Going to be a long hard season. Gird your loins, but Fulham has what it takes to stay up.
Anguissa, Loftus-Cheek, Cairney, and Lemina is a good enough midfield with a bit of quality.
Robinson and A-Man in defense can hang at this level. Aina would have been Tete's backup, but he is at least sturdy in defense, but lacks concentration going forward and a bit weak in the pass. Until Andersen returns, we'll just have to do with one other centre back who kind of bends but doesn't break which was about how Ream played today.
Mitro is awesome and a problem. He's just a unique player, but he limits our counter attacking due to his lack of pace.
Lookman looked fantastic today. Cavaleiro and the others can fill in the third attacking option. Ideally, if we are going to go with Mitro, we should have someone who can play off of him and then also be the focal point or outlet for any counter attacks.
We should also play for corner kicks now.
I think we showed mettle overall. We have what it takes to get 17th-16thand stay there.
Quote from: OhConnah on October 18, 2020, 02:31:26 PM
I think we showed mettle overall. We have what it takes to get 17th-16thand stay there.
Which is perfect for staying up!
I did say I think we'd stay up having got a random feeling - but it'll be squeeky bum time. We really need to keep progressing and stepping up though in terms of team cohesion and players putting in a shift. The amount of times we didn't even seemingly bother to go for the second balls when we could've won them and the equal number we had our players walking around when they were in positions to effect/tackle the oppositions play. We really need to pick up and in particular Ream, Cairney and Cavaleiro today.
We've got a window now to take some points and put a window between us and Sheffield Utd the next few games as they play Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea (two of those games away).
Two other things that I've noticed - Mitro has apparently missed 4 of his last 10 penalties in all competitions... should he really be our penalty taker? Surely we have someone else who could take them? RLC? Lookman? Cairney?
Also, we're starting to play well away from home, our last two games for instance. That means that in three games this season we've been in the games all away and could've got points. Whilst there's a big difference between should've or have with points, we've got those three games at home to come and hopefully that'll count for something this season.
I don't see it. It was a much better second half today, but the opposition were weak. I think we have some really strong players (Anguissa, Lookman, Areola), but with the gaping holes of our LCB and RW we are always fighting against the tide. If we plugged those holes and had added someone like King I reckon we would have finished mid table. It always devestates me when one of our top players does something amazing to open up space, but the ball gets played to one of our quality deadzones and the chance is wasted. It must be really frustrating for those players too.
That said, much much better today, We were actually competitive, and should have won in the end. I would have killed to have players like Anguissa and Lookman when we were an established Premier League club. Unfortunately they have come at the wrong time. Fingers crossed I eat my words and you are proven right.
I think we will grow into the season and pleasantly surprise,
We deserved 3 today, that penalty decision was diabolical....
Quote from: Big T on October 18, 2020, 03:13:51 PM
I think we will grow into the season and pleasantly surprise,
We deserved 3 today, that penalty decision was diabolical....
This is the spirit. I think so too. Parker will keep them together and going. This team will show some character.
Quote from: Sgt Fulham on October 18, 2020, 03:10:02 PM
I don't see it. It was a much better second half today, but the opposition were weak. I think we have some really strong players (Anguissa, Lookman, Areola), but with the gaping holes of our LCB and RW we are always fighting against the tide. If we plugged those holes and had added someone like King I reckon we would have finished mid table. It always devestates me when one of our top players does something amazing to open up space, but the ball gets played to one of our quality deadzones and the chance is wasted. It must be really frustrating for those players too.
That said, much much better today, We were actually competitive, and should have won in the end. I would have killed to have players like Anguissa and Lookman when we were an established Premier League club. Unfortunately they have come at the wrong time. Fingers crossed I eat my words and you are proven right.
This is wrong thought. If I was Boris Johnson or Sadiq Khan I would put you in time out. :)
Seriously though, this team isn't much different from past Fulham teams, i.e. a collection of misfits who barely keep the team up year after year.
While I admire the OP's optimism, and believe me, I hope he's right, I still have a hard time seeing this team clear. Sure, today 'should have' produced three points, but it didn't. And I know we have a few good players sidelined with injury, but that's part of the game, every team has such setbacks. Until we see a 'complete' game, resulting in three points, it's hard to see the light. A few players today had good games, but alas, several did not, including our sole striker.
Quote from: OhConnah on October 18, 2020, 02:31:26 PM
I think we showed mettle overall. We have what it takes to get 17th-16thand stay there.
If we play like we did after we scored, then a much higher finish is possible.
Quote from: WindyCity on October 18, 2020, 03:35:28 PM
While I admire the OP's optimism, and believe me, I hope he's right, I still have a hard time seeing this team clear. Sure, today 'should have' produced three points, but it didn't. And I know we have a few good players sidelined with injury, but that's part of the game, every team has such setbacks. Until we see a 'complete' game, resulting in three points, it's hard to see the light. A few players today had good games, but alas, several did not, including our sole striker.
