Graffito

Yes. 8 goals in 9 or whatever. Can't be ****cd to look it up. But good shout on loan and low cost, low risk.

Are West Brom going to come out and play from the start or sit deep and hit us on the break? Seems like a no brainer to me but you never know.

He looked good on the ball and his movement off the ball was intelligent early on. Can't say I noticed how much he did when they had the ball. Next week though, when you get in the box...shoot.

But I don't understand. How can this be? Brendan Rodgers told us the referee was excellent. Dejan Lovren said the referee did a great job.

That's right, down the channels. They did a similar job on us last season too.

For a 3-4-3 they played 5 at the back an awful lot.

We did. Then they dropped deeper.

If he'd watched the game closely he would have noticed that two of the excellent chances in the first half which resulted in penalty claims were created by Pelle. He's low on confidence but he's still contributing. All you have to do is look and learn and support your players.

Yes we've struggled to break down defenses that sit deep but today consider this, on each of three occasions in the first half we carved them open and were denied by foul play which went unpunished by the useless lump of no good that has the gall to put himself forward as a referee. (Disclaimer - I'm told by those who watched on tv that the first wasn't a pen. I can only say it looked it in real time.)

Just seen Joey Barton get sent off for...wait for it...flicking Huddleston in the willy.

Yes he would.

That would be the Gerrard that handed in a transfer request to move to Chelsea in 2005. Ok he stayed, after the death threats and the improved offer from Liverpool.

All good points. I'd add that with the ball moving forward quicker and more space expected against Liverpool we should see Elia receiving the ball looking forwards rather than with his back to goal as has happened quite a bit recently.

Agree. 3 points is the be all and end all.

Well he seems a bit mixed up about it all. I wonder whether Rodgers will even start him.

All three seem quite downbeat. Lambert lightened up at the end when he thought about the reception the other two are going to get but otherwise they didn't give an impression of being happy with life.

The think big man is keeping the picture small. Meaning will emerge.

I don't think he is. He's replying to my post about Lallana and Lambert, not Lovren. Aldereiweld is clearly a better player than Lovren.

That would be like supporting Newcastle.

This. I went to the Steau home game and decided to take a chance on not going to the away tie in the hope that we'd go through and I've regretted it ever since. If we make it and whichever side we draw in deepest darkest Eastern Europe I'm going.

Ffs man lighten up. You're meant to enjoy this football malarkey.

I rate Tadic and I've suggested he could help us break down sides that defend deep by being given more freedom to play in and around Pelle, notwithstanding his current drop in form. But Lallana offers more than Tadic in moving teams around. He moves the ball quicker and crucially can switch play in an instant because he is strong off both sides, both in passing and moving. Saints have struggled to do both of these things against the bus parkers. Lambert has more to his game than Pelle. Lambert can be the target man like Pelle but he he has more mobility, he passes the ball generally with perfect weight and timing and there are the penalties and free kicks. Imagine if we still had both Lambert and Lallana with the pace we now have available in the squad. Lovren - ignoring his poor form for Liverpool, it was quickly apparent that Alderweireld is an upgrade.

We're at home. Atmosphere will be great. Team will be motivated. We have the best defence in the league . No bus parking so every chance of scoring. Why the pessimism? Very winnable this one.

Thank you.

We haven't replaced Lallana and Lambert with better players.