The View From South Texas — Liverpool v. Fulham FC

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by HatterDon

Historic Victory for Fulham At Uninspired Liverpool

Ho-hum, yet another double by the Mighty Whites.

There’s a point to be made that Liverpool purposely fielded a weakened XI against Fulham Tuesday evening, since they have the FA Cup Final on Saturday. And Ian Darke made that very point 273 times during the 90+ minutes of his “commentating.” I’m sure there will be plenty of press decrying Liverpool’s makeshift side, and using this fact to denigrate Fulham’s victory. Truth be told, there was only one side showing any creativity out there and that was Fulham. Despite fielding Kuyt, Carroll, and Maxi, the three most creative players on the pitch were Dembélé, Dempsey, and Kacankifrei. Ably assisted by Danny Murphy who pulled the strings masterfully, Fulham basically played without being under sustained pressure for a moment. And the result? The fact that despite the typical crowd size, the “few Fulham supporters who bothered to make the trip” [this quote again from Darke] could be heard clearly. I especially loved the “Take Me Home, Al Fayed” and Moussa’s song.

Fulham fielded three ex-Reds, with Special K joining Riise and Murphy in the lineup. The young left winger looked very dangerous early on, and it was a neat combination play between him and Dempsey that resulted in the goal. Dempsey put Special K through and, with Pogrebnyak pressuring Liverpool’s defense, Martin Skrtel put into his own net off his shoulder. And that was pretty much that. Liverpool fired off a raft of shots, but the majority of them hit everything nowhere near Mark Schwarzer’s goal. They nearly scored after an unusual gaffe by the Fulham keeper, but Jonjo Shelvey’s weak shot was cleared off the line by the excellent Brede Hangeland.

Liverpool’s most threatening shot on goal came from the forehead of Andy Carroll, but Tha Big Aussie had little trouble with it. Most of the evening the local “faithful” groaned as pass after pass was misdirected. Initially, most of the interceptions came from and active alert defending up and down the pitch. In the end, though, Fulham scarcely had to move to gain possession as Liverpool players – out of original ideas – passed across the pitch to a wide open Fulham player time after time.

Fulham might have scored twice more. Dempsey set up Frei, who came on for Kacaniklic, and the youngster hammered a fierce shot that threatened to shatter Doni’s right hand post. Later, some brilliant close control by Moussa Dembélé put Dempsey through, but the Texan’s curler was met with a brilliant piece of goalkeeping by Doni. Skrtel attempted to screw up a back pass to his keeper and, possibly, open up yet another opportunity for Dempsey, but there was barely a foot between the two Liverpool players, and Clint was lucky to be able to put a boot on it.

How did Fulham look? Composed, controlled, a bit disjointed when the passing came to Pogrebnyak (The Russian received a pass from a teammate and passed it to another teammate in the 73rd minute. This was, to my knowledge, the only time this sequence occurred). Kacaniklic started off brightly and troubled the right side of Liverpool’s defense for about 15 minutes, but Liverpool’s Kelly soon figured him out and his contribution was reduced to dribbling too long and giving up possession. He is DEFINITELY a prospect. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make the left wing position his by Christmas. Frei was a good substitute for Special K, and his pace and quick movement was also troubling. But after his wood-work adventure, Frei became less and less vital to the attack. He was, however, brilliant in defending Downing who came in to cause some threat from the Red right wing. Dembélé left with a knock, as did Pogrebnyak, but the Belgian should be giving several Liverpool players nightmares as he ran and juked through their side with the ball seemingly velcroed to his boot.

Fulham’s defense was very good. Except for a near suicidal 5 minutes from Aaron Hughes in the second half, the Liverpool attack didn’t trouble them much. The most enjoyable matchup was the Carroll v. Hangeland affair. The Houston-born Norwegian won most of the 50-50s, but Carroll was a creditable presence up front.

The best player on the pitch tonight was Clint Dempsey. The enigmatic Texan helped create both our goal and Frei’s near second. He also had a good shot beaten away by a superior goalkeeping effort.

HatterDon’s Man of the Match is Clinton Morrison Dempsey. A close second is Alexim Kacankifrei.

And so we have matched our points total from last season, and, with two matches left we’ve put three points between us and West Bromwich Albion. We’re equal on points with Liverpool, albeit 6 down in goal difference. We could pass them, though, as they have a couple of tough matches to come after their FA Cup Final against Chelsea. We’ll see.

On to Sunderland at the Cottage. COYW

 

The (somewhat delayed) View from South Texas — Everton v. Fulham

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by HatterDon

Operation Goodison Exercise a Failure

One thing is certain of Everton in the David Moyes era. If you’re going to get anything at Goodison Park, you’d better be playing the Toffees in the Autumn. And if you’re playing them in the Springtime, you’d better strap on your Kevlar. Everton are always fierce in the second half of the season under the leadership of their Scottish boss.

And so they were today. The team that looked weak and woefully out of form before Christmas has been buoyed by the arrival of three players. First Landon Donovan helped carry them out of their most significant period of poor form. Then Steven Pineaar came back from his exile in North London. And, finally, Nikica Jelavić arrived from cash-strapped Glasgow Rangers and provided them with something they’d been missing all season – a hungry, capable striker. Fresh off a rousing comeback at Old Trafford, Everton clearly looked in the mood today.

Fulham clearly didn’t. Our midfield was a sieve. Our defense was weak and uncertain. And while Everton were knocking it about all over the pitch, Fulham found it difficult to string more than two passes together.

