CanadaSaint

He was "static" again on that first half cross that ended up in the scramble inside the six yard box. With little in the way of blocking attackers, it was "keeper's ball" all the way, especially for a guy his height, but he inexplicably stayed on his line and mayhem ensued. We ended up with a free kick for something in the melé but Forster's lack of decisiveness created the problem in the first place. He has to make his height and physical stature his biggest assets and dominate the goalmouth, especially as low shots will always be challenging for him, but he's not even doing that consistently. And inconsistency on crosses sews uncertainty among defenders, which we're starting to see.

My optimism dropped dramatically when I saw Mané in the starting line up. Whatever his talents are, they are far too raw for the Premier league - and especially this team. His lack of tactical/positional discipline is screwing up the way other players contribute to a style that was working very well for us. It was clearly apparent in the Spurs game when he kept coming inside instead of taking on a slow full back (Dier), and even then he missed a sitter right in front of goal. He doesn't look like a good finisher so he either plays wide or (my preference) not at all. Oh well, If Koeman can't see it, we'll just have to look forward to AFCoN. I have a feeling that Sheffield United will be Burnley Mk 2 in terms of how they play so we need to get this sorted out pronto.

We are going to face exactly the same kind of football on Tuesday, so we'd better figure things out. I can't for the life of me understand why it's taking Koeman so long to realize that Mané is a liability most of the time and that his undisciplined style screws up both Pelle and Tadic, as well as Bertrand and the advance midfielder(s).

Tadic is a "scuff shooter" - he seldom gets clean contact on his shots, so I'm not sure why he'd be taking spot kicks. Starting to get concerned about some of our decision making. I can't see us ever hitting our stride with Mané in the team. He screws us up both offensively and defensively because nobody knows where he'll be or what he'll do.

That's how it has seemed to me. I much prefer Long on the right, Tadic on the left, and Mané on the bench. Mané doesn't seem to have a football brain at all, so his pace and (occasional) skill will end up being wasted.

Sure, the corners weren't good but it's not just about the cross. City didn't clear the front man with several of theirs, but that front man was one of their guys and the flick-on caused us a ton of trouble. It would be nice to see one of our big guy make a late near-post run just in case we under-hit the cross - again.

I'm with you on the line up but I think we can go there and win. They're not in the same league as City, especially with their injuries. But we need to field our best starting line up. Regardless of the Cork or Schneiderlin decision, that - for me - means Long on the right, Tadic on the left and Mané on the bench. Mané's another fart in a thunderstorm - it's all right saying he's unpredictable for our opponents but we don't have any idea what he's going to do either, and our key guys are scrambling to get out of his way. Someone needs to have a word in his ear - as in "use your pace out wide and stop keep cutting inside, destroying our shape and negating Pelle and our forward midfielders." No wonder Tadic and Pelle have gone off the boil.

What did/didn't Yoshida do today to warrant that conclusion? Bear in mind that the problems that cost us goals weren't on his side. And also the fact that Gardos became a bit of a liability in the last ten minutes of the League Cup tie at Stoke.

We were reasonably competitive but losing Morgan meant that we didn't have his unique brand of cover for the two mistakes we made on the right side. We also lost Alderwieireld's reading of danger situations at the back. I think we're a better side with Long in (over Mané) and with Tadic playing on the left. Mané, for me, disrupts our style rather than contributes to it. I hoped for a draw today but I was (and remain) more optimistic about the next two. People need to park the "we got found out" crap and recognize that we lost to a top two team. The next three places are still very much up for grabs.

I'm sure that the players are relishing the upcoming games against the big boys - and probably have fewer misgivings than the average fan. For an athlete there's nothing like pitting your talents against the best and coming out on top. Despite what they say publicly about "taking one game at a time", they've been looking forward to this run of fixtures for weeks. But none more so than Koeman.

FF's point wasn't that he should be playing more but that it's hard to understand why we wouldn't have signed him to a new contract in order to protect his market value. And it's a very valid point because that's very much in the club's best interests. The longer it's left the more likely it is that we'll lose a potentially significant amount of money. It would be understandable if Corky, realizing that he's not highly rated here, becomes reluctant to sign an extension in order to increase his options for a new club - and probably his wages because that new club wouldn't need to pay a big fee for him.

The 8-0 win over Sunderland was great at the time but it has directly led to that situation IMO. We'd better get used to it and still find a way to win. To be fair to Koeman's starting selection, if we hadn't conceded such a god-aweful first goal to such a god-aweful attacking side, we might well have won that in a canter. I'm sure Villa couldn't believe their luck, but they buckled down really well to the task of protecting that led by spoiling everything we did. I was impressed by Okore. We didn't help ourselves by taking a "wide or nothing" approach - and then compounding the problem with poor delivery.

