Lallana's Left Peg

Even if Guardiola and Redmond are both telling the truth (and I have no reason to think otherwise), its just completely inappropriate for Pep to storm onto the pitch at the end of the game and act so animated at an opposition player. He just needs to be told to act with responsibility and awareness of his own actions - and remarkable that someone on such a huge unbeaten run managing the best team in the country needs to be reminded that. Turns out he can't even differentiate himself from many of his peers by not being a knobhead.

Well we only sacked Puel three weeks after the season ended so I doubt we're going to sack another manager three days after a bad defeat that encapsulated all the issues he has failed to resolve 5 months into the job.

Out for me. Didn't expect us to do much this season but don't think its acceptable to be a few weeks off December and not know your best team or formation and be unable to impose a playing style or identity on a team.

Imagine paying £200m+ for a football team that plays like this

This team is desperately searching for an identity. It won't get one solely on the manager attempting to create harmony in the squad. You need the personality to manage players earning millions a year, the tactical awareness to instill a style of play and belief in your players and the coaching ability to impress it on the players. As it stands I am not sure what Pellegrino is bringing to this football club. That's not to absolve the players of any blame of of course, but they need coaching and it seems to me like they either aren't or don't believe in what they are being asked to do - and it shows.

I don't really have a preference - I think both could do well for us with balls coming into the box early. Austin is obviously the better finisher and has the goalscoring instincts but I think Long's movement and presence unsettles defenders as they can't account for him when he runs across them. I feel for our strikers - they get no early service and almost have to manufacture their own chances as the midfield spends too long messing about on the ball. We need to up the tempo and whilst we can do that with out existing formation I just don't think the current crop have it in them to create decent chances when teams put bodies behind the ball. Crossing is more of a lottery in that respect but I think it is harder to defend when you commit more mean in the box. The counter-attack? I think you have to concede that is possible and attack with a little more conviction than be pre-occupied with what happens when you lose the ball. It's a bit cowardly in my book. I'm not saying be like Liverpool but you need to give teams something to think about. Organised is all teams have to be in order to shut us out. You'd like to think they would need some quality too.

Personally, considering we have zero goal threat from midfield and they don't create chances for the strikers, I would go with a 4-4-2 where the width still comes from the fullbacks and the strikers have some service from out wide where they aren't the only player in the box capable of scoring and thus aren't marked by two men (or more). Then of the four in midfield I would either go with a flat four or a diamond - one of them can be Tadic, Redmond or Boufal and then the other three must come from Romeu, Lemina, Davis, Ward Prowse and PEH. We need to retain the quality in midfield to maintain a foothold on the game and cover for the full-backs but at the same time have enough threat in the box to score a goal. Continuing with the same as we've had the last few seasons is going to end in tears.

For the majority of my Saints supporting life we've had teams far worse than this, but there is something about this year that doesn't sit right more than any other which is causing me to be more apathetic than I can ever remember. I can't remember a Saints team underperforming as much as this ever, and such a lack of desire by anyone in the club to do anything about it. Lemina aside, we don't appear to have done anything this summer - personnel or coaching wise to address the quite alarming gaps we have as a squad. Right now I think we're paying the price and it will be a painful season. Relegation fight - not a chance. A rather sobering lower half finish which leaves us with a of questions to answer in the summer and our better players leaving - they can quite rightly point to the chance the club had this summer to push on and what has (or has not) happened. We've no divine right to be good of course, and it is absolutely normal to have bad seasons as well as good ones. And par for us as a club is probably lower half of the top division of course. However its ust disappointing the manner in which we're heading back there. If thousands of fans can see something is wrong how can the people who run the club not?

It was quite bad considering we were playing a promoted side. We passed the ball badly, showed little cohesion and overall lacked any sort of quality. That's not the hallmark of an ordinary side, its one of a side which is fundamentally broke and needs better coaching. It was like watching a national team that individually has good players but they don't play well together and as a consequence massively underachieve. Some of these players need a rocket up their arse but what I'd like most is to understand how we're trying to play the game as right now it appears they are just sent out there and asked to get on with it.