Perhaps nobody displayed worse form than Pavel Pogrebnyak. His positioning was adequate, but his layoffs were scatter-shots, and his ability to maintain possession was mostly theoretical. He compounded his ineffective attacking by his incredible brain fart that lead to Everton’s first. For reasons best known only to The Russian, he chose to deflect a free kick with his elbow instead of his forehead. It was an easy penalty for Phil Dowd to call. Jelavić shot just to Schwarzer’s right, but it didn’t matter as Tha Big Aussie guessed to his left.

Everton’s second goal involved absolutely no defensive marking in the Fulham penalty area. The seriously on-form Marouane Fellaini found himself wide open and left Schwarzer with no chance to save. I’m not sure who was supposed to have marked the Belgian, but nobody did. Damian Duff had an opportunity to clear the ball, but completely whiffed with his usually reliable left foot.

So, we’re 2-0 down and we still hadn’t shown up. Hangeland was having possibly his worse match ever [he improved significantly after this], Riise was the least adventurous I’ve seen him this season, and Fulham’s midfield and defense found them inundated by attacking football from Fellaini, Osman, Hibbert, and Pineaar. The only Fulham players who constituted a threat to Everton were Clint Dempsey and Kerim Frei. The American nearly pulled back a goal with a shot that was heading over his countryman Tim Howard’s head, but the New Yorker was the better of the Texan and responded with a brilliant save. Earlier, Howard was quick to react to a left-foot [YES LEFT-FOOT] shot from Frei. But truth to be told, he had little to do on the day.

The offensive efforts of Dempsey and Frei weren’t effective enough and didn’t occur often enough to keep the Everton midfield, and the all-out attacking Tony Hibbert [yes, that phrase is hard to digest] honest. Even Dempsey’s engrossing 90 minute matchup with Phil Jagielka couldn’t disguise the truth. We were there to be taken, and taken we were.

Everton’s third and Jelavić’s second came after a brilliant piece of work by the Croatian at the edge of the penalty area. Schwarzer was quick to “make himself bigger” but Jelavić still was able to beat him much too easily at his near post. I don’t think I’m piling on Mark. I don’t think it would be possible for anyone to criticize him for that goal more than he’ll be criticizing himself.

Everton’s fourth came with some vintage combination play that resulted in Pineaar’s flick to substitute Tim Cahill. Schwarzer was on the move to block, but his countryman toe poked it just past him. By this time, Fulham was looking at Dowd for a TKO decision.

This was a significant beatdown. Unlike United at the Cottage and City at Eastlands, Fulham didn’t surrender meekly and take their beating quietly. Fulham were undressed and spanked by a truly superior team on the day. The midfield was especially outplayed in all aspects. I thought the introduction of Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu might give us a bit more control, but that was not the case. This was our biggest whuppin’ since our home match to Liverpool at the end of last season. The good thing is that we’re still in with a chance to finish mid-table – and nobody got hurt.

When we were 2-0 down, the Tannoy announced the beginning of “Operation Goodison Exercise.” On Fulham radio, Gentleman Jim said that he didn’t know what the announcement was all about, but perhaps it might lead to the match being abandoned, and that perhaps Fulham could then start over. Sigh. It was not to be.

There is no possibility of a HatterDon Man of the Match award when we lose 4-0, but in addition to Dempsey and Frei, I have a good words for Aaron Hughes – easily our most effective defender. He alone looked calm and resolute.

Finally, a good word for Phil Dowd. I thought he was brilliant today. Every card was merited. Every foul was unarguable, and he let play go on where it was merited. A fine job for the entire 90 minutes. He’s earned his FA Cup Final.

Now let’s do a bit better on the other side of Stanley Park on Tuesday, shall we?

The View From South Texas — Fulham v. Chelsea

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by HatterDon

Fulham Take a Point off the Neighbors

Of all the sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: We didn’t beat Chelsea AGAIN.

There will be many oaths uttered regarding Mark Clattenburg tonight, but you won’t read any of them here. The second I saw Danny go in with both feet, I said “Penalty.” It wasn’t that long ago that we had a right back who made a similar challenge and missed completely, but still got a straight red. My only hope was that our captain would only get a yellow, and as it turned out he didn’t even get that. Yes, Clattenburg made some strange decisions – not the least of which was carding Mireles when Riise fell down two feet from him – but they benefitted us as much as Chelsea.

In the end, Fulham were undone by the lack of a lead striker. As many, including me, have noted, Dempsey plays his best from a deep position. When he’s up front on his own in a 4-5-1 … not so much. As the ever-irritating Steve McManaman pointed out, he holds the ball well, but nobody takes the position that he takes. And so we drew 1-1 in a driving rainstorm in an absorbing match with lots of talking points.

For instance, Kerim Frei started on the left wing against a very good right back. As many, including me, have noted, Frei’s total dependence on his right foot makes him easy to defend. Today … not so much. For most of the first half, our teenaged Swiss winger tortured Ivanovic mercilessly. He turned him inside out and linked brilliantly with a roll-back-the-years John Arne Riise. Fulham had pretty much seized control of the match when – in the last seconds of the half – Danny conceded the penalty that was cooly converted by the loathsome Frank Lampard. If any Chelsea supporters are reading this, I say “loathsome” because – once again – he celebrated the goal by taunting the Fulham fans. I have never seen him score against us when this piss poor behavior wasn’t repeated. He continues to be one of two reasons I’ll never support Chelsea in any endeavor.

Speaking of John Terry, he did a pretty good job of supporting Cahill today. Cahill is definitely the senior partner now in terms of talent – the last of a long line of central defenders who risk life, limb, and hernia carrying the England captain on his back.

