FoF MOTM Fulham 1 v 1 Man United and post match thread =ESR

[Moussa Dembele the 3rd]

We have a good squad. Sess was awesome today. 

We do but imagine if we had brought in new players that improved us early, we could've been at least 2 points better off.

However, as it is. The results are a lot better than I expected. I was expected zero points from the first three matches.

I still don't understand this sentiment. Who is getting benched for the new players? Who in the current squad do you feel isn't good enough and needs to be replaced?

It's not about replacing people -
 it's about having alternatives for different approaches to different opponents. It's also about being able to cover positions when international duty comes in and when the physical needs of a long Prem season take their toll.

I understand that, I'm not an idiot. But if new players are coming in, some current players will have to be left out. Today neither Diop or Periera were in the squad. Who would you suggest also gets left out of the game day squad to accommodate new arrivals? And how do you think that will impact squad morale over the course of a season?

I understand the need to augment the team in certain areas, but this is collective freak-out about lack of transfers is completely over the top.

[HV71]

So it's " over the top " to be concerned if the manager thinks there is a plan in place and it isn't delivered. Ever managed a multi million £  company with expectations and plans / estimates in place ?

[Tabby]

We have a good squad. Sess was awesome today. 

We do but imagine if we had brought in new players that improved us early, we could've been at least 2 points better off.

However, as it is. The results are a lot better than I expected. I was expected zero points from the first three matches.

I still don't understand this sentiment. Who is getting benched for the new players? Who in the current squad do you feel isn't good enough and needs to be replaced?

It's not about replacing people -
 it's about having alternatives for different approaches to different opponents. It's also about being able to cover positions when international duty comes in and when the physical needs of a long Prem season take their toll.

I understand that, I'm not an idiot. But if new players are coming in, some current players will have to be left out. Today neither Diop or Periera were in the squad. Who would you suggest also gets left out of the game day squad to accommodate new arrivals? And how do you think that will impact squad morale over the course of a season?

I understand the need to augment the team in certain areas, but this is collective freak-out about lack of transfers is completely over the top.

So why are you acting like people are ridiculous for wanting it.? I'm sure it hurt Rodak's feelings when we replaced him with Leno or Reed and Cairney when we brought in Palhinha. Pereira and Lukic, but I thought it was a football club and not a 5 a side in the park.

[WolverineFFC]

Think a point was probably a fair result - we could easily have been 0-1 down in the opening minutes,

Very enjoyable to see the penalty from Fernandes go over the bar.

I don't think anybody performed poorly (any Castagne criticism here is unnecessarily harsh in my view).

When the equalizer went in, we still kept playing for a victory.

Laughable that despite spending the Earth on bringing in a completely new attack, they had to bring on Harry Maguire late on to try and get a goal!

Still undefeated - not setting the world alight but we looked decent for the most part and I don't think anybody performed poorly (any Castagne criticism extremely harsh in my view), which bodes well. Just hope we can get suitable reinforcements in that will make the difference between a satisfactory season and really good one before the window 'slams' shut.

Don't think anyone is criticising Castagne, he played very well. The criticism is for Marco playing this formation and playing Castagne.

Yeah a strange one. Not sure where the "threat" was coming from on that side to double up with the fullbacks. Seemed like the ideal situation for Adama be out there running at Shaw and Dorgu.

[Moussa Dembele the 3rd]

We have a good squad. Sess was awesome today. 

We do but imagine if we had brought in new players that improved us early, we could've been at least 2 points better off.

However, as it is. The results are a lot better than I expected. I was expected zero points from the first three matches.

I still don't understand this sentiment. Who is getting benched for the new players? Who in the current squad do you feel isn't good enough and needs to be replaced?

It's not about replacing people -
 it's about having alternatives for different approaches to different opponents. It's also about being able to cover positions when international duty comes in and when the physical needs of a long Prem season take their toll.

I understand that, I'm not an idiot. But if new players are coming in, some current players will have to be left out. Today neither Diop or Periera were in the squad. Who would you suggest also gets left out of the game day squad to accommodate new arrivals? And how do you think that will impact squad morale over the course of a season?

