Lallana's Left Peg

From The Secret Footballer: http://www.thesecretfootballer.com/articles/the-secret-footballer/28604/jose-mourinho-suffers-and-spouts-rubbish-after-creating-his-own-problems/#slide-2

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/

Game management and tactical awareness is one of the things that all players are appraised on when scouting them - in fact I think I read an article in the last few years where many scouts said it is now one of the most important things clubs look for. Wasting time has long been about, it's a valid part of the game as far as I am concerned and I don't mind it, even if it is unsporting.

When appraising Stek it's important to remember that we were after a keeper on loan to see us through a season and would understand that when Forster is back next season he is our number 1. So we had to get a keeper who is of a decent standard and understood he has no future with us after this season. I'd say Stek is pretty good under those circumstances.

It's a shame that the Saints performance will be overshadowed by Mourinho's faux meltdown in what is a desperate attempt from him to deflect attention away from the fact he hasn't got a grip on his football team.

I know both squads likely have absentees through injury but looking at it I just can't see what Dutch players would get in our team, and who beyond Janmaat, Blind, Wijnaldum, RvP and maybe Depay would get in our squad.

There aren't many in that Dutch squad that would get in the England team. And only a handful would get in our squad in my opinion.

All Managers are at it when it comes to pubic comments about players though. What stood Rodgers apart was his derogatory comment about the CLUB in the summer of 2014 when he questioned our ambition and implied we willingly sold Lallana et al because we no longer wanted to compete. Complete ****.

Hard to have any sympathy with this one - it didn't need to be this way if Wilson or the Bournemouth physio acted with any sense.

I don't think Clasie will have any expectations to score goals to be fair. It'll be interesting to see how he fits into the team. I always thought we looked best with two 'destroyers' in the holding midfield role and the player further ahead of them to be the one who stitches play between midfield and attack. But more recently Koeman has preferred Davis to Romeu which goes against that so maybe Clasie plays deeper even though a few on here have said he has been training to play in the advanced role for us. If he does play deeper it will be interesting to see who is preferred in the more advanced role - Davis or JWP.

That's not the point I was making - it is that the moment they play for England they are deemed to play at a level where others earn far more than them. So they see themselves as a player of that quality and consequently want to be paid that much - playing for Saints or otherwise.

No Reed either. Could be injured of course, but last week Martin Hunter told the BT Sport commentator that he expected several of his players to leave on loan soon. Could Reed be one of them?

Wouldn't be surprised to see him play 45mins, especially as it is at home.

Given how ruthlessly efficient they usually are and physically imposing as well, that there is any doubt about their form probably means it is a good time to play them - even if they manage to find their form again when they play us.

He needs to grow on the ball in the opponents half but JWP's work off the ball on Saturday was outstanding. Having watched the game again this morning he didn't stop trying to get involved and chasing after Swansea players - even if he didn't have the physical strength to win the ball back himself he hurried the opposition and forced plenty of mistakes. He can be very happy with that as that work gives him a platform to work on the other things we're expecting (and need) from him as he continues to be a starter.

I meant two banks of four

Right now this Chelsea team cannot cope with movement and physicality in the final third. They attack best when they can defend well and they can't get going forward because they are struggling to defend and contain teams. I enjoyed the way we played with Long and Mane up front at Stamford Bridge last year and I wouldn't mind seeing the same again, but we really rode our luck defending with just two banks of eight at times so it will be a game of fine margins and we could get a win or really get thumped.

Can someone keep him away from Shoreditch ffs

Given that they pay a significant amount for the highlights they likely have their own internal pressures to secure as big of a viewership as possible. As otherwise they wouldn't want joe public challenging them as to why they are spending millions on a show that is only watched by whatever hundred thousand at 10.30 on a Saturday night. I've found that their analysis has got better the last few seasons after they have got rid of the old guard, even if occasionally some of the guest analysts are absolute turd.

Romeu is definitely on course to set a record for yellow cards in a Premier League season (assuming he maintains his rate of more than 1 in 2) but that is absolutely fine by me as long the cards he picks up are a part of the role he is asked to play for the team.

The performance apparently.

Koeman not happy at all by the sounds of it.

Sorry, yep, I meant two years after this season. I still think £50m is crazy but regardless, when he leaves it will be for a lot.

That is way too high but with the extra money from the TV deal and our ever increasing financial strength I think we could get north of £35m for him. Getting him to sign a new deal even better as only years left on his deal after this season.

Bench. Not much width there at all for Swansea.