Back to the first half. Riise looked our most dangerous player as he turned on the jets many times exposing Chelsea’s right side. This continued in the second half, when Fulham came out with a will and took the game to The Undead. With the exception of some very effective counter attacks, Fulham took control early in the half and never relinquished it. The unlikely centre mid trio of Murphy, Diarra, and Dembélé, neatly combined silk and steel – spraying the ball around the pitch one moment, tackling back to dispossess the next. Over on the right wing Duff continued to look dangerous, although it must be said that he was handled very competently by Chelsea’s stop-gap left back, Bertrand – a potential England defender unless I miss my guess. With the 4-5-1 morphing very nicely into 4-3-3 with conventional wingers, Fulham looked as potentially lethal as I’ve seen them.

Still there were few concrete chances for us in the match. Why? Because the one thing we needed more than ever tonight – a traditional centre forward – was not available to us. Pavel the Pog was up in the Cottage watching through the rain and the supporters’ tears. Also missing, of course, was Dempsey’s partner in telepathy, Bryan Ruiz. I think that had he and Dempsey been the 1’s in a 4-4-1-1, we might have overwhelmed them.

Like many, I dreaded giving up a second to Chelsea on the break – especially since Norwich’s victory over Tottenham [and well done the yellow and green] moved them a point above us. Instead, against all odds, Fulham converted one of three clear late chances to snatch a point. Twice, Aaron Hughes hammered headers straight at Eraserhead, and twice the Czech keeper repelled them. But there was to be no “poster moment” for Cech shortly thereafter as Dempsey nodded in from the near post. 1-1 it stood, and that was justice.

Strangely and joyfully, Martin Jol didn’t feel like settling for the draw. On came Special K and Orlando Sa to join Dickson Etuhu as substitutes, as Fulham well and truly attacked until the final whistle. As it was neither offense was a match for either defense, and I’m hoping that the 27 players who took part left the field with a positive feeling about the match. We’ll beat Chelsea soon and regularly, but not this season. We’ll just have to console ourselves with three drawn matches [after 90+ minutes], two of which occurred at Stamford Bridge.

It’s hard to find anyone to criticize, and I’m not going to, but if any are slighted by the absence of a glowing mention, it’s because there were some stunning performances out there. Steven Kelly had another brilliant match. He was all over the pitch and blocked some potentially dangerous crosses on more than one occasion. Hughes and Hangeland looked every inch the Thames Barrier, and Diarra is here, folks.

HatterDon’s Man of the Match – just edging out his left side partner Kerim Frei, was the brilliant John Arne Riise. He had pace and style and crossing ability. He nudges Frei aside from the “honor” here by virtue of yet another outstanding defensive performance as well. Who’s third? Martin Jol.

What’s next? Well, we have a weekend off thanks to match commitments of our scheduled opponent. So there’ll be plenty of time for tired muscles and niggling injuries to heal. I like the Fulham I’m looking at right now, and I think we’ll all enjoy the rest of the season.

Finally, a huge HatterDon salute to our support which was louder than I’ve ever heard it.

The View from South Texas — Bolton Wanderers v. Fulham FC

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by HatterDon

All You Need is Duff

Fulham cruised to a famous victory today in front of nearly 30,000 in the Reebok Stadium, totally dominating a desperate Bolton Wanderers side. The three-goal defeat flattered Bolton, as 0-6 would have been a better reflection of the difference in quality and organization between the two sides. Clint Dempsey got his 14th and 15th league goals of the season – keeping him in the top five on the scoring charts and eclipsing Louis Saha as Fulham’s single-season scoring leader in the Premier League – followed by a first-ever goal for the impressive Mamahadou Diarra.

Bereft of a healthy striker – again – Fulham started with Dempsey and Ruiz up front. Kacaniklik started on the left and, along with Diarra, were the only two changes from the XI that started against Norwich. Pogrebnyak’s ankle injury persisted and Danny Murphy was, perhaps, rested for Monday’s match against Chelsea. In any case, neither were on the substitute’s bench.

Despite the strong commitment of Petrov, Reo-Coker, and Ricketts, Fulham dominated the first half – in reality if not statistically. Bolton’s tendency to fall back en masse whenever Fulham gained control in and around our penalty area, gave the defense plenty of time to stroll forward. These strolls often ended in defense splitting passes generally through the middle of the pitch. The presence of Special K and Damian Duff on the wings kept Bolton’s defense spread thin, and Dempsey and Ruiz exploited those gaps with the assistance of great passing from Dembélé, Diarra, and Hangeland.

The goal came as the result of a 35 yard free kick awarded after some sloppy defensive work by the Wanderers. As the entire FulhamUSA.com chatroom bristled in excitement – was this going to be the time for our first Riise blockbuster? – metaphoric heads dropped as Dempsey took control. But, somehow, even at that distance his accurate curling strike had the giant Adam Bogdan beat, and it was 0-1.

Early in the week on Friends of Fulham, I began a thread requesting posters to name a situation that, once it had been seen, would cause supporters to respond “It’s about time.” One popular response was “scoring from a free kick. Have we done that yet this season?” Well, there you go. Another was OUR inability to score late in the half. And this came to pass as well. Fully expecting Fulham’s complete dominance to result in a razor-thin 0-1 lead, I was delighted to watch Damian Duff skin Marcos Alonso yet again, and curl in a delicate right-foot cross. The wide-open Dempsey made no mistake and, with fully five seconds left in the first 45, we were up 0-2.

