Tuesday Fulham Stuff (28/08/18)...

[Neil D]

He played with the ball at his feet far more than he usually does, coming out of his goal and box a number of times to get the ball down and play it to his defenders in front of him - something that is similar to what Liverpool and Manchester City want their keepers to do - making 37 passes in the 90 minutes.

It was a decent return to the starting XI, but one thing that stuck out to me was his accuracy with his passing out from the back.

His short passes were fine, but his long passes were often erratic and didn't hit his target, which is something that Jokanovic wants his keepers to be able to do.

Spot on.

[gerrys]

Three blatant errors in the article.....doesn't say much for the author... :005:

[millsy]

Agreed. He must be the only man who's seen Mawson playing for us, because, of course, he hasn't.
Jokanovic has Overlooked defensive midfield? So this "journalist" hasn't seen or heard of SuperKev, Frank Zambo or Cisse?
What a poor piece. Written with such authority, only equalled by the level of ignorance of his subject.

[WhiteJC]

 
Team of the Week: Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic shows he is ready-made for the Premier League

The Serbian forward has been unbelievable for Fulham since his arrival.

Photo: Getty Images

With Fulham winless in the league and facing a vitally important match against Burnley, Aleksandar Mitrovic stepped up when it mattered.

The Serbian striker bagged a first half brace en route to a 4-2 victory, putting him atop the goalscoring charts and earning himself a place in the The Boot Room's Team of the Week.

Not only is Mitrovic the Premier League's top scorer with three goals, he has now scored the most league goals in the top four tiers of English football since February.

With a stunning 15 strikes since joining the Whites on 31 January, Mitrovic is alongside Mohamed Salah at the peak of the English goalscoring charts.

It's a remarkable feat, made all the more impressive considering the striker's tough time at Newcastle United. Rafa Benitez evidently did not rate Mitrovic but must surely be rueing exiling a striker who is scoring goals for fun at the moment.

The Fulham forward showed all of his best qualities on Sunday, bullying the famously watertight Burnley defence all match long. Mitrovic scored his first goal off a well-worked short corner, nodding home at the far post past a helpless Joe Hart.

And he added his second just two minutes later, showing superb intelligence to create space and get on the end of Luciano Vietto's in-swinging cross.

Mitrovic's goals gave the Cottagers an early 3-1 lead, and caused Burnley to put two defenders on the Serbian at every opportunity. But even this couldn't slow him down and he continued to get his head on crosses and terrorise James Tarkowski and Ben Mee.

He came close to completing his hat trick while hitting the post via a rasping strike late on, but ended up providing Andre Schurrle with an assist to make it 4-2.

    "Some people thought he can only be a Championship player but no, he's showed his quality at the highest level. He's a really important player for us, a young man who has huge room for improvement."

    – Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic

In all, it was an all-action display by the tireless Aleksandar Mitrovic, who seems to have finally found his home at Craven Cottage. Only 23 years of age, the striker has a long career ahead of him, and on this weekend's display, can turn into one of the league's most lethal scorers.



https://tbrfootball.com/15-league-goals-fulham-aleksandar-mitrovic/

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham team to play Exeter City: Wholesale changes expected from Slavisa Jokanovic

We've taken a look at who could make an appearance in the Caraboa Cup against Exeter City this evening

Fulham host Exeter City this evening in the Carabao Cup second round and the head coach is expected to make wholesale changes.

His side only played on Sunday, beating Burnley 4-2 in the Premier League at Craven Cottage to secure their first three points of the new season and it's unlikely the vast majority of that starting XI will feature tonight.

Jokanovic will be looking to get game time into the legs of the players who have yet to feature much for his side this season, meaning the likes of Neeskens Kebano, Stefan Johansen, Ibrahima Cisse and Rui Fonte could all play a part against the League Two side.

There could also be appearances for Academy graduates Marlon Fossey and Luca de la Torre, both of whom haven't featured for the U23 side this season, but another League Cup appearance for Matt O'Riley looks unlikely, with the 18-year-old playing 80 minutes as the U23 side lost 2-1 to Aston Villa on Monday.

Alfie Mawson is also set to get some game time for the first time this season, having arrived from Swansea City with a knee injury in the summer, although it is unlikely he will be ready to play the entire 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, Exeter City currently sit 3rd in League Two, having won three, drawn one and lost one of their games so far this season, with their first defeat coming on the weekend to MK Dons.

Here's the team our reporter, Ryan O'Donovan, would go for this evening:

"As far as I'm concerned, Fulham's entire team need minutes in some form, and tonight's game with Exeter provides the perfect opportunity for that.

