Lallana's Left Peg

Makes everyone around him better, which is when you know you've signed a class player. Keep up this consistency and I would make him captain without hesitation. He seems to 'get' elite football and what you need to do.

I think it is fairly clear people are only judging him on four games - there is nothing else to judge him on. Four games is enough for a first impression and he gets too many touches of the ball for my liking considering he doesn't seem to particularly value possession. I was impressed against WBA but he made me want to stab myself in the eye with a rusty nail at Norwich. Whilst he is only 21 and relatively inexperienced I can see how performances could be up and down - especially in a new team in a harder league than he is use to - however, at the same time he cost £12.5m and he is doing plenty of things a £5m player shouldn't be doing, let alone one who cost over twice as much. That said I appreciate the transfer fee is nothing to do with him. I suppose in summary I hope there is plenty more to come.

I don't wish to be picky but that was evident throughout last season and it seems the same this season as well. Nothing we've done has improved the way we deal with that?

Double-post.

I agree on an individual level but as far as the team goes I always think it bodes well when you can identify straight away what they are trying to do - whether you agree with it or not. What I saw at Norwich and yesterday was a complete cluster**** and the players didn't seem much more informed either. That really worries me, as whilst I wouldn't expect thing to work straight away, you'd want an idea of what we were trying to do and / or a sense of what combinations were being put forward.

Did you not expect a bit better though? Or at the very least get a feeling that anyone in midfield or attack were playing like they knew 100% what they were supposed to be doing?

An interesting view - thought I'd reply with my own on a few points: I think there are other aspects to our team that allows us to defend better beyond the presence of Wanyama. At this stage I couldn't attribute him making a significant contribution to our defending. No doubt he adds a presence and he has good instincts, but beyond the obvious physical things I don't see him as an irreplaceable name in the team. The one thing we are doing, rather bravely, is releasing Morgan to go forward leaving just Wanyama on his own at times. I don't think we would do that with Cork, at least to my eye we never did. But we haven't seen any gain from Morgan bombing forward yet, although with a bit of luck and more understanding I can see how it may work. Lovren has been brilliant. He makes other players better. He is decisive and makes the right decision. He is also a leader. He should be Captain if he keeps this up. Morgan looks out of sorts to me. He is pushing further up the pitch but he looks unsettled. He is not winning challenges he did last year either and that is independent of anything else - that is an individual battle. He breaks forward brilliantly but he looks confused when he has the ball on the edge of the box. I hope it comes but he is several steps away from last season. I found the above a bit contradictory, but in a way it reflects the confusion that exists in the final third on the pitch. No-one can be sure those front four can play with each other. I don't see enough understanding from them to give me any encouragement. It looks like it has a bit of everything but that doesn't mean anything to me unless there is a degree of common understanding of what they are doing or in what they have been asked to do. It all seems rushed, a bit panicked, and in cohesive. A long long way to go for me. I didn't particularly enjoy watching it either, it just seemed a mess to me. Early season review should only consider the first part of the season in my opinion, and 2 goals in four games against the teams we've played is poor. Thank goodness for our defensive record. I've seen a departure from the sort of football Pochettino established at Espanyol and it isn't easy on the eye. I like our patience at the back but there is a massive fail in how we work the ball through the midfield to the forwards. I don't know if it is the system, the players, the mentality, or whatever. But I expect Pochettino to sort it soon. From my perspective when a player receives the ball with their defender behind them we lack anyone with the control or power to shift it a yard and turn a corner, making the defender think twice about getting so tight. Right now they get tight because they know no-one in our team can take a man on without his second touch going 10 yards in front of him. Speed and pace are over-rated unless you use them to your advantage. For a team that has intelligent players we move the ball far too slowly. The tempo is awful at times. I don't know if it is the man with the ball or the lack of movement, but neither are an appropriate excuse for me. Second half on Sunday was much better. But why didn't we move with tempo in the first half? The players look confused and unsure to me. From my perspective something isn't right in the team and I think that unfamiliarity is anything more than just one of the contributing factors, and not the most significant factor on its own. You tell tell from the verve and body language of the players.

Partington? Edited my original reply as don't want to offend the opposition

I saw plenty of movement but not enough understanding between the players after the first phase of play (for example, the first pass would be ok but then it just broke down). I also thought Wanyama and Schneiderlin were too indecisive with the ball at times. Something isn't clicking and it concerns me. That said, thank goodness for our newfound resoluteness in defence.

Wanyama has had two stinkers in a row. If we've got a squad and there is competition for places, now is time for him to reminded of the performance levels required for the Premier League.

Could have won but wouldn't have deserved it. Don't know what we were trying to do formation and tactics wise but our passing was terrible. Don't enjoy watching us at the moment, an absolute dearth of quality in our play.

There has often been a need for us to play someone else up front with Lambert however my may concern is that whenever that has happened and we've played 4-4-2'ish it has resulted in lumping it long, as though four in midfield for some reason means we can't move the ball upfield and keep it on the deck.

I'm trying to get my ahead around starting the trio of Jay-Rod, Osvaldo, and Lambert starting but I just can't find a formation or balance that makes sense with Lallana starting as well. Unless I think of Osvaldo as a striker too much, and in fact he starts on the right and Jay-Rod on the left with Lallana behind Lambert? But even then it doesn't feel right - the instincts of the wide men will be to come inside all the time and right now we're not moving the ball quick enough to take advantage of 'overload' areas of the pitch flooded with players. Alternatively we've gone all in with this play 'from' positions instead of 'in' positions idea and Lambert, Osvaldo, and Jay Rod will rotate but the whole thing has the potential to be a disaster. At least it won't be a boring game though. And I hope I am massively wrong about it not working.

