mrfahaji

Apart from the goal that won the game (I am being a little facetious here, as agree he played well and there was one, possibly two fouls by Lukaku leading up to the goal)

This. I know we shouldn't be relying on scoring in the 95th minute of a game, but I'm so fcking angry at the ref for this. Jose's antics clearly a way to run the clock down and surprise, surprise, it worked. 4 minutes in the first place, given Jones' head injury, were a joke. Compared to last week against Palace, 5 minutes despite no obvious reason why other than subs, then an extra minute added just because we made 1 sub. As for the performance, I thought this would be a true marker of where we are and am encouraged that we outplayed United (even if they were perhaps happy to defend a lead) for the entire second half. Not being able to score, again... well that's frustrating of course, but we were creating a bit more - how we didn't do better from the chances we had I don't know.

Only 4 minutes injury time...? Yet 5 vs Palace. We should have at least an extra minute due to sub, wonder if we'll get it?

Not sure how that can be a foul by Redmond then.

I thought the replay showed he got the ball...

JWP for Cedric, let's hope we don't get hit on the break...!

Decent ball from Tadic when you consider that Long was the ONLY player in the box to aim for.

I wonder if our players aren't brave enough to demand the ball when we get close to goal. It was a decent shot from Redmond, but Davis should have been screaming for the return as he had a clear run on goal.

Not sure what's happened to Romeu, why is he trying to dribble out of that situation when he has a simple ball on?

1997

That's a bit more like it, makes such a difference when Redmond actually runs at people

Is that an instruction to Tadic or an instruction to a budding rifleman?

I'm disappointed with our passing. United have pace and are strong/big. I'm not convinced they are particularly comfortable with the ball on the ground though. If we can get it together that's our best chance, to play around them. Unfortunately we are sloppy, giving the ball away unnecessarily. Davis is guilty of looking for that incisive pass when it's not on. Good that he's thinking about it, but frustrating when he goes for an "eye of the needle" pass when there are other options to keep the move going.

Ha, you saw it too...!

Classic Redmond spot just then. Ball up to Long, who brings it down, back to goal. Acres of space for Redmond to run into and he ambled forward watching. Wish he'd show a bit more determination to support and makensomethinf happen.

Mourinho knows we're sh1t in the air, so plays Fellaini as well as Lukaku, clearly gives instructions to his team for aerial crosses. We should know that a) it is a weakness and b) Mourinho will look to exploit it. Except we just play the same team as always. Frustrating.

Any suggestions for today? I've got one of the feed4u links working (16) but it's stuttering all the time, can't put up with it for much longer!

Perhaps I was overzealous with my 'ashamed of my club' comment, as every club has their fair share of cvnts. I'm sure Steven Davis would be delighted if he heard all the Saints fans were chucking bottles around inside the concourse before quietly taking their seats for the second half. I'm all for an increased sense of 'hostility' during the game, but it's utterly pointless being like that inside your own little area where the only people you're p1ssing off are fellow Saints fans and the stewards, only to then return to your seat and shut up for the rest of the game. You should be intimidating the opposition players and their fans, and that wasn't doing anything of the sort. "Fans like me" - when I go to the games I always join in with the singing, sometimes it feels like I'm one of the few people bothering!

Is it not a problem regardless of your class though? Working class people have phones as well, and I'm not sure why they're any less likely to be addicted to checking them throughout the game. A kid, probably mid-teens, was sat in front of me at Wembley, wouldn't describe him as middle class. He started shouting/singing as soon as he arrived at his seat, fair enough, good on him. Then spent the entire game with his phone out live streaming the game to a mate on skype. I'd be interested to know why, if it's true, so called middle class people are less inclined to sing and get involved with creating an atmosphere at games? I get a reluctance in some respects - I was at Selhurst Park a couple of seasons ago when loads of Saints fans started chucking bins around at half time in the bar area. I didn't get involved in that, because quite frankly I thought it was pathetic, and I was ashamed to be associated with the same club as those imbeciles. But when it came to supporting the team, I was prepared to be as vocal as anyone else.

Thanks. Not sure whether that's a good statistic...? Although I would say that my assertion about 1 or 2 decent balls a game referred more to crossing rather than all passing - in light of the comparison to the Beckham video. I'm sure he makes more than one or two good passes per game! Just seen there is an 'accurate crosses' per game at 0.6, sounds about right. The out of form Tadic, by comparison, has 1.8 key passes per game and 1 accurate cross. The even poorer Redmond also has 0.6 for crossing but 2.4 key passes. Steven Davis has 0.6 crosses and 1.1 key passes. So similar to others but actually not quite as good.

We'll be fine as soon as someone releases an app that improves football stadium atmosphere. Maybe a snapchat filter which adds crowd noise.

Haha, that front four would put the fear of god into any opponent!

Clearly loves his new born baby more than he loves the club. Get rid next window.

I was about to say how I'd agree with that, but as I was typing I was thinking of different scenarios and now I'm not sure! If only stopping the clock for injuries and substitutions, surely it should be 45 minutes as the ref is meant to stop his watch for those incidents anyway. But if that were the case, there'd be an incentive to time waste because the ref couldn't add anything on at his discretion. But then, if the clock stopped for EVERY time the ball went out of play, games with 40 min 'play' time would last hours. A happy medium would be something where the actual clock mimics what the ref would typically add time for (i.e. obvious time wasting) but then who decides what counts and what doesn't? The ref?

Have to agree with benjii on this - Yoshida isn't fantastic in the air but he's a darned sight better than Stephens - in fact, while Stephens lacks a little speed (and Yoshi is quick), I'd see his aerial ability as his glaring weakness. You say about him playing well in the Cup final, but while he was 'accomplished', his poor positioning may have cost us the game. As for that video to 'demonstrate' Yoshida's weakness, it seemed pretty clear to me that it was a foul, but even if it wasn't, I'm doubtful Stephens would have fared any better going shoulder to shoulder with Benteke. Of course it's a totally valid opinion that being younger, he has more room to improve and therefore should be given as much time as possible (I don't agree with benjii that he will categorically never be better than Yoshida), but to claim what you have above seem absurd.