Wednesday Fulham Stuff (28/03/18)...

[WhiteJC]

 
International Round-Up

It was another successful day for the international Whites as all Fulham players in action last night went undefeated.

Stefan Johansen captained the Norwegian national team to a 1-0 away victory over Albania at a rain-soaked Elbasan Stadium on Tuesday evening. The Fulham midfielder ran the game from the centre of the park before being substituted for Ole Kristian Selnæs in the 78th minute. When he departed the Norwegians were leading due to Sigurd Rosted's 70th minute header and that score stood until the final whistle.

In the China Cup, Tomáš Kalas scored his first ever international goal en route to the Czech Republic overcoming China 4-1 to claim third place. The Czechs were down 1-0 at the half, but a four-goal second-half flurry spurred on by Kalas' 58th-minute tally meant they ran out comfortable winners in the end.

On home soil, both of Fulham's Young Lions in action last night were unused substitutes as the English Youth National Teams kept up their recent remarkable runs.

Steven Sessegnon's U-18 squad beat Belarus 2-1 thanks to goals from Ian Poveda-Ocampo and Callum Hudson-Odoi, while Luca Ashby-Hammond and the U-17s drew 1-1 with Brazil.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/march/27/tuesday-international-round-up

[WhiteJC]

 
Five players Fulham could lose for free in the summer

Fulham are in red hot form under Slavisa Jokanovic and have some top players in their ranks. Here are five players they could lose for free in the summer-

Ryan Fredericks- The former Tottenham Hotspur right-back is out of contract in the summer. He has been in excellent form for Fulham over the past season or two and his future could depend on whether they are promoted to the Premier League or not.

Aron Davies- The young Welsh defender has been with Fulham since 2015. He joined them from fellow Championship side Bristol City but could be set to leave the club in the summer with his contract expiring in June. He has played for Wales at U16, U17 and U19 level.

Foday Nabay- He joined the Cottagers in 2013 from Birmingham City. The 19-year-old is a regular for their U23 squad but could leave this summer if his contract is not renewed.

George Williams- The Wales international's contract with the Cottagers is also up in June. He has never nailed down a first-team role at Fulham since joining them in 2012 from MK Dons. He is currently on loan at St. Johnstone and his future at Fulham is in doubt.

Elijah Adebajo- The 20-year-old forward is on loan at League Two side Cheltenham Town and his contract with Fulham is set to expire in the summer. He may find himself looking for a new club if he is not offered a new contract.



http://the72.co.uk/99766/five-players-fulham-lose-free-summer/

[WhiteJC]

 
Games of interest for weekend 30-31/03
With the "International Break" over Easter weekend sees Fulham travel to Norwich on Good Friday.

Will the "rest" have done the lads some good? even with a poor showing for the 2nd half of the QPR game we still managed to climb a place and currently sit 3rd. We're still on a fantastic run, a club record of 16 league games unbeaten however, Cardiff still have a game in-hand and are 7 points in front of us but if we continue unbeaten we'll really put the pressure on them.

other games of interest include...

FRIDAY 30TH MARCH

Barnsley v Bristol City

Cardiff v Burton

Derby v Sunderland

Middlesbrough v Wolves

SATURDAY 31ST MARCH

Hull v Aston Villa



come and join the debate at Friends of Fulham

http://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?board=1.0



http://www.friendsoffulham.com/wordpress/?p=121

[WhiteJC]

 
5 goals, 2 assists in 40 games – Fulham can replace Sessegnon with this young Bristol City star

Can Bristol City's Joe Bryan be a good replacement for Ryan Sessegnon at Fulham?

Anybody who has been following the Championship will be aware of Joe Bryan and Ryan Sessegnon. These two young left-backs have absolutely dominated the English second-tier this season, playing pivotal roles in helping their respective clubs make a strong push for promotion. As is the case with promising young stars, big clubs have taken notice.

A report from The Sun has stated that Manchester United are interested in acquiring Sessegnon's services this summer and it will honestly not come as a surprise even if they do end up signing him. The teenage sensation is clearly destined for a bigger stage and he can certainly achieve that at Old Trafford.

Apart from his defensive talent, his attacking abilities have helped him hone his game as a winger on the left-hand side, meaning he is a multi-talented virtuoso that any team would be lucky to have.

However, with Fulham being one of the favourites to secure a promotion to the Premier League, Slavisa Jokanovic will have a massive void to fill if Sessegnon leaves Craven Cottage in the upcoming summer transfer window. I suggest Joe Bryan is the best option to fill the void.

Although Sessegnon has walked away with a good majority of the spotlight this season, the 24-year-old Bryan is not far behind.

Bryan has been a key figure for Bristol City this term and his influence has been evident in almost all of their games. He can establish full control on the left flank and can defend and attack with equal gusto.

In fact, he has already made 40 appearances this season, in which he has contributed 5 goals and 2 assists. He has clearly proved himself as a star in the Championship and Fulham could benefit by signing him.

Much like Sessegnon, Bryan is a classic example of a modern-day full-back. He can contribute to the attack while also fulfilling his defensive duties.