The question was raised in relation to the West Ham striker issues, he said can't speak for Sam Allardyce but he trains all his players during the week to have the mentality they will start so if they are called upon they are ready. He was then asked how does he keep players happy who don't play, and he answered quite firmly that it is a players responsibility to train not to automatically be a starter and play. He said sometimes we forget that, and he chooses the team as a Manager, otherwise a club may as well only have 11 players and no Manager. He said players should understand that too and anyone who doesn't is going to struggle in football. It is the players challenge to train better and be in contention to play. It was actually good to see him be so firm on something and show a bit of assertiveness.

His answer about squad balance and players obligations

Any update on this? Nearly two months since the announcement, I don't think Crocker has left yet but it can't be far off?

Despite everything about them meaning I must surely find them annoying, I actually quite enjoy the Jason Cundy and Andy Goldstein show on TalkSport. I'm sure they'll be delighted with my endorsement and both be entirely validated.

Ball playing centre-halves suitable for the modern game who can still defend well are at a premium. I suspect we only got Lovren as he had a poor season at Lyon in the first place. That said, Astori is still at Cagliari - and he seems very suitable and attainable.

Have seen more than a handful of Pompey supporters bleating about how good it is to own the club and not be a part of the 'soulless' Premier League etc. Haven't had the heart to remind them that it is the 'soulless' Premier League's new TV deal that gave them the extra £4m in parachute payments which prevented them from disappearing and the fan takeover failing miserably.

Ever since the successive defeats against Newcastle and QPR last season, I've noticed a distinct change in our general match tactics. In general I would summarise it as follows: 1. Attacks are very slow and built up to ensure that when men are committed forward we can't be hit on the break 2. Pressing high up the pitch is very circumstantial and not done by default For me this was a clear departure from what Pochettino initially attempted to do, and what we were told were his hallmark tactics at Espanyol. I am going to speculate this was done to stop us conceding so many goals whilst still retaining some goal threat. In the 10 games since that change last season, we only conceded 9 goals (this includes the West Brom game where we conceded 3 which was a nightmare all round). I was curious to see what sort of brand of football we'd play this season but it looks like it is more of the same, and that is reflected by only conceding two goals in three games. However, it has clearly come at the expense of our goal threat. Our football is less expansive and swashbuckling. It is still very fluid but it seems very considered and less 'off the cuff'. There seems to be set patterns and rules to what we do, and our goal threat comes from working the ball and looking to take a chance rather than rushing forward in numbers and using law of averages. What do we think of this approach? There has been lots made of our lack of goals however not so much made about a defence (both individuals and system) that has improved immeasurably from a year ago. We're always 'in' games these days and whilst they aren't as exciting is that the way forward - to remain tight at the back and rely on quality in the final third to take advantage of fewer chances created? Or are the last 13 games reflective of any other change perhaps I haven't picked up on?

Most of my mates are pleased for him and think it is cool. You'll find many plastic supporters of 'big' teams don't care much for the national team anyway so I wouldn't be bothered about what they say. You could always ask them that if they were going to choose their club team based on how good they are perhaps they should do the same with what national team they follow if they don't like the players Hodgson selects. That usually stumps them a little.

It's hard to pick a team based on speculation though. For what it is worth I would find it strange for Pochettino to make a decision over a player without having the chance to look at him in training. Sharp is hardly an outsider - he was a popular member of the squad who was involved heavily pre-season and then dropped very methodically the moment Mayuka arrived. That Sharp hasn't even had a chance to prove to Pochettino what he can do in training doesn't sit right to be honest, and again I'll speculate that I think there are influences outside the first team coaching staff (last year and this) as to why that is. But if I try to look at it and exclude the way he has been treated, I don't see a place for Sharp whatsoever now. Last season, maybe I do - perhaps after it emerged how unrefined Mayuka is. But I guess by then Sharp was on a seasons-loan and there was nothing we could do about it. In terms of Ramirez, he hasn't started a game in the league for us this season so I am not sure where further negativity against him comes from.

In your opinion would Billy Sharp make a difference to that?

If Billy Sharp could genuinely offer something to a team that has Rickie Lambert, Jay Rodriguez, and Daniel Osvaldo, and he 'only' earns £18k a week, how come another Premier League team has not offered us £2m for him and snapped him up straight away? I won't pretend there wasn't anything peculiar about his exit and Mayuka's arrival (whole thing stinks of decisions made outside Adkins and his team if you ask me) but speculating about last season is useless. If this is about what Sharp has to offer now surely it is very hard to justify him being anywhere near the team?

I can see why a Championship side would baulk at 18k a week. It's a lot of money for an on-loan player. Nearly £1m a year in wages that has no asset value and is basically a £1m spend to get 10 - 20 goals for the season (depending on how good you are as a team). In fact the only team I can see who would go for it is Reading however Simon Peach alluded to something last week where he suggested that Saints aren't really engaging in any business with Reading due to Adkins, so that potentially scuppers that prospect for Sharp (it seems the best fit for him on many levels). Alternatively I suppose Sharp could agree to take a pay cut if playing matters that much to him but all things considered at the age of 27 I wouldn't be walking away from my contract to play - and I don't think he should get any stick for taking that stance either. If someone wants to pay you 18k for 4 years then that is enough money to want to receive whether you play or not.