Yes, this is the worry. We played well enough in the second half to come away with 3 points .. but we didn't. We rode our luck a bit in the first half, but then deservedly went ahead. We have to close out games. And we don't have a lot of time to learn as dropped points could cost us dear. We will play against better teams, and I expect Sheffield to be in the bottom 6, possibly bottom 3 even though their work rate and closing down of players was particularly good in the first half. I agree though that today was encouraging and I too would like to think we can compete against at least half of the teams. When we play the stronger sides, we will need to be much harder to break down if we are ever to get anything out of those games.
I think we will stay up this year but need the team to practice looking up & only passing the ball to Fulham players & for those players to get into positions to receive the ball. I saw some good performances today especially in the second half but all our players need to be aware of their responsibilities & track back when required. I think we narrowly avoided a thrashing in the first half and that SP must have delivered a rousing half time speech that livened them up.
Quote from: WindyCity on October 18, 2020, 03:35:28 PM
While I admire the OP's optimism, and believe me, I hope he's right, I still have a hard time seeing this team clear. Sure, today 'should have' produced three points, but it didn't. And I know we have a few good players sidelined with injury, but that's part of the game, every team has such setbacks. Until we see a 'complete' game, resulting in three points, it's hard to see the light. A few players today had good games, but alas, several did not, including our sole striker.
Exactly!! We get our 1st point against 1 of the worst sides in the division but still arguably better than us and more likely to stay up than us and yet some suddenly think everything is rosy again, fickle isn't it! I will agree that the style of football we played today was worth watching, the downside was our only real goal scorer had a stinker and we have no plan B to replace him. God forbid if he gets injured, what will we do then??
Quote from: Sgt Fulham on October 18, 2020, 03:10:02 PM
I don't see it. It was a much better second half today, but the opposition were weak. I think we have some really strong players (Anguissa, Lookman, Areola), but with the gaping holes of our LCB and RW we are always fighting against the tide. If we plugged those holes and had added someone like King I reckon we would have finished mid table. It always devestates me when one of our top players does something amazing to open up space, but the ball gets played to one of our quality deadzones and the chance is wasted. It must be really frustrating for those players too.
That said, much much better today, We were actually competitive, and should have won in the end. I would have killed to have players like Anguissa and Lookman when we were an established Premier League club. Unfortunately they have come at the wrong time. Fingers crossed I eat my words and you are proven right.
If we get Tete, Andersen, Reed/Lemina back (I mean 90 minutes), as well as Loftus cheek up for 90 minutes and Cairney replaced by said Lemina/Reed in the starting line up, then yes, there's a chance.
Agreed
Today's second half performance has given us hope, we have a few players of quality capable of winning a match.
That first win has to come quickly though, we now need 39 points from 33 games which sounds like we have a mountain to climb.
I thought Lemina looked very good when he came on today - very sharp and good quality.
I agree with the op. Cairney had his best game in the premeiership today in my view.
Quote from: colinwhite on October 18, 2020, 07:08:56 PM
I agree with the op. Cairney had his best game in the premeiership today in my view.
innit mad how some posters think he shouldnt get anywhere near the team?
Quote from: WindyCity on October 18, 2020, 03:35:28 PM
While I admire the OP's optimism, and believe me, I hope he's right, I still have a hard time seeing this team clear. Sure, today 'should have' produced three points, but it didn't. And I know we have a few good players sidelined with injury, but that's part of the game, every team has such setbacks. Until we see a 'complete' game, resulting in three points, it's hard to see the light. A few players today had good games, but alas, several did not, including our sole striker.
Yes, we may not stay up because the Premier League is probably the most difficult first division league in the world. We are seriously up against it. We're like Finland versus the Soviet Union in WWII. Maybe it is even worse than that.
That said we have what it takes to stay up. If we can boss this Sheff Utd team for a half, we'll be all right. These guys almost made it into European competition. Sure they're starting off slow this season, but they are big boys and we held our own against them and should have won the game. I don't see Parker losing the squad and will keep them fighting all season long, which gives us a great shot of staying up.
Some of us, not many admittedly, have been saying for a while that we'll turn it round. We just look so much stronger than last time. We've been crying out for a player that gets you on your feet for so long. Lookman is that man. We've not had someone that can scare the bejesus out of opposition for so long.
I can't be certain but you've got to think we can only get better as we gel
Excited about what a lot of our new players bring to the table, more optimistic than I was a couple of weeks ago, shame about Mitro today but a lot of other positives!!
Yes I agree we are in with a chance of staying up but we have to grow into the team we want to become quickly
