Zambo Thoughts

[wormbridge]

£20m quid doesn't buy you a superstar anymore

Plenty of teams buy players who eventually prove to be world class for a lot less than half that price.

yes but generally you get what you pay for.   

[RaySmith]

I think this shows the essence of Fulham's problems this season- players  bought from abroad and  plunged into a team together, before they were up to speed with the Prem, or used to playing together.

And we need needed better fit, defenders and keeper, though I thought Fosuh-Mensah looked good yesterday.

On paper we looked good going into the season, the reality, with injuries and a lot of new, inexperienced at Prem level  players, was different.

[Andy S]

I don't think the premier league has moved on since we were last in it. However therefore less teams that are a push over. Have we been trounced by anyone really?
The thing is you don't adjust to this league overnight

[filham]

I have been so critical of Anguissa all season, I thought we had wasted millions on him and that McDonald was a more capable player player by far.

Yesterday however Anguissa looked good at times, I think we may be seeing light at the end of the tunnel. There were occasional touches of brilliance, if he can just continue to progress a little and get into the game more then next season he could be a key part of our midfield.

[wormbridge]

I have been so critical of Anguissa all season, I thought we had wasted millions on him and that McDonald was a more capable player player by far.

Yesterday however Anguissa looked good at times, I think we may be seeing light at the end of the tunnel. There were occasional touches of brilliance, if he can just continue to progress a little and get into the game more then next season he could be a key part of our midfield.

but this was his 9th start!   He was excellent v West Ham as well. 

How can you watch McDonald and figure that he's the better player though?   I find that mind boggling.  Would McDonald have been a key player for a good Marseille team?   This is what I struggle with so much.  People just seem to assume that players' track records count for nothing.  I can't get my head around it.

[The Old Count]

Anguissa seems to personify the whole season in that we see glimpses of what may be but as soon as they have shined there is a reason to doubt that anything good will come of it.

       

I don't see why this should be the case.  He's had 9 starts and played superbly against the second best team in the country.  He was good before he came to Fulham so I've always found it odd how quickly he was written off by our resident "I've been going since 1965" experts.

I've been going since 1963 (so ease up on the 'old timer' jibe please) and I think he's been hard done by on this board along with Seri - all this 'not fit to wear the shirt' hysterical nonsense. We should hang on to them both for next season.

And FWIW I've been impressed with Parker so far. We should hang on to him as well.

[wormbridge]

Anguissa seems to personify the whole season in that we see glimpses of what may be but as soon as they have shined there is a reason to doubt that anything good will come of it.

       

I don't see why this should be the case.  He's had 9 starts and played superbly against the second best team in the country.  He was good before he came to Fulham so I've always found it odd how quickly he was written off by our resident "I've been going since 1965" experts.

I've been going since 1963 (so ease up on the 'old timer' jibe please) and I think he's been hard done by on this board along with Seri - all this 'not fit to wear the shirt' hysterical nonsense. We should hang on to them both for next season.

And FWIW I've been impressed with Parker so far. We should hang on to him as well.

haha, sorry about that.   Sometimes people seem to think that going for a long time makes their opinion unquestionable.  Not so much  on this board it must be said.  Sincerest apologies.

[F(f)CUK]

The best thing about Anguissa is that you can see that he is adapting to the Premiership. Early on this season I could not believe his play, as he distributed the ball almost continually to the opposition. Now he treats the ball like it is a hot potato and often passes backwards, but there is a real improvement. He was my man of the match yesterday for his display across the whole 90 minutes.

[wormbridge]

The best thing about Anguissa is that you can see that he is adapting to the Premiership. Early on this season I could not believe his play, as he distributed the ball almost continually to the opposition. Now he treats the ball like it is a hot potato and often passes backwards, but there is a real improvement. He was my man of the match yesterday for his display across the whole 90 minutes.

but that's just moving the ball quickly.  Seri does it, too.  You're meant to.  Xavi and Busquets did the same (and no I'm not comparing them).   And Seri and Anguissa do tend to move the ball forwards when it's on, too, but if it isn't they keep the ball.  that's just good football.

[General]

Seri is an energetic influence in the middle and not really defensively minded, but he will engage in the press and doesn't lack for effort.

All players should be defensively minded when the team lose possession.....

Agreed - I have to admit, Seri is clearly very talented and has an eye for a pass, but his effort in chasing back and also putting in maximum effort seems to allude him most of the time I've found. It's promising in ways, as he clearly can give a lot more, just annoying that you know he can be a liability and if he gave his all, things would be markedly different.

[toshes mate]

The best thing about Anguissa is that you can see that he is adapting to the Premiership. Early on this season I could not believe his play, as he distributed the ball almost continually to the opposition. Now he treats the ball like it is a hot potato and often passes backwards, but there is a real improvement. He was my man of the match yesterday for his display across the whole 90 minutes.

but that's just moving the ball quickly.  Seri does it, too.  You're meant to.  Xavi and Busquets did the same (and no I'm not comparing them).   And Seri and Anguissa do tend to move the ball forwards when it's on, too, but if it isn't they keep the ball.  that's just good football.