With hindsight I think we should have maintained the structure and shape that has worked so well for us - putting Cork in for Davis and keeping either Long or Mané on the bench. It was almost as though we had too much width today. Mané didn't get much out of (Goatboy's) Hutton but I think the commentators made a good point - sometimes we should leave the wide man to take on the full back in space, rather than close that space up with another overlap. He's a decent enough keeper I'm still not convinced by Forster.

To keep playing the way we've been playing we'd have Corky in for Davis, surely? If Koeman thinks he can overpower Villa with offence (without much fear of their offence) he'd make the change he's made. This is either going to go very well or very disappointingly, but we've seen no reason not to trust Koeman's judgment.

I've often wondered what the Black Box would say about MLT.

Not in the games I've seen. Positionally weak, slow to get back, and quick to foul in dangerous places. My (Villa nut) mate can't stand watching him. I hope my Hutton plays and not yours.

Continuing with the good news theme (IMO), Hutton is expected to be fit. Mané could take him to the cleaners - if he stays wide.

Regardless of whether Mitchell heads for Spurs, I hope Ralph & Co are ready to dismiss any approach from them for any player or, at the very least, make it clear that they are now subject to a special 25% premium on any fee. At some point we have to make it clear that we do have a way of punishing teams that engage in unwelcome and often questionable conduct regarding our players or staff. After all, the predatory clubs are far more likely to want our players than we are to want theirs (along with their crazy contracts).

I realize that, but my point was why say it now when he certainly didn't need to, and when saying it could fuel unhelpful media speculation?

I'm surprised and disappointed that he wasn't much more guarded in his comments - especially when he could so easily have deflected the question with some good words about Saints' potential this year. Responding like that at the start of November makes me fear that he hasn't ruled out the possibility of a move in the January window. If there's one player who could transform several of the big boys for the second half of the season, it has to be Schneiderlin. And I'm sure he knows it.

This is not trying to put a brave face on a tough set of fixtures but - daunting as it seems - I tend to think that we're better to play all the so-called "top teams" in a row. In many ways it's easier to prepare for - and play - three or four talent-laden teams in a bunch than it is to play, say, an Arsenal followed by a Stoke followed by a Man City followed by a QPR. Playing against the "top teams" involves playing in a very similar way, week after week. I'm of the opinion that the 8-0 win over Sunderland actually made things more difficult for us because the "lesser" teams set up more to spoil us so as not to get the same kind of hiding. The big teams won't have that attitude.

I agree with Steve that "we use our energy more intelligently under Koeman" - and that's not just in matches but in training sessions as well. There were times last year when we either didn't play the press very well or didn't play it at all, and I think that was down to the fact that it was unsustainable - very demanding practices (and some two-a-days) followed by very demanding matches. I'm not sure it was down to other teams "rumbling us" as much as to us being unable to keep it going. I suspect that Pochettino knew this and that it was a large part of the reason for him de-prioritizing the cups and being so dismissive of the Europa league. The problem was compounded as soon as we had an injury that would necessitate bringing in players like Jos, Gazzaniga, Fox. We are well short of having a Top 5 bench but we're a long way ahead of last year.

If this is still a problem eleven games in, and after a full pre-season with Pochettino, I'd suggest that the issue is not so much that they don't understand what's expected but that some of them don't want to understand it. After all, Rickie said very early on that it was a non issue here. The challenge for some of the Spurs players is (and was always going to be) that Pochettino's system requires them to work much harder than they've ever had to work, and several of them are not suited to it. It also requires 100% buy-in because the system can't afford passengers. I always felt that MP would have a big problem at Spurs because he wouldn't have the kind of players he had here. I wouldn't be surprised if reuniting with Pochettino has become much less attractive to Schneiderlin - partly because he's enjoying life here and partly because he can see that Spurs are at the start of Year One of a three-year work in progress.

I'm not sure a club - especially one of our size and stature - can "keep a team together" in these days of player power, but I think the players themselves can. If they are enjoying their football, like their manager, like eachother and see the chance of "winning something", they are more likely to be reluctant to leave. We have all those things going for us right now. Also going for us is the fact that not one of the players who left last summer - not one - seems better off (in anything other than purely financial terms) than they were this time last year. Their grass so far is certainly not greener, and the joy we saw in their faces last year is nowhere to be seen now. But even if we do lose one or two, I have every confidence that we'll identify and sign more than adequate replacements.

The only reason I can believe that we lost the home game against Villa last year is the fact that I was there to actually see it. Otherwise I'd still think it was just a nightmare. Seldom has a team been so comprehensively dominated and won - yet more evidence that it's an "anything can happen" game.