mrfahaji

I'm sure there are some expert statisticians on here that will find more holes in this analysis, but one thing that I would point out is that of the teams we've played twice, we have only 'done the double' over Swansea. Which suggests that the first match is not really much of a predictor of the second. In fact, every team we have played twice that we didn't win the first fixture against, we have beaten in game two. Which suggests that, from a statistical point of view, we will win the next three games...! I don't share such statistical optimism, not least because this fails to incorporate any Yoshida-coefficients.

Saw this and thought it was just the Southampton player of the month, didn't realise it was the Premier League one!

Not Sissoko? Would be interested to hear why not. He can actually play as a wide midfielder rather than a striker-on-the-wing, which might give us more options in terms of formations. Also saw a stat of 'chances created' a little while ago and he was quite near the top - hard to know exactly how these lists are put together, but I wonder if he's gone under the radar because of lack of goals/assists compared to Wijnaldum. Happy to be enlightened on this, I haven't watch a great deal of Newcastle.

Swansea's struggles this year might mean he would now see us as an improvement, or at least would consider a move away, up until now I've had the impression he's quite happy there. My main concern is that if Sigurdsson was available, I'm sure there would be other suitors that he would prefer.

Lol, Darren Bent... Kieron Dyer would be up there for me, after he threatened to sue El Khalej and Southampton FC for his injury. Scott Gemmill (2) and Kingsley Black will always be names etched in my memory after their goals defeated us in the ZDS Cup Final. For some reason that is a more painful memory than Robert Pires.

Except we also struggle against teams that press us and play with high energy... Basically the teams we do well against are those that play open but pedestrian football... Great. Agree with most of your general comments btw, except Mane wanting the ball over the top, he simply was not interested in running at all and couldn't catch a cold. It was totally strange watching him in front of me, he was either nursing an injury or simply couldn't be bothered. I'm not one to accuse players of not trying just because they play badly, but the effort in Mane's performance was astoundingly bad.

I thought Davis started quite well against Sunderland but faded. The problem we have is that Davis is the only player who can play the position which links the midfield and the attack, so when he isn't playing well there are no obvious alternatives. Whereas JWP & Clasie are pretty similar in my eyes (in terms of role/style), plus Romeu can slot in for either of the 2 more defensive midfielders.

Did they? Moments before Fonte's red I said "it's almost easy to forget that Sunderland could actually score". Pretty sure I wouldn't have said this if they had been camped in our half. I think it was more that they sat the midfield deep and gave us little space to work with. Romeu was excellent and I really didn't feel that Wanyama was the player we missed. I'd say that was more likely Shlong.

Ha, I did think about that, but if we are drawings comparisons, we were never very good but still tried to play a half decent brand of football, apart from with Branfoot, and the fans made it pretty clear how they felt about him.

You're probably right but what about once the relegation scrap is over? I can see why West Ham wanted him out despite results being ok. His sides are terrible to watch - it's not even the long ball style tactics, more the cynical time wasting, injury feigning etc. Every trick in the book. Maybe when you're desperate to stay up you'll take that, but perhaps Sunderland need to go down to reassemble and sort their club out. Everything is so short term there and they surely can't want to be playing dire football every year just to preserve their status. I guess if Allardyce can turn them into an anti football mid table team they'd take that over perennial relegation scrapping.

It wasn't a horrendous performance by Saints but really cannot see how you can think it was purely down to Mannone... He made one excellent stop but the others you would expect him to save and there really weren't that many. I thought the Sunderland centre halves were decent, but Van Dijk and Romeu were the best players on the pitch for me - when we went down to 10 it was these two who stepped up and seemed to be showing even more resolve and determination to get something out of the game. But I would grant you that Mannone had a better game than last season.

The people sat behind me today had it in for Pelle before he'd even touched the ball, and I imagine they weren't the only ones. He's out of form, not getting game time, and low on confidence, it's not a huge surprise that he isn't looking like the complete number 9 atm. These people were just waiting for him to do something wrong so they could shout at him. When he did something good, which happened more frequently as the game went on, they were quiet. The classic line was "ha! Look at that man's pace!" When chasing a through ball. It was said with such glee, as if they enjoyed his struggles, and it's not like Pelle has ever had pace or is expected to play as someone with it either. Absolutely flabbergasting attitude from some fans. That's not to say he was great, far from it, but it wasn't all bad. My main gripe with Pelle is that he doesn't follow up once he's made the first challenge. Too often he goes for an aerial duel, then stops and starts walking about, when he could be chasing down the second ball or making a run to receive a pass.