I understand the need to augment the team in certain areas, but this is collective freak-out about lack of transfers is completely over the top.

So why are you acting like people are ridiculous for wanting it.? I'm sure it hurt Rodak's feelings when we replaced him with Leno or Reed and Cairney when we brought in Palhinha. Pereira and Lukic, but I thought it was a football club and not a 5 a side in the park.

I think the whole woe is me we're going to get relegated is overly dramatic. Of course Marco is going to be upset if we don't spend as much as possible. That's his job and his prerogative. But we have a good team in place and I think we should be excited for the season instead of moaning about how much money isn't being spent. The club has spent a lot on players over the past few seasons. I think fans are too wrapped up in the whole hype around transfer season and get more excited about the potential of new unknown players than they do the actual very good players that are already on the team in every position. Like I said on another post, last year Liverpool barely spent a penny and won the league.

[Carborundum]

Sessegnon for me.  He has to be found a place on the pitch, such is the dynamism he brings.

Iwobi was very clever in spotting what went wrong in the first few minutes and fixing it.

Tete, ESR and Lukic had good games.

Berge had one of his perfect strangers games where progressive passes just aren't happening.  ManU were there to be sliced open and he couldn't / wouldn't.

Fun to see Fernandes have a shocker.  De Ligt was very good for the opposition.

[sarnian]

Sessegnon for me.  He has to be found a place on the pitch, such is the dynamism he brings.

Iwobi was very clever in spotting what went wrong in the first few minutes and fixing it.

Tete, ESR and Lukic had good games.

Berge had one of his perfect strangers games where progressive passes just aren't happening.  ManU were there to be sliced open and he couldn't / wouldn't.

Fun to see Fernandes have a shocker.  De Ligt was very good for the opposition.

As well as Sess did i thought we were far better when Robinson came on.

[Shredhead]

ESR for me - much more direct this season and a proper forwards finish.
Leno a close second.
No one had a mare, although Raul looked off the pace and Muniz unconvincing.

[Angus Telford]

Like I said on another post, last year Liverpool barely spent a penny and won the league.

We're not going to win the league though. We're not going to win anything except 15th

[scotto2000]

good team performance but I thought we looked most dangerous with Iwobi driving forward
 

[The Little Dave]

Iwobi for me but almost bottled it at the end letting Maguire coast by him on their final two corners.

[blingo]

Like I said on another post, last year Liverpool barely spent a penny and won the league.

We're not going to win the league though. We're not going to win anything except 15th

Bet ya half a crown we finish higher than that Angus.

[Kimbleman]

Lukic....ran his socks off and did all the dirty stuff. His corners are also way better than Andreas.

[bog]

I don't often give credit to Fernandes but he didn't have any gripe with the ref for bumping into him thus putting him off taking the penalty. I expected a right blast on this costing them the game and severely damaged his coxyx  (may be spelt incorrectly)   

[Whitestone]

Has Robinson lost a bit of pace? I hope not...

It was his first game coming back from being out injured all summer. Some rust is to be expected.

I didn't see any rust. He was at his best when he beat Mbeumo in a foot race near the end when a break was on.

[Tabby]

Has Robinson lost a bit of pace? I hope not...

It was his first game coming back from being out injured all summer. Some rust is to be expected.

I didn't see any rust. He was at his best when he beat Mbeumo in a foot race near the end when a break was on.

He managed to stay ahead of Mbuemo in a foot race where he had a head start and put it out for a throw. Last season he would have been comfortable to outrun Mbuemo and keep control of the ball. Some bad control and sloppy passes as well. He is still a good LB when not at the top of his game but the bar for Robinson is high.

[copthornemike]

MotM - the magnificent fast moving defensive colossus called Bassey's Backside.
Not even Mbeumo (who terrorised the Arsenal defence last week) could get past it 

[S.F.Sorrow]

Overall a good performance from most of our players against 12 men.

Sess had a fantastic game and was my MOTM, but it could easily have been Leno, Bassey, Tete or Lukic. They all had a really good game.

