Donatello

Bingo

A) No, he wasn't. B) No, he didn't. If you can't trust anything you read in the papers/on here, trust the statement (or lack thereof) on the OS. Ask yourself why. I don't really even care about Lallana (schadenfreude aside), I just don't understand the perpetual ignorance/denial that his transfer wasn't uncharacteristically acrimonious. Something clearly was afoul.

People who live in glass houses.....

Mhmm, I was going to comment on this, but it's the usual suspects, so whatever. Personally, I can't see what there is to gripe about. Had we lost, fair enough, fill your boots, but as it transpired, Koeman's faith in his squad players (a number of whom he's personally signed - well, he's authorised their transfers) was completely justified in the context of last night's game. It's almost as if you have to remind people that we won, fairly comfortably too.

Rest assured, I hadn't forgotten, it's just hard for people to give grief to a bit part player

Ultimately, and it is to the credit of fans (albeit in a twisted sort of way) that Lambert, Morgan, Clyne, Chambers and Shaw aren't booed/hassled from the stands, but Lallana is. Chambers and Shaw caught some flack initially, sure, but that was probably more a symptom of how everyone felt about that entire summer period - at any rate, that hostility has long gone. Point being, most fans seem fairly savvy as to the particulars of all of those transfers, and have decided that only Lallana merits considerable grief. I think that's telling.

Fortunately our team selections are not based on how excited you are Anyway. Great result. Even before it went to 2-0 I thought it was a 'perfect' (early stages) cup performance, all things considered.

We didn't need to tonight.

That's a rather short-term perspective, imo. Of course the players *can* cope, the point is to keep them as fresh as possible over the course of the season/for more imporant games (subjective, I know). Fatigue is a thing. I.e. if we can rest players, we should. It's to our benefit. That being said, there aren't many we can afford to rest admittedly. Wanyama, f'sure. Maybe Fonte, but I doubt he'll need resting. I'd certainly include Martina to replace Cedric if winning at HT/60 mins.

That is some messed logic. That aside, holding disdain for Lallana, and being able to understand the broader subject of player retention, are not mutually exclusive states.

This sums up how I view him. He's always been a bit too ponderous. Whether he's been able to speed up his ability to assess the situation this season remains unknown, but if he's the same player that he's been in the last three years, then he's simply not suited. Perhaps there's an argument for playing him in a 'false' wide position, where he's not so susceptible to losing the ball in the middle of the park, but then you start testing his stamina/tracking abilities. P.S I'm talking about as a starter in league games.

Devil's advocate, if we wanted to rest Pelle, and we're without Long and JRod, is there another system we can employ to enable us to rest Pelle? Is Juanmi 'striker' enough?

As good as his 10 minute cameo was, I sincerely hope he isn't offered a new contract on terms which are even remotely comparable with his current terms (which he won't be), and as such, I wouldn't expect him to sign an extension. Too much of a gamble, as you say.

Perhaps both, but without input from Reed and the scouting team?

I actually think Bertrand should've been closing Milner down. He was effectively asking Mane to close down two players (one of whom he'd just put a (semi) tackle on). Sure you'd have lost your shape slightly, but Mane was never going to be able to apply pressure given his starting position. In closing, I think Bertrand palmed Milner off onto Mane unfairly/unrealistically.

Are you holding him even remotely responsible for their goal? :S

Right? It's just plain weird. Upon reflection, I don't think SaintCharlie was agreeing with that portion of his/her comment (just that Wanyama was missing from OS training video), I.e. no one had agreed with him/her.

Sorry, but at what point do either of those things happen? He clearly shakes Lee's hand, and I can see no door kicking. Given that someone has agreed with you, I feel like I'm going blind.

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Without wishing to lament indefinitely, they've just showed the equalising goal on MNF, and the kick from Kelvin looks every bit as mental as it did at the time (even Neville commented). Crazy stuff.

He didn't touch it, as far as I could see.

What sort of straw man argument is that? Answer: a good one.

In spite of the context of your comment, I find it hard to believe people can make sincere comments like this off of the back of a record season