Lallana's Left Peg

Ignore what position he is playing on the pitch though - it's his ability to make mistakes which are invariably punished. Even in games where we win he has it in his locker. It's not something that only happens when he plays right-back. I wouldn't mind him playing right back if he didn't make those mistakes. But he does, time and time again. Brain farts which cost us goals. If he didn't make them he'd be a very serviceable right-back as backup.

I'm not losing faith in him and I think he has done a fantastic job overall but I do think he makes some very strange decisions at times which appear to really hurt us. We're obviously not armed with all the facts he is in making his decisions but if we are to take his public comments at face value that he will not play Mane and Cedric in the same side when Mane is deployed on the right then basically we're going to end up playing Yoshida at right back for quite a few games this season. The only games we won't will be when Mane plays behind Pelle and Davis plays on the right - but that means one of Romeu or JWP plays next to Wanyama and I don't think Koeman truly fancies either of them there. It's a problem.

I would. But I also think he could have put the same team out yesterday and told them to play our normal way rather than have such a defensive mentality.

A shame we were not more bold from the start in both team selection or set-up. We were far too defensive which invited Man City to attack us and they were only more than happy to do so since the one thing they hate doing is defending (because they can't do it). Only when the game was effectively over did we sort ourselves out and attempt to give them a game. I absolutely hated the balance in the centre of the park with Romeu (who continues to underwhelm for me), Wanyama and Ward-Prowse. When we had the ball the passing was not good enough and having Davis out on the left was a massive waste given the form he is in right now. As for the Yoshida selection, it appears he plays not based on the merit of the opposition we face but rather that when Mane starts on the right Koeman doesn't trust him to support his full back so he plays Yoshida. The logic behind this is somewhat sound but the thing that completely undermines it is Yoshida's ability to make major mistakes which lead to goals. Right now I'd rather be challenging Cedric in that role to deal with Mane's lack of cover than to continue seeing Yoshida cost us. Despite all this we had a golden chance to equalise but it wasn't to be. But the main thing for me - don't be overly defensive in games because he doesn't play to our strengths and our record at coming from behind is awful. We always need a start in games.

Two problems: 1. Formation is far too defensive 2. Players have no idea how to play it. Other than that we're doing brilliantly.

Sterling vs. Yoshida. **** sake.

Go for it: http://www.cultzeros.co.uk/product/18477/jhon-viafara-southampton/

I like the idea that we send a spy to watch players

I'm not giving the club stick for giving JWP all the chance in the world to develop, I just also want to see Reed given some sort of a chance as well. It's not clear to me why one is getting a chance and the other not. There is probably a good reason, but for me it's not evident for any reason on the pitch that I have seen.

Romeu is more physical by virtue of his size I agree, but Reed puts it about too. Romeu is the better player right now but I always thought we would give young players a chance to develop in the first team and that was our big 'thing'. We've done it with JWP despite so many nothing performances I don't see why we wouldn't do it with Reed and saved ourselves £5m and bigger wages on Romeu. I can certainly think of other places in the team that £5m would have been better utilised right now (though a part of that is benefit of hindsight and all that). I think Reed has shown more than enough that he can contribute in the middle of the park for us - and I am sure he could have done it to the degree Romeu has thus far this season. Of course I am presuming Romeu is the finished article - if he goes on to get far better then my point is redundant. But I don't see it myself.

Personally think Harry Reed should have had much more of a chance and the signing of Romeu must have been a kick in the teeth for him.

1. Would you approach all for extensions? Hard to say on a financial level because we don't know what the wage bill is this year, how much wriggle room we have with FFP, and what impact our new sponsorship deals will have in the summer on our budget for wages. I think with the new TV deal and presumed far better commercial income we have the ability to increase our wage bill a fair bit - but so do other clubs. I'd offer Pelle a years extension to give both him and us that security - we'd have to starve off interest from Italy but with Jay Rod having a question mark against him (and being a different sort of player) we have no obvious successor to Pelle and that is a concern. Tadic deserves a new deal if he can piece together a complete season - I'd wait until the summer in that case. Sadly I think Mane is off but it will be for a club record fee. Forster - I am not so sure - feel easier about keepers going into the last few years of their deal as the market for them is so much smaller. Who would he leave us for? Would he replace the keepers for any of the teams who finished above us last season? I don't think so myself. 2. When is the right time to do so? Pelle - January Tadic - summer Mane - forget it, he's off. Forster - 18 months (presuming he has proved he is back 100%) 3. Do you think they would be keen? Pelle - maybe Tadic - yes Mane - no Forster - yes 4. How much of a factor is Koeman's position at the club? Not as much of a factor as money in my opinion.

Until we know what he was told when he joined the club I think it is unfair to judge whether he has a right to be unhappy or not. What is clear to me though is that Koeman does not trust him to play for us at the moment. I think he has quality, but he is so small and so weak it's almost like his physical stature completely undermines his ability on the ball. When Koeman deliberately allows Juanmi to be fouled in training in order to toughen Juanmi up then it also isn't just a physical thing, it's also a mental thing for Juanmi. Lets face it - if we're one down tomorrow and Juanmi gets chucked on for the last 20mins none of us are going to think he is going to turn the game around for us, are they? I'd have more faith in Gaston, and we all know his time is up with the club. If Juanmi is to go on loan I'd rather he stay in English football otherwise there is no point.

Be interesting to know if it is linked in any way to his knee injury. It's obviously not the same injury but wonder if his foot issue is related to his rehabilitation and / or anything that has changed during the process of having his knee rebuilt.

Well I'll put it this way then. I think if the current Ajax or PSV teams were in the Premier League then they would be relegation candidates. So on that basis I don't think they are very good - or rather, relative to the standard that Saints are, garbage. That is of course just my opinion.

Any team in the Premier League would win that league. It's garbage. They produce some fine players, but the standard of that league is awful.

This was their team according to the website: I have no idea if any of them are first team squad members. You could list their first team squad and I wouldn't know any of them. Ajax are garbage these days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34850381 Sounds like it has potential, but it's how we monetise it that is most important for me with all these FFP rules. If we can't monetise it then it is pointless.

Got a long way to go in the open age game though. Sunderland were all over the place in our game at their place last week anyway, but he struggled to get into the game and do anything, and when he did there were a lot of blind alleys ran down. Has got some decent characteristics which will leave him in good stead though.

Don't know really - I know Bony never liked to stray anywhere else other than between the width of the 18 yard box.

They didn't need to replace Bony as they had Gomis. In my opinion Swansea are struggling because they don't play with the width they once did.

Koeman would already be aware of the players but he also said that Tadic and Pelle were already 'on the list' when he arrived (i.e. a list of players we were monitoring before Koeman came) and I believe that was the case with Mane and VvD too.

Les Reed is important, I don't see how anyone can say otherwise. Cortese definitely was the final decision maker during his tenure here but that didn't mean he didn't have recommendations made to him by his Managers nor Les Reed etc. Les Reed fulfils that role now on the football side but he will still be made recommendations (in fact I think he then relays a set of players to Koeman once he is happy and Koeman determines which one he wants).

That would make absolutely no sense for him or us.