.

If they are not going use the Away Supporters Initiative to subsidise away tickets or travel for Saints fans, they could substitute a policy of taking full allocations for away matches for the current arrangement which appears to rely on the judgement of some anonymous bod in the ticket office, and use the Away Supporters initiative money to cover the cost of any unsold tickets. Using that money, any of it, for the benefit of away supporters to SMS is an insult.

For once I'm inclined to agree with him. Plus, I fear the international break may have disrupted our momentum and shifted the focus of those away on internationals. The same could be said of Arsenal but unlike Saints against Hull they didn't perform well against Man Utd.

Apparently England duty is light relief from Pochettino's training sessions. He works them like dogs remember.

Yeah that one. As holders, expectations were high, only to be dashed by the Germans, always the Germans. I was a youngster and took it badly.