S-Clarke

A lack of a RB cost us that game. Poor from Yoshida to fail to track Antonio which lead to the 2nd, and utterly horrific from Martina which created that bundled goal. Other than that, we should have won that first half at least 3-0. Ridiculous to lose that.

I had a feeling about this game, even more so after the results today. It's plainly obvious that Arsenal choke, they cannot handle the pressure of expectation. They freeze and lack bottle, every year it's the same. I know many were expecting a tonking, but in reality it was never going to be that. They're good when it's early in the season, they get towards the top, people start to put expectation on them...and then that's it. They won't win the league, not a chance. Onto us - we were terrific. So hard working, so honest in our performances all over the pitch. Shane Long didn't let the 2 cb's settle, and his influence - especially in the 2nd half - shook that Arsenal back 4 up. The important area today was midfield, that was a performance from Wanyama of which we havne't seen this season, and I was also pleased to see Clasie live up to the potential. Those 2 bossed the game today, Arsenal couldn't get any rhythm going what so ever. (even though they had a fair bit of possession, our shape and discipline meant that they were often forced backwards or sideways) Take a bow Cuco though, he'll never hit one as good as that again! Glad I was there to witness it, I was in shock for at least 5mins...! (I'd love to know what the odds were on 4-0 with Martina the first goal scorer..!!!) Overall, I never jumped onto the pessimist bandwagon, we're clearly a good side and Arsenal are clearly chokers - so this was never going to be a defeat. The acid test comes on Monday, let's hope it's not a bit of an anticlimax, as back to back wins at this stage would spring us back up that league.

He's a CB.

Butland Johnson - Shawcross - Toby - Monreal Kante Dembele Mahrez Ozil Lukaku Vardy

I imagine we've just given up on him. Absolute sick note, not worth the resources.

I would imagine we have capitalized on it, but you won't see the results for years and years. I don't know why you'd expect us to see results straight away anyway, or why you'd expect us to to field 9 year olds.

As per any bad patch, a player who is not playing is automatically 100% better than anyone else.

I think ourselves and Swansea are very similar in terms of what we're trying to achieve and the obstacle we've hit. A lot is made of moving to the next level, but that next level for us (above top 6 finishes/Europa league etc) is so hard to get. They've hit the same brick wall as ourselves, trying to go up that notch when the top teams want your best players is hard. The way we both do things is right though, we follow the right principles and neither club really panic - which is why, even after the recent struggles, we'll still be better placed long-term.

You probably couldn't do worse, to be honest. Maybe Pelle at CB?

LVG doesn't know how to use him, no surprise really.

Started the game very well, on the front foot, really aggressive and positive in winning the ball back. They couldn't handle us at the start and we really, really, really should have scored - Mane needed to put that either side. Could have been a totally different game then. The goal went in and that was it though, confidence drained and we drifted away. We were beaten after that and it was a hard watch for the rest of the game.

I'd go with Romeu in midfield most weeks, I'm not sure why he dropped out as he was great for us at the start of the season. Wanyama has been absolute pants, but I'd put him alongside Romeu so he has a bit more physical cover in there. Mane is our best player, so I'd just give him the freedom of the attack. Left, right, central....let him go where he feels he can cause damage and let him find the space. I hate it when he's stuck out wide as he struggles to get into the game, but when he's got a bit of freedom you see him popping up all over the show. I know a lot is being made of our poor form, but that's all it is. We're not a bad side, we're better than a lot in this league. Spending money is always called upon when teams are struggling, but how often does that approach actually work? I'm not one for panic buying. Maybe we'll get an another attacking player, but we do have the tools here already - they just need to get out of their collective slumps. Look at Bertrand for example - he's really struggling at the moment, you have to wonder how a lack of a full pre-season is affecting him. His form has been pretty poor these last few weeks.

TBF we were damn lucky to get even a point from that game, we should have been down and out at FT. A point is a bit of a bonus.

Why is Shaqiri one of the best signings out of interest? Just because he's a name? Bar his showing v Man City he's done very little for Stoke.

Has it ever struck you that the **** results the U21's and U18's are having is because the current group, in all honesty, is utter turd? And I'd imagine that influences the reason as to why many aren't being given a go. I've read a lot of utter bull on this site over the past few weeks about how Koeman doesn't like the youth, we're a far cry from the MP days etc. One difference, and quite a large one at that, the best young players we had under MP have since been sold - there isn't (as yet) the same level from the academy to replace them, so why people want Koeman to throw young players in who aren't quite ready/good enough is beyond me. Is 2008/09 really that far back for some to remember? And what is all this bull**** about Gaston? I'm sure he becomes a better player every minute he's not selected. He's not playing and isn't involved because he's a failed Premier League player, there's no point debating it anymore. Some people have incredibly short memories and an incredible lack of long-term perspective.

I don't think we were as bad as some have been making out. We started the game incredibly well, came out of the blocks like a train. Poor finishing and a lack of composure/confidence in those final moments cost us the win. As the game went on we slumped back a little and lost that intensity we started with and once Villa got the jammiest of goals ever, the heads dropped. It took us a while to get going in the 2nd half, the players looked as if they were walking through mud some of the time. It was an important equalizer though, it stops the rot and can potentially be the starting base for another good run. I like Romeu and he started the season well, but once Wanyama came back on the scene he was out - not sure why entirely, as he's not at the level this year. Ward-Prowse continues to frustrate by consistently doing nothing in a football match. This is a big season for him, lots of talk and lots of expectation, so he needs to start doing something now. Palace will be a tricky match, but we can win there if we play with the same intensity as we started with yesterday.

WTF @ Chelsea this season. Seriously, what the hell is with them.

You can come to that conclusion once he's signed a new contract, before that it's silly even debating it. We've done very much the same in offering Morgan, Clyne, Mane new terms etc. The reality is the same with us. If a Utd, City, Chelsea come in for him, he will leave Leicester city.

I think that's the key, I think the blame needs to go on the back of Caulker for leaving the biggest hole in CB that i've seen since the days of Alan Bennett and Chris Makin. He possibly would be annoyed at the shot which went under him (Moreno I think) but I imagine he's had a few words with the guys in front of him for allowing free shots for 60 mins.

Doesn't this always happen though? We lose a couple of games and everyone demands answers, we want to hear from the board, ra ra ra. But why? what do we want them to say? Luckily they don't knee-jerk as much as some of our lot on here.

He's out of Porto's league financially if we're honest. They're pretty much the Portuguese version of us, buy young players (mainly from south america) make them names and then sell them for huge fee's (Falcao, Rodriguez, Hulk to name a few). But they're able to retain competitiveness at the top because they don't have City's, Utd's, Arsenals and Chelsea's to deal with.

I'm still staggered why we didn't play Van Dijk up front.

If only it was that easy. As a club we're not in a position to do that and probably never will be.

We were never going to get Krychowaik, but he's exactly the sort of style of player we needed/need.

I'd say we were playing 9 men today. 2 in particular were absolutely out of their depth and they might as well have sat on the touchline (Clasie/Caulker). I think the attacking front 3 (especially Tadic, Mane, Davis) started the game well, opened them up and go down the sides well. The team lost confidence and belief when we started getting played through, and beaten for fun at the back. The morale just dropped once the players saw Clasie being skipped by and Caulker being beaten for pace the 4th time. As long as Fonte comes back and I never have to witness Caulker in a Saints shirt again, I'll be happy.