DuncanRG

We're having a worse season than last year, don't get me wrong, but the inability to see form as temporary remains the same.

I don't agree they were pretty similar, I think Pochettino was better. The main reason is Chambers - easy as it is to dismiss that as one player, putting him in ahead of someone as established and consistent as Clyne was a big deal. I don't watch the U21s, but there is a case to be made that players don't improve until you put them into the first team environment. That doesn't necessarily mean starting Reed and Seager in the league but it might mean using them in the cups, which Koeman didn't. Coaching is about more than waiting for a young player to rip up the youth team then plonking him in the first XI - it's about seeing the qualities they need to develop to make the step up and helping them through it. One way to motivate a player and give him confidence is to show your faith by giving him chances in the first team, even if it's not in the league.

You're right about Gallagher, of course, but Ward-Prowse was used marginally more under Pochettino, starting most league games and always coming off the bench if he didn't. I suppose you could add that while he didn't introduce Rodriguez to the team, he did push his game up several notches and turned him into one of the first names on the teamsheet. Anyway, I think we'd all agree that Pochettino's more impressive use of youth has been at Spurs, where there are boys getting into the team ahead of highly paid and experienced internationals. It's not that we want a return to the circumstances of the 2013/14 season, more the belief in youth he's showing there and showed, perhaps to a lesser extent, while he was here.

Do I have to support Man Utd to say that man Ferguson was a dab hand? I've answered it before, one sec...

The feel's much the same as last Christmas if I recall rightly - pessimism, a deluded belief that we'd never turn our form around, thoughtlessly blaming the board/manager for poor signings like Sadio Mane.

Losing heavily by fielding your U21s against Arsenal is what it takes?

Make those Villa and Sunderland games ordinary drubbings of say, 3-0 (because it would be daft to measure us on 36 games when everyone else gets 38 ) and we scored 46 goals, joint 10th. That is a fair difference, but not the sign of an impotent team. And we didn't beat anyone 8-0 in the previous two years, where we hit the tallies I mentioned. We've sometimes struggled to break down sides who dig in and defend at St Marys, and we've dipped in 2015 as mentioned above, but to call us an impotent (or not especially potent) attacking team over two years where we scored more goals than most of our rivals is complete and utter drivel.

My personal highlight

'Can't be any worse' is a really poor reason to pick a player. I like Reed and wish he had more opportunities, but we need a settled central midfield partnership. You can't chop and change in that position. For me, that partnership should be Clasie and Wanyama, though I can see the merit in giving Wanyama a boot up the arse by picking Romeu for a game or two.

He's had a pretty abject season but retains the talents which will interest big clubs. We probably won't get £20m, but that's as much to do with another year coming off his contract and another year on his age. As for Mane, people were getting ahead of themselves calling him a £30m player anyway - he would only ever attract that price if he could play at his best consistently. He still hasn't done that.

Sorry, was that the year we scored 54 goals (sixth most in the league) or the previous year where we also scored 54 (eighth most)? Perhaps it was the year before, where despite fighting relegation we finished in the top half for goals scored with 49? Our movement does need to improve, for sure.

Yes it is. Any team can go on a bad run and overreact by acting like that poor form is going to continue for the rest of the season. Think of the myriad ways it could be worse - instead of being 12th, we could be in any of the eight positions below that. Instead of drawing to Aston Villa or beating Sunderland, we could have lost. Instead of starting brightly against Spurs and losing our heads when we conceded, we could have been outplayed for 90 minutes. Try looking at similar clubs you don't have an emotional connection to. West Ham have been on a pretty poor run - are they really going to get relegated? Are Swansea, really? It's unlikely because both teams have plenty of quality, like us, and will turn their form around, like us. Bilic, Koeman and whoever Swansea's new manager is all need to change things, but their recent results don't make them worse than Aston Villa, Sunderland, Newcastle and the rest. Of course things need to change, and if they don't, ever, then of course we're going to be fighting relegation. What I'm saying is it's highly likely things will improve. I'm bitterly disappointed by this run, because we've dropped off the pace for a top six finish and will have to fight hard to get into the top half and stay there. But relegation talk is so, so premature. To deflect accusations of being naively positive, I think we're going to lose this game. It would be nice to have Sanchez out against us, which is possible if he's rushed into the team tonight like he has been in the past.

We have about 20 Premiership players, and don't let a poor run of form trick you into thinking otherwise.

You're overreacting.

Well, only two of them are above us in the table. The fact Bournemouth are on a high ebb and we're on a low one doesn't mean they're better than us. However, we can look at Watford and especially Leicester as good examples of workrate, aggression and clinical finishing.

Sounds pedantic but I think he had a crack with his left in the Stoke game which got blocked... He should start scoring with his right foot first!

Haven't watched them back (and they were both at the other end of the ground to me) but the second looked pretty similar to Cabaye last week in terms of marking in the box

I'm not saying we're going to soar back up to seventh any time soon - just that there's a way to go before we're in a relegation fight!

That's the worrying thing, because we really don't have another option. Long is not a viable option. Pelle is usually one of our best players, always puts in the effort (not running around like Long, because that would be pointless) and had a great start to the season. He's in a low ebb of confidence like a lot of our players. I think we do need to sign a striker in the window and ease our dependency on him.

Ah, true. But we're also four points off Watford in 7th and two points behind Stoke, who are said to be having a great season. It's very much mid table at the moment.

Spot on.

We're seven points clear of the bottom three, guys. This bad form has to be reversed quickly but we have the opportunity to do so before it turns into a relegation fight. Exactly right - and mental problems are far harder to diagnose from the stands.

Koeman's right about the mentality. We have good players who are bent out of shape at the moment, who aren't aggressive or confident enough in their own abilities. We created some good chances yesterday but nobody seems to back themselves to take them. So the constructive thing to do is get them fired up, get them to go at Arsenal like we did Spurs in the opening phases and maintain our intensity. I don't believe the team needs major surgery in January, though a strong, exciting signing could give everyone a lift.

Thank you for making this point. Blaming the board is for people who don't understand sport.

Too right. Soon as that goal went in I knew the game was over, because the players acted like it.