morty
Moderator
Staff member
Could be a very good game, depending on how our injury count is! A stern test, as Fulham looking strong.
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Din
Well-Known Member
Yeah should be a good game, seeing as Fulham will likely come and have a bit of a go at us, and we've been playing a little bit better at home recently.
Hernandez is out injured which is a shame, Tettey back though which is good news.
Team I'd go for:
Hard to see us winning this one to be fair. Fulham are a very good team who are playing well. Hopefully though we play well and it'll be an entertaining game.
Hernandez is out injured which is a shame, Tettey back though which is good news.
Team I'd go for:
Gunn
Pinto Hanley Klose Lewis
Tettey Reed Vrancic
Maddison
Srbeny Murphy
Subs: McGovern, Zimmermann, Husband, Hoolahan, Edwards, Watkins, Oliveira
Would probably have Murphy play from the left, Maddison through the middle and no-one on the right. A bit unbalanced but with Hernandez out our other options are Wes who probably can't manage a full game, Edwards who hasn't played yet, and Watkins who is sh*t. Plus I think a midfield 3 of Tettey, Reed and Vrancic would be pretty balanced and hard to break through. Wouldn't surprise me though if Reed was left out and we went with a back 5 of Klose, Hanley and Zimmermann. Pinto Hanley Klose Lewis
Tettey Reed Vrancic
Maddison
Srbeny Murphy
Subs: McGovern, Zimmermann, Husband, Hoolahan, Edwards, Watkins, Oliveira
Hard to see us winning this one to be fair. Fulham are a very good team who are playing well. Hopefully though we play well and it'll be an entertaining game.
Fenway Frank
Well-Known Member
In the last 24 meetings Fulham have lost once, they really are a bogey team for us
OldRobert
Well-Known Member
Has to come to an end sooner or later. OTBC.
dj161
Well-Known Member
Ginja
New Member
Good football from us yet again, spot on tactics from Farke, unfortunately nothing to show for it yet, if only we had just an ounce of ruthlessness in attack. I've seen us many times this season get into a good attack only to be caught like a deer in headlights, very frustrating.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
Just nowhere near good enough in the final third.
Din
Well-Known Member
Disappointing loss that. Up until they scored we were actually playing quite well and there wasn't a lot between the two teams. Their superior quality and composure in the final third really was the difference.
My man of the match personally was Jamal Lewis, who I thought was excellent. The midfield 3 of Reed, Tettey and Vrancic were all impressive. Pinto had a good game as well, though was probably lucky to not give away a penalty in the first half. Maddison started quietly but grew into the game. He wasn't at his best but he was still influential in spells. The two centre backs were generally decent, and what a goal-line clearance from Zimmermann when it looked like an easy finish into an open goal for Sessegnon.
I felt sorry for Srbeny today. He showed moments of promise and overall he had a good game but you can see he was getting really frustrated with the service he got. Twice in the 2nd half we got in behind their defence, first with Murphy and then with Pinto. If the final ball from either is even half decent then Srbeny has an open goal to tap into, but Pinto hit his straight at the keeper and Josh didn't even get his head up to look across the box he just blasted it out as he has done so many times this season. Unfortunately today he had another shocker. Some fans (around me at least) do get on his back to easily but today he was actually hindering us, and you can tell at times that some of our more intelligent attacking players like Vrancic or Maddison are reluctant to give him the ball. Next season we really need to have someone to compete with him in his position.
Didn't expect to win today but obviously it's still disappointing to do so. Some of the reactions on canary call after the game though were typically over the top. Fortunately we have a game again on Monday where we can hopefully try and move on from this defeat.
My man of the match personally was Jamal Lewis, who I thought was excellent. The midfield 3 of Reed, Tettey and Vrancic were all impressive. Pinto had a good game as well, though was probably lucky to not give away a penalty in the first half. Maddison started quietly but grew into the game. He wasn't at his best but he was still influential in spells. The two centre backs were generally decent, and what a goal-line clearance from Zimmermann when it looked like an easy finish into an open goal for Sessegnon.