Anyone would have expected Bolton to make adjustments and take that game to us. And, as it turned out, Bolton’s dual substitution looked like turning the match around. Eagles and Kevin Davies came in for Miyachi and Pratley and suddenly Bolton were a danger. And yet, after scarcely 10 minutes of concerted effort, Bolton completely ran out of gas. This happened for two reasons: Fulham’s defense was resolute and Damian Duff was enjoying a second helping of Roast Alonso. Bolton’s last real threat was snuffed out by a gorgeous intervening tackle from Riise that dispossessed Ngog cleanly well into the penalty area. A few minutes later, Diarra was on hand to clinically put away a great cross by Riise and it was 0-3.

Fulham’s defense looked brilliant. Kelly and Hughes [with the help of Duff] kept Petrov and Alonso under control, and Hangeland cut out Bolton threats like the skilled surgeon he is. Riise’s tackle on Ngog was the defensive highlight of the day – if not the season. Schwarzer didn’t have many saves to make, but I thought his decisiveness and distribution was as good as I’ve seen it this season.

Fulham’s midfield was excellent. Diarra-Dembélé proved as effective as Murphy- Dembélé has at any point since they became partners. Kacaniklik didn’t contribute as much as he did against Norwich, but he looks at home on the left wing, and is not shy about going for goal. He can stay. Duff was brilliant. You’d have to go back 10 years to find any match where he looked better and more effective than he did today. Credit Adam Bogdan with keeping the score down as Duff had two second-half opportunities to score that only highly-skilled goalkeeping prevented.

Dempsey and Ruiz worked well up front. Their telepathic understanding is growing. In truth, this was more of a 4-5-1 today with Dempsey very much taking over leadership up front. It’s not his best position, but – hey – he got two goals and might have had an assist. Ruiz looked physically strong today, and helped out in defense when called upon. He passed very well and was a concern at all times to the home team.

So, Fulham came to town to face a side desperate for points, dominated them completely, and got their third away win and second double of the season. Job done, and job well done. A salute to Jol for persisting with youth today, including a late-match cameo by Trotta. Marcello [which is Italian for Del-boy] had a good turn and shot on goal which was good to see. He looked absolutely terrified in his previous appearance against Everton. If Ruiz’s late injury proves to be serious, I think it wouldn’t hurt to run Trotta or Orlando Sa against Chelsea on Monday.

A couple of notes. In the “in my day” category, I must say I never expected to watch a football match IN ENGLAND where the goalkeepers were dressed in Lime Green and Pink. The fact that Bodgan is a redhead playing in pink played hob with my color control. Lime green and pink, I ask you.

The other comment is about our travelers. I heard the attendance today announced as a shade under 30,000. Very few of them were Fulham – at least to look at the empty area we were attacking in the second half – but all of them were clearly audible. Buoyed, no doubt, by the Marauding Fulham Scandies, they were loud and proud. I knew that Etuhu was warming up the moment I heard them singing “Dickson, Dickson, what’s the score?” Well represented lads and lasses, and I’m glad you got the reward you deserved.

Finally, [b]HatterDon’s Man of the Match[/b] was the matchless [u][i]Damian Duff[/i][/u]. That, boys and girls, is what a veteran winger can do to a pretty good fullback. I feel sorry for all of those in England who didn’t get to see him play today. Absolutely wonderful.

Now, let’s get three more against The Undead on Monday – COYW

The View from South Texas — Man United v. Fulham

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United Defeat Resolute Fulham at Old Trafford

Well, there’s not much one could fault our defense or our defensive mids for today. Of course, there was the Diarra mess-up followed by the Hangeland comedy act shortly thereafter, but this was VERY early in the match. Generally speaking, Fulham contained the United attack – only three wingers on the pitch today – and the goal they did give up had a bit of the old pinball wizardry about it.

Of course, I DO have a quibble or two. One is “Why Diarra instead of Murphy?” Murphy has been in Man U’s heads for more than a decade – especially at Old Trafford. He is also the core of our attacking creativity. Diarra played well, please don’t get me wrong, but if we’re going to bench Danny for an away match, why in the world would it be at Old Trafford? As it was, Oh Captain Our Captain came on long enough to make two brilliant passes that might have resulted in goals, as well as earning a penalty in the dying minutes that was ignored by the young referee.

Another quibble is “Why Frei?” or more appropriately “Why Frei on the LEFT wing?” I’m not even certain he uses his left foot to stand on. Upon receiving the ball, the pacy youngster immediately cut inside and passed backwards time after time after time. In this way he contributed nothing to the attack, while simultaneously leaving his wing wide open for Rafael to venture forward. Since Riise already had his hands full with Valencia – for my money the best winger in the game right now – the added attacking threat of United’s Own Ninja Turtle meant that the Red Devils owned the left side of our defense for 90+ minutes. And this was even with Riise having a handy match.

Finally, we now have the answer to the musical question, “What does Pogrebnyak bring to the club aside from scoring goals?” The answer is “nothing.” He could not lay off or even control the ball with his back to goal and the only person on United’s payroll NOT to dispossess him in a one-on-one was Sir Alex Ferguson. I think it’s clear that Pavel’s the boy for a 4-4-2. I don’t know whether Jol’s 4-2-3-1 will be enough to drive him away from Fulham this summer, or whether it will ensure enough performances like this to make him unattractive to anyone but us.

