Naïve Cairney

[Pieter A’dam]

I agree that Cairney has plenty to offer, but he has to get his act together rapidly for his own sake and the teams sake. He walks off the pitch with his kit as clean as he walks on it, and I don't like that. But i shall cut him some slack providing he rolls his sleeves up when he plays and shows some urgency and make himself busy on and off the ball, it's called work rate.
Talking about work rate, Ruben is another one that is not doing himself justice or the team, but I shall cut him some slack also as I feel the best is yet to come with his physical presence.
Both these players have to show more hunger and more appetite and more desire if they want to hold down a place as competition is rife which for me is reassuring, with injuries, suspensions and loss of form is important that Cairney and Ruben show us and their manager and team mates what they are capable of.

You are spot on ! Our position on the table doesn't allow for players with poor work ethic. We need to sweat blood for every point and it's strange that Parker allows this over and over again with especially TC since this going on since we beat Villa at Wembley.

[alfie]

I agree that Cairney has plenty to offer, but he has to get his act together rapidly for his own sake and the teams sake. He walks off the pitch with his kit as clean as he walks on it, and I don't like that. But i shall cut him some slack providing he rolls his sleeves up when he plays and shows some urgency and make himself busy on and off the ball, it's called work rate.
Talking about work rate, Ruben is another one that is not doing himself justice or the team, but I shall cut him some slack also as I feel the best is yet to come with his physical presence.
Both these players have to show more hunger and more appetite and more desire if they want to hold down a place as competition is rife which for me is reassuring, with injuries, suspensions and loss of form is important that Cairney and Ruben show us and their manager and team mates what they are capable of.

You are spot on ! Our position on the table doesn't allow for players with poor work ethic. We need to sweat blood for every point and it's strange that Parker allows this over and over again with especially TC since this going on since we beat Villa at Wembley.

It's interesting using the phrase "poor work ethic" someone like Harrison-Reed, he flies around the pitch, is that great work ethic, or is it just his natural game. A friend of mine accused Anguissa as being a bit lazy, I had to point out to him that he doesn't need to fly around, his skill level is such that he appears to do things in slow motion, to great effect.

[FulhamStu]

If I compare Anguissa and Leminas effort and influence to Cairneys on Saturday, then it's chalk and cheese.  Tom looked a level below the other 2 and I am afraid he just does not process the speed and fight required at this level.  He is an excellent technical player but is struggling and I feel that RLC whilst also generally disappointing has the potential to play at a much higher level than Tom. It's as though Tom has too much money and a lovely lifestyle and has not enough hunger. 

[JimOG]

If I compare Anguissa and Leminas effort and influence to Cairneys on Saturday, then it's chalk and cheese.  Tom looked a level below the other 2 and I am afraid he just does not process the speed and fight required at this level.  He is an excellent technical player but is struggling and I feel that RLC whilst also generally disappointing has the potential to play at a much higher level than Tom. It's as though Tom has too much money and a lovely lifestyle and has not enough hunger.

Agreed - he'd help get a Bournemouth or similar over the line and might well feel like moving on next month if the finances are right Thing is there were flashes against WBA that amazed me. At full tilt rather than in his own comfort zone there's a very good Championship midfielder in there

[ALG01]

I love tom but i agree for the goal he should have been motoring to get back. aina made a terrible error to lose possesion but seems to be busting a gut to get back as soon as possible.

He needs to do better than that.

[JimOG]

Aina is mentioned on the teamsheet of FFC u23 side today - are there 2?

[hopper]

If I compare Anguissa and Leminas effort and influence to Cairneys on Saturday, then it's chalk and cheese.  Tom looked a level below the other 2 and I am afraid he just does not process the speed and fight required at this level.  He is an excellent technical player but is struggling and I feel that RLC whilst also generally disappointing has the potential to play at a much higher level than Tom. It's as though Tom has too much money and a lovely lifestyle and has not enough hunger.

Agreed - he'd help get a Bournemouth or similar over the line and might well feel like moving on next month if the finances are right Thing is there were flashes against WBA that amazed me. At full tilt rather than in his own comfort zone there's a very good Championship midfielder in there

Yeah exactly this, the interview in the Athletic and his social media make me think he is perhaps overly comfortable and Fulham, and is content to do just about enough. Every so often he has an absolute stormer and reminds you what he's capable of. But seems like a luxury player that we can ill afford.