"Jokanovic has swapped and changed his team this season as he looks for his best XI, making five changes on the weekend for the win against Burnley, but I think tonight is all about making sure his squad get match time so they're ready to play some part in the Premier League season.

"For me, that means the likes of Johansen, Kebano and Fonte should all play a part, while I'd give Sergio Rico his first start in goal to see what he can do in a matchday situation.


Ryan O'Donovan's Fulham team to play Exeter City

"The head coach has confirmed Mawson will play some part tonight - I wouldn't start him myself, I'd bring him on in the 60th odd minute to get used to the game when players are tiring that bit more.

"I'd also like to see Fossey get his debut tonight - I liked him in pre-season and looking back at past Carabao Cup ties, Jokanovic has handed youth debuts before, although I think we'll most like see Cyrus Christie given some minutes.

"Fulham to play Exeter: Sergio Rico; Bryan, Ream, Odoi, Christie; Anguissa, Johansen, Cisse; Kebano, de la Torre, Fonte"



https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/fulham-team-play-exeter-city-15080187

[WhiteJC]

 
The Carabao Cup represents an opportunity for Fulham - but Premier League must remain priority

The Premier League must remain the priority for Fulham according to our correspondent, Ryan O'Donovan

Fulham get their Carabao Cup campaign underway this evening when they welcome League Two side Exeter City to Craven Cottage, with the cup competition representing an opportunity for the side.

Traditionally, it's not one taken seriously by the 'top six' sides in the Premier League, but it's one that Slavisa Jokanovic can certainly use to his advantage as he looks to bed £100m plus worth of talent into his side.

He's only had the entire team at his disposal since Deadline Day, meaning he's been able to work on tactics and getting his new players used to how he wants them to play for just over three and a half weeks.

It's been something that the head coach has made a point of in his press conferences, but the cup competition represents an opportunity for those players who have yet to feature to get minutes under their belts this evening.

A successful Premier League campaign means being able to call on your entire squad when the situation requires, and tonight's game with Exeter is the perfect chance to play the likes of Neeskens Kebano and Stefan Johansen, who haven't had much game time this season but are still important to Jokanovic in the grand scheme of things.

Alfie Mawson is also expected to get minutes as he continues his recovery from injury, while the cup tie also represents an opportunity for Jokanovic to continue to implement his tactics on the newer members of the team.

While in the past we've seen the head coach play a lot of youngsters, with the likes of Tayo Edun, Ryan Sessegnon, Steven Sessegnon, Matt O'Riley and Dennis Adeniran all making their debuts in the competition, but I think tonight is different in that Jokanovic has a Premier League squad full of players that need game time in order to help them in the league this season.


Lucas Piazon of Fulham celebrates scoring his teams first goal against Wycombe

And while the Carabao Cup represents an opportunity, the Premier League must remain the priority for Fulham.

A lot of fans will see this competition as one that the Cottagers could have a real stab at winning this season - the squad depth is there and with the so-called bigger clubs rotating a lot, the chance to progress to the latter stages is one that isn't too far fetched.

But as with every cup competition, the further the side get in it, the bigger distraction from the league campaign it becomes, and for me, the focus must be on making sure Fulham stay in the Premier League and consolidate this season.

A cup run would be fantastic - when you mention one, memories of the Europa League campaign in 2010 come flooding back, but after February the run started to take its toll with Fulham winning just two of their last ten games in the league.

Under the ownership of Shahid Khan, I think the ambition of what the Cottagers can go on to do is one we haven't seen before.

They've turned the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL from one of the whipping boys to a functioning team that wants to win a Superbowl, and I don't think their ambition for Fulham is to just have them bobbing along in mid-table in the Premier League.

All that however, doesn't come without the first step of keeping them in the Premier League this season, and while a cup run in the Carabao Cup would be nice, I would much rather the side did well in the league and consolidate, as opposed to going to the semi finals of this competition and scraping survival in the last few days of the season.

The cup runs will come - for now, Premier League safety is the number one priority.



https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/carabao-cup-represents-opportunity-fulham-15080459

[WhiteJC]

 
Matt Taylor transcript: Exeter City boss on Playing Premier League Fulham, Jonathan Forte's injury and the use of VAR in Carabao Cup

Everything the Grecians boss had to say ahead of Fulham clash

Exeter City are in Carabao Cup action this evening when they take on premier League side Fulham at Craven Cottage.

The Cottagers have spent around £100 million in the transfer market this summer and will be stern opposition for Matt Taylor's side, who reached this stage by beating Championship club Ipswich Town on penalties in round one.

