Dave028

We f**ked this one up ourselves. Not having a decent striker, Willi piss poor, playing in second gear all game, refs doing their bit, late subs etc........its all on us. Should have killed them first halv.

although draw is a fair result, it was mostly because our inability to control the game in the second half, so can't help but feel disappointed with the result.
btw I thought Sarri made two mistakes in the starting lineup by starting Morata & Willian, arguably the two quietest performers today

Alonso and Luiz cost us three points. Alonso should have stood his ass up if he wasn't injured. Luiz has been good, but he shouldn't be rushing out like that to defend the ball. 

Contrary to the popular belief, the best footballers in modern game are those who can sustain a pressing game. Tony Kroos, modric, casemiro, iniesta, busquests etc keeps composure and wait for late pass when pressed and it takes the defender out of equation creating space which Marcelo / Dani Alves use to debating effect with their ability to burst in pace. We have a similar player in Kovacic, when he went off in Liverpool game we lost our way. Today we lost our way when he was Substituted. Alonso is no Marcelo either

Herrera is such a prick

Thats hilariously ironic that United's timewasting cost them there.

At least we'll get a point. It's better than nothing.

And he’s always sulking and flailing around whining and pouting. The guy simply is not good enough. We should cut ties as soon as possible and never look back. Giroud is miles ahead 

Wow, Giroud is as bad as Morata. He’s basically cleared it. Striker has to be the top priority in January.

Exactly..we need to aim for top 4...next season we need to add players and a striker ffs

immediately Giroud has an impact with that interchange with Hazard

What the f**k is that Alonso. 

First mistake all season. Out of interest, who would you start over him? 

He actually had a brilliant game before that 

Knew they would score and still worried 

Alonso get up you f**king idiot. Cba with defenders doing that. Terry would’ve been on his feet in a heartbeat. 

was hoping and thought Morata would be coming into this game with a little more confidence after scoring in back to back games before the break. But lord have mercy he is pitiful. He's just moping around on the pitch. Going down every time he gets the ball with a defender on his back, no energy, not finding/running into spaces. Giroud needs to come on soon because at least he'll put in the work. Thought overall the first half was pretty dull and we need to step it up in the second half. Idk if its the early start time or coming off the international "real" but there was a real lack of energy from the players and the fans 

Glad we spent £70m on a striker to clear a ball out of our own box

Part from 1 free header from Lukaku that went wide I would say that our defense was solid in the first half.

everybody slahing morata, yes dreadfull in offence but he had some crucial clearings out of the box

It would really f**k me up if we somehow let them in......just a bit more and we will cruise this with ease. No way we can let them back in, they deserve Jack sh*t.

was hoping and thought Morata would be coming into this game with a little more confidence after scoring in back to back games before the break. But lord have mercy he is pitiful. He's just moping around on the pitch. Going down every time he gets the ball with a defender on his back, no energy, not finding/running into spaces. Giroud needs to come on soon because at least he'll put in the work. Thought overall the first half was pretty dull and we need to step it up in the second half. Idk if its the early start time or coming off the international "real" but there was a real lack of energy from the players and the fans 

Pleased with the win, the performance was also good. Our defensive errors haven't costed us yet but we do allow opposition teams a lot of chances. Sarri accepts that this kind of football will give you goals and that the defensive part is exposed. Kepa had two amazing saves, while at 0-0 Ings missed a sitter, it would be a much different match if we conceded first. Overall did enough to get the win and if we tighten things at the back we could easily go all the way. 
Another team win.

Ultimately a very solid win.
1) Hazard was quality as ever, but he didn't so much dominate the entire game as stamp his mark at key moments - firstly with the goal and then with the assist to Morata. 
2) It was great to see Barkley finally make a definitive impact on a game as opposed to merely looking promising without really stamping his authority on proceedings. His through ball to Hazard after dispossessing the Southampton player was a nice display of vision which I honestly don't remember him displaying either at this club or even very much at Everton, His forward run for his goal was something I do recall seeing at Everton at times and it was great to see him pull off something like that here. 
3) For somebody who is so big and bulky, Giroud displays some surprising agility and technical prowess at times. Following on from his ridiculous scorpion kick goal at Arsenal, he rolled out an effective scissor kick here to make the most of a Willian corner. It would be nice to see him score, but he clearly has value beyond any goals he might score, in terms of holding the ball up and playing his teammates in. 
4) Southampton got a few chances on the counter-attack, but luckily were either denied by Kepa or poor finishing. In general though they were often second best, either showing only flashes of ability (Redmond/Lemina) or making defensive errors (Hoedt, who by now probably shouldn't be starting).
5) It was good to see Morata reminding us of his super-sub days at Real Madrid/Juventus. I think that is probably the best way to use him, especially if we keep encountering deep-lying defences. We simply get Giroud to wear down two centre-backs for 60-65 minutes like a battering ram and then bring Morata on against tired legs so he can utilise his pace more effectively.  
6) The refereeing was sub-standard - Southampton were probably fortunate to end the match with 11 men and we should have had at least one penalty IMO. Didn't matter in the end though. 
7) Since the West Ham game, Kepa has definitely proven his worth as a shot-stopper. He may not be Courtois in that department, but on this evidence he isn't far off. Like Courtois he can also retain concentration for the entire game and make a spectacular save when not much appears to be happening. 
 

That rating for Azpilicueta is ridiculous. He was shaky in the first half, but he was fine in the 2nd, didn't put a foot wrong. A 6 out of 10 is more realistic. 2 is for the Titus Bramble's of the game. 
You also don't see the value of Kante. Just because he doesn't need to be saving our ass's all game, it doesn't mean he isn't effective.