Also, he can play anywhere on the left-wing, meaning Fulham will be getting a like-to-like replacement for Sessegnon for a relatively fair price. Hence, this can be one of the options for Jokanovic to consider if Ryan chooses to leave Craven Cottage this summer.



https://soccersouls.com/2018/03/28/5-goals-2-assists-in-40-games-fulham-can-replace-sessegnon-with-this-young-bristol-city-star/

[WhiteJC]

 
Aleksandar Mitrovic robbed of first career hat-trick at Barnet – On fire for Serbia in win over Nigeria

With 7 in his last 6 for Fuham, Tuesday saw Aleksandar Mitrovic make it 11 in 16 for Serbia, though cheated out of first career hat-trick.

Aleksandar Mitrovic can do no wrong at the minute.

The Newcastle striker is on loan at Fulham and has scored seven goals in his last six matches for the Championship club.

His club form and regular football obviously doing his international form no harm judging by Tuesday night.

At the exotic location of Barnet in North London, at the Hive Stadium, Serbia took on Nigeria in a friendly.

The match was goalless at half-time but Mitrovic was cheated out of the opening goal.

The Newcastle forward scoring from a corner but the officials waving play on, even though TV replays showed that the ball was clearly over the line.

Eventually the Serbian pressure paid off though, persistence from Aleksandar Mitrovic on 68 minutes saw him power through a couple of challenges before then laying it out to the left, then the return pass was expertly finished by the centre-forward.

On 81 minutes it was two for Mitro and two for Serbia, as the Fulham loan player finished off a move  after great work from Tadic and Kostic.

That should of course have been his hat-trick, what would have been the first one in the striker's entire club and country career. However, that goal that was never given slightly spoilt the night.

The match finished 2-0 to Serbia and it means 11 goals in 16 matches for Aleksandar Mitrovic at international level.

He was looking for regular football to help him ahead of the World Cup finals in June and so far, the loan move is looking win win win, for Fulham, Newcastle United and Serbia.



https://www.themag.co.uk/2018/03/aleksandar-mitrovic-robbed-of-first-career-hat-trick-at-barnet-on-fire-for-serbia-in-win-over-nigeria-newcastle-united/

[WhiteJC]

 
Newcastle outcast Mitrovic is proving to be a contender for Championship signing of the season

He is already underway with two goals in his last two appearances for Fulham despite arriving at Craven Cottage as a last resort

If Plan A had panned out, Aleksandar Mitrovic would have been nowhere near Fulham. In fact, if Plans B, C, D and possibly E came to fruition then he would have been playing his football somewhere else too.

Mitrovic hadn't started a league game for Newcastle since last season, so needed to get out, to go somewhere in order to play.

On transfer deadline day Mitrovic thought he was heading to Bordeaux, then a deal for a loan to Anderlecht was agreed, before that fell through and the prospect of joining Middlesbrough was raised instead.

It wasn't until gone 10pm that he Snapchatted Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic, who had enquired after him earlier in the day, to inform him that everything else was falling through. A very specific 'come and get me' plea, directed through a medium traditionally used by teenagers and people trying to understand teenagers.

At 11pm Fulham scrambled a doctor to give Mitrovic a medical, and by 11.45pm the papers had been signed.


Alexsandar Mitrovic celebrates after scoring against Bristol City for Fulham on February 21. (Image: Harry Trump/Getty Images)

"I chose Fulham because of the style, because of the coach," Mitrovic told the Times a few days after the chaos. "Fulham play the best football in the league, definitely. It is the best move for me, even better than Anderlecht probably."

The best move for the player, and certainly the best move for the club. Fulham's current run of brilliant form had started well before the scramble to sign Mitrovic, but even as they were winning games there was still the nagging feeling there was one thing they really lacked.

Not many score more goals than Fulham: only Wolves, in fact, have more than their 57 so far this season. But they are spread throughout the team, and a troublingly low percentage of those came from their strikers. Floyd Ayite has four, Rui Fonte three, and Aboubakar Kamara managed seven, although one does slightly wonder how.

Of course in some respects not relying on one player for goals is a positive, but Fulham's top-scorer this season is Ryan Sessegnon, who spent a decent chunk of the season at left-back. What they needed was a proper centre-forward, what Antonio Conte calls a "reference point" to really capitalise on their strong form.

Mitrovic looks like he's providing that already. Three starts, two goals, but perhaps more than that there's an aura about him that must be particularly comforting for Jokvanovic and Fulham fans in general.

This is a team who have struggled for a reliable striker really since Ross McCormack and Moussa Dembele left. Chris Martin filled in on loan last season, and a fair amount of money was spent last summer (Fonte and Kamara cost around £13million) looking for a solution, with no definitive answer reached.


Moussa Dembele shoots at goal but sees his effort denied by Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Jason Steele. (Image: Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Indeed, Fulham's history with big, high-profile strikers has been patchy, at best. Pavel Pogrebnyak, the curious case of Kostas Mitroglou, even going way back to Steve Marlet: this is not a position that has often served them well. It's only been a few games so due caution must be expressed, but already it doesn't feel like Mitrovic will go down the same route.