Great to see ESR get a goal.

Castagne our weakest link today.

Andersen's lack of pace is cause for concern IMO.

King's decision making was poor at times, but he's still learning and showed glimpses of pure class!

Has Robinson lost a bit of pace? I hope not...

Didn't he have a foot race against Mbeumo or Cunha and he won it?

That's probably the incident that got me worried. He won it, but only just barely. Not nearly as convincingly as I would have expected from him in the past. Maybe I was just imagining things, or maybe he still needs some time to regain full match fitness.

[S.F.Sorrow]

We have a good squad. Sess was awesome today. 

We do but imagine if we had brought in new players that improved us early, we could've been at least 2 points better off.

However, as it is. The results are a lot better than I expected. I was expected zero points from the first three matches.

I still don't understand this sentiment. Who is getting benched for the new players? Who in the current squad do you feel isn't good enough and needs to be replaced?

The problem with our squad isn't about the players we have, but about the players we DON'T have when injuries/suspensions (and general fatigue) start to pile up. We need more depth in several positions. Of course this probably didn't affect last nights result, but over a full season it will. It also wouldn't hurt to see some ambition and sign players that are a clear upgrade on the ones we've already got. We can't expect to finish much higher than last season if we only have the same players as last season.

Luckily we still have a week to fill the most obvious holes in our squad. Fingers crossed!

[SerbianLad]

I think we deserved to win that, apart from the opening 15 minutes or so, we were much better than Manchester United. Looking at the stats, it only confirms what I've said. We even had more xG, despite them having a penalty(an undeserved one at that) and their goal being illegal (which also added xG). The interesting thing I noticed yesterday was that we were marking them man to man pretty much throughout the match.

Leno - excellent. Whenever he needed to do something he did.

Tete- superb throughout the match. When we played with a back 5 he did really well defensively, when we moved to a back four he was maybe even our most dangerous player. Combined really well with Wilson and Lukic on the right on multiple occasions.

Andersen - overall it was a good performance, but I thought he was really shaky at the beginning of the match. Looked way too slow for Cunha. Improved as the match went on and was pretty solid in the end.

Bassey - excellent performance from him. He was tasked with marking Mbuemo and he did a superb job.

Castagne - okay performance. Not sure why he is receiving so much stick online. Solid defensively, had some decent moments in attack too.

Berge - started pretty poorly imo, as he gave the ball a few times when he wasn't even under pressure. Improved as the match went on and was excellent in the second half.

Lukic - superb performance. Covered a lot of ground. Was tasked with man marking Bruno Fernandes, and was pretty successful as I thought Fernandes had a pretty quiet game. Offensively, he often joined the attack and won a few corners in those situations. His set-piece delivery was pretty good too. Most of them were decent and we could easily have scored two goals from his corners (Muniz in the first half when he just missed the ball and another one similar in the second half)

King - pretty good. He had some wonderful moments where he looked genuinely world class, but also at times looked to struggle with the physicality of Manchester United's players. He's going to be a great player and I hope we can keep him for many more years.

Iwobi - back to his best. He needs someone to make overlapping runs to be more effective and he had Sess (and later on Robinson) doing just that. From the first minute to the last he looked excellent. Lovely assist in the end too.

Muniz - had some good moments, but a relatively quiet game from him. Could he have done better from that chance he had after a corner where he just missed the ball? One thing you can never fault is his effort.

Subs:
Robinson - I agree with those who say he didn't look like he was at 100%. He had a head start in that race with Mbuemo and he still just barely won it, I feel like in their previous duels, Robinson looked faster. That being said, he was out for a long time and that's to be expected probably. Great having him back as he's very important to the way we play.

Wilson - great performance from him and he needed it in my opinion, as he was pretty poor against Brighton. Some of his attacks with Tete and Lukic on the right looked excellent.

Raul - decent.

ESR - great performance from him. Looked really confident in both appearances of the bench this season. Excellent movement for his goal and a good finish. Think he deserves to start our next PL game, whether it's instead of King or Wilson(with Iwobi moving to the right).