S-Clarke

I don't think they've been sure of him since he got there to be honest. Given how much money they've spent this window, the pressure will be enormous. You'd have expected them to give Spurs a bit of a game, but Spurs were light years ahead in every department. It was always going to be slightly intriguing to see how they did without Lukaku. I thought they'd have focused on replacing him rather than signing Sigurdsson to be honest, he seems to be the same sort of player as they already have (Barkley, Klassen etc).

It's absolutely insane that this is even being considered. **** football, it's long gone.

I find it absolutely bizarre that there are talks of this being De Boer's last game if they lost. What chance does anyone ever have?

We need more mobility, Austin is not going to pull the channels or stretch the play with his pace. I wouldn't put Long in for goal exclusivity scoring, I'd put him in for pulling defenders around and creating more space - giving some support to others.

We have struggled for goals since we sold our two goal scorers, Mane and Pelle. They scored over 50% of our goals, and we technically didn't replace either. I know people will say Boufal replaced Mane, but they're totally different types of player. You're not ever going to see Boufal hit 10+ goals a season. Gabbiadini is a good player, but he's never, ever, ever in his life been a lone striker. That's not what he is. He can play either wing, or in behind a striker - but he is not the sort of player who can play up top. That's part of our problem at the moment as well, the ball doesn't stick and it doesn't allow time for anyone else to get forward - that's why Boufal plays so deep to come and get the ball. Ideally you want players like him in the box, or just outside the box - not near the centre circle. For me, Long starting is a no-brainer right now. He starts with Gabbi. Long can then pull the channels and open the space in the centre for Gabbiadini. How on earth Gabbi is expected to do anything up front when it's just him and no one within 5 yards is beyond me. We lack a focal point up top for sure. We have good support players, but no focal point.

Time to play McCarthy I think.

There are bad performances, and then there is THAT. What in the actual **** was that? A disjointed and hideous watch for 45mins, as Watford pummeled us and exploited our non-entity of a midfield. Romeu had a nightmare today, and when your one and only midfielder with any physicality about him has an off day, you are dead. Which we were. It was like watching the powderpuff girls with Davis, JWP and Boufal trying to impact the game at times. This was a long way away from anything we have dished up so far this season, it was unfathomable how bad we were today really. Not sure how many more chances Boufal needs before he adjusts to this league, but as time goes on he's looking more and more like another expensive number 10 failure for us. Not much more to say really, other than that we'd have been beaten by a non-league side today. Lots and lots of thinking required by the players and the management after that - just what were we trying to achieve today?

You do come across like a right arse, I have to say.

Lol. To be honest, the West Ham owners ask for all the stick they get. They act like billy big balls all window talking up huge targets, then never manage to get them. Then to appease their fans, they're suggesting it's Sportings fault. They did it last year with Lacazette...

The goal came from him cutting in from the left, haven't been watching too much.

Good to see him back in among it all. Will be interesting to see how it pans out over the week and what MP's comments will be on thursday...

Less time to run on his contract for a start, VVD would have to do this for 4 more years. Plus there was the added complication of Berahino failing a drugs test, which prolonged his absence. The fact is that he didn't get the big move he wanted, sulked, went mental, ended up getting a move. But had to go sideways to Stoke, and by all accounts he has been garbage for them. He's put doubt on a promising career by essentially being greedy. I don't think VVD is as dim as that though.

Great finish Rashford. Think he's been one of the better players tonight, along with Ali

He's had an absolute nightmare.

Really classy finish from Dier, still not entirely sure the corner was meant for him....! Rashford is better from the left, combining well with Bertrand. Chamberlain and Henderson have been very poor.

Naff.

Ah, is pluto still having a little cry about that. It feels like it's an appropriate moment to share this picture.

Bloody Les Reed. Everything is his fault. I'm sure he's even involved with North Korea. etc.

Good post professor, sound views all backed up by actual facts....makes a change on this place! One slight oddity you haven't mentioned was Fraser, signed up until 2021 last summer.....and then signed another contract this summer, so that was a bit strange - would be interesting to know the reasons behind that. If you want a lesson in how not to manage players contract lengths then take a look at Arsenal. They have got double figures of players out of contract within the next year, including their key men Ozil and Sanchez. In any sensible business, they should have reluctantly agreed to sell Sanchez this summer when it became apparent he wasn't going to sign - similar to Ozil. They've probably ****ed away over £100m in transfer fees.

Nope, no move at all. Be interesting to see what happens in January...

That's just a huge assumption though. There's more to life than just a career, who knows what's going on.

Goal for Davis tonight as well. Although it was a pen.

Holy ****, a Southampton player scored from outside the box.

Harry Kane hates August.

Henderson is such a boring player to watch. Just nothing.