Passing the ball quickly is often mistaken for a player just getting rid of it because they do not want to be the one caught in possession and responsible for a concession.  Too often it has been the latter, especially with Seri.  Cairney plays in a much more cagey and intelligent way and you can see his movement is prompting the next play.  Where we lack from last season is the partnerships that enable that passing to generate attacks after several interchanges because this season we are seldom getting to several interchanges.  That was why Jokanovic played possession football because punting the ball up the middle or down the channels is often, as it was yesterday, giving away possession.  That is why partnerships and understanding are vital and they can be readily learned in training.

There was a great example of a break being on in the first half where Cairney noticed an opening on the left wing, gave the ball to Seri and moved a defender away.  Seri didn't control the ball and was then on his wrong side to carry the move forward.  Now if it didn't happen so frequently I'd say it is was just unfortunate; but it does happen far too often and so it is careless from the players who regularly fail to control the ball as well as they should as expensive professionals.  Partnerships and ball skills are things that I am sure Parker will instill on players, but I'd also guess Jokanovic was pretty hot on them too, although I pass on making a judgment about Ranieri.  Parker has been there all along and so why has it taken so long for these players to bring their basic skills out?

[wormbridge]

The best thing about Anguissa is that you can see that he is adapting to the Premiership. Early on this season I could not believe his play, as he distributed the ball almost continually to the opposition. Now he treats the ball like it is a hot potato and often passes backwards, but there is a real improvement. He was my man of the match yesterday for his display across the whole 90 minutes.

but that's just moving the ball quickly.  Seri does it, too.  You're meant to.  Xavi and Busquets did the same (and no I'm not comparing them).   And Seri and Anguissa do tend to move the ball forwards when it's on, too, but if it isn't they keep the ball.  that's just good football.

Passing the ball quickly is often mistaken for a player just getting rid of it because they do not want to be the one caught in possession and responsible for a concession.  Too often it has been the latter, especially with Seri.  Cairney plays in a much more cagey and intelligent way and you can see his movement is prompting the next play.  Where we lack from last season is the partnerships that enable that passing to generate attacks after several interchanges because this season we are seldom getting to several interchanges.  That was why Jokanovic played possession football because punting the ball up the middle or down the channels is often, as it was yesterday, giving away possession.  That is why partnerships and understanding are vital and they can be readily learned in training.

There was a great example of a break being on in the first half where Cairney noticed an opening on the left wing, gave the ball to Seri and moved a defender away.  Seri didn't control the ball and was then on his wrong side to carry the move forward.  Now if it didn't happen so frequently I'd say it is was just unfortunate; but it does happen far too often and so it is careless from the players who regularly fail to control the ball as well as they should as expensive professionals.  Partnerships and ball skills are things that I am sure Parker will instill on players, but I'd also guess Jokanovic was pretty hot on them too, although I pass on making a judgment about Ranieri.  Parker has been there all along and so why has it taken so long for these players to bring their basic skills out?

I think we'll have to agree to disagree here.  Seri's excellent technically to my eyes.  Maybe in a different way to Cairney but I think you misread what's happening when they play the ball fast.

[toshes mate]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree here.  Seri's excellent technically to my eyes.  Maybe in a different way to Cairney but I think you misread what's happening when they play the ball fast.

I never misread the ball moving fast and under control in the best of the Jokanovic era even in its infancy, and I will not be guilty of misreading it now.  Seri is a half a yard too slow for PL IMHO.  But, no matter, he'll be a good fit for the Championship. 

[SG]

£20m quid doesn't buy you a superstar anymore

Plenty of teams buy players who eventually prove to be world class for a lot less than half that price. 

And plenty of teams pay a lot more than that for flops. There was an article on Everton over the weekend. It was staggering the money they had spent for players that are out on loan or in the ressies

[wormbridge]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree here.  Seri's excellent technically to my eyes.  Maybe in a different way to Cairney but I think you misread what's happening when they play the ball fast.

I never misread the ball moving fast and under control in the best of the Jokanovic era even in its infancy, and I will not be guilty of misreading it now.  Seri is a half a yard too slow for PL IMHO.  But, no matter, he'll be a good fit for the Championship.

Lol.  Fulham sign two more than competent midfielders from France, spend most of the season proclaiming neither is better than Kevin McFingDonald, and now we are concluding that "he'll be a good fit for the championship".  Staggering.

[F(f)CUK]

The best thing about Anguissa is that you can see that he is adapting to the Premiership. Early on this season I could not believe his play, as he distributed the ball almost continually to the opposition. Now he treats the ball like it is a hot potato and often passes backwards, but there is a real improvement. He was my man of the match yesterday for his display across the whole 90 minutes.

but that's just moving the ball quickly.  Seri does it, too.  You're meant to.  Xavi and Busquets did the same (and no I'm not comparing them).   And Seri and Anguissa do tend to move the ball forwards when it's on, too, but if it isn't they keep the ball.  that's just good football.

I think that we are agreeing.  Basically my point was that Anguissa is adapting to the Premiership, realises that he does not have the time that he used to at his previous club and is not getting caught in possession as much, or making bad passes invariably to the opposition.