CanadaSaint

Perhaps Koeman's new agent had already done some groundwork behind the scenes with the new part-owner, and then approached Koeman, at which point Koeman understandably decided to change his agent. The increased cost is not just whatever we'd need to pay Koeman over and above his current offer. I'm sure he's insisting on a cracking deal for Erwin and whoever else he'd take with him, so everything rockets upwards. The reality is that it's actually a choice between a mega-quid additional outflow to keep him and a circa 3 million inflow (compensation) to let him go. I'd be shocked (and frankly rather disgusted with Koeman) if he went, and I think he's making a dumb career move, but I'm committed to the fiscally responsible approach, no matter what other clubs are doing. If he goes, he goes. I still have faith in Reed and the club.

We were outworked all over the pitch for the full ninety minutes, which is disgusting. Our constant square passing in midfield allowed Bournemouth to settle defensively before we ever got near their box. Mané is a waste of a shirt, and the over the top (apart from Arsenal) praise of Fraser Forster during the good run seems like a distant memory. What the hell was he doing on the second? Good luck to Bournemouth - they gave us a lesson in effort, commitment and - surprisingly - attractive football.

How do you work that out? He does well in getting into attacking positions but, once there, his limitations are exposed - the inability on any consistent basis to deliver a killer pass, or to finish the chances that often come his way. I like him more than my mate Derry does, but I can certainly see his point. If we had a high-end final-third midfielder, perhaps our greatest need, I think we'd be far higher in the table. But, in fairness to Davis, we'd also lose some important things. Reading the Davis debate on here, I think everyone, including Derry, is right to some degree.

Benjii responded in the same way as you but I'm not understanding the distinction. Yes, we played with a back three but we could have done that with either one of them in the middle of it. Moving VvD to the other side is, at least to me, quite a significant change considering that we've spent the entire season playing Fonte ® and VvD (L). Regardess, it seemed to work very well because the uncertainties evident in Fonte's recent form disappeared, and he seemed much more assured. I really liked how they dovetailed last night, and that has been a cause for concern over recent weeks. I sure hope you're allowed to see it that way because that's exactly how I see it too. I think he brings a lot to the team, but two of the things we need most - an incisive final pass and a good finish - are not really on the list. I'm quite happy to recognize him for what he is, and yet get frustrated with him because of what he doesn't seem capable of delivering.

Not quite sure how you can say "they didn't really switch" when they clearly did, but I agree with the rest of what you said. The three of them looked like a very composed unit that read virtually every situation really well - and they weren't up against dummies. Bertrand seemed to enjoy that role and it both protected Targett from his weaknesses and allowed him to exhibit strengths we've never really seen before. Some of his deliveries into the box were the best we've seen for some time, and on on-form Pelle could cash in on that kind of service. It would be harsh to leave Long out after last night's efforts but Targett hitting Pelle could be lethal. It will be interesting to see if Koeman did this as a one-off or if we see the same at the weekend.

I'm surprised there have been so few comments on Fonte and VvD switching sides. That was a major change which, for me, worked out really well. Whether RK did it just for Watford or as a 'permanent' change remains to be seen, but I'd like to see Koeman retain it because it also helped Cedric and Bertrand to look more solid and gave them more chances to push forward. It certainly didn't hurt that Romeu, Clasie and Targett played so well in front of them.

Yes, Targett was just excellent - barely put a foot wrong all night. He seems better in a role in which he's not back-pedalling but attacking the ball when he sees fit, and his distribution was spot-on. And Cedric seemed much more aware defensively. That wasn't an easy front two to play against but they never got a sniff. I'd love to know the distance that Long covered tonight. I'm still shaking my head at Mané. Oh well, when there's a thunderstorm going on it's best not to play a fart in it. He's such an enigma.

Was it just me, or did the Fonte/VvD dovetail look much better with VvD on the right and Fonte on the left?

TFFT

Whenever Mané has to think he's screwed. Lots of brilliant instinct but no real football brain.

