Bewildered

Have to agree with most of this, but I think we would be better served not starting Rodriguez and playing three midfielders behind Osvaldo. J-Rod has pace and can some decent runs, but his general play is not that good and his final ball is really bad. Personally, I would opt for Lallana left, JWP or Davis centre and a new winger out on the right behind Osvaldo. Can't just play all the strikers and expect goals.

A winger with pace, who actually wants to get behind the defence is desperately needed. Not just as a squad player, but as a starter. At this level, most defences will have absolutely no problems stopping a side who always wants to knock it about in front of them like we do, our approach play is so one dimensional it's unbelievable.

Boruc - 5 - One decent save, otherwise he didn't have anything to do apart from pick the ball out of the net. Chambers - 5 - OK first half, struggled second half. Hopefully Clyne comes back in after the break. Fonte - 5 - Defended OK, but distribution was atrocious Lovren - 5 - See Fonte Fox - 5 - was always going to struggle if only because he was left 2 on 1 most of the match Wanyama - 4 - Really poor game. Wayward passing and consistent fouls in dangerous areas JWP - 5 - Not as influential and perhaps a sign he is not ready to start every time yet Lallana - 6 - Probably our best player, hit the post, but other than that still wants to keep the ball in front of the defence too much. Lambert - 4 - Anonymous, didn't look much like he'd link up well with Osvaldo at all Morgan - 4 - Why did he go out wide? I'd guess MP wanted him to help Fox but he didn't do that well at all Osvaldo - 5 - Lively, tried hard but all too evident that he needs time to get used to how the rest of the team plays. Subs: Ramirez - 5 - Some decent touches, some bad ones, the usual Davis - 5 - Didn't really do much Rodriguez - 5 - ditto. Norwich had resolved to sit deep by the time he came on. Should have come on earlier while Norwich were still chasing the goal IMO. Looks like the international break came at the right time for us, have to hope we don't play that poorly again this season.

On the plus side Fonte and Lovren have defended well, even if their distribution has been poor and Chambers has kept Redmond relatively quiet. Lallana has also played well. Osvaldo is not on the same wavelength as the rest of the team, Lambert has been very quiet and Wanyama's passing has been very poor.

Being pressed high, could get some joy on the counter if we had some pace in the side. Sort of game where Rodriguez could cause lots of problems for Norwich.

Adam Blackmore says Shaw hasn't trained all week with a knee problem...

Even if Cork is not first choice any more, it is vital we keep him as he is the only real cover for Wanyama. Davis & JWP etc can technically play there but are nowhere near as good defensively as Cork so by bringing in Wanyama and selling Cork really the squad would not really be any better off as we'd still lack proper back up at DM. £3m is a **** take too, he is worth double that.

Played a big part in our rise up to the Premier League, very good player at Championship level.

2 year deal, undisclosed fee

Simon Peach ‏@SimonPeach 1m #SaintsFC outgoing about to be announced. Still more to go...

Also a small bit in The Sun today about this too.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2403455/Aston-Villa-Southampton-attempting-sign-Potro-centre-Abdoulaye-Ba.html

3-2 Liverpool. Bart showing why we released him

Hooiveld isn't playing because he has a throat problem according to Radio Solent.

Yeah, I noticed the tweet i c&p'd the team from only listed 10 starters

K. Davis ©, Clyne, Fonte, Yoshida, Fox, Cork, S. Davis, Isgrove, Ramírez, Rodriguez. Mayuka Subs: Gazzaniga (GK), Ward-Prowse, Chambers, Stephens, Rowe, Reed, Sinclair. Some telling omissions from that team. No Guly or Hooiveld in the squad at all would have guessed they would have at least been on the bench.

Seen a fair bit of him at Valencia and while he is certainly skillful and quick he really is lightweight, even in a less physical league he struggles to cope with it at times. If he was somehow able to overcome the physical nature of the English game, he would be very good but I don't see it happening.

Can't help but think there are better options available if we just want a loan, Victor Moses for example.

The full backs are supposed to provide the pace and width to the side, but for me they didn't get forward nearly enough. Maybe it was a tactical move to try and prevent Sunderland countering but it forced us to spend much of the game playing too narrow. Clyne got forward a bit more when he came on, but still not really enough and we could have done with more direct wide player to bring on and add that element of width. It's a shame Puncheon wanted to move to London for personal reasons, but Saturday underlined that he does need replacing. Saying all that we still had 2 or 3 chances that really should have been finished better.

Fonte and Lovren look like they are building a good partnership at CB

Someone fire up the Monk signal.

Could go either way, Norwich looked decent against Everton but couldn't score against Hull even though Hull played an hour with 10 men. 1-1 draw.

OK I thought teams were still restricted to 5 in league cup

Davis Clyne Hooiveld Yoshida Fox Cork Davis Mayuka Guly Isgrove Osvaldo Subs: Davis, Fonte, Lallana, Lambert, Rowe, Turnbull, Ramirez Give the majority of first team players that have not had start play. That side should have more than enough for Barnsley. Lallana, Ramirez and Lambert on the bench as an insurance policy and Rowe there to come on if we are comfortable second half or we need a player who is quick and direct to break them down and Turnbull to bring in for a run out if we look comfortable. Play Osvaldo for 60 minutes.