Dempsey Preview
(http://www.fulhamfc.com/Images/MainNews/NewsPages/Players/Dempsey/DempseyEuropaNews.jpg)
Fulham's Clint Dempsey spoke to the members of the media ahead of this evening's crucial UEFA Europa League match against Wisla Krakow at Craven Cottage and the US international star in confident Fulham can strengthen their position in Group K tonight.
Q: Clint, you missed the last game in Poland, how loudly did you scream at the television?
A: It was frustrating to see but what can you do? The referee made the decision, he thought it was right. It was a lot of hard work for our guys being a man down and going a goal down trying to get a result.
It was unfair for them not to get a draw because that would have been a nice result after dealing with that.
Things don’t always happen the way you want but all we can do is get ready for the next game and take advantage of having the same number of players as they do and play the football we can and get the right result.
Q: Mousa accepts he should not have raised his hand and the Argentinean shouldn’t dive the way he did. Have you as a group been warned about how you must deal with these sorts of players?
A: You know you must learn from what happens in game. We must be on our best behaviour as always, we have a lot of honest guys on the team.
We get stuck into challenges but we don’t go out to hurt players and I think our record shows that. That’s why we are in the competition; because of fair play. We try and play in the right spirit and that will never change.
Q: You never resort to trying to win free kicks. That’s not the English game?
A: We try to play the right way. There are certain incidents in games where you barely get touched or you might get hit a little bit harder and you go down. Maybe because of fatigue but you don’t do it theatrically, that’s not how we operate. We play in the right spirit and play good football. We’re an honest, hard-working team who go out to play football and work hard.
Q: Players and supporters can get too wrapped up in revenge after what happened in Krakow but you must just focus on the game?
A: Yes we want the result. That’s what we are thinking about - getting the points. We want to advance out of the group, that’s our goal.
Q: Do you feel a sense of achievement getting through to the competition via the fair play award? Does it mean anything to you as players?
A: I think we would have rather got in through finishing higher in the league so we wouldn’t have to play as many games to get to the group stages. Ideally that’s not how we wanted to get in.
Q: Did you think you may have blown it last year as you picked up a few bookings towards the end of the season?
A: It’s one of those things you don’t know until you find out. I think some of the boys knew it may have been close but we are in the competition and we find ourselves in a good position if we get two results.
Q: I think I’m right in saying you've reached Brian McBride’s record for goals in the Premier League?
A: It’s good to be in his sort of company seeing as he is a forward and I’m an outside midfielder. And, I like to score goals and help the team out. It’s great to get to those numbers. Hopefully I can keep pushing it higher and there will be other milestones I can reach.
Q: With the Europa is it a bit non-stop?
A: No, I want to play as much as I can and make the most of my career as you never know how long it will last. You have to pace yourself and be smart in that respect but at the same time, if you feel good then play as much as you can.
Q: Is there a fear with all these games in Europe at the start that it might eventually catch up with you?
A: That’s a good question. We’ll have to wait and see how the guys are feeling. The more we keep them healthy and the deeper the squad available for the games, the better for us. You never know when you will be in a Europe competition again, we have been fortunate enough to be in it twice already, but since I have been here, it will be 5 years in January, you always want to make the most of being in the competition.
Q: Thursday's match is a must-win for Fulham as then you travel to Twente who are top of the group?
A: I think it is definitely a must win for us as we need the points. Like I said you don’t want to wait until the last game where you need a win and have to rely on other results to go your way. Destiny is in our hands and we can get the result tomorrow night. Hopefully we can get out of the group stage and go on a run and make the most of being in the competition.
Q: Do you still feel you can catch Twente at the top of the group or is it just about qualification for you guys?
A: You want to the best you can do and see where each game takes you but you don’t want to wait until the end and have the last game as a must-win to try and advance out of the group. We want to advance out of the group and to win it would be the icing on the cake.
Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2011/November/DempseyWislaPreview.aspx?#ixzz1cdzClZVy (http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2011/November/DempseyWislaPreview.aspx?#ixzz1cdzClZVy)
Opposition Update
(http://www.fulhamfc.com/Images/MainNews/NewsPages/General/KrakowNews.jpg)
Craven Cottage hosted Wisla Krakow's pre-match press conference and training session on Wednesday evening and Fulham's Polish opposition certainly endured a tough time on their travels to London ahead of tonight's game.
“Let me please start with three announcements about our trip to London,” said Wisła Krakow's spokesman on Wednesday night. “First of all, the airport in Kraków was closed [caused by the fog] and we had to travel to Katowice Airport. Then, already in London, our Polish bus driver didn’t know the way to the ground. But most importantly, we have three players absent at the moment as they are still at the airport and not allowed to enter the UK."
With Milan Jovanić, Marko Jovanović and striker Ivica Iliev all stopped at the airport due to invalid working visas to the UK, Wisla Krakow's 17-member squad was reduced to 14 men, with only one goalkeeper eligible to play in Estonian Sergei Pareiko. Fortunately for Wisla their three Serbian players eventually re-joined their team-mates late yesterday evening.
Cezary Wilk, Wisła’s temporary captain, claimed it was his dream to play in England on Wednesday night. “It’s a dream come true but the most important thing is to win the game," said Wilk. "There won’t be a better moment to break the run of poor games for us.”
Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2011/November/WislaKrakowPreview.aspx?#ixzz1cdznDeWB (http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2011/November/WislaKrakowPreview.aspx?#ixzz1cdznDeWB)