Lord .. there's the shape of things to come

Pretty poor so far, offering nothing going forward. They are swamping the midfield and targeting Walker's side, not surprisingly.

Yeah it comes across as eleven individuals rather than any kind of cohesive team at the moment.

Hope we can get Yedlin in the squad soon. I know hes meant to make up for errors with his pace a bit like Walker, but would really like a different option on that right hand side as soon as possible.

No composure, and no quality on the ball. Every single time we win the ball in our third, it's just hoof hoof hoof, particularly from Rose. Bentaleb and Mason don't really shield the back four, and neither of them get hold of the ball and link play either. So we just have two different units and no fluidity whatsoever. 35 mins in, and I can't think of a single decent move we've had in their area.

Big improvement needed in second half including being quicker on the ball, sharper passing and retaining possession better. Chadli especially needs to wake up and Paulinho needs to play in their half instead of continually dropping deep. Pochettino's subs will also play a key role in deciding this game. So far, I think we'll be lucky to escape with a point.

One of the most depressingly bland halves of football i've seen since .. well .. we played United in the game before this.

I can only hope we can keep our heads and not concede at least.

Does anyone still wanna tell me this is all down to the players, and nothing to do with Pochettino? All this benefit of the doubt he gets about needing "his" team, and what a "Pochettino team" looks like....what is he actually doing to improve THIS team?

Even you should realise that there's really not a lot that can be done with the current squad save for a few players. Poch is doing the best he can with the players he's inherited. If we're at this same stage this time next season then he would certainly warrant any criticism levelled at him.

I just cannot accept that we don't have players capable of constructing even ONE half-decent passage of play against Burnley. If that were the case, we'd be down where they currently are in the table. This is just not good enough. What exactly is the game-plan?

Looking at the 11 on paper, about 7 would be comfortable at Villa or Everton, imo.

No defence, no squad.

imo: Paulinho > Dembele, Chadli > Lamela asap.

We've had about 4 touches in the Burnley area. if our players REALLY aren't good enough to do better than this, then we're clearly in the wrong league.

Well, I've just punted on a Tottenham win at 4.3 with 20 mins to go...

paulinho summed up on a plate there

This has another late win for us written Al over it. Trust me. What will happen to this lot in a possible CL spot doesn't bear thought.

c'mon, both sides need a result here. Push on ....

so Paulinho will play 90 minutes and Dembele 0?

If it was down to me, I'd have paulinho training with the reserves for the rest of the season before being sold.

that was EMBARRASSING. you guys can defend Pochettino all you like, but he's just as much to blame as anyone else is. what a load of garbage.

Poor, poor performance.

I am really fed up of the soundbites and quotes we are fed throughout the week from the players and manager only to end up with a performance like this. I don't expect to see - "Paulinho - i'm going to try and play especially crap this weekend" or "Townsend - Watch our Row Z!", coming up on my feed from the official Twitter, but if they are going to make all these statements then i'd at least like to see some of the passion and determination they seem so ready to talk about, displayed on the pitch.

As they say, actions speak louder than words.

2 or 3 seasons now with most of this squad. 3 managers, and more of the same. Sir Alf at his best would struggle with this lot.

There is no desire, no commitment, no energy. They can pass it around in the middle when not under pressure, and that's it.

Kane has kept up our hopes this season, same as Bale did a couple of seasons ago.

We play sterile, dull football, and have done for three seasons.

Does anyone actually have those edge of the seat moments anymore. When we score, it comes as shock, because we never look like doing so.

That did make me laugh

Can't sniff at an away clean sheet, considering the back four we started with (and ended with I suppose, with Davies filling in at CB) but I agree, a poor performance.

But i resolved a while ago to not get dragged in to the usual OTT inquests that usually kick off after a poor performance so i'm off to watch some telly

Can't say anything I haven't said many times before about this squad. I think we'll finish 7th which considering how dire we've mostly been this season will be a good result. If we are still playing this dull lifeless football and struggling against the "weaker" teams by Christmas I think Levy will start feeling the fans pressure to make a change again.

I think today really does just highlight how slapdash the recruitment policy has been over the past few years. We've had very good players come and go and we've had very poor players come and stay.

You can certainly lay some of the blame at Levy's door with his self-appointed position as a "tough negotiator" but I think you can also lay some of the blame with Baldini as well with the way that the Bale money was spent.

This is why I think Paul Mitchell was appointed, so that we can - hopefully - implement a new and more structured approach to player recruitment and development.

Poch's approach to the job is certainly far above what we've been used to over the years and this is why I think the poor performances stand out so much, because some of the players simply aren't at the level required - I think Andy summed it up well when he said that a lot of them would be comfortable at Villa or Everton.

Yes, he needs to be more flexible and have a better "Plan B" (or have a plan b full stop I suppose) but if we can have a successful summer in terms of comings and goings and get a good balance to the side then I do think we could see his approach pay off next season.