Tim Ream

[MiltonBurrows]

Had a little debate on his performance agaisnt Spurs on another thread and was interesting to see differing opinions on him. I thought he was really poor agaisnt tottenham and wa ats fault for all 3 goals.

Was interested to see what the wider Fulham community thought of him?

Personally i think Kalas doesn't look confident next to him and it shows with the goals we are leaking of late.

Other people however thought he had a great game against Spurs however, thoughts?

[westcliff white]

very very harsh to single him out, no player did overly well, and it could and should be said that this contributed too the 3 goals as well.

Ream has been better this season than last so overall he has improved, as have the team.

[MiltonBurrows]

very very harsh to single him out, no player did overly well, and it could and should be said that this contributed too the 3 goals as well.

Ream has been better this season than last so overall he has improved, as have the team.

I didn't mean to single him out, but he was man marking Kane who then scored a Hat-trick. I thought the whole performance was abject. Malone had a mare with Trippier and Odoi was no where to be seen. Tottenham were just far too good and completely nullified us.

The thread is meant more for peoples thoughts on him as a whole, as from what i've seen with him this season hasn't filled me with confidence

[nose]

I do disagree i thought he played well. The two crosses for the first two goals were down to a Malone and b johansen failing miserably to do their jobs.Once you allow a challenge free quality ball into the box from a team like spurs and with a proper center forward then the center backs are just doomed. The third was probably offside and the back four paisd the price for a poor descion by the ref. I think kane coming back made it definitely an offside.

generally he kept tight on kane, kane couldn't turn or use the ball, ream got his head to things, made good descisons and distributed the ball reasonably well.   Of all the players that could hold their heads up he was one such. It was his team mates that were so woefully lack lustre.

[ToodlesMcToot]

We lost that match 0-3 because everyone from the manager on down was overmatched on the day.

The only way an individual player is solely responsible for conceding a goal is if he puts it into his own net. Otherwise, there are multiple players who could've have done better in preventing it. Silly to lay blame the way that we do.

I should amend this bolded statement. Both Betts and Johansen (I think) made horrible passes in the defensive third that resulted in shots on goal that we somehow survived. So, I guess own goals and conceding goals off passes directly to opposing attackers then.

[St Eve]

Rather see Madl tonight

[BigbadBillyMcKinley]

Ream was alright. Malone was awful and got skinned so many times. Did well occasionally to make up for his cock ups, so maybe this deceived people into thinking he played well.
Spurs were the better team on the day. They're, what, 3rd best team in the country probably. Kane is a top quality striker who batters defences better than ours. I don't think we embarrassed ourselves and, against smaller premiership clubs, we'd be alright.
Having said that though, we're not ready for promotion this season. We need to finish as high as possible, tie Jok down for another season and then concentrate on smashing the league next year.

[Rambler]

Not a fan I'm afraid. He's had plenty of time to prove himself but all too often he is at fault for goals.
Spurs was one game, but there are a number of examples prior to this. It is time to give one of the other centre backs a prolonged run in the team.

Your primary role as a defender is to defend, regardless of how good a ball player you are.

[Rambler]

I also have big question marks over Malone's ability to defend. He is great going forward, but really dubious defending.

[Chesh]

I generally like Ream, although this is tempered by the fact that he is relatively weak, especially in the air.

However, if anyone can explain his lack of defending for the second goal then please do.

Regardless of whoever didn't stop the cross coming in from Eriksen, all Ream had to do was want the ball more than Kane, and this would have involved simply beating him to the ball and kicking it into the river.

Instead of putting himself in that position and winning the bal,l he instead chose to limply let Kane run across him, and raise his hand for offside, not truly knowing what was happening with those positioned behind him.

A poor gamble at best, but imo pathetic defending.

He's not the only one, but errors like that from anybody really wind me up, more so than an unfortunate slip.

I would like to see Kalas and Madl back together, as they seem to offer the most solidity generally.

[ToodlesMcToot]

I generally like Ream, although this is tempered by the fact that he is relatively weak, especially in the air.

However, if anyone can explain his lack of defending for the second goal then please do.

Regardless of whoever didn't stop the cross coming in from Eriksen, all Ream had to do was want the ball more than Kane, and this would have involved simply beating him to the ball and kicking it into the river.

Instead of putting himself in that position and winning the bal,l he instead chose to limply let Kane run across him, and raise his hand for offside, not truly knowing what was happening with those positioned behind him.

A poor gamble at best, but imo pathetic defending.

He's not the only one, but errors like that from anybody really wind me up, more so than an unfortunate slip.

I would like to see Kalas and Madl back together, as they seem to offer the most solidity generally.

That second goal was lazy defending on Ream's part to be sure. Just putting his body on Kane would have impacted the timing of the run enough to better defend that play. And as you say, play the friggin' ball! Thought Ream was correct with his offside call but, as they say, never leave it up to the ref.