Who looked good? Schwarzer for a start. He made some wonderful saves, and a couple of timely interventions. I didn’t see Hughes make any mistakes out there, and Kelly was superb – especially late in the game. Dembélé provided our only consistent attacking threat, and Dempsey and Ruiz caused more than a bit of concern. And, of course, there was Danny Murphy, who almost turned the game around single-handed. I wish I could say the the only thing that prevented us from earning a point was the Ref. The truth is, we only attacked about 20 minutes total across the entire match. We looked like the home club protecting a 1-0 lead right up to the point Murphy came on. [b]HatterDon’s Man of the Match [/b] [and I can hear the howls of rage already] [i]Steven Kelly[/i].

Next up is Norwich without Grant Holt, AT the Cottage. Certainly we’ll prevail there and get the last three points we’ll really need. Will we see Our Late President? I know Pog wishes we will. Will we AT LONG LAST see Frei on the right side? Who knows.

COYW

The View from South Texas – Fulham v. Swansea City

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by HatterDon

Classy Swansea Rule the Cottage

There was really no moment where Fulham looked the better of Swansea today, and perhaps not even their equal for more than a couple of 10 minute stretches. While Fulham’s midfield sprayed passes to nowhere, their back four and goalkeeper looked slow, distracted, and profligate. By contrast, Swansea are the best organized and most attractive visiting team we’ve seen all year. They attack in numbers, defend well, and pass, pass, pass, pass, and pass. The final score of 0-3 does not flatter Brendan Rogers’ side.

Fulham began with two changes from our heartbreaking defeat at Aston Villa. Ruiz came in for Duff and Diarra for Murphy. One can assume that Swansea’s non-physical game was more suited to the Costa Rican than to Duff, and one MUST assume that Diarra was in for Murphy in response to the elbow to his face he took from Steven Ireland at Villa Park. Whatever the reasons, the latter change pretty much settled Fulham’s hash.

The only time Fulham looked threatening was when the ball was at Dembélé’s feet. He is devilishly difficult to dispossess, and he’s always looking for the good pass. Unfortunately, his central midfield partner was a detriment to the Fulham attack. During the last 10 minutes of the first half [when Fulham looked as if it were only a matter of time before they equalized], the Mali international over-hit five passes that, had … say … Murphy taken, would have sprung a Fulham player free for a shot on goal. Those were five opportunities single-handedly lost during a period when Swansea were defending for their lives. As it was, Fulham really only had two threatening shots, both by Dempsey, one in each half, and both easily handled by the excellent Michel Vorm in the Swansea goal.

The Fulham defense looked distracted, almost lazy – especially in opening the game. Inside the first half hour, Hangeland, Schwarzer, and Diarra each gave the ball away when under no pressure and within breathing distance of our goal. On all three occasions, Fulham weathered the storm. But when Pogrebnyak was similarly generous, it led to a series of short decisive Swansea passes and a goal by Sigurdsson – for my money, the best player on the pitch today. Sigurdsson would score again and, with Fulham pressing totally unconvincingly as the second half drew on, Swansea gained possession in a completely open Fulham midfield and Joe Allen waltzed in for number 3.

The irony for me, here, is that I expected us to lose for the same reason we lost to United at the Cottage. Swansea has fleet attacking wingers, and we don’t defend them well. Today, Riise handled Routledge – who had his best match ever last week – very well, and Sinclair was almost anonymous on the left wing. What I DID NOT expect was for our central midfield to be so easily undone by the middle of Swansea’s midfield and attack. Dempsey and Ruiz did very little, but they got only fair service from Dembélé, and no service at all from Diarra.

And so we got the result that our play deserved, that our tactics deserved, that accurately reflected the difference in quality between the two sides. Yes, color it however you like, but Swansea are that much better than we are, and the reason is largely because of Brendan Rogers. The only thing that stops me from giving him my vote for Barclay’s Premier League Manager of the Year Award, is that I don’t actually HAVE a vote.

And, speaking of contrasts, the 3,000 Swansea supporters were highly entertained and entertaining. I think I know almost all the words to Land of My Fathers now. As for the home crowd, the only noise I remember hearing from them were angry groans when Senderos, Kelly, or Ruiz gave the ball away. Interestingly, I heard nothing of the sort for the play of Mahamadou Diarra – by far the worst player on the pitch today.

There is no HatterDon Man of the Match award when we lose 3-0 at home to a club behind us in the Barclay’s Premier League standings. If you’re keeping count, that’s two matches played, zero points, and a goal difference of -4, since Marteen Jol told the press that we had a very good chance of finishing sixth this season.

Oh well, we’re safe from relegation, nobody got injured today, and there’s always next weekend. Let’s see who are we … bloody hell, Old Trafford on Monday.

Until then …

Clint’s The Key Man

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Every team needs/wants a player who is hard working, quick on his feet, have the vision to see a pass and play it, finish with both feet and his head while also doing his bit defensively, if I said to you that you could have a player like this you would never in a million years say no, would you?

Well, this is what Fulham have in Clint Dempsey, the texan born attacking midfielder signed for Fulham from New England Revolution in January 2007 after Fulham tabled a 4million euro offer, the highest the MLS had seen up to that date! Dempsey, who was named MLS Rookie of the Year for 2004, made a sudden impact at fulham by showing quick feet and a lot of flair, Clint made his debut for Fulham in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, he then went on to score his first goal in a white shirt against Liverpool in a 1-0 home victory that virtually guarenteed safety in the Barclays Premier League.

Next season Dempsey had started netting many more goals and was converted to a striker while Brian McBride was injured short term, Dempsey was soon becoming a fans favourite at Fulham, i’m sure clashing with John Terry resulting in only the England international getting taken off hurt only helped open the fans arms to this ever-growing popular american. in the 2008 campaign Dempsey ended as Fulham’s top goalscorer for the season with six goals to his name, something he can very realistically achieve this season!