What worries me most is that we have lost the key elements of the identity we worked so hard to build over the last few years - a reasonably stable line-up, a solid defence, a trademark playing style with lots of off-the-ball movement, width and quick passing, high fitness levels, a solid core of English players, and a willingness to bring youngsters through. And always, in the players, a clear commitment to "the cause". I took great pride in all those things, and they earned us respect throughout football, but they all seem like distant memories now. We're forever chopping and changing, 'tactics' are all over the place, key players seem to lack commitment and don't look like they know what's expected of them, our fitness levels are poor, players are making the same mistakes as they were making at the start of the season, and we're dropping points week-in, week-out for the same reasons. Most of that list sits at the manager's door - and he can no longer say that he's trying to play his style with another manager's signings. It's as though the players no longer enjoy playing for Koeman, and I have to say that - even though I like the guy - I probably wouldn't either. He seems quite an intimidating presence, which is okay as long as he's delivering. But, like LvG, he certainly isn't. With Ranieri opting for stability and consistency, Koeman is the new Tinkerman, and it isn't working. Les Reed has gone silent, and Koeman is sure enough of himself to publicly diss Reed's baby - the academy. Is there someone in the club who's big and brave enough to confront Koeman and get things back on track?

I think we have a character issue in the team. We've actually been playing quite well until we hit some adversity, and then it goes pear-shaped in a hurry and we don't look like recovering. The individual errors are killing us - weak midfield giveaways, unforgivable ball-watching and an inability to finish. It doesn't help that we have a spineless and self-centered midfielder responsible for providing the spine in our midfield.

We are so fragile at the moment. Playing quite well and then we cave in at the first sign of adversity. Weak giveaways, ball-watching and slow getting back. We don't seem to have much spine, and if we're counting on Wanyama to provide it things won't get better. He's been going through the motions pretty much all season.

That's harsh. If there was a "not for the first time" to be applied, it should have gone to Bertrand IMO, who - not for the first time - was caught upfield and didn't get back in time.

I didn't say "Davis doesn't score" - I said that we don't get enough goals from midfield. Two between him and JWP is woeful. And yes, he does have chances but he seldom scores from them, which is the very problem I'm talking about.

Yes, two* in 19 appearances. And "nearly" didn't get us a point. * That's two more than JWP. Look around the division and see what other forward midfielders are doing.

Some goals from midfield would transform this side. We do okay at conceding them but we're really crap at scoring them. It's not as though the problem isn't obvious to Koeman and Reed when we're picking Davis and Ward-Prowse as a duo. December probably isn't going to be pretty, results-wise, but I can see us addressing the attacking midfield problem in January and pushing on strongly from there.

If Koeman has "lost it", it's happened in the last four games. Until then we were second in the form table and going well. Sure, he makes some strange decisions but hacking away at Koeman, the players and the Board is ludicrous. They definitely need to spend some sensible money in January, but I think they know that. My bet is on a real quality attacking midfielder and that could transform this team.

Our inability to finish has cost us for some time. Pelle needs to finish better but he contributes more than just finishing. Mané is infuriatingly inconsistent - from minute to minute more than from game to game. But Long doesn't contribute much more than finishing, which is far below the 12 million level. JayRod will be back but his top level future is in doubt. We don't get anything like the goals from midfield that we should, and that's what I think they will try to address in the window rather than buying a striker at a poor-value stage of the season. I'm taking the club at their word when they say that nobody will leave in January. I can see United switching to Bolasie if we turn them back - or talk crazy money - for Mané.

I thought we were okay against a good side, especially as we were lacking key players. Romeu's "half-marking" job against Cabaye decided it. A 12 million striker should be putting the last-minute chance away. I'll stick with my pre-season view - that we'll have a weaker first half of the season but a much stronger second half.

Romeu "half-marked" him.

I'm struggling to understand the modern game's preoccupation with tall keepers, and - with Forster and Stek - we're fully bought into it. The advantage of height is the ability to be strong in the air, but the holding and blocking mayhem in the box these days has made that a rather redundant skill for keepers. They don't seem to come for crosses anywhere near as much. The disadvantage is that the higher centre of gravity makes it harder for tall keepers to get down to low shots. For me, that's a weakness of both Forster and Stek. Shay Given was the reverse - too short to dominate his box but able to make great reaction saves.

Very true. I still think JWP will come good but one thing that really frustrates me with him is his tendency to under-hit his forward passes (when he makes them). He has normally picked out the right ball but time and again the receiver has to check his stride, stop running or even come back to the ball. It's a momentum-killer we can't afford if we want to attack before the defence is set. I thought we played pretty well today, against admittedly-poor opposition, but the slow build-up and failure to take chances will hurt us every time.

It's hard to shake the feeling that not all is right at SMS at the moment. We used to "play for eachother" all over the park but there's been little sign of that for several weeks. There doesn't seem to be any leadership on the pitch - nobody taking responsibility, nobody trying to make things happen. Just a succession of "passing the buck" plays.

We have become very uni-dimensional up front. The running off the ball and quick ball-movement are gone, and the out-ball to Pelle - once used sparingly - has become our only means of launching attacks. Very worrying.