Bailey

Only because we have no one else who plays the way we need our midfielders to which is the difference. McCarthy and probably Besic would normally be ahead of him but with their injuries and the limited mobility or Barry he is next in line.

Exactly that! Loves dishing it but doesn't like it when someone has a go back. Just like Wilshere.

We definitely kept the ball much better but for large parts we lacked the quality to unpick a sturdy well organised defence.

I think it's the slow realisation that he needs energy in the middle of the park rather than overall ability. If you play long ball, you don't need quality in midfield, just hard working ball winners jumping on the second ball.

There is no way Mirallas should be starting behind Lennon. I agree that Lennon was poor today.

Yeh that was excellent management and well deserved.

I thought he was very good on the whole but as I said in another thread, their main chances came partly from him. Rodriguez wrong footing him, not tracking him on a flick over the top twice too. That clearance off the line was superb though.

Yeh ok that is being unfair but what I mean is that they are almost going from one tackle to the next, they don't have any real control on the game. Besic is definitely a headless chicken because he sees the ball and goes for it regardless of anything else, and neither Gana or Davies are like that but they are asked to be all action in the middle and not run the game like Barry could.

I thought he was excellent too and Williams was the one we should be worrying about. Caught out of position on the counter a couple of times that led to shots on goal.

That is a bit weird but he put in a real shift so I hope he stays being a moody bastard! I agree with you earlier in the thread about the start of the second half but as I said in here it had the feeling of a get one and then a couple more will follow. They were defending very well but we just had the upper hand, albeit whilst they had a clean sheet they had something to hold onto.

I'm glad Koeman set his team up much more like we have been asking for and surprise surprise it worked! It's a shame DCL got injured and good on Koeman for using him and Davies. Fwiw Koeman does historically have a good record of bringing through youngsters, he just didn't rate Southampton's academy and said as much in an interview.

I think people are expecting a little too much from him. For his first proper start this season he was very good. Our midfielders are all headless chickens and that is why it works because they are running around trying to cover a lot of ground. Gana is the same, McCarthy too, Barry not so much. I was expecting him to do that, to be dynamic and get around the pitch but I wasn't expecting him to have that awareness on the ball and play some of the quality passes he did. Good on him.

Between Lukaku, Barkley and Baines for me with Davies and Mori not too far behind.

Really impressed me today. Clear signs of inexperience here and there but he never panicked and got stuck in. He has a lot of quality on the ball too.

I only saw the second half but I was pretty impressed, that was much better than I have seen for a long time. Still a bit easy to beat on the counter but we ground them away and got the goals. We lacked quality at times but we got there as they defended very well until that first goal. Everyone knew their role, unsurprisingly getting support close to Rom not only allowed him to show his best form but it also allowed us to keep the ball higher up the pitch and we were better for it. Barkley had his best game this season and Davies again was excellent, showing energy and quality. I thought Lennon was a bit anonymous and Williams got caught out a couple of times too which is a worry but Mori was good, Baines superb too. Robles was a but odd. Some really important saves but not really inspiring confidence either. Hopefully we can really kick on from here.

Get in Rom, great ball from Davies. Great tackle from Baines to win the ball back too.

And another chance for them from a corner!

Yet another chance conceded from a corner but that was a quality clearance from Williams.

Great save Joel, really quickly off his line. Don't know how they got through so easy. Williams again by the looks of it. Shocking kick though!

Don't underestimate how superb Barkley was in the build up to that pen. He didn't just put a wasteful ball into the box, he kept possession with Davies and then fed Mori, got himself back into space, one two with Mirallas who then played it into Valencia who won the pen. Definitely send him on loan, what a shithouse. 2 up, get in Bainesy!

Rom should have got that on target!

We need to keep pushing forward and get the second, please don't go defensive!

Get in! Really good work from Kev and Rom and Valencia there to bundle it in!

Get in! Really good work from Kev and Rom and Valencia there to bundle it in!

I have no idea what williams was doing in that Soton break. Almost looked as though he was trying to play offside?