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Except he doesn't dive well to his right either. I think he's just an imobile lump who has had his limited goalkeeping skills well disguised by a strong defence (and playing in a tinpot league) before this season.

Has he played well since the England call up? He's mostly been a miles-off-the-pace passenger to my recollection. He seems to have improved a bit this season but his fundamental weaknesses show no sign of progress: he can't tackle, he loses every 50-50, he's physically weak and easily knocked off the ball, he's slow of movement and in decision making under pressure, and he has no natural position that ideally suits his attributes. Nice chap, though. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Takes a good manager to address a lightweight midfield by making it even more lightweight... It could work, of course, but Tadic (who'll presumably be the 10) will have to show some stomach for the fight and help the midfield win back possession - something he never has thus far in his Saints career. Glad Sims is on the bench getting a bit more match day experience. He really should've been a constant in the squad since he broke in at Christmas. We've invested enough time and patience in the likes of Rodriguez. 3-2, I reckon.

Sadly our only player with real speed is the perennially inept Shane Long who ruins every quick counter attack in his own unique way in any case. But, yes, mobility is a big issue. Romeu, Davis, Ward-Prowse, Hojbjerg, Clasie, Tadic are all plodders. Tadic and Boufal are physically incapable of passing first time at pace too, killing every counter to self-indulgently piddle around in circles for a while. Redmond seems like he should be quick, but rarely lives up to that impression. So, in summary, we're slow, physically lightweight and short. Among other things...

Boufal asked to be subbed when we went 3-1 down against West Ham too. Been a terrible signing.

Two shots against, two goals. Same as always. Sent from my F3311 using Tapatalk

Outclassed from 1 to 11 today. No shame in that: City have the best attacking options in the league and when it all clicks are tough to live with. Not many positives from a Saints perspective. Stephens had some good moments but probably should've taken charge of the situation that led to the third goal - even though it was Cedric who got out-jumped by Aguero, I think a centre back marking thin air should be all over the one attacker buzzing around, not handing him off to someone else. Hojbjerg started the game with some excellent interceptions, but literally had no idea what he was doing when in possession of the ball. I lost count of the number of times he turned over possession by overplaying, dawdling or just passing abjectly. I've never much liked Tadic in the 10 - as much as he claims it's his "best position" - as he's slow, easily brushed off the ball by aggressive defenders, and jogs back half-heartedly in a barely token attempt to help the midfield out when we lose possession. His indifference when the going gets tough drives me mad. He's a classic fairweather player: looks good when we're on top, but is one of the first to raise the white flag when it's difficult. Ward-Prowse's limitations out wide were starkly exposed against opponents quicker, stronger and who pressed with intent. He was totally out of his depth. Is it my imagination or has Bertrand gone a bit final-season-Clyne-y lately? He's not been anything like his best. Is he just phoning it in, with a summer move already arranged? I actually let out a sigh of relief when I saw Kompany's header going straight at the keeper. We've got away with that, I thought. Obviously I didn't account for Forster finding a way to make even the most routine saves look nigh on impossible for mortal men. I'm still not sure how he didn't keep it out... Anyway, City were deserving winners. We never looked like we believed we could compete with them - that's probably the biggest disappointment. We went down without a fight. Without Romeu, where are the leaders who are ready to roll their sleeves up and get stuck into a battle? That was one of the meekest capitulations I've seen all season. Onto the next game...

Yoshida bullied in the air, Forster with the agility and reactions of a pensioner. We're not at the races at all.

Prowse, Davis, Tadic non existent. No intensity at all - Tadic just jogging around. Only one team in this so far.

Don't worry, Puel's doing a fine job - as good as we can possibly hope for, apparently...

It's a bit OTT but I thought he played pretty well. It was Yoshida's mistake that led to Afobe's glaring opportunity and the poor clearances of others and flapping goalkeeper that brought about other chances. He's doing all right. I'd be plenty happy to have him as probably the fourth part of next season's four man centre back pool. It's parts one and two that are going to need filling once Virgil goes.

