Graffito

Saints may have quite a say in the relgation battle. Having beaten Burnley and Hull, we have Sunderland and Leicester and Villa still to play.

Think there's a touch of Papa Waigo about Mane. Exuberant and maybe slightly nuts.

I thought the same. They lost heart after the penalty. I've seen worse away performances at St Mary's.They worked hard and closed us down well so we struggled to build from the back. They pass the ball well. They just lack a cutting edge and the all important confidence.

Anything over a paragraph and I usually don't bother but that rant's well worth the effort.

Why doesn't Pelle take penalties? He must be desperate for a goal and Tadic pens are flakey. Fragile confidence perhaps.

Lol, there's some weird sh1t on this thread.

Granted I saw only highlights but Saints looked like they were unlucky. It's been as plain as day for months now that the way to take points off Southampton home or away is to sit deep and invite Saints to break you down, and ideally get a goal to defend. Chelsea away was ideal for the pace of Long and Mane because Chelsea played a high line. It's increasingly rare that we have the option of using pace effectively because of the bus parking. In these situations it comes down to quality on the ball and taking the few chances created. Pelle is off form. And if we had champions league quality players we'd be in the top four.

Don't think Pelle's problems are caused by the formation. Didn't Koeman play 433 at Feyenoord where Pelle scored all those goals? I stand to be corrected as I'm not entirely sure, and probably will be. In any case, Koeman of anybody would know how to play Pelle. It's simply loss of form allied with some individual bad luck and a collective failure to create and score.

He is a defensive midgfielder. he was selected to play as a defensive midfielder. He played as a defensive midfielder. Sorry to be repetitive but he does what it says on the tin. And if the original water carrier cannot recognise a good defensive midfielder then what chance an ignorant press, or were those reader's comments?

The nutmeg was unfortunate. A misplaced pass aside, he's played very well. Watching a game like this rather than Saints it's possible to concentrate on just how he plays. It's impressive how he reads the game and how he's constantly aware of the changing shape of the team around him and adjusts his position accordingly. When you hear how much RK talks about good organisation we can understand why he was desperate to keep him.

Does size matter?

"After that, at the end of the season, Southampton might qualify for the Champions League and I could also stay, who knows… " It seems everyone knows.

Only Newcastle and the bottom three have conceded more. For a team that wants to play possession football that's appalling.

How did you think Trippier did today? I thought Bertrand gave him a difficult afternoon.

As well that I didn't say then or I'd have been a meat-head. What I was saying of course is that teams have success at St Mary's by playing defensively and hitting in the break e.g. Manu, Liverpool.

Must admit to not having seen enough of Burnely this season to hazard a guess as to how they'll play on Saturday. Do they really attack? If Dych has learnt anything from matches at SMS this season his two up front will be there to defend from the front and with the rest sitting back and trying to hit us with a sucker punch, like most others have. In which case Sunday's selection of two pacey forwards isn't going to have the same impact as first half against Chelsea.

Ryan Bertrand can consider himself very unfortunate not to have been selected. Playing for the best defence in the league, two of which are English, why not put them both in? I can see the argument for Shaw as the likley medium/long term option but Baines hasn't been pulling up trees this season and is Gibbs, a decent enough left back, really better than Betrand? I haven't seen anything in the media where RH explains his choices at left back. Perhaps nobody is interested enough to ask the question. Looking at the defenders in the England squad, it's a very mixed buch. I assume Smalling is in there for comedy value, clowns shoes and all. Rob Jones mmm...., Walker? I think that bunch could do with a Champions League winner to up the quality.

It's only England.

Was it not tracking or was it poor marking? I haven't seen the tv but I thought Costa got between two short players (Davis and Clyne?) when he ought to have been marked by TA or JF. My recollection is that the bigger error was allowing the cross in the first place. Time and again in the first half Ivanovic was unmarked wide on the lef,t and when on the ball, had time and space to cross. It was up to Tadic to track back and cut out the cross and he didn't do it effectively, or sometimes at all during the first half. Whilst on the subject of the flanks, Chelsea double up on the fullbacks. They did it to Clyne but we coped better on the right.

No he didn't. Just said something about Chelsea never getting the kind of penalty we got today. He's making an arse of himself. He'd get a lot more respect if he just dropped all this weird sh1t about refs. It's not like he's Ferguson.

That thread's absolutely priceless.

Most I've enjoyed Saints match for as long as I can remember. The trick will be to play that we'll against Burnley. Think I heard Mourinho saying in so many words that it wasn't a penalty. Looked one from down the other end. Hiw did it look on TV?

The second was a penalty. The ref can't assume it was a dive because he might have thought Duricic dived. He has to view each incident objectively. In any case you are making an assumptions about both incidents. We might equally ask if Friend didn't give the first or even both because he thought Duricic dived then why didn't he book him for simulation. Plus Friend missed a blatant handball in the box by Lovren. Poor performance by the ref as recognised by his demotion the following week.

Pompey's a two up two down with a big trashy porch stuck on the front because the owners have delusions of grandeur. Inside its falling to bits because a series of feckless owners spent all their money on gambling. There's a pile of unpaid bills in the hallway. It's now occupied by a group of travellers.

He's Welsh?