I felt sorry for Srbeny today. He showed moments of promise and overall he had a good game but you can see he was getting really frustrated with the service he got. Twice in the 2nd half we got in behind their defence, first with Murphy and then with Pinto. If the final ball from either is even half decent then Srbeny has an open goal to tap into, but Pinto hit his straight at the keeper and Josh didn't even get his head up to look across the box he just blasted it out as he has done so many times this season. Unfortunately today he had another shocker. Some fans (around me at least) do get on his back to easily but today he was actually hindering us, and you can tell at times that some of our more intelligent attacking players like Vrancic or Maddison are reluctant to give him the ball. Next season we really need to have someone to compete with him in his position.
Didn't expect to win today but obviously it's still disappointing to do so. Some of the reactions on canary call after the game though were typically over the top. Fortunately we have a game again on Monday where we can hopefully try and move on from this defeat.
Dubai Mark
Active Member
Agree Din, but couldnt help thinking again that had we signed, even on loan, a striker with some quality and experience at this level (who gets in the faces of CB's, makes intelligent runs, demands the ball, goes in search of it at times) rather than a rookie from Germany (who is getting better) to add to the uninterested headless chicken that is Nelson, then we would probably have picked up a few more points since January.
I also didnt expect a win yesterday, and despite this I see progress definitely in most other areas of the pitch, it is not as bad are some are making out, and also note that we had some decent players missing who have impressed....oh, it was good to see Edwards come on....
I also didnt expect a win yesterday, and despite this I see progress definitely in most other areas of the pitch, it is not as bad are some are making out, and also note that we had some decent players missing who have impressed....oh, it was good to see Edwards come on....
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GJP
Well-Known Member
We are decent in our third and the middle third but coming up too short in the final third. There has been no progress there all season.
Whether we've got the right players or not there's still a problem with the "philosophy". Too many backwards and sideways passes which relieves the opposition of pressure and allows them to reset.
There was a moment in the first half yesterday when Fulham were uncharacteristically ragged and out of shape which we should be recognising and exploiting but we passed back and they got back in shape. When we were out of shape they detected it and punished us.
Whether we've got the right players or not there's still a problem with the "philosophy". Too many backwards and sideways passes which relieves the opposition of pressure and allows them to reset.
There was a moment in the first half yesterday when Fulham were uncharacteristically ragged and out of shape which we should be recognising and exploiting but we passed back and they got back in shape. When we were out of shape they detected it and punished us.
hogesar
Well-Known Member
We dont have a striker who can take a half chance. The board got that wrong in the summer, with Nelson not living up to last seasons hype and Jerome sold its hard.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
Both Fulham goals were scored by centre midfielders getting into our penalty box.
Canaryboy
Well-Known Member
Nelson is one of those "with hindsight" things though, doubt anybody expected him to have such a poor season. Valid criticism though is that we went into this season with just 2 strikers (Nelson and Jerome),and still only have 2 now.
If we'd signed a third decent striker then you are increasing your chances of having at least one in form striker. Simple law of averages. I think if you play a 1 striker formation you need 3 strikers and if you play a 2 striker formation you need at least 4.
Every team is always on the look out for a goalscorer though and it must be the most difficult position to recruit for on a budget.... Waghorn for less than £1m is looking like an excellent bit of business for Ipswich, and I actually think he'd have been decent in our current system.
Din
Well-Known Member
To be fair as well as much as I love the guy, Tettey is responsible for not tracking his man on both occasions. Klose should also do better with both goals, getting beaten in the air for the first one and clearing poorly for the 2nd.
Agreed. It's easy to say that selling Nelson in the summer would've been the right thing, but at the time had he of been sold there would've been uproar. He was on fire at the start of the season, playing really well and scoring goals, and also had come off the back of decent season the year before. I don't think anyone could really have foreseen that he'd drop of as much as he has.
Canaryboy
Well-Known Member
Depends what version of Bassong you are talking about, we all saw good Bassong and bad Bassong.... and there's a reason why he's unemployed.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
Similarly we've seen good and bad Klose. And overall I don't think Klose has offered any improvement.
Canaryboy
Well-Known Member
Well Bassong was a very good player and Klose wasn't signed to replace him, in fact they were our best centre back partnership in our Premier League season under Alex Neil.
But Bassong looked completely out of shape when called upon last season. Has since failed a trial at Birmingham and I don't think even Kilmarnock want him.
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GJP
Well-Known Member
Yeah I'm not saying we should still have Bassong. Just that for all the criticism that went his way Klose has been no better.
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