[HRK]

Whilst I can agree with this I think the fact we're lamenting that we've not got more from both yesterday's game and also Chelsea away recently, it's a sign of progress being made.

But HRK, in the past we've gone to these places and won, by doing such bold and unconventional things as passing to teammates and scoring goals. Admittedly we've also had a few spankings down the years as well, but you take the rough with the smooth.

I really don't think the types of performance we saw yesterday are anything to write home about. Playing a back 6 and defending on the edge of your area does not take any particular skill. Even if you succeed you only get a point, but we don't even seem to be that good at it anyway (look at the recent late goals we've conceded).

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If I may jump in as a neutral.  I watched your game this weekend and thought you set out with a solid plan that Arsenal seemed to have no answer for until Giroud popped up and put a superb header into the net.  You should have got the point, but it wasn't to be.

But I have to take task with the statement that you have previously gone to these places and won!!!  You must have a memory like an elephant!!!  

Arsenal away - 1 win in 32 years!
Chelsea away - Last league win - 1978!
Man Utd away - 2 wins in last 3 visits, prior to that you have to go back to 1978 again.
Man City away - 1 win in last 21 league games

This is not a dig at your team, but it is a measure of what Pulis has done that you have come close to getting points at both Chelsea and Arsenal in recent games, and with a bit of luck you would have got draws in both games.  I am all for attacking, flowing football, but teams get hammered most of the time at these grounds if they play like that and even though you lost both games, the fact that your GD took a minimal hit could easily be worth one extra point at the end of the season!!
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St Charles I'm glad someone else gets the gist of what I'm talking about. 

Moaning about not beating Arsenal away is utter nonsense, whether we set up to defend or tried to play more expansively - that's besides the point. Taking the game in isolation Arsenal dominated the play without having any cutting edge and Arsenal only won due to Giroud taking his chance extremely well. Likewise the same at Chelsea, we were minutes away from an important point in both games. It could even be said McAuley was fouled in that passage of play that led to the goal, but the ref didn't see it that way.

Also if Yacob had been composed and tapped in at the far post when Cech flapped at a corner, who knows what could have happened from then on?

I went to both games and can't fault the team at all - it was two huge efforts that should have yielded at least a point but it wasn't to be. If asked before the game we'd all have said a point would have been a fantastic return. That's the nature of this league, our wins against the top sides are outliers, whereas we're getting the results off the teams in and around us hence why we're 9th.

If I see the same approach of defense first at Southampton on Sunday, that will be a different matter. This is a game where we should be going for the 3 points from the off as Saints whilst a good side aren't better than us imo. 

That will be the real test - but let's not forget that we've only won twice on the road this season and Southampton have only lost once so far at home. It'll be a close game but definitely not as one sided as yesterday.