[Tonywa]

I also have big question marks over Malone's ability to defend. He is great going forward, but really dubious defending.

Malone is certainly poor in defence, but great going forward only if you disregard his almost total inability to put over a decent cross. In fact his propensity for hitting the nearest defender with at least seventy per cent of his crosses has become a bit of a standing joke with the group I sit with in the JH. He gets forward with pace and strength only to fail to deliver the goods in the final third.

[filham]

Ream has improved this season and just edges it over Madle. The real let down is Sigurdsson our £4 million international central defender, what has gone wrong there.

[colinwhite]

Although Ream is vastly improved this season, for me he is a decent footballer first and foremost and doesn't really have the defensive mind set we need.in quite a lot of defensive situations he just seems to go through the motions as with spurs second goal. Having said that Kane was offside so I wouldn't blame him too much for that. He doesn't defend the near post well enough for me. He lets forwards get across him too much ,and that's the position which shows whether you can really defend or not.
To answer the op I thought he was decent against spurs and took hold of several situations which surprised me at the time. 

[snarks]

I'm going to disagree on the 2nd goal.  He was between Kane and the crosser of the ball, the right place to be. The ball was whipped around him for Kane to get to. He only appealed once Kane got to it. The cross was fantastic it's that simple, if Kane had been in his (Reams) position he couldn't have reached it.

[ToodlesMcToot]

I also have big question marks over Malone's ability to defend. He is great going forward, but really dubious defending.

Malone is certainly poor in defence, but great going forward only if you disregard his almost total inability to put over a decent cross. In fact his propensity for hitting the nearest defender with at least seventy per cent of his crosses has become a bit of a standing joke with the group I sit with in the JH. He gets forward with pace and strength only to fail to deliver the goods in the final third.

I was beyond the point of frustration with his crossing vs Spurs. Just started laughing at the sheer improbability of having so many crosses blocked.

[Carborundum]

Three thoughts on Malone, all in his defence

His attacking is a bit of a bonus.  I'm primarily interested in his defending.  Over the course of this season and at Championship level it's struck me as good.  Not great, but good and you don't need 11 great players to get promoted.  He's better than the recent best of a bad bunch, James Husband.

He looked worse than Odoi on Saturday.  Odoi did some good things receiving dodgy balls from Bettinelli.  But mostly I think Malone looked worse because of the disparity in who they were marking.  Odoi could just about handle Heung min Son.  Nobody could easily handle Eriksen in that form.  He was utterly magnificent. 

Jokanovic knew that Eriksen would embarrass Sessegnon at least as much and didn't want to expose his defensive frailties.  That's why a floundering Malone was left out there.

[bill taylors apprentice]

Three thoughts on Malone, all in his defence

His attacking is a bit of a bonus.  I'm primarily interested in his defending.  Over the course of this season and at Championship level it's struck me as good.  Not great, but good and you don't need 11 great players to get promoted.  He's better than the recent best of a bad bunch, James Husban

He looked worse than Odoi on Saturday.  Odoi did some good things receiving dodgy balls from Bettinelli.  But mostly I think Malone looked worse because of the disparity in who they were marking.  Odoi could just about handle Heung min Son.  Nobody could easily handle Eriksen in that form.  He was utterly magnificent. 

Jokanovic knew that Eriksen would embarrass Sessegnon at least as much and didn't want to expose his defensive frailties.  That's why a floundering Malone was left out there.

Good points !

As for Ream, he has looked better this season due to the style we are playing now.
He seems to fit the role better than anyone else we have i.e. supporting and covering for the attacking LB, linking with the midfield when we are in control and knocking it about and reading the game in front of him.

Unfortunately, he still gets bullied by the opposition and is weak in the challenge, especially in and around the penalty area which is quite important for a CB really !

[YankeeJim]

Funny how opinions change on players. At the start of the season, Ream had no supporters now it seems it is about 50-50. Malone on the other hand was hailed as the second coming and our best piece of summer business. Now, not so much. One only needs to look at Martin to prove my point. First, he was that "quality Championship striker" we needed. Then he was fat and out of form. Than he was a hero for scoring. Now, he a traitor who doesn't want to play for us.
I'd suggest that all are human beings doing a job and not always in control. Tactics make a difference, as does form.

[justinfromga]

Harry Kane is a better player in every way than Tim Ream.  Kane is faster, better technically, understands positioning, taller, has a better jump....he's just better.  So to lay blame at at any players feet for what happened Saturday is a bit absurd.  To man Spurs are better than us. 

On the whole this season I think Ream is the 2nd best CB for what the team is trying to do.  He plays better with the ball on his feet than Madl and that is clearly something Joka likes.  I'd rather see Ream playing in midfield beside a McDonald type and spraying the ball around to attacking players.  But that's not a position in our current setup.  So, while probably not one of our 11 best, I feel his work this season justifies including him in our best XI.