Lallana's Left Peg

We have lots to be excited about but I don't feel Top 4 is anywhere near attainable over the course of a 9 month season.

We talked about this a lot the first few weeks of the season. On one hand we have a player with a massive physical presence, tackles well, is very mobile, strong, has great positional sense, and allows others in the team to go forward. On the other hand he has no touch and every pass is an adventure.

Where do we see his long-term future at Saints? I think he is a very solid player but fear his versatility may hinder him a little moving forward. He was a central-midfielder in the Youth teams and his passing was his man quality - getting the ball forward to the attack minded players. Then under Adkins he would often play as one of the deeper two in the 4-2-3-1, or occasionally play as one of the middle three in the 4-3-3 - but either way, he was a central midfielder. Under Pochettino we've seen him play further forward far more frequently. I must say I am not entirely convinced by him here. He is a steady player but not someone I personally feel thinks like an attacking player, but he does have some good qualities in terms of his awareness and ball retention. He has very little goal threat and doesn't really take players on. We've seen him support the striker in cameos and also play on the right. The problem is that I don't see him getting a look-in within the middle of the park with Schneiderlin and Wanyama both young, and Cork their back-up. So when push comes to shove, where do we see Ward-Prowse establishing himself in the team? Is there more to come from him or is the sort of player we see now the sort of player he will end up being in 5 years time?

I imagine the last thing he wants is pity but I feel a bit sorry for him at times. Everything the modern game needs at the top level from a full-back he struggles with, yet you can't blame him for that - he does his best. No matter what happens when he leaves I'll remember him most fondly from our Championship promotion season, especially for the last few months when he had to be patched up between games because of his groins.

Will be interesting to see who gets the nod at left-back. Fox is able but Dyer is exactly the sort of player he struggles against. Alternatively if Clyne shifts to the left that makes no left-footed players in the team who will start on the left and will massively impact the way we play.

Pochettino has confirmed that Luke Shaw has been ill this week and they will see how he is tomorrow before deciding whether or not he plays against Swansea.

Matt Targett is injured. It's Jason McCarthy you can see in that picture.

My early conclusions: 1. We are far more pragmatic in our football 2. We have lots of more tactical flexibility both in shape and type of football played 3. We are more fluid without the ball, but less fluid with it 4. We attack with numbers but do not risk losing the ball so we can be attacked - this can sometimes dilute how aesthetically pleasing we are to watch 5. We appear to be using players for very specific roles and their talent level as a footballer matters far less than their ability to do certain things in the 'system' Overall we are less pleasing on the eye but we still have licence to entertain - it is just that it is circumstantial and not a default tactic. I'm far happier seeing us 6th in the table with tactical versatility than perhaps being 14th and a 'nice' side to watch.

£500k seems low to me - have we somehow got away with paying Adkins less than he was legally entitled to?

I did not see the game so I can't really comment much but I will say this: When we went 2-0 up I never had any doubt we'd win, simply because I now believe the Manager and the players have the experience and nous to close games out and if necessary turn them into turgid affairs. There is an element of maturity to us now in that respect.

I am going to guess: Davis Chambers Yoshida Hooiveld Targett Davis Cork JWP Ramirez Isgrove Guly

Do you want some highlights? Of course you do: http://www.thisisanfield.com/2013/09/video-highlights-liverpools-1-0-defeat-southampton/

I'm too lazy to write my thoughts tonight, but bloomin' heck - how hot was it in the away end? I was sweating buckets

A picture I've seen shows that the ball was hit nowhere near as 'top left' as it seemed from the crowd from where I was standing. The ball only just made it over the part of the goal where the crossbar meets the post, which made it look absolutely ridiculously good from the Saints end.

We train in the morning and afternoon on a Thursday, so it is being done first thing before training starts. Done on a Thursday for Saturday away games as Friday afternoon they travel up to Liverpool.

One thing I have noticed, and I am not sure whether it is a tactic independent of the presence of Wanyama or not, is how far forward Schneiderlin is getting. Could that be because Wanyama's presence means Pochettino is happier for Morgan to flood forward, or is it something that he would have done this season anyway? Either way we don't know and perhaps won't until Morgan is unavailable and we see whether his replacement does that or not.

I think Lloyd Isgrove is ahead of Rowe in the pecking order at the moment.

Fair enough. For what it is worth I find the issues in the final third by far a bigger issue than the Wanyama / Cork debate, but when you see Saints drop £12m+ on a player you have certain expectations and one of them is most definitely that you can see he is a better player than the one he replaced, and I'm not totally convinced at the moment based on a very small sample of the first four games.

I've no issues with the strengthening in the DM area, and Wanyama certainly ticked many of the boxes of things we were lacking. The fee is nothing to do with him but his performances aren't at a level yet where I feel totally encouraged that he is a complete upgrade on Jack Cork, and I found it very peculiar that he could perform as he did against Norwich and yet still not even be threatened by the presence of Cork on the bench.

In that case there is no genuine competition then. Cork has been ousted and is just squad filler, and no matter how he plays Wanyama comes back in when fit, regardless of his level of performance. I'd bugger off if I was him, he is better than that.

Bide his time for injury or suspension? I have no issues with Cork being out of the team. But if his direct competition has an absolute stinker and he still can't make the matchday 18, it doesn't really reflect genuine competition in my eyes. There is something weird going on at Saints, there appears to be a favourite and non-favourite list of players who get played regardless of form. It makes no sense. By the way I am not writing off Wanyama at all, but I just don't think a squad that has genuine healthy competition would see a terrible performance by a player have him retain his place in the first team. And I appreciate you can't keep chopping and changing and need to show loyalty, but you need to give squad players a carrot.

Yeah of course. But what else would Jack Cork have to do to get a game after the Wanyama performance against Norwich?

Jack Cork is only 24 and made a massive difference to our first season back in the league. Could he not get better too?

I think they are all fair points. Whilst I certainly do not attribute any of our issues scoring goals with Wanyama, and he has certainly contributed to a solid defensive unit, there are just some things you see that are so bad you go 'wow'. I suppose he is a relatively inexperienced player but Cork has done nothing wrong and appears frozen out while we allow a new guy plenty of time to make mistakes that Cork just would not do.

So on the basis of first impressions would you say it was worth investing £12.5m on a marginal upgrade on Jack Cork? I'm just offering an alternative view.