SaintTex

good question.. in a 5-3-2.. what is a the better back 5 starting lineup? Cedric--VvD--Fonte--Bertrand--Targett or Cedric--Yoshida--Fonte--VVD--Bertrand I think we could agree that Bertrand is more effective on the wing than Targett, but moving Bertrand out of CB, means inserting Yoshida at CB; which is probably a weaker 3 CB lineup defensively. Tough choice.

I hadn't noticed it during the match but VvD got literally thrown down to the pitch by Collins during the attempted header at the 65th minute. I hope the they appeal the red card. 01) Wanyama was clearly going for the ball. It got away a bit from Payet and squirted right in front of Wanyama who saw an opportunity to take a clumsy stab at it. 02) Payet slides over the top of Wanyama 02) Wanyama's knee hit the back of Payet's leg.. nothing egregious 04) Wanyama's boot never touches him 05) Payet literally thrusts his body off the pitch like it is electrified 06) Nobel in Clattenburg's face, screaming for the red. That being said: 13 points from 15 with 3 of those coming from the 4th, 5th and 6th place teams is brilliant. Getting our defence in order has made all the difference in the world. You build off that. You get that right and everything else works itself out. It doesn't even matter if your offense is sputtering a bit. The results prove that. We are also fortunate that Bertrand can play either CB or Left Wing in the 5-3-2, as Targett's injury could have forced Koeman into a different formation if not for Bertrand's ability to play both. Which begs the question, if Cedric is injured, could we still play a 5-3-2? Yoshida/Cuco on the wing? Also, fair play to Yoshida.. I am of the opinion he is usually the kiss of death when he is on the pitch, but he played well today. His instinct to move toward the 6 yard box in the run up to the goal was excellent.

this, in bold. this again, in bold. This, in bold All the little American kids in Liverpool youth clubs become adults who no longer play football, but watch it. Guess who their favorite PL club is? You gotta indoctrinate them early and then it will pay dividends to the club for decades. It will have to be a slow burn, but you got to start some how. I think this really is more about marketing and less about finding/developing youth football players and I am OK with that. Present it in whatever little neat bow you require to sell it.

that is 2 points lost without Forster. Forster comes back from injury - 4 starts / 4 clean sheets. Make you wonder how many points we would be on if Forster had been healthy all season. He missed 20 of our 24 league matches. I reckon we would be sitting in 5th probably, with around 41 points.

I would have completely agreed with you a month ago, but Tadic's last two goals have come from playing in a more central position. I will agree that he is excellent out wide though (on the left, of course)

American viewer here. Q: What teams do you go to watch apart from Saints? A: I watch and root for the team playing against Liverpool. (Liverpool is on TV every damn week.) oh, and Liverpool v. Spurs - I root for meteor.

This. I don't get it. Austin scores one goal and suddenly Pelle is now worthless? Pelle needs to stay at least until the end of the season, then we can test the market. I wouldn't count on Rodriguez for the rest of the season. Long is prone to minor knocks that keep him out for 3 to 4 weeks at a time. And who knows, maybe an Austin/Pelle pairing on the pitch at the same time could bear fruit? and £5m for a Starting XI international for Italy? GTFO... I'd rather keep him a Saint for 18 more months and let him go for free. I think he would play a bunch.

ummm, win or lose with Palace, There would have been no FA Cup games to break our concentration on during our 3 match League win streak.

Very good watch. What's nice is to see the team unity, including making Austin feel welcome. Look at Long's natural reaction to seeing Austin at 1:40. Equally important is how Austin in the interview mentions the team at least 6 times and tries to make it about himself as little as possible. I know it's easier when you the win, but I think it is so important when everyone truly puts egos aside and makes it all about the team and team success.

well something could have happened between Monday and now, but SDavis was seen training in the Charlie Austin video. [video=youtube;wn-ryylqqdw]

Long - 1 every 208 minutes Liverpool's top 5 scorers last season. Gerrard - 1 every 248 minutes Sterling - 1 every 436 minutes Henderson - 1 every 542 minutes Lallana - 1 every 358 minutes Coutinho - 1 every 560 minutes Liverpool's top 5 scorers this season. Benteke - 1 every 195 minutes Coutinho - 1 every 284 minutes Firmino - 1 every 355 minutes Milner - 1 every 740 minutes Ings - 1 every 157 minutes Those arrogant bastards could do well with a 1 in every 208 minutes player. Don't sell Les.

