Saint Pete

We are playing OK but we need to get Tadic and Redmond on the ball more around their box. Most of our passing just from side to side in front of them so far, not really threatening.

If we could finish we'd have double figures today!

Brill from McQueen Jarod should score

Good game from redmond.

Agreed although will probably have to drag him off as will be after hat trick now!

Like the look of McQueen- some nice passes.

Great hit redmond, well deserved goal.

Poor touch again Austin. Should have been in there.

Oh dear Austin.

Great save - unlucky Austin.

Depends on whether we can put it in the net though, doesn't it? Suspect we will see lots of the ball and dominate for long periods, but will we have the firepower/cutting edge to turn that into goals? Based on last few games, I would expect it still to be a tight scoreline, although obviously hope we can find our scoring touch today!

JWP!!!!

We should have had 5 or 6 in this second half!

Cedric got to do better there!!

That's what Austin's on for

We need at least one of Rodriguez or Austin to come up trumps over the next few weeks given that Boufal unlikely to be available at full fitness for a while. Otherwise goals look hard to come by without Mane and Pelle. We also need Puel to put the team out in a way that suits our players. Will be interesting to see how long we persist with current formation.

Olympics were much more exciting.

This.

A striker who can't shoot?

I don't get why any of that should matter to us though? Fonte is our player, under contract, and if we don't want to sell him now, we don't have to, no matter what games the player, agents or other clubs want to play.

There's a difference between physical peak and overall peak as a player though in my opinion. You're saying Fonte is past his peak, but I assume you are basing that pretty much entirely on his age rather than his performances, which have been outstanding in the last year. Defending is not just about pace - this is a factor of course but it's also about experience, reading of the game positioning and tactical know-how. For that reason, I would say Fonte IS currently at the peak of his powers overall as a defender, as he demonstrated in the Euros. Regarding Ivanovic, he did have a poor season, but so did a lot of Chelsea's players - there were clearly other factors at play there! Would also note that both Ivanovic and Terry are both still first team starters under Conte, a man I would suggest who knows a thing or two about setting up a defence.

That's kind of a big IF though, isn't it? Defenders of the quality of Toby, VVD (and Fonte for that matter) who are within our price range for transfer fee/salary are pretty few and far between. At this stage of the window, and bearing in mind the dubious strength of our squad in other areas, I don't think it's a gamble we should be taking in this window to lose another one of our team leaders - even if the price is right.

Yeah, only one issue with that - Man U are not in the champions league.

It's really simple - we don't have to sell, we don't need the money. Tell him and any club enquiring he's not for sale in this window and that's it. At this stage of the window, we need to be fully focussed on incomings, and not even contemplating selling Fonte, a key part of the defensive solidity that we have based our success on in the last few seasons.

Never really been a fan of designating one particular preferred formation too rigidly - formation should be picked to get the best out of the players you have available, and should also be able to be adjusted according to opposition strength and tactics. Last year, I thought Koeman did this well by adjusting the formation when certain players were out of form or unfit, which helped turn around our form and start winning games again after a bad run. Bizarrely though, rumours were that some in the club were unhappy about this? Too early to really criticise of course and it may be proved that we will still operate more flexibly, but slightly concerned if we are putting all our eggs in the diamond shaped basket by getting all teams to play that way already.