Here is everything Taylor had to say ahead of taking on the Cottagers.

Fulham on Tuesday night, it's quite a nice tie to have, isn't it

It's a great game. It's another good stadium and another good pitch and the pressure may be off in terms of going to a Premier League team, being away from home and no one expecting too much from us. But like every game, we plan to attack this game.

It doesn't always materialise like that, but we plan to attack every game and that is what we will look to do on Tuesday.

I have to use my squad wisely because we have had a lot of fixtures in the past. I am not using fatigue as an excuse, but injuries and suspensions happen and I have to use my squad wisely, so the likes of Luke Croll will get an opportunity.

I thought Luke came on and was excellent and he needs to be because he needs to put pressure on the players in front of him, but yeah, we are looking forward to Tuesday.

Is it a nice test to see yourself up against a Premier League side?

Yeah, but MK Dons was a test. Tuesday at Cambridge was a test. MK Dons was a test and we haven't quite dealt with it the way I wanted us to, which is a disappointing thing, but individual errors do play a part.

Tuesday is a different sort of test and we are going to have to be excellent out of possession because they will keep the ball and move it and move us around, but I still want us to attack and have a threat on the opposition goal.

When you go down to ten men, you limit your chances of doing that and we built enough pressure without really getting close to the MK goal in the second period.

Sometimes teams lower down in the football pyramid look at the League Cup as something that doesn't really matter, because you have so many games early in the season. It doesn't really register on the radar, is that the same for you?

I want to win every game, it's as simple as that. We did that with Ipswich, we made changes for Ipswich and we were excellent in that game and I will do the same again on Tuesday.

We will do what is best for the team, but I want to win that game on Tuesday, it's as simple as that.

Fulham is a good opportunity to go and show what a good team we are. I didn't feel we fully did that on Saturday, we probably did in the last half an hour, but by then, we were up against a difficult circumstance playing with ten men against a good team with a mountain to climb.

We didn't do that for long enough on Saturday and I want us to do that every weekend for 95 minutes.

It's VAR on Tuesday, have you prepped for that at all?

I'm not sure we can afford the technology! It would be nice, but the first thing I have to do is go back and pick my players up, have a look at what happened on Saturday in detail and see if we need to make any changes to our set up and our mind-set.

Not too much will change by me for Tuesday, but like I say, it is another opportunity for us.

I haven't had a second thought about VAR to be honest with you. It'll be interesting and another experience for people around the club, but we will be focused on the game.

Craven Cottage will be a new ground for many fans, have you experienced playing there?

Yeah, I played there for Charlton in the third round of the FA Cup. They were a good team then and they are a good team now, a Premier League team, but it is a fantastic place to go and play.

It is another opportunity for our so called fringe players – I don't see them as fringe players, just players not in the starting XI at the moment – and some of our youngsters coming through as well.

They played on Sunday, so they may make some changes, as will we, but it is a game everyone is looking forward to.

They have a cracking squad, I think they spent close to £100 million over the summer – the sort of funds you can only dream of!

Yeah, I have got a good squad. I have said all along that I have a good squad, I have full faith in the group of players I have got and the young ones as well.

Look, the squad will be tested to its limits now, in the next few weeks, but it is more than good enough. We have players coming back from injury and others knocking on the door wanting to play in this team, but we will learn a lot from Saturday and we will learn a lot on Tuesday night.

Given what happened at MK with the sending off and injury to Jonathan Forte, I know you were looking to bring another player into the squad, but is there possibility that can happen this week?

We are still looking. We are working so hard, but obviously, finances dictate in terms of loan moves and we don't want to spend too much money on a loan.

It's not right for the club because it blocks the pathway for some of our younger players, so it has to be the right move for the club.

Saturday won't have changed anything because I still have my targets. The problem is those targets are on the lists of several other clubs as well, so it is what it is. We are still looking to move players in and if it is done before Tuesday, then so be it.



https://www.devonlive.com/sport/matt-taylor-transcript-exeter-city-1945166#

[WhiteJC]

 
Pay On The Gate

Watch Carabao Cup action at Craven Cottage this evening with tickets just £1 juniors & £10 adults.

Fulham take on Exeter City in Round Two of the competition (kick-off 7:45pm), our first meeting with the Grecians since the 1996/97 season.

Tickets are available from the Ticket Office on Stevenage Road before cash turnstiles become in operation from 6:30pm.

All tickets are subject to availability.



http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/august/28/pay-on-the-gate