Clint Dempsey is very much proving what an asset he is for Fulham Football Club to have in their ranks, he has had to prove himself under many managers at Fulham and has succeeded in doing so, with the ability to score goals with his left foot, right foot and his head he can pop up anywhere to net an important goal for Fulham. With Clint showing his ambition of playing in the Champions League and thinking his time is running out at the age of 29 the apparent interest of big name clubs such as Manchester United, Roma and AC Milan after Clint’s so far exceptional form in the 2011-12 campaign is a slight concern for Fulham fans.

With Martin Jol at the helm he has set about bringing the squads age down as Fulham have the oldest average age squad in the Premier League, Clint is definitely out of the equasion in that bracket, should he stay at Fulham he could easily be the first player on the team sheet for another 5/6 years. While every Fulham fans would want and love Dempsey to stay at the Cottage until the end of his career, you can not deny him a big break into Champions League football, should it be overseas or in the Premier League, he has definitely earnt his spot as one of the most in-form Premier League football players. Clint is currently in talks with Fulham over a new contract extension which would keep him at the club for a further 3 years, in my opinion I think Clint should stay at Fulham and further his goal scoring tally which has seen him score some sensational goals such as the ones v Juventus at home and Stoke City away aswell as help the promising attacking team that Martin Jol has assembled climb the table, but then again what Fulham fan doesn’t?

One of the key factors that would keep Dempsey at Craven Cottage would be the contract extensions of other key team members such as; Moussa Dembele, Brede Hangeland, Andrew Johnson, Mahamadou Diarra and Danny Murphy, with all of these signing on longer contracts Fulham would certainly appeal even more to Clint and would show our burning ambition to succeed in the League, while Martin Jol is bringing ina lot of promising youngsters he is also giving our already established youngsters in the academy such as Kerim Frei, Matthew Briggs and Marcello Trotta a chance to shine, which shows that we are building for the future. Not only is Jol bringing in and playing youngsters, he is also bringing in big name signings such as Bryan Ruiz who was named Eredivise player of the year and Mahamadou Diarra once of Real Madrid! If this does not show intent then I do not have a clue what does. With Fulham having such a good attacking force Dempsey can only continue to improve on his all round game and become a well known name not only in the Premier League but also for his country United States who are becoming a vastly improved name in Football across the world.

While not only should Dempsey stay for all of these above reasons that I am rambling on about but for other reasons such as the proposed stadium expansion to the Riverside stand, should this all go ahead and Jol brings in 2 or 3 new names in the summer (especially a right back) I think Dempsey will have the determination to see out a few more years at Fulham Football Club and help them continually improve as a team and a club as a whole, while saying this Jol said he will not let Clint leave this summer whatever the price offered as he has one year left on his contract.

Here’s to many happy memories we have already shared with Clint Dempsey (unlike Robert Green) and for hopefully many more to come!

(Video I recorded of his goal v Newcastle)

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Email – lukejennings_@hotmail.co.uk

The View from South Texas – Fulham FC v WWFC

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by HatterDon

The Natural

Pavel Pogrebnyak celebrated his return to the Russian squad by dominating a disintegrating Wolves defense on the way to Fulham’s 5-0 defeat of the storied Midlands team. Our new number seven now has 5 goals from his first three starts with the club, and suddenly the disappointing January transfer window looks genius in retrospect.

Fulham dominated for all of the 90 minutes – only the second time this has happened all season. Although it looked as if Riise would be the first to score, it was Pogrebnyak who converted a Duff corner by powering a pile-driving header past Hennessy. It was clean and clinical, but how did Wolves manage to allow Fulham’s lead striker so much space to convert so easily? Pog got his second off a wonderful counter attacking move that resulted from a Wolves defender surrendering possession at the midfield stripe. Andrew Johnson was off in an instant and stretched the remaining defense wide enough so that his sharp cross was converted by Pogrebnyak with a crisp right-foot volley. Fulham had finally scored a second goal just before half time. Certainly this would be enough for me to relax and enjoy the rest of the match. Of course not; I’m a Fulham supporter.

I fully expected Connor to change things up – specifically in defense – at the half. Wolves have, after all, accumulated more points after falling behind than anyone else in the Barclay’s Premier League. Just last weekend they overcame a 2-0 deficit to share the spoils with Newcastle. And, as we all know, whenever Fulham have dominated the first half against a weak opponent, we come out after the interval timid and tentative. Well, not so much of that today.

The Mad Russian completed his hat-trick with a Dempsey-ish effort. Our Late President found himself clear in the center of attack and hammered a shot that Hennessy could only parry with his legs. Pogrebnyak nipped in to convert the rebound with the outside of his left foot. This completed the “natural hat-trick,” and it was left only for Dempsey to “score with his left” and “score with his right” and make Wolverhampton look … well, look as if they well and truly belonged in the bottom three.

Heroes abounded for The Mighty Whites today. The back four was solid – Hughes dealing with the ever-present threat of Matt Jarvis better than most right backs in the league have, Hangeland and Senderos quelling whatever threat came through the middle, and Riise complementing his resolute defensive work by being a constant attacking threat down Fulham’s left wing. You can’t emphasize enough the importance of Riise’s contribution to our attack today. By running the left wing so relentlessly, he drew the defense wide and opened up plenty of space in the middle for Dempsey and Dembélé.

