cobraBLACK

From FM Saints Researcher: Best mins per goal return since the start of the 2016/17 Ligue 1 season (10+ goals): 1st - Edinson Cavani - 85.2 2nd - Alexandre Lacazette - 86 3rd - Neymar - 89.8 4th - Guido Carrillo - 91.1 He has started just two league games this season after missing a fair amount of last season through injury.

The reason it didn't work is because Caulker played in defence. We should have put him up top like Klopp did! Or perhaps he played him as a striker because he didn't want him anywhere near Liverpool's goal.

Everything I've seen/heard in the media about our game at the weekend barely mentioned Southampton. They mostly talked about Spurs after a long, tiring season. Well look, ours was too and we've improved after short periods of underperformance. The only thing lucky about our win was that Davis scored two goals: a) They both could have been saved (first was close to body (Lloris should have used his leg), second there was a noticeable delay between the ball appearing through the crowd and Lloris reacting), and b) Davis scored, and c) he scored two! It's true that the big clubs played a huge part in Leicester's win (I doubt they'd take comfort in the 'assist' though) - Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City and Arsenal all had poor/terrible seasons and Leicester had the talent and balls to capitalise. We've seen seasons recently where teams have practically conceded the title to another contender for one reason or another (Man Utd to Man City, Liverpool to Man City, Arsenal to everyone) so huge credit has to go to Leicester for staying in contention, then snatching first place and holding on for so long. It certainly makes us think about our club's position. Think of the times we should have won games when we didn't and what a difference those points would have made (I'm thinking about the 2-goal lead against Leicester we relinquished, the home draw with Villa, losing to Norwich and Bournemouth). We certainly could have made the top four this season and, despite the big teams' potential improvement next season, they won't all be better (Man Utd if they keep LvG, Arsenal with Wenger) so that is a realistic ambition. Whether we keep sixth place or not, it's been another good season overall and it's time for the club to show their ambition, keep our best players and invest in some improvements to convince Ronald to stay.

I thought he looked emotional, as though he was going to cry and was going ask if anyone knew why too.

Arsenal often win the imaginary Calendar Year Trophy (which Wenger even lauds) - they just can't sustain their performances throughout a league season. Whilst 'Peak Arsenal' can be achieved at any time of the season, they reserve these sort of results for the new year to end their chance at the league title, then get knocked out of the first round of the Champions League (mostly because they messed up the group stage and came second). Then, once the pressure's off, they go on a run towards the end of the season to secure Champions League football for next season. The board are happy with this because it keeps the money coming in and the financial difference in winning trophies is minimal. Wenger is a good manager but everyone can see the weaknesses in the team, squad and club that he seems blind to. There's no doubt he has underperformed and continues to fail without learning, season after season. Money isn't preventing him addressing those weaknesses (it's ignorance and naivety) - Spurs and Leicester spend less on wages combined and they're above Arsenal in the table!

Osvaldo scored about 1 in 2 in his time under him at Espanyol. Perhaps the optimism was justified.

Campbell has been pretty mediocre but his performance against Olympiacos stood out; especially his contribution to the second goal. It would be a surprise to see him leave after finally getting a chance to play for his club.

It saddens me to see what was once the world's greatest striker unable to perform. Falcao should be one of those world class talents that it's a pleasure to watch every week in the Premier League like Aguero, Silva, Sanchez, etc.

I thought he was slow off his line and Fonte expected him to be there too; he relied on that happening too much and committed himself to shielding the ball so Stekelenburg could pick it up but that left him flat-footed when Falcao ran past. You're right, he pulled his arms out the way but that wasn't enough - Stekelenburg's torso had already landed where the ball was. If Falcao continued running after he touched the ball past the keeper it was unlikely he'd score directly from such an acute angle but he had the right to continue on his path and take the contact (i.e., fall over when hit), resulting in a penalty. It's one of those situations in football where, just because the outcome was positive, it doesn't mean the way it was achieved was correct. We were lucky Falcao made a poor decision and flopped into the keeper. However, based on the ref's performance, Falcao could have done everything 'right' and the ref might have waved it away or booked him anyway.

The photo the BBC article used was perfect to demonstrate it was a dive - neither gravity nor momentum would make Falcao's legs stick together like that. Fonte and Stekelenburg didn't deal with the situation very well but make no mistake, Jose; it was the most blatant of dives.

Forget Shaqiri, they got Barca's Afellay instead.

Watching that video Koeman Jr. tweeted, he looks very good; a genuine box-to-box midfielder that gets involved with the attacks as well as the defence. Some intelligent, guileful passing and the assist for van Persie's sweet goal at the beginning was real nice.

I thought this story had dried up when Inter accepted the bid, told Shaqiri and he was left with this look on his face: But apparently he's likely to join (albeit with "a contract release clause should a Champions League club attempt to sign him"). W T F ?!

I'd prefer we signed both.

He did well at Basel and I think you can only say he technically failed at Bayern because he couldn't usurp Robben, Ribery or Muller. Which is not exactly an insult. According to that reliable source, The Internet, he's on less than £40k per week; which is not a lot for someone that has played for Bayern and Inter. I'd say he's comparable to early Hazard. He just needs to learn to impose himself on games more as Hazard has over the last couple of seasons.