Bilic should be doing better but the transfer policy at West Ham is horrendous. They only seem to buy players who have no point to prove and take sideways moves just for more money. Taking one look at their team tonight: Hart - on big wages and very poor. Replaced Randolph who was doing well for them Zabaleta - legs gone Fonte - moved for money and old. Arnoutovic - sideways move for more money Hernandez - could have joined many better teams but demanded high wages for a player with little resale value at the end of his contract Ayew - sideways move for more money Is it any wonder none of them care or look motivated.

Shot to save ratio.

Also, how many goals have we conceded from rebounds, fortunate deflections falling to a player or someone having a go from long range? And if we are conceding goals like this why aren't we giving ourselves a chance to score from them by doing the same to the opponent?

Has anyone mentioned the moment in the first 10 mins when Tadic got to the byline with a chance to cross and within 5 seconds the ball was back with Yoshida 10 yards inside our own half? We are so poor in the final third it is pathetic. We need to play quicker football, trust each other, and most importantly these players need to realise they are a part of a team and start playing like it. Too many individuals out there thinking they know best. It's like watching strangers playing together and all are trying to do their own thing because they don't trust any other player.

Untroubled really, both with and without the ball. Had a decent turn of pace a few times. Hard to judge him on this showing.

I had no idea he was injured. Bright start from Saints in atrocious conditions.

Well if twitter rumours are to be believed the Vietto loan deal may be happening.

I thought he was ok last season, but its quite clear that to operate in that area of the pitch in this league you either need to be elite technically or physically strong. I don't think he is either so moving on is best I think. I would disagree he is backup for Romeu on that basis. I'd have thought he could do better than Brugge though, and a permanent move would have been better as well.

Think we'll learn a lot about how much work Pellegrino has to do, or how much he has already done, in this game. A team we should be superior to in every position on the pitch but this will be about mentality and application. We know Huddersfield will be confident and energetic. We need to be professional and earn the right to play our game. Could genuinely go either way, but I'm looking for a few players to step up and justify their wage.

In the immediate aftermath of a game you are likely to get people with exaggerated reactions - bad when you lose and good when you win. Everyone knows it. People need a chance to vent. They don't want to be told they are wrong or to calm down. It's a chance to express frustration. I didn't see the game but found it interesting that by my reckoning at some point every starter got a slating bar McQueen and Yoshida. It sounded like the players weren't comfortable with the formation and when that is the case they really do crawl back into their shells playing safe and uninspiring football and this resulted in a bad performance. A lack of leadership in this team tonight meant dragging us to a win was never going to happen. I'm ok with mistakes being made but the secret to success is to learn from them quickly. Please never Boufal and Tadic in the same team (two players who are failing to impress) and hopefully whatever formation it was tonight (3-5-2 or 3-4-3) goes back to being a work in progress and only used when the players are either comfortable with it or better players are plugged into it. I still struggle to see how the balance of the team can be right with the personnel we have. There is a lack of compatibility in many areas of the game and I do genuinely think it is a player issue rather than coaching issue. But I suppose time will tell with that one.

I'm going to assume Gallagher leaving means another striker is going to come in. Only having three strikers is not too clever for a long season.

Yep - its a car crash when they play together. Then chuck in Redmond as well and those three play as though each other doesn't exist. It's all about balance and a maximum of two of them should be on the pitch at any one time - until they learn to play nice with each other which is qualified as: 1. Willing to pass to each other 2. Accept that if you pass to each other you may not get it back straight away 3. If you make a run and don't get the ball it won't be because you were ignored it could be because a better option was available and Heaven forbid you made a run for the sake of another player and didn't get the ball They all play like they are the main man and the team should revolve around them at times. I do like them as individual players though before anyone thinks I'm being negative.

So it seems people adamant that Stephens is the Fonte replacement are wrong. I wonder where this guy fits in though and whether I am reading too much into it that Yoshida only has a year left on his deal?

Enjoyed watching it but I wonder how much benefit the kids are getting. We'll be playing far weaker teams in Division 2 and whilst it will be good fun seeing us thump teams is it really optimal for development of our players? It just means the jump they need to make when they train / play for the first team is even bigger and that is a greater obstacle to overcome.

Incredibly wasteful, very frustrating, but enjoyed the way the team played.