I thought our 2 new signings

[H4usuallysitting]

Looked good on Friday, along with Zambo - I would be looking at them as starters

[hovewhite]

It doesn't take a lot!!

[filham]

If only Mawson and Betts were fit we could have a team that may be in with a chance at Southampton. As it is we are again at Southampton going to face a barrage of crosses into our goal area that we are ill equipped to deal with.

[rvFFC]

If only Mawson and Betts were fit we could have a team that may be in with a chance at Southampton. As it is we are again at Southampton going to face a barrage of crosses into our goal area that we are ill equipped to deal with.

Betts is just as poor on crosses as Rico is

[@jolslover]

agree with OP

[ALG01]

Anguisa missed every heaader and tackle, he was out of position endlessly but did pass a few short balls without losing possesion .
Mark ran around but did little.
The center back was massively at fault for the third goal, but otherwise lumped it up the field aimlessly often. He may be OK too soon to make a proper judgement.
Personally anguisa remains a poor squad player IMO, and the other two looked what they were, last minute panic inclusions to save TKs face because of his multiple signings rant.

Sorry to offer a more considered opinion based on what I saw.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Anguisa missed every heaader and tackle, he was out of position endlessly but did pass a few short balls without losing possesion .
Mark ran around but did little.
The center back was massively at fault for the third goal, but otherwise lumped it up the field aimlessly often. He may be OK too soon to make a proper judgement.
Personally anguisa remains a poor squad player IMO, and the other two looked what they were, last minute panic inclusions to save TKs face because of his multiple signings rant.

Sorry to offer a more considered opinion based on what I saw.

You are spot on with your analysis.

[Matt10]

Anguissa actually solidified the midfield allowing for Chambers to drop back further. Anguissa's passing was direct and calm. His first touch was good as well. His poor part was judging headers, but thankfully we had cover behind.

Markovic did fine. Soft first touch, looked to play quickly, and chose a priority pass to Cairney, then off he went. In the 4-4-1-1 we finished with, he was able to roam free, which opened up the space for Babel to drop and receive the ball as well. Defensively, he gave Fredericks no space, so West Ham's first half bombardment down the sidelines was much more lessened.

Nortdveit played well and was obviously instructed to send long balls up versus play it around the back too often. Shame as this has been Ranieri's strategy the last couple of games, but I guess we cannot afford to lose the ball in the back 4 to get isolated in possession. When we play with 3 at the back, he tends to instruct our CBs to play with the ball a bit more though. Third goal we were caught in transition because Odoi had acres of space to cross, and chose not to, then hospital pass to Babel, who was dispossessed instantly. Resulted in a 4 v 3, a great block by Chambers, we still didn't clear our lines. I think it was odd that Antonio and Lanzini were so far out of the box, yet our defenders in Odoi, Nordtveit and Bryan, were so tucked in and in the six-yard box. This made it easy for Arnautovic to send in a lobbed cross. Unfortunately, Rico slipped, if not I think he would've had it.

Think that last goal was a really bad one to give up because of how super deep our defensive line was. Sorry, feels like another Italian influence of deep defensive lines with high priority to counter. Absorb pressure all night, until we break. It's the same thing over and over again.

[Bassey the warrior]

I'd start both. Not 100% on Zambo though. Def a useful sub.

[grandad]

We played with better shape when Seri was replaced & Cairney went into his most effective position in the centre. How many times has he & the team failed when he is played wide right. Apart from the pass to Sess for our goal Seri offers so little. He can´t tackle, doesn´t track back to defend, doesn´t get forward quickly enough. His negatives out weigh any positives he may have. The 2 newbies would be OK next season in the Championship.

[Sting of the North]

We played with better shape when Seri was replaced & Cairney went into his most effective position in the centre. How many times has he & the team failed when he is played wide right. Apart from the pass to Sess for our goal Seri offers so little. He can´t tackle, doesn´t track back to defend, doesn´t get forward quickly enough. His negatives out weigh any positives he may have. The 2 newbies would be OK next season in the Championship.

All other remarks aside (I think the debate on what he does or does not offer has been had to death), is it really your assessment that Seri doesn't track back to defend? Just curious, because that is absolutely not how I see it.

[LittleErn]

If only Mawson and Betts were fit we could have a team that may be in with a chance at Southampton. As it is we are again at Southampton going to face a barrage of crosses into our goal area that we are ill equipped to deal with.

Betts is just as poor on crosses as Rico is

Is Fabri any better at crosses?