Next season? We're only seven points above the bottom three this season, having won just three of our last twelve games. If Hull and Swansea keep picking up wins, someone around us is going to get sucked into it. Fortunately West Ham are in even worse form than we are. I just don't see any signs of progress. We have the exact same deficiencies today as we had at the start of the season. We'll play the same against Palace in midweek and probably come up equally short against a well organised defence and quick counter attack. How much is down to the manager or poor recruitment is open to debate. But we're a defensive shambles who can't score. That's a horrible combination any way you shape it. If Marco Silva is available in the summer, I think it's a no brainier.

Puel has completely unbalanced the midfield by bringing on Boufal, who has done FA. Romeu and Davis totally overrun now.

Ward-Prowse​ isn't​ at the races today.

Can't say I'd ever noted McCarthy's pace as being anything to write home about whenever I've seen him. Perhaps everyone at Walsall is just really slow.

The new Adel Taarabt. Waste of space.

No midfield at all to speak of. Romeu totally overrun on his own. Davis, Ward-Prowse and Tadic nowhere to be seen. I'm all for attacking football, but this is suicide.

Yep. And then seconds later, instead of the ball being in our keeper's hands, the ball's in the back of the net. Beaten again by a low shot from outside the box. He just can't dive.

No wonder Scotland are trying to persuade Sam Gallagher to switch allegiance if Cauley Woodrow is getting call ups ahead of him. Half as good, half as many goals...

No Josh Sims? Seems bizarre that we've got some young English players who have actually seen some Premier League action, but lower league and u23/academy footballers are getting selected ahead of them.

He's looked really good in the centre of the park for Arsenal this season. Such a powerful mover with the ball. Get Romeu a proper DM partner, pop Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 10, happy days.

Not convinced Boufal isn't another Adel Taarabt - a lot of self indulgent piddling about, little end product and a poor attitude. His cameo off the bench in the League cup final was absolutely appalling. Did nothing for the team, just spent his time finding elaborate ways to lose the ball. I would hope there's a hell of a lot more to come from him, but as things stand he's not been much more effective than Eljero Elia's mediocre loan spell.

And I think we conceded 13 in Van Dijk's last 8 completed games - so let's not buy into the fiction that Stephens has joined a watertight defence and been solely responsible for the floodgates opening. He hasn't had the benefit of playing alongside our best defender, Van Dijk, either. Yoshida has conceded 11 in 5 league games without Virgil at his side. Maybe he's "out of his depth" too? I could understand people getting on Stephens' back if he'd been calamitous, but he's done okay for what he is: an inexperienced fifth choice CB dropped into the deep end due to injuries and Fonte's escape act. A fully fit Caceras - should that status ever come around - wouldn't have solved our struggle against the high ball yesterday. Aerial strength is not his selling point. I think there are far greater reasons for our defensive frailties this season, from a keeper who is beaten by about 80% of the shots he faces, to an unbalanced midfield where only one player in the entire squad can tackle and perform anything like a screening brief. But we're playing some good football, attacking with verve and skill, scoring goals and creating chances. And winning on the road. We've become exciting under the most dour manager we've had in years! Enjoy the ride, I say.

I know he was talked of as a target when Schneiderlin left, but he's looked a nothing sort of player at Stoke (having previously bombed out at Porto) - providing little defensively or offensively. Don't see the appeal. Far prefer the look of young Billing at Huddersfield.

The thing is, if he is carrying an injury and his poor performances can be attributed to that, why is he always in the training pictures and videos? Surely they'd be wrapping him in cotton wool between games if he was struggling that badly, would he not? I think the veil has just come down and people have realised that he isn't actually very good. Reminds me of Chris Kirkland, who was going to be England's goalkeeper "for the next 20 years" as an overhyped youngster at first Coventry then Liverpool. 6' 6", boundless potential... aside from the fact that he couldn't dive. Literally had no spring in he legs at all. Couldn't move his feet. Like Forster, anything requiring a minor feat of agility was met with a slow, awkward flop to the floor in which he would cover barely any ground - and certainly get nowhere near saving the ball. I hope the club are thinking they can do better - as far as saves to shots faced ratios this season, they'd struggle to do much worse.