Lallana's Left Peg

Wasn't really tested. A few mistakes distribution wise but recovered well. Get the impression he'd pick up a lot of cards over the course of the season but his style is so aggressive you'd have to accept that. Biggest complement is that he coasted through the game which is usually the sign of a good player. But then again it was only Boro.

I can only judge that performance once I hear what Klopp thought of how we played. Anyone heard from him?

Well, that team is different.

There is much to like about Shane Long but when the team is not creating many chances his wastefulness really does undermine his outstanding qualities elsewhere.

My general feeling is that I think he deserves to stay another season but if he left I wouldn't be too bothered. Reasons he deserves to stay: 1. Key players not adequately replaced (Mane, Fonte) 2. Lots of players underperforming for reasons out of his control 3. Individual mistakes that he cannot be accountable for 4. Has not hesitated in giving youth a chance and that is key for our club Reasons he deserves to go: 1. Lots of players underperforming for reasons in his control 2. Some players do not appear to enjoy playing under him and we all know what that means when push comes to shove 3. Our rotation policy was justified by saying we would be fresher / better in the last part of the season - we've by and large been rubbish 4. As the course of the season has wore on we've not seen much in the way of tactical nous or development and earlier in the season we were told 2 games a week prevented this as it was all about recovery and prepare As I say, logically he deserves another season but if the club can do better they should. I wouldn't be a fan of sacking him without having someone lined up.

I am very surprised at that given how other loanees have been treated during their spell away. That would suggest to me that something is up. Any ideas?

They continually monitor everyone they loan out. Sometimes in person, but always by video if not. Sam, like all other players loaned to other clubs, would have also been receiving feedback from Saints as well.

Our lads play against other Academy teams who aren't deemed as good as those in the first division. All those who say the point of U23 games is to develop players rather than win are right. But the issue is that players develop quicker when they play at a higher level and that is how you find out about their ceiling. Our kids won't have that opportunity within their own age group now and that is a blow. So this relegation really is bad news, and its also not a very good look for the Academy in general.

There is more to judging the quality of your season than what you expect based on the size of your club. I don't think anyone expects us to be able to maintain a league position like we achieved last season but this season is full of regrets that felt avoidable and I think that is why fans are frustrated. All the missed chances, mistakes and recruitment decisions that haven't 'come off' lead to people thinking we could / should be doing better.

He's messed up a few times, but is success rate is better than average (I would say). I'm not a fan of his public expectation setting which is really ill-advised however if he continues to sign players for £10-15m that we sell for £25 - 30m then he's doing a very good job. It's hard to keep your players if they want to leave. You need to make then want to stay - if we can't offer the wages then we've lost one of the biggest things you can do to convince a player to stay. We've benefited far more from the players we've sold to Liverpool than they have, by the way.

Good point. I'd rather he sign really poor players no-one else wants while we fight relegation every season. Then we could all be happy knowing we will never sell a player again. I'd sleep better at night knowing that.

It was an experiment worth trying, even if it ended up being a disaster. It was worth seeing how it would be with Redmond, Boufal and Tadic in the same team. The idea was sound - Hull play quite open (hence they either win or lose games) and so at St Marys there would be space for us to exploit and we could simply be better than them with more talent in the team. I had no issues with the team pre-game. Unfortunately worst fears were experienced - Redmond, Tadic and Boufal are all chefs who like the ball to feet and to be the fulcrum of the move. They don't make that run that creates space for others or understand that if they don't get the ball then its not the end of the world. They are not combination players and do not play nicely with anyone who isn't a striker. I don't recall a single move between them from any of them. So we ended up outnumbered in midfield (as a result of the personnel) and when we had the ball we had no threat whatsoever as it was like strangers were playing. A draw was lucky, a win would have been criminal. I think it was bad enough that we need to move on from it straight away and learn the lesson that the balance of our team is far more important than individual ability.

Yep, and I think he should. If our record signing isn't suitable for a home game like Hull then something is clearly up.

We were told by Les Reed we would be replacing Jose Fonte, not bringing in cover for what was our fourth or fifth choice centre-half at the start of the season. I'm not against Stephens getting games ahead of Caceres at all - it benefits the club far more to do that but the expectation was that Fonte would be replaced and that became urgent after VVD got injured and the club failed to do it. The club have got few things wrong in recent years but this was a pretty spectacular failure. We've conceded on average two goals a game since VVD got injured and Fonte was out of the team. That's really bad no matter how well Yoshida and Stephens have done.

Redtops often associate articles with journalists that had nothing to do with them. Often the names are made up - like the stories are.

The list of things I think need to be addressed this summer: 1. The future of VVD 2. The purchase of at least one 'ready' centre half. Two if VVD leaves. What the past few months has shown is that Jack Stephens would make an excellent fourth choice centre half and Yoshida would be an excellent backup centre half. Gardos can move on as we have some excellent prospects that can take his role. 3. The future of Jay Rod - he doesn't seem happy to me and I can't see him staying if he is third choice for single position in the team. Anything else depends on departures.

It was brilliant at times and it was rubbish at times. Just like under Puel. I could list all the absolute awful games as well as the good ones but I think you know them as well.

The football under Koeman was equally dire / pragmatic at times as well. From time to time we have games which really do remind us how far away we are from being a very good team and this was one of them. It's nothing to be to disheartened about - given the investment Man City have had for the last decade this sort of result should be normal - anything other than it and they have failed. We missed our best player and our best performing midfielder this season and it showed.

I love this bit in the article: I've got a mansion on my list of things to acquire but those sky-high valuations by the owners remains an issue for me too

That is one way to look at it. Another is that: 1. If you disrupt your defensive shape then that change leads to a greater risk of confusion in defence and more opportunities for the opposition even though you have more players in that part of the pitch. 2. By freshening things in midfield and attack you give yourself more energy in a part of the pitch to potentially a) cut off the supply to their attackers, and b) take advantage of tired legs and break quickly. Puel's subs are hit and miss but at the time I didn't disagree with what he was trying to do. Personally I am not a fan of making subs that invite even more pressure onto you because when you play that game you lose your goal threat and you lose your shape as a team - basically you are saying that you know you will concede eventually but not before full time.

Pretty much a game that encapsulates our biggest frustrations this season. Glad we didn't lose it (we perhaps should have) but when Gabbiadini or Austin are not on the pitch we just do not ever look like scoring - as a team. Really frustrating but not going to grumble too much since we missed the only two strikers we have that score goals and its all been said before.

Big game for Jay Rod.

I think it's impossible to tell. Stephens would have coasted through that game too. Stephens has more experience than Jones so I would suspect he is better. Jones looks very good but at the same age so did Stephens. It's great to have another prospect at centre-half as I think its the hardest position to make a break in within the modern game. I think they are similar in many ways.

He coasted through the game and his distribution from the back was brilliant - especially in tight situations and when he was covering. I think a loan beckons next season but he looks really good.

Alfie Jones looked very very good.