There was something about the way he took his second goal for the club, in the 2-0 win over Wolves at the weekend that didn't feel anything close to a shock, that screamed 'proper striker.'

The ball reached him with about 40 yards and a whole Wolves defence between him and the goal. But there was no hesitation, no dithering and no brief consideration of other options: Mitrovic rolled his marker, created enough space for a shot and put his foot through the ball.

Into the bottom corner it went, the minimum of fuss expended, a few seconds of skill and controlled aggression that displayed a man who knows exactly what he's doing.

"I don't think about Rafa, about Newcastle," he said after the game, as reported by Get West London. "My only target is to help Fulham to get promoted."

The big Serb has always been an entertaining player to watch from a neutral's perspective, even if those who have managed him might occasionally disagree.


Mitrovic celebrates after scoring for Newcastle against their local rivals Sunderland. (Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)

But assuming he can take just enough edge off the sort of aggressive instincts that got him booked 22 seconds into his Newcastle debut (and in fairness he hasn't seen a yellow card in over a year) then he could become the signing of the season.

Not just for Fulham, but perhaps in the whole Championship. And to think it was a signing that nobody really thought of until the last hours of deadline day.

"It's a good feeling to be here," he said on Saturday. "I think Fulham needs me and I need Fulham, we both need each other and I'm really happy."



https://www.football.london/championship/aleksandr-mitrovic-newcastle-fulham-serbia-14338185

[WhiteJC]

 
Mitrovic double gives Serbia 2-0 friendly win over Nigeria

LONDON (Reuters) - Serbia striker Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a second-half double to earn a 2-0 World Cup warm-up win over Nigeria in a lively encounter in London on Tuesday.

It was a much improved performance by the Serbians after Friday's 2-1 defeat by Morocco, while Nigeria put in a turgid display following a 1-0 win over Poland as the teams continue their preparations for this year's finals in Russia.

Newcastle United's Mitrovic, on loan at promotion-chasing English Championship side Fulham, was unlucky in the early stages after television replays suggested his header which squeezed under keeper Francis Uzoho had crossed the line.

Uzoho was much busier than his Serbia counterpart Vladimir Stojkovic, having parried stinging shots by Mitrovic and Branislav Ivanovic while he also stopped winger Dusan Tadic scoring with an easy chance.

Mitrovic missed another opportunity shortly after the interval before he finally broke the deadlock, superbly turning in a Filip Kostic cross from the left in the 68th minute.

The two combined again 13 minutes later as Tadic released Kostic on the left with neat footwork and the forward squared the ball back for Mitrovic to sidefoot home from 10 metres.

Halftime substitute Odion Ighalo missed Nigeria's solitary chance in the second half when Stojkovic pushed his close-range shot over the bar at Barnet's stadium.

Serbia will face Costa Rica, Switzerland and Brazil in Group E when the World Cup gets underway in June, while Nigeria have been drawn with Croatia, Iceland and Argentina in Group D.



https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-friendly-nga-srb/mitrovic-double-gives-serbia-2-0-friendly-win-over-nigeria-idUKKBN1H3377?rpc=401&;

[WhiteJC]

 
Colombian fans invade pitch after goalless draw with Australia at Fulham's Craven Cottage

    Thousands of Colombian fans descended on Fulham's Craven Cottage
    Sea of yellow shirts, scarves and flags transformed the famous old stadium
    The friendly international ended in a goalless draw on Tuesday night

A corner of South West London enjoyed a taste of World Cup fever on Tuesday night as thousands of Colombian fans descended on Fulham's Craven Cottage.

A sea of yellow shirts, scarves and flags transformed the famous old stadium as Colombia faced fellow finalists Australia.

But the goalless draw failed to dampen their passion and fans tried to invade the pitch at the final whistle get a little closer to their heroes.


Several supporters tried to invade the pitch after the final whistle on Tuesday night


Some fans were still trying to take selfies as they were being escorted off the pitch

Their vociferous support had brought Bogota to the banks of the River Thames and it clearly fired up their players.

Colombia should have been ahead in the opening moments when Andres Mateus Uribe headed just wide from James Rodriguez's cross.

Australia's Tomi Juric came closest to testing Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina when his low strike flashed wide.


One fan tried to make a quick dash across the pitch to get a little closer to her heroes


The stewards had their hands full as thousands of fans descended on Craven Cottage

Vukovic distinguished himself with a good save from Rodriguez's header before Borja somehow contrived to nod wide from close range.

Van Marwijk's men rode their luck in the 80th minute as Borja's header hit the post with Vukovic beaten.

When Vukovic rushed off his line and launched into the despairing lunge that brought down Borja and conceded a penalty it seemed he would be the villain.

But Vukovic made amends in style as he dived to his left to turn away Borja's spot-kick.


Thousands of Colombian fans descended on Fulham's Craven Cottage on Tuesday night


Colombia star James Rodriguez saluted the crowd after the goalless draw


Around 20,000 Colombian fans had been expected to turn up at the friendly match



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5551823/Colombian-fans-invade-pitch-goalless-draw-Fulham.html#ixzz5B1Q6ZUEC
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