mrfahaji

Yep you're right, either they've changed it or I misread it (probably the latter...!) That's a bit more understandable from Liverpool's point of view then.

Liverpool playing hardball with Palace for Benteke - rejecting £30m + £7m add ons. I'd have thought they'd be satisfied with that.

Agree with most of this. It feels like we're seeing how we get on with the current bunch, as there's no point spending money if we don't have to. Except with our squad I think that's a bit naive, or woefully overconfident. I'm happy to give the club the benefit of the doubt that they've made some good signings, but it doesn't seem we've done enough business, our best XI looks decent and has potential but it's not a given, and then take one or two away for form/injury and it starts to look very unconvincing.

Been having a think about who could fit the bill of the description one of the supposed ITKs gave a few pages back. I am not for one moment suggesting this should be the player we go for, mainly because I have no idea if he's any good, but Kostas Mitroglou fits the bill in many ways - appeared briefly in England after a good early career, went off the radar and had a bit of a "waste of money" tag, last season scored quite a few goals for Benfica, is left footed and can play either as a striker or a support striker. Also 28, a bit younger than Pelle. Only thing is I haven't seen him mentioned and the ITK said he had been. Also, surely wouldn't be a club record transfer...? Anyway, just a suggestion.

Sometimes you have to credit the other team as a defensive unit. They had the lead away from home, of course they're going to defend. Then they went down to 10 and it was a backs-to-the-wall job. They did it pretty well - we probably should have carved out a bit more, and were unlucky with the offside goal, but Watford restricted us to half chances for most of the game - we certainly didn't get anything as good as Capoue's chance/goal. Is that down to Watford's excellent defending or our lack of attacking ideas/penetration? That's not easy to answer, but I don't think we can use those stats to claim a "battering".

Even though a couple of his crosses in these last few mins have been disappointing, Pied has shown a better sense of purpose than Cedric.

Looked better as the half went on. However we are losing the ball so much because we are playing direct balls to the strikers (due to lack of wide outlets) who aren't any good at holding it up. As soon as Tadic goes wide he looks more at home and dangerous. Strange that Hojbjerg, who by accounts looked out best player pre-season hasn't started...!

Our performance is even worse than our kit

Taken as an individual player Fonte is replaceable. He reads the game well and has good positioning but he lacks a bit of pace and makes a few mistakes (not sure I've ever seen a player get away with more obvious fouls/handballs as Jose!) However, where we may it hard to replace his leadership and organisation, and the effect that has on those around him. It can't be a coincidence that nearly everyone who plays alongside Fonte seems to improve their game.

That's what I thought - it's more just a positive signal. But presumably there's no reason he can't sign a new contract today and leave to join Arsenal next week... Back to Tadic - how he takes to the number 10 role may well be the make or break of Puel's 4-4-2 system. Partly because we don't have anyone else good enough or suited to play such a pivotal role, on the other because if Tadic doesn't play there where will he play? And can we afford to have our main creative source sat on the bench?

Given that Fonte signed a new contract recently, does it matter if he doesn't sign a new one? If he's considering his options and fancies moving to a club like United or Arsenal, does it really make a difference whether he pens a new deal with us?

Great news. Love the way Tadic plays, always looking to create a chance. Admittedly there are times when you think "just bl00dy shoot!" but it's a trade off for having a talented player with such a selfless mindset.

Has it been mentioned (sorry not trawling through pages and pages!) how eerily similar Southampton & Nice league records were last season? Saints P38 W18 D9 L11 F59 A41 P63 Nice P38 W18 D9 L11 F58 A41 P63 !!

On where?

I'm not sure we'll see a team coming from such a lowly position the season before to snatch the title out of nowhere, but I'm not as convinced the top 6 will return to the status quo as easily as many are predicting. Every year the teams in the chasing pack make strides forward and the top clubs resort to spending ever increasingly ridiculous amounts of money to stay ahead, which as we've seen recently doesn't guarantee success.

It does sound a bit strange - Virgin Media are our sponsors yet they're launching an initiative to help our opponents...? Slightly different if we set the precedent for other clubs to follow suit of course.

For the 41212 to work you really need Ibrahima Bakayoko as the number 10.

£47.5m, done deal...

Stones has gone for 47.5m

Insightful for someone who (presumably) isn't especially close to the club. Aspiring bloggers and writers should make a point of reading this to see how to craft a good article. Anyone read Consortium11's comments below?

Would be very surprised to see Clasie (assuming that's who you mean) suddenly thrust into the attacking midfield role, that is surely more unlikely than not playing the diamond...

When you look at your two suggested formations, there wouldn't be a huge amount of adjustment required to go to the 4-3-3. The main change would be Tadic going to the left, but everything else would be a minor tweak. Funny how different they seem (notwithstanding different player instructions) it practice though!

Seconded! I had hopes that this 4-4-2 formation was trying out a possible alternative, but the extent that we've played it (have we played the 4-3-3 at any stage in the last few games?) suggests to me that 4-4-2 is very much plan A.

Maybe he doesn't "beat them" in terms of pace, but he usually finds enough space to put a decent cross in, I am often surprised how often he manages it - this is more what I meant, if he gets a ball into the box, surely he has done what he needs to, even if he hasn't raced clear of the defender.

Thanks - obviously can't get a feel for the game like you can with a stream but they seem to be adding videos fairly regularly.