Dempsey had a bit of mid-week joy of his own, of course, and played the match pretty much as a withdrawn striker. This is perhaps his best role, and his runs were picked up and exploited by Danny Murphy. The captain’s assist on Dempsey’s first was nothing short of brilliant. Duff had a relatively quiet match, but he was certainly up for it. He consistently got Hughes into the attack in good positions, and cut in well for a few shots of his own. Moussa Dembélé was absolutely brilliant the entire match. What a performance! I was tempted to give him Hatter Don’s Man of the Match, but I knew I’d hear from my friend down the road if I ignored the hat-trick hero. Oh, and welcome to Mamadou Diarra. I almost fell off the couch laughing when his first ever touch of the ball resulted in the Hammersmith End urging him to “shoot.” He looks useful, and it was a nice interplay with Dempsey that resulted in Clint’s second and Fulham’s fifth.

Speaking of which, Pogrebnyak had a marvelous game. His work in front of goal was clinical and efficient, but his hold-up work and his distribution were, as they say in American Mike’s part of the country, “cherce.” He’s the real deal, and I think he just sealed his place on the Russian squad for Euro 2012 today. If we can keep him at The Cottage for next season, I will be one very happy Texan. Andrew Johnson was brilliant all day as well, collecting two assists [really should have been three in a 6-0 defeat] and driving Wolves’ defense absolutely spare. I never tire of seeing the absolute joy on his face when we score. Good stuff for Our Late President.

Oh, and just in case you went to the loo in the 92nd minute, Schwarzer made a save.

As for Wolves, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so toothless and – truth be told – lifeless. There seemed to be no communication among the defenders and their five-man midfield was pretty much dominated by Murphy and Dembélé, leaving Duff and Dempsey to run riot. I know that Connor is new, but I wonder that it took him so long to get Fletcher and Hunt into the game. Of all Wolves’ players, they would have reacted to Fulham’s mauling with a bit more resolution.

So, yeah, a great match. 90 consistently brilliant minutes, and good performances, communication, aggression, and – especially – passing. We looked very good out there. Wolves’ poor performance was 90% our determination and consistency.

HatterDon’s Man of the Match is Pavel Pogrebnyak who is, of course, okay.

On to Villa Park and COYW!

The View from South Texas — QPR v. Fulham redux

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Jekyll AND Hyde Visit Loftus Road

by HatterDon

How Fulhamish is it that your very humble correspondent was not the slightest bit worried about the outcome of this match UNTIL … until we took the lead early in the first half. I knew that we would continue to play pretty attacking football throughout the first half. I knew that we wouldn’t score. I knew that we’d allow 10-man QPR back into the match despite the obvious fragility of their defense. And, finally, I knew that within the last five minutes QPR would take two or perhaps all three points from us. It nearly happened, also, but Wright-Phillips blinked and Schwarzer didn’t and we got all the points.

The first thing that struck you about the match was the attacking nature of the lineup. We were going with a 4-4-2 today with Our Late President in the starting lineup. Once again, Cap’n’ Danny was partnered in midfield by Moussa Dembélé, and the Ruiz-Dempsey Passing Corporation was also featuring. Aaron Hughes earned a second start as Hangeland’s partner.

The second thing that struck you was how forward-looking we were. Our passing in the first half was nothing short of breathtaking. Johnson had the ball in the net early but was adjudged to be offside. It wasn’t long until our industrious Russian received an absolutely gorgeous back-heel feed from Dembélé. With only the keeper to beat, Pogrebnyack kept his cool and rolled the ball in. All this was within the first 7 minutes , but it turned out to be all we were going to need on the day. And, of course, for me it was sweating out the next 83 minutes and whatever stoppage time there would be.

We didn’t stop attacking, of course. Dempsey was fed through on two occasions by Ruiz and Murphy, but he didn’t have his finishing boots on today. He more than earned his keep, however, by winning possession whenever QPR attacked. He and Dembélé won ball after ball off the Rangers and turned their misguided attempts on our goal into the beginning of yet another Fulham attack. Our eager attackers should have been salivating with Diakite was sent off with the match barely 30 minutes old. Five or six earlier fouls and warnings didn’t put his head right, nor did the yellow he was awarded by the excellent Phil Dowd just a few minutes earlier. And so he was gone, and the already weak QPR defense was now bereft of its defensive shield. The fact that the Mali International was making his first ever start was a lucky break for Fulham – one of several on the day. Once he learns the pace and limitations of the Premier League, I think he’ll be an excellent defensive midfielder in this league and will have a goal or two in him as well.

We were also lucky that QPR’s most creative attacking force, Abdel Taarabt, was also their most wasteful attacking force. He caught the eye almost constantly by his ability to make the quick decisive pass, and well as his ability to turn a promising attack into a weak shot directly at Mark Schwarzer. Finally, did anyone notice Zamora today? Neither did I.

So what do we make of today? On the positive side, Pogrebnyack looks to be slotting in nicely, Dempsey hasn’t lost his form, and if there were an Assist of the Season award, Dembélé would be odds on to win it. The midfield duo of Dembélé and Murphy was dominant and brilliant all day, and it looks as if we finally have a decent taker of the dead ball. Ruiz had more quality free and corner kicks than you’ll see from Fulham in three or four matches. And despite the unconvincing play of our back five as a unit, Hughes and Schwarzer looked solid all day. Oh, and we got three points on the road and a double off QPR.

On the negative side, we failed to see off a weak side [with a vulnerable defense] that was down to 10 men AGAIN. We turned our first half dominance into a lackluster second half with little cohesive attacking AGAIN. Our only serious threat on goal was a late run by substitute Dickson Etuhu [??] who ran unchallenged for about half the pitch before shooting inches wide of Kenny’s goal.