Perhaps we need a third option in the no.10 to ramp up the competition a little bit more.

It's unusual how the old guard this year don't seem to be pulling up any trees, but the new boys seem fully committed to the cause - perhaps speaks well for the recruitment in terms of profile of new players, but definitely Parker's abilities to motivate his players.

[Denver Fulham]

Tom's "best" position in this league is deeper as a possession/pressure release, but he's not beating out two of Anguissa, Lemina and Reed to regularly start in that part of the field. He's too one-footed and conservative to be a 10 in the PL. And with Onomah presumably coming back in January, Tom's chances for minutes may be even further reduced with RLC seemingly already preferred as the nominal CAM.

Cairney's 30 and has been a great servant to the club. If he's not quite good enough for this league, there's no crime in that. Mitrovic may be in the same boat, for us anyway. He didn't do much for us in the second half of the 2018-19 season and this year has been out of shape and out of form. I still love him and have thoroughly enjoyed his time at the club.

[General]

Aina is mentioned on the teamsheet of FFC u23 side today - are there 2?

His brother also joined from Chelsea though on a permanent over the summer.

[mancwhite]

I love tom but i agree for the goal he should have been motoring to get back. aina made a terrible error to lose possesion but seems to be busting a gut to get back as soon as possible.

He needs to do better than that.

Maybe he could use that yellow Lamborghini

[DanVerSar]

Whilst I don't think Johansen has the quality to be a starter in the PL, he would never have let players run past in dangerous situations. Take the yellow, regroup and reorganise rather than concede. Agree about the softness of our team and think Parker has made reference to it is some of his press conferences. This kind of naivety will cost us points in the PL.

The diving point I do not agree with. As a matter of principle, I would not want our players to dive to earn free kicks and penalties regardless of whether we would score more goals or not. The Sterling, Wilson and Salah dives in recent weeks have been ridiculous and I would be embarrassed to see our players cheating like that

[Arthur]

Whilst I don't think Johansen has the quality to be a starter in the PL, he would never have let players run past in dangerous situations. Take the yellow, regroup and reorganise rather than concede. Agree about the softness of our team and think Parker has made reference to it is some of his press conferences. This kind of naivety will cost us points in the PL.

The diving point I do not agree with. As a matter of principle, I would not want our players to dive to earn free kicks and penalties regardless of whether we would score more goals or not. The Sterling, Wilson and Salah dives in recent weeks have been ridiculous and I would be embarrassed to see our players cheating like that

I don't agree that these two actions can be separated into that which is acceptable and that which isn't. Johansen hacked rather than dived because that was the way to achieve his objective of stopping our opponents from scoring. Wilson dived rather than hacked because that was the way to achieve his objective of earning his team a penalty.

In my opinion, football is diminished as a fair and enjoyable spectacle by both such cynical acts.

[LittleErn]

Was thinking how Cairney reminds me of Arsenal players, tidy with the ball but lacks a sense of fight or toughness, this also manifests in his lack of risk taking on the field - he played a safe pass backwards rather than going forward when we had a numerical advantage, guess it helps stat pad passing accuracy.

Cairney has been a good servant for the club but not sure he is the player to take us forward anymore, and should probably be a squad player at best these days.

This has been evident for some time. He can be useful when we are protecting a lead late into the game as he rarely loses possession, but he also rarely makes the incisive forward passing that is needed to break down defences in this division. I know he is capable of doing that which is why he frustrates me so much! Couple this with his lack of work rate and his predictable one-footed play, and it makes him no better than a squad player. IMHO

[Jims Dentist]

Bournemouth have more than enough talent without TC.

Back to his best now after injury David Brooks makes TC look really pedestrian.

[Woolly Mammoth]

I agree that Cairney has plenty to offer, but he has to get his act together rapidly for his own sake and the teams sake. He walks off the pitch with his kit as clean as he walks on it, and I don't like that. But i shall cut him some slack providing he rolls his sleeves up when he plays and shows some urgency and make himself busy on and off the ball, it's called work rate.
Talking about work rate, Ruben is another one that is not doing himself justice or the team, but I shall cut him some slack also as I feel the best is yet to come with his physical presence.
Both these players have to show more hunger and more appetite and more desire if they want to hold down a place as competition is rife which for me is reassuring, with injuries, suspensions and loss of form is important that Cairney and Ruben show us and their manager and team mates what they are capable of.

