StrangelyBrown

And there is the danger of our approach today, expecting us to keep the ball out of the net with Madison, vardy and Barnes falling over every 2 minutes was always going to result in a dangerous set play. Now we have to have a plan b where we go up a few gears...

Ive wondered the same - it seems like he hasn't been quite fit enough for a whole game/starting position since then. Maybe the club are sensibily managing something we're not aware of

At times we've been really hard to beat and have defended very well - the problem seems to me that we are really streaky and things either click or fail spectacularly. What I can't work out is whether Ralph comes up with something clever, it works for a bit until someone works us out and then he stubbornly sticks to the "winning" formula or just simply that our players are collectively prone to massive swings in confidence/form.

Bear with me on this, but having read through some of Ralph's strangely worded comments (particularly the one about 4-2-2-2 being our DNA) I'm wondering whether the 3-5-2 is his idea or sport republics? It would make sense for the group to want a way of playing across all teams...

Good character to fight back from 2 down. The question is has Ralph learned from this? If he starts with 4 at the back, drops Bednarek, starts Aribo and Mara next time then I think he buys himself a bit more time. If he starts with 5 at the back and Bednarek is in the starting line up he can just fuck off.

So will be interesting to see whether Ralph addresses the obvious problems at half time or does something completely random...

How the fuck does bednarek keep his place? Ball watching for 3 of the goals against spurs, shit for the last 6 months - shouldnt be anywhere near the team at the moment.

Good post - I wonder if the players who have turned on Ralph are the same ones that have been here for ages and have performed poorly for manager after manager (e.g. Redmond, Stephens, Bednarek, ...)?

Interesting, maybe he maintains a public persona (in the same way that Robbie savage does) in order to spark controversy - in which case anything he puts on twitter is well worth ignoring as it won't even be his real view!

To be fair, Charlie Austin is an A grade bellend so I'm not sure it is worth reading anything into it... However in the interests of balance Ralph does seem to have a bit of a problem with strikers - perhaps it's an ego thing that Ralph doesn't know how to handle or a hoddle like problem that Ralph has with strikers?

For me I've no problem with players being played out of position - plenty of good managers do this well. Valery may just be getting game time because Ralph has lost faith in Lyanco and Stephens - and who could blame him? What frustrates the hell out of me is the inability to see what isn't working and change it or the rigid sticking to the plan no matter what. For example how many times can we all see that a particular player is having a stinker and yet that player is the one who stays on the pitch and then stays in the starting 11 the next game or how many times have we looked exposed playing 4-2-2-2 and yet there's been no tactical changes.

Don't come on here talking sense - this is clearly all Ralph's fault

I like the look of this but can't help thinking Ralf will either stick with the 5-3-2 or revert to the 4-2-2-2 God help us if it's the former, if it's the latter I'd like to see: Bazunu KWP ABK Salisu Perraud JWP Lavia Aribo S.Armstrong Adams A.Armstrong (Not that I think Adam Armstrong is good enough - just simply the best of a bunch of bad options) Whatever happens this is a game we should win and a loss should see Ralph walking IMO

Where did I say I didn't give a shit? We lost a game against a side who are expected to finish top 4 at their place with a bunch of young new players and with a bit of a tradition of a crap result in the opening day. Last season our season fizzled out due to being safe very early on. I'll have a little mantrum about things when we lose a game I expect us to get something out of - perhaps you should be a bit more realistic? We are what we are - a lower half team having a majorly transitional season. It will be shite for a while yet.

Nice to see the usual spazweb meltdown

Priorities for me are fullback (left sided, preferably someone who can play both lb/rb) and a striker who is going to contribute 10 or more goals. CB and no 10 are still worries even though we've improved a bit - particularly CB going into another season with Bednarek and Stephens anywhere near the 1st team.

I'd be really interested in knowing how many players is this from? Not that I'm saying this isn't true, but it's very easy to take opinions from a handful of people and draw the wrong conclusion - especially those who are already disgruntled or of an entitled disposition.

Perhaps a number of footballers are just utter bellends with big egos who need taking down a peg or two - just a thought...

But based on the claims that football manager is used as a scouting tool MLG should be able to give us an opinion.... MLG over to you - is he good or not?

When was he last "good"? The last 6 months with us he was pretty poor and hasn't exactly set the world on fire with villa

In my opinion, if he can distribute the ball and think a bit more quickly then he will be a significant upgrade and much better suited to our way of playing. Hopefully people will give him a bit of time and see him play before completely writing him off, but that wouldn't be very saintsweb would it?

I'm never really sure at what bednarek is really good at - he's not particularly physical (for a CB), he's not great with the ball, not great at reading the game, prone to occasional lapses of concentration that leave him out of position and tend to lead to goals, ... I guess he gets a few goals from corners. Salisu on the other hand is a beast physically, is quick and reads the game well, is decent enough with the ball, but seemingly suffers from confidence problems and moments of sheer recklessness. I can see salisu's potential beyond our level. Bednarek on the other hand has reached his which is lower end of the PL.

And strangely you dodge the chance to show an opinion again... Perhaps all that thinking of numbers between 1 and 20 has worn you out?

What do you think we need MLG? I've seen lots of criticism of other people's opinions but you rarely put your own out there...

"Adam Lallana Ex-Liverpool and Southampton midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live Klopp will be delighted with how Liverpool are playing. They're showing all the right signs. Hopefully they can keep progressing and have a chance or two before the break." No suprise to see where Nivea boy's loyalties are....