I don't know about "signature", but there are 4 distinct ones that I remember from the last 3 seasons 01) Osvaldo's machine gun celebration after his beautiful goal against Man City (2013-2014) 02) Tadic's abs display against Man U (2014-2015) 03) Elia's emotion hug with Koeman after he scored against Newcastle (2014-2105) 03) Pelle's haka celebration against Bournemouth (2015-2016)

That may be the strongest bench the Saints have ever offered. I like how Liverpool/Klopp subbed on-loan CB Caulker as a "situational striker" in their last two matches, while we sign striker Charlie Austin for 4‎£ mil for 4 1/2 years. Good job, Scousers!

I know you are a troll, and I really shouldn't engage, but your schtick is so tired. Statistically, we have better odds of qualifying for Europe than being relegated. chances of 4th place finish: 0.8% chances of 18th, 19th, 20th: 0.3% http://www.sportsclubstats.com/England/Southampton.html Statistically speaking, suggesting we finish 4th on here is less outlandish than suggesting we get relegated. (yet you suggest relegation every chance you get where no one is suggesting a 4th place finish) Sure, I would love for us to invest in some quality additions this January, but let's look at our "competitors". likelihood of relegation: Norwich 13.2% Bournemouth 14.5% Swansea 21.4% Newcastle 51.9% Sunderland 87.5% Aston Villa 97.6% Southampton 0.3% We'll likely finish between 10th and 12th - where statistically there is a nearly 50% chance of that happening.

there hasn't been the joy amongst the team that seemed to abound last year. However, we are only 5 points off last year's point total after 16 matches. last year after 16 matches: 26 points this year after 16 matches: 21 points The inability for the club to effectively replace Schneiderlin (understandably) is at least worth 5 points after 16 matches, no? We got a bit spoiled last year when we found last year's like-for-like replacements more than fit the bill. a la.. Pelle for Lambert Tadic for Lallana Bertrand for Shaw Alderweireld for Lovren Forster for Boruc the odds of that type of replacement success can't be expect every year (really can't be expected ever!)

how about a 4-1-2-3? -----------Stek-------------- Cedric Fonte VVD Bertrand --------- Wanyama--------- --Davis/JWP.....Clasie----- Mane------Pelle------Tadic 01) Cedric and Bertrand can still make runs. 02) Allow Wanyama to bruise.. 03) leave the technical central MFing to Davis/JWP and Clasie 04) Davis/JWP and Clasie can hang back for defensive cover when LB or RB make their overlaps. 05) Tadic is best on the left 06) Mane still on the right, but with this line up it allows Mane to drift more centrally behind Pelle when Davis/JWP and Cedric are occupying the right side on an attack. 07) Keeps Pelle central and unpaired, which seems to be the preference. 08) puts JWP out more wide on the left for crosses I dunno, just thinking out loud here.

Or we could be positive and say, hey, we gained a point on Liverpool. Just goes to show, in the League, every club has games like we did yesterday. You just try to have as few of them as possible. IMO Liverpool had a worst performance today than we did against Villa. They looked listless and toothless.

I think we should sell Wanyama this January before his value dips further. I would jump on £20 million offer and not look back!

no, no we won't, even if we lose Saturday. However, I am in a very pessimistic mood. What I learned last night is that, we should stop dreaming about competing with a Liverpool or a Tottenham and should continue to focus on making sure we don't become a Newcastle or Aston Villa.

Holy.. I just watched the lowlights.. problems everywhere. goal 1: Caulker loses track of Sturridge. Sturridge's bad first touch bails out Caulker. Caulker should have engaged Sturridge. Stek has to get down and stop that. Awful. goal 2: Caulker and Cedric need to communicate. Sturridge shot is fluffy soft. Bounces off Stek into goal. Stek has to get down and stop that. Awful. goal 3: Origi gets a bit lucky, but Stek has to get down and stop that. Awful. goal 4: Origi with a class shot. Credit Origi goal 5: Wanyama gets beat then loafs about, giving Moreno all the time in the world. VvD completely misjudges the cross; giving Ibe a clear look. Stek has to get down and stop that. Awful. goal 6: Wanyama lost at CB, makes no attempt on the cross, Origi heads it in. Easy Peazy. Awful. 5 of their 6 goals were due to obvious errors that novice football fans could easily pick out. What a mess.

all this. 01) We might as well right off JRod for this season at this point. 02) Pelle isn't getting any younger and will be on the last year of his contract next year. 03) Mane is gone this summer. For £8m, pull the trigger.

No such thing.

and VvD is 86th? over players like Huth, Dawson, Ashley Williams, etc.? umm, OK.

It could be related to the ACL injury in the sense that the body will often put stress on other parts of the body to deal with an injury. Maybe during the course of recovery he favored his ankle/foot in a way to compensate for the ACL injury that it created an injury to that very foot/ankle.