You are spot on ! Our position on the table doesn't allow for players with poor work ethic. We need to sweat blood for every point and it's strange that Parker allows this over and over again with especially TC since this going on since we beat Villa at Wembley.

It's interesting using the phrase "poor work ethic" someone like Harrison-Reed, he flies around the pitch, is that great work ethic, or is it just his natural game. A friend of mine accused Anguissa as being a bit lazy, I had to point out to him that he doesn't need to fly around, his skill level is such that he appears to do things in slow motion, to great effect.

Trust me busy hard working players are worth their weight in gold, even when they are having a bad game they are still running around.
Picture this, put yourself in a game where your opponents are both first and second to the ball, they support the man on the ball, because it is written in the Ten Commandments the player on the ball must always have the option of a minimum of 3 players to pass to, otherwise he is not being supported.
Of course as we know the ball never gets tired, but you cannot let the ball do the work on its own.
Busy players, box to box, doubling up, when you lose the ball the best teams win it back straight away, that is work rate and higher tempo. Making your opponents March to the beat of your drum.
The higher the work rate, the more likelihood that you will get the rub of the green, the harder you work the luckier you get.
So going back to my point, when you are playing against a team doing all those basics better that you, and each of your opponents are winning their own battles and supporting each other and working hard on and off the ball, whether in possession or not, it will look to you and your teams mates that there are more than 11 of them, because they are everywhere all over you like a rash, because they are fitter, faster and more tenacious than you, and you say to yourself it feels as though you are playing against 14 men, and that creates a domino effect, you start to lose confidence in yourself and your team mates, you feel second best, your adrenaline shrinks along with your desire.
Whilst your opponents are make angles for each other and more triangles than a Toblerone Chocolate Factory, you find yourself not wanting the ball, in fact you allow opponents to stand between you and the man on the ball so he cannot pass to you.
Why is this happening, because your opponents are doing the basics better than you, and that's the key, The Basics, get that right and your talent and quality will take care of the rest.
That is why the best teams win, and I emphasise best team, not best players. Because the players in the best team are playing within the framework of the team, which results in better team spirit and stronger passion.
No big time Charlie's, no lose cannons, no passengers, no deadwood. That's what the best teams do, they COMPETE for 90 mins, because the first 90 mins are the most important. Brian Clough was the best of all time to get his team Nottingham Forest to play out of their skins by playing the way I have described because he could spot a winner a mile off. When a player is in a comfort zone, you will never get the best out of him. That is why Cloughie and managers like Ron Saunders, Jim Smith were always successful at getting every ounce of effort from their players, even the loveable Neil Warnock is good at doing that because like Cloughie and the others, their players don't want to let them down. These managers have their own Lieutenants on the dressing room, an extension of themselves, surrounding themselves with 3 or 4 players who are leaders. That is why you never saw a Brian Clough team with a soft underbelly, and talking about soft underbelly. 
Look at the current Arsenal team, they are the complete opposite to any Clough team, no leaders, no winners, no warriors, no fighters just a bunch of pussy cats, terrible recruitment and weak ethics.
That is why they are where they are, that is no coincidence. Remember Wimbledon beating Liverpool in the Cup Final, Sunderland beating Leeds, Wigan beating City, they were no flukes, because it's not the man in the fight, it's the fight in the man, it's not how tall you are it's how high you jump.
That is why when push comes to shove, a good manager will always use his instinct and pick a team that will save his life, no favouritism if he wants to keep his job and/or improve his CV, and whilst he has loyal Lieutenants in the team, he will never lose the dressing room. That is why it is so important to ensure that your opponents are thinking that they are playing against more than 11 players, Thats work rate running faster, further and longer than your opponents, that's basics along with good communication which breeds confidence.
Go along and watch a game in your local park, and generally the team that is winning is the noisiest, all the players talking and encouraging and looking far more confident, and a lot of that is due to being fitter and stronger and working harder.