But, what the hey, we won. I see no reason why we shouldn’t win our third on the trot in our next match, and that should see us in comfortable surroundings league table-wise. HatterDon’s Man of the Match was Our Enigmatic Belgian. He is such an improved player over last season and his recent “promotion” to the role of Murphy’s Partner has seen him play is very best football in our shirt.

About the travelers: usually I love hearing us on away days — especially when we out shout the home side — and when today’s chanting was about Fulham, our players, and Al Fayed it was great to hear. Unfortunately MOST of the audible “cheering” were the unimaginative and unoriginal brickbats aimed towards Zamora and Hughes. It seems that although we like to tell ourselves that we Fulham supporters are made from a different mold, this isn’t really the case.

Finally, as many of my readers will know, I am a fan of Mark Hughes as a manager. I think that he was ill-used by our club and that Martin Jol is inferior to him as a tactician and as a motivator. Add to my thoughts about Mr. Sparky that the way he ended the match today – shoving Jol’s extended hand away – was petulant and devoid of class. I hope he is fined by the league and cautioned by the LMA. Thanks to him, I’ve watched my last QPR match of the season.

Wolves at the door of the Cottage next weekend so COYW!

The View From South Texas — Manchester City v. Fulham

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by HatterDon

Night-Baird on Snow Street

As soon as Fulham’s lineup was published, you knew that it was going to be a long day. Even without Vincent Kompany – for my money the best player in the Prem this season – and without Yaya Toure, getting anything out of today’s visit to Eastlands was possible only if the match ended 0-0. We helped Sergio Aguero break out of his slump by conceding our first penalty of the season, gave another goal to Edin Dzeko, and in between contributed an own goal under pretty much no pressure at all. Could have been worse, though. Nobody got hurt. Could have been better, though. After 40 minutes or so I was hoping for the match to be abandoned as our match at Sunderland was several seasons back. Nah. On this day at least, God wasn’t a Fulham fan.

With a weakened City back four, what this match needed was a strong, physical presence at the point of our attack – somebody who could hold up the ball, distribute it, pressure the central defenders, and lay off the ball to our 4-D midfield attackers. In other words, we needed Bobby Zamora today. In that role in his last start, the enigmatic striker bagged three assists and a goal against a very good Newcastle team. Without him, we were lost in attack. We made a couple of decent moves, but using Dempsey as the fulcrum of the attack negates his greatest strength – those long runs that allow him to show up late and tap them in. Instead, he was prowling around the edge of the area with Davies and the excellent Duff, none of whom, of course, had Zamora to play off either.

As for our defense, please let it be said that Chris Baird is an excellent CB, and very good defensive mid, a somewhat better than average RB, but no kind of LB at all. With the prospect of facing Adam Johnson and the frightening runs of Micah Richards, Jol replaced Riise with Baird and Johnson flat ate him for lunch. Some will say that the penalty was a weak one. I’ll agree, while also pointing out that we’ve been lucky this season about four times when a penalty was not called. Make that SIX TIMES, since Citeh had two very creditable shouts for another penalty. Johnson drove in and beat Baird who stuck out a trailing leg for no apparent reason. Johnson fell over it [or at least near it], and there was the penalty and, in a sense, the match.

Fulham looked like the game plan was to lose by as few goals as possible and not to get anyone injured. That we succeeded in that is testimony to Scarfy Mancini, who obviously told his boys to take their foot off the gas. For the last half hour, City were content to pass the ball around in midfield. As a matter of fact, most of their good attacking moves came from weak Fulham corners. There was exactly one decent corner today – delivered by Riise who came on for Senderos. City didn’t have that many. It’s all very well to have the undersoil heating keep the pitch clear of ice; it would be even nicer if the paths to the corner flag had the same affect.

Who looked good? For the third match running, Damian Duff gave it everything he had. Davies amazed me by putting in another 90 minutes in freezing conditions. Hangeland was decent, although the pitch didn’t favor any defender. Which brings up a point I’ve always wanted to make here. When the playing surface is icy, snowy, or muddy, the advantage has to go to the attacking team because attacking players know where they’re going while defenders have to react. Fulham never once pushed City’s midfield. The highly suspect Savic didn’t touch the ball today in my memory, and Joe Hart’s brilliant save in injury time was amazing in that it was the only work he had to do for 95 minutes.

Some will say that we shouldn’t have expected anything today. Given the weather, I suppose that’s a solid argument. But we never pressured their makeshift defense – NOT ONCE – while all three of their goals came as the result of our defenders struggling with the conditions enough to be just slightly too slow to react. And, as they like to say, the conditions are the same for both teams. Some may say that a three goal beating at the league leaders was to be expected, but we’d taken 8 of our the last 12 points at the City of Manchester Stadium, and had justice been served last season, it would have been 10 of 12. I’m not sure why we didn’t at least go for it.

Hard to pick out a Man of the Match, so I won’t, but it was great to see Mark Schwarzer out there. His distribution is still the weakest aspect of his game, but he marshaled our penalty area well, wasn’t at fault for any of the goals, and made a few handy saves. I wasn’t sure if he’d had any actual pitch time since his injury – reserves/closed door friendlies – but he sure looked good today.

Here’s hoping that conditions are better in London and that Pog’s exit visa from Germany is resolved before Stoke City next weekend. If we’re going to play this toothless on the road, we’re going to have to get the 12 or so points we need at home. Shouldn’t be a problem.

As usual, I haven’t read any match reports or any comments on Fulham sites before writing this. I’m really looking forward to reading how the result was the fault of Dembëlë, Kelly, Senderos, or Ruiz. I don’t expect to be disappointed. Sigh

COYW