Marginally Toby. But VVD means we don't miss Alderweireld much. The sickening thing about us not getting him is more about how he has improved Spurs rather than worsened us. I would put Van Dijk ahead of Lovren. Lovren was excellent but think more than the others benefitted from partnering Fonte (who was also younger. Not sure how to phrase it without feeling like I'm stating the obvious!)

Sorry, I meant taken off earlier - when Davis & Clasie were taken off Mane had been playing terribly for a while so was surprised he stayed on at that point. Have edited.

Agree with your points for the whole team (see mine above which are similar). Forgot about Tadic's lack of tracking back, it happened a few times, particularly in second half. He kept miscontrolling the ball in second half but think it's unfair to say "none of that today" - he set up the goal after all, and that wasn't the only instance of producing a half decent cross. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was poor overall.

I don’t get to many games but I went to this one. Someone used the word ‘insipid’ earlier in the thread and that’s a good description of our performance. Sunderland employ such dreadfully cycnical tactics. We weren’t great but were still the better side. Thoughts on a few individuals: Martina – did ok defensively and even supporting the attack, but his passing is poor. Had a couple of chances to whip a ball across the face of goal and tried to pick out a player instead, unsurprisingly unsuccessful. Van Dijk – Man Mountain again. Fitting that he got the goal. Almost my MOTM. Romeu – MOTM for me. Put himself about till the end, finds a pass and has quick feet. Has a reliable shot on him too. When we went down to 10 men, Romeu and VVD, already two of our best players, really grew in stature and seemed even more determined. Clasie – picks up the second ball well, and capable of passing in tight quarters (did this well with Romeu). My only concern is that I can’t recall him actually winning the ball very much or joining the attack. Mane – a bizarre display. Was playing in front of me in second half and thought he must be injured because he wasn’t running off the ball at all, and seemed totally devoid of any pace. But given that he wasn’t taken off when Clasie & Davis were instead, it leaves me thinking maybe he just wasn’t trying... Tadic – some woeful moments but as infuriating as he may be, his jinking one way and then other nearly always has an end product, and the ball is often decent, as the equaliser verifies. Pelle – was by no means a great performance, but it seems some people in the stadium are against him before he does anything wrong. He improved as the game went on, and had some good touches to help the moves along, including for the goal. My main criticism of Pelle is that he doesn’t follow up for a second phase of play. He’ll challenge for a ball and then stop and walk, instead of closing down the next players or making himself available. Fans – I’m not the sort who thinks we need to be on our feet all game shouting “we hate pompey”, but I was shocked at how flat the atmosphere was today. I think OWTS only rang out once all game, and even when had an attack, or felt a sense of injustice at going down to 10, there was nothing more than a murmur. It’s like there is a huge sense of entitlement to see the team win, and no sense of responsibility to help the team achieve it…

About to walk to St Mary's and this Spurs game is making me feel deflated already!

Even though I'm usually quite disparaging about our ability to come up with good songs, I've heard the "Tadic to Graziano" (Pilot - Magic) before and that's pretty good. Obviously it's difficult to use that when they're not playing though...!

Bizarre. I mean, England are really struggling for Left Backs at the moment...

When I saw the headline I found it maddening. But if you read the article, it seems like "in contention" has been extrapolated from Roy saying "I won't rule him in or out". That's slightly different to saying he is "in contention". If I turn out to be wrong and he goes to the Euros, then I agree it is a joke. Especially because this year we actually have a batch of good strikers. It's Connor Wickham 2012 all over again.

Pretty sure Hesketh was taken off because he was injured after a terrible challenge from a Burnley player (it felt a bit like 'revenge' for him challenging their keeper for the yellow card you reference), it wasn't because he was off the pace. If anything, I recall he actually showed some promising signs. Reading this article alerted me to the fact that Mane is only 23 years old. Bearing in mind that JWP is only 2 years younger, it puts in perspective that Sadio is still learning his trade and it is probably wrong for us to expect him to consistently turn in the match winning performances we know he is capable of.

"...so I told them I could barely write my own name!"

"Southampton fans voice their surprise at Koeman's decision to start Graziano Pelle up front, given his lack of pace."

I could never support the opposition, but if we accept that Saints will lose a couple of games between now and the end of the season, I'd rather it was against them. I'd be unhappy with the defeat, but see the opposition as some sort of consolation! I think the National Lottery campaign of #pleasenotthem should be recreated with the Premier League & Tottenham.

Could you have a rule where if both teams opted out of the replay, then it would go to extra time & penalties in the first game? It might be a bit strange to have some going to replays and some not, but apart from being a bit odd, would there be a problem with it? That way you might have Arsenal/Hull being decided on the day because both teams wouldn't want a replay, but Shrewsbury/Man Utd would go to a replay as one of the teams would want it (as examples). It would just mean that all-Premier ties, plus perhaps a few others, may end up as one off games.