[ALG01]

If only Mawson and Betts were fit we could have a team that may be in with a chance at Southampton. As it is we are again at Southampton going to face a barrage of crosses into our goal area that we are ill equipped to deal with.

Betts is just as poor on crosses as Rico is

Is Fabri any better at crosses?

From the little we saw of Fabri his ability at crosses was worse if I remember correctly and his decision making was rash. IMO I suspect he worse than Rico but I would understand if he got another chance and proved us all wrong.

[snarks]

Anguisa missed every heaader and tackle, he was out of position endlessly but did pass a few short balls without losing possesion .
Mark ran around but did little.
The center back was massively at fault for the third goal, but otherwise lumped it up the field aimlessly often. He may be OK too soon to make a proper judgement.
Personally anguisa remains a poor squad player IMO, and the other two looked what they were, last minute panic inclusions to save TKs face because of his multiple signings rant.

Sorry to offer a more considered opinion based on what I saw.

Not more considered, just your view, which is fair enough.

I thought we looked better second half with TC middle, Zambo and CC holding, and Marko did more than Sess overall.

I would actually stick with that lineup for Southampton, then replace Marko with Sess during the game.

Raneri won't do that tho' he'll fit Shurlle in to the starting 11, and continue with TC out wide.

[ALG01]

Anguisa missed every heaader and tackle, he was out of position endlessly but did pass a few short balls without losing possesion .
Mark ran around but did little.
The center back was massively at fault for the third goal, but otherwise lumped it up the field aimlessly often. He may be OK too soon to make a proper judgement.
Personally anguisa remains a poor squad player IMO, and the other two looked what they were, last minute panic inclusions to save TKs face because of his multiple signings rant.

Sorry to offer a more considered opinion based on what I saw.

Not more considered, just your view, which is fair enough.

I thought we looked better second half with TC middle, Zambo and CC holding, and Marko did more than Sess overall.

I would actually stick with that lineup for Southampton, then replace Marko with Sess during the game.

Raneri won't do that tho' he'll fit Shurlle in to the starting 11, and continue with TC out wide.

TC coming central will always be better because that is where he can shine and be effective. I have to be honest, I think Zambo is an error and we did a little better in the second half despite him. His lack of ability to judge the ball in the air and failure to make tackles and blocks is a worry, if he had not have had such a price tag I doubt he would feature in our first team. However I did note he made a few passes that were accurate and that at least is a step forward.

In terms of the next game, I think it impossible to second guess CR's selection. All I know is everything he has done since the Brighton second half seems to have made us worse. To have seen what is our best and most balanced line up and then ignore it perplexing.

I think i have said often enough our only hope of any chance of a last ditch spurt would rely on a change of manager and that should have happened after losing to Burnley, as it is I would do it because doing nothing seems to be the least appealing option.

[filham]

If only Mawson and Betts were fit we could have a team that may be in with a chance at Southampton. As it is we are again at Southampton going to face a barrage of crosses into our goal area that we are ill equipped to deal with.

Betts is just as poor on crosses as Rico is

I would agree that Betts is not at his best when having to deal with good crosses but recently there have been signs of improvement.
Rico demonstrated against West Ham that he is just not good enough and those dreadful punches are going to cost us a few more games before the season is out.

[hovewhite]

If only Mawson and Betts were fit we could have a team that may be in with a chance at Southampton. As it is we are again at Southampton going to face a barrage of crosses into our goal area that we are ill equipped to deal with.

Betts is just as poor on crosses as Rico is

I would agree that Betts is not at his best when having to deal with good crosses but recently there have been signs of improvement.
Rico demonstrated against West Ham that he is just not good enough and those dreadful punches are going to cost us a few more games before the season is out.

I have seen non league keepers catch more crosses in one game than Rico and fabric together all season.

[Bassey the warrior]

We played with better shape when Seri was replaced & Cairney went into his most effective position in the centre. How many times has he & the team failed when he is played wide right. Apart from the pass to Sess for our goal Seri offers so little. He can´t tackle, doesn´t track back to defend, doesn´t get forward quickly enough. His negatives out weigh any positives he may have. The 2 newbies would be OK next season in the Championship.

All other remarks aside (I think the debate on what he does or does not offer has been had to death), is it really your assessment that Seri doesn't track back to defend? Just curious, because that is absolutely not how I see it.

Agreed. He definitely does. His form may be patchy but he doesn't lack for effort.