A deserved win today. First half I thought was a lot of huff and bluster without causing Southampton many problems.
2nd half much better, and no surprise that the breakthrough goal came from Rom putting Coleman in down the right. He'd (Coleman) got into that position a few times in the first half and then again in the second, but the final ball had been poor. 1st decent delivery and we got something out of it.
The penalty came from the best move of the game; fanstastic, quick football with Barkley (MOTM for me) and Davies both involved, and come great build up play.
All the talk this season of the return of hoofball is premature. Certainly, Koeman doesn't want players taking unnecessary risks at the back, this can be seen when our back 4 are put under opposition pressure and don't have a simple short pass as an out-ball, it tends to get launched, rather than take risks. But we're definitely trying to play it out from the back where possible, currently hindered by visible lack of confidence from the players in some instances, and a lack of quality in others.
Big window ahead. If we finish around our current position, get a couple of quality additions in January, that will be a perfectly adequate transition year for me.
COYB