Pizy

It's as though we're shocked that they're high pressing. Did we not expect this? We look rattled.

Definitely think Giroud will go in Jan. Deserves to as well. Can go to France and be the main man at a decent club where he can be very effective still. Now that we have a striker in Tammy who is bigger and good holding it up, we should bring in a different sort of forward than we've had in years past. A pacey, second striker type. Someone in the Griezmann or Son style. A player who can play across the front line. Don't know who that would be, though.

I know they were sort of forced by lack of quality, but that was a pretty pathetic performance by United. They played like a bottom table side. At home no less. Sneak a goal and desperately park the bus for the remainder of the match.

Come on, Liverpool! *washes mouth out with soap*

Said this last week and I'll say it again, that United XI is utterly shocking! It's pathetic to see the biggest club in the country who have spent more than anyone field that team.

Anyone else hoping United get battered today? Getting smoked at home by Liverpool will plunge them even deeper in crisis and I just wanna see carnage. 😂 Not to mention it would give us a huge cushion over them on the table. Can probably count them out of the top 4 race if they lose today.

I swear to god Willian effortlessly juked past the ginger one who scored against United about 10 times today. Just literally ran past him like he wasn't there. 😂😂😂 Not gonna slate the lad, though. Pretty huge step up to face us with our style of play and quality compared to McTomi-what's-his-name, Fred, and United's horrific football.

Well, that was a totally dominant 2nd half. Kepa barely had to move today. Jorginho once again this season completely ran the game. It's strange, last season we saw every team (including the poor sides like Newcastle today) make it their absolute priority to press and shut down Jorginho. This season it's as though they've forgotten about that and he's bossing nearly every game. Give him space and he dominates any match. Must be as obvious to Frank as it is to us that Kova is MILES better than Ross. His close control, dribbling, work ethic tracking back, and his ability to surge forward and beat players dribbling is another level. He HAS to be in our best XI. Pulisic made quite an impact coming on which is encouraging. If he had been playing and was sharper he could've scored twice today. CHO is nearly unstoppable in 1v1, isolated areas. Had everyone who tried to defend him on toast today. What a talent!

Yeah, this is our biggest issue. Put Emerson and James in these same dangerous areas that Alonso and Azpi keep popping up and we'd look far more dangerous. When Alonso has space he's dangerous. But when he has to face up a defender and do something to beat his man he has zero skills. He can't dribble at all. Newcastle are highly vulnerable from wide areas but we can't take full advantage because our fullbacks are useless.

Entire back 4 have been atrocious here. Zouma and Tomori so sloppy on the ball. Azpi is sadly starting to become a real problem for us. Offers nothing going forward and his lack of pace means he gets caught repeatedly when he's defending. He just gets the ball in the same spot and passes back to Zouma over and over again. Doesn't even try to attack. Tammy hasn't been able to get involved at all in dangerous areas because they've parked so many players in his area. CHO and Willian have looked pretty good in the final third but that's about it attacking wise.

Indeed, Kovacic should definitely have started for me. He's excellent at keeping the ball and passing it around quickly. The exact opposite of Barkley. In a game where we'll boss possession and need to pop it around quickly to unlock a deep defense I don't see why Ross is preffered. He's better suited to a more open game. Watch him score now...

Same here in America. It's fucking annoying. I used to be able to see just about every PL game on TV with the "sports package" I'm paying for. But now they have a premium tier where you have to pay even more to see all the matches and only show one game on TV at a time. So this will be the second week in a row that I have to watch us on a stream. Anyways, I mostly like the look of our side here. Just gutting to have Kante missing literally every other match. Without him in there these shit sides will always have a better chance against us. Only questionable selection is Barkley but he was very good for England last week so I guess he's in form? Idk. Let's hope we see good Ross Barkley today rather than the usual average one.

I love him. But my goodness do I close my eyes and pray every time he makes a sliding tackle 😂. He's so bad at that particular thing. Seems like that's how he picks up all his yellow cards. Sprinting full bore at someone and sliding in. I always think to myself "please don't be red, please don't be red." They always look terrible in real time but not as bad on replay. But yeah, he's the heartbeat of the team. He doesn't quite have that killer long pass that Cesc had and doesn't carry any kind of goal threat but he's much more of a midfield general. He totally controls the game. Probably the closest player to Busquets out there.

I know they had loads of injuries, but they're still the richest club in the world. They seriously looked like a relegation zone XI today. Not replacing Lukaku and neglecting their midfield was insane. They're getting exactly what they deserve. Which is fucking hilarious for us to watch! 😂😂😂

Saw the good and the bad from both Zouma and Tomori. They both win everything that comes near them in the air bit are nervy a lot of the time with the bal at their feet. They have to learn when the time is right to play with it. When teams press like Southampton did today, just boot it or play it safe. I clench and wince every time one of them gets the ball played back to them and there's a player pressing them. Tomori almost got caught a few times today in that way.

Willian, Kante, and Jorginho today 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Jorginho, man. What a fucking player. He's the general on the pitch.

Shows how utterly calamitous our defending is when being 3-1 up against Southampton is FAR from settled. Conceding to brilliance or something is one thing. Supplying gifts to opponents on a plate repeatedly is ridiculous. We allowed their RB (not their striker, not their winger. The RIGHT BACK) waltz through SIX of our players to set up their goal. And that's not the first time this season that something like that has happened. Our defending hasn't improved at all so far this season! Thank fuck we good going forward or we'd be in serious trouble.

Conversely, lose this and United will probably go back ahead of us. And they're a club who is pretty much in full blown crisis with loads of their fans calling for the manager to step down.

Whole lotta pace in that Southampton attack. Better hope we don't have a bunch of silly giveaways in the middle of the park or they can kill us on the counter. Luckily, Barkley isn't starting so that should cut down on the lazy square passes that lead to counter attacks.

Hmm. I like the attacking 4 but don't like the back 4. Particularly Alonso in a back 4 away from home against a side desperate for a win. I'd also generally prefer we start with Kova in a midfield 3 away from home so we have better control there. Optimistic we'll get a result here but think we'll make hard work of it.

They'll get hammered by all those except us who they'll turn into Barca against. 😂😂😂

Wonder if we'll get a Pulisic sighting tomorrow? I doubt it sadly. Also, please no Barkley in the starting XI. Please! I's actually like to see the same formation that we played against Lille. Be nice to have Reece James and Alonso further up the pitch again.

Even more puzzling they are where they are then. Seriously, they have a relegation zone quality squad.

I have absolutely no idea how Palace are on 14 points. They have almost zero quality other than Zaha and they have shocking players all over the pitch. They also play pretty awful football. Of course it won't last for them, but it's really strange to see them up there on this early table.

Dumb penalty he gave away aside, I've been watching Declan Rice quite closely a few times this season and he's an excellent young player. I certainly think we should consider bringing him back to Chelsea. He's the perfect DM to play at the base of our midfield together with Jorginho and Kante. Would shore up that area and stop us getting shredded with one ball. And he's not just a tackler, either. Very decent on the ball and can get around the pitch. Wonder how much he'd cost? He's a hugely important player to them but surely he'd jump at the chance to come back and play with his mates and Lamps who probably a hero of his.