Pace

[bencher]

A key asset in the PL. Last time around, we did not exactly possess it in spades. The only pace merchants we had were AK47 (barely used) and Ryan Sessegnon (used but often out of position, and teams found out how to rob him of the ball). Anguissa offered some thrust in the centre of the pitch but had injuries. We were hugely vulnerable to pace from the other teams. We didn't replace Ryan Fredericks whose speed used to get us out of trouble.

This time, if anything we have even less pace in the team. If we manage to recruit Antonee Robinson, his pace, which is somewhat reminiscent of Fred, could be very helpful. But we are in dire need of some more pace injected into the squad. If Anguissa returns and stays fit it would help. Harrison Reed, if he joins permanently, has that useful mixture of speed with anticipation, which would help, but he's untested at PL level. Going forward, we will need to offer the threat on the counter attack so ensure teams cannot camp in our half without worrying about the space behind them.

[HillingdonFFC]

The thing that hit home for me last time in the prem was how pedestrian we looked across the whole team. Big fan of Cairney & co but we struggled with the athleticism, physicality & mobility even the average premier league side had.

[filham]

The only sign of pace in our team at the moment comes from AK47 and he has yet to establish a place in our regular starting line up. Wide men Knock and Cav. were rarely seen to attack defenders on the outside and were regularly played as inside out wide men where there moves were predictable and easily dealt with.

Christie, from time to time offered pace in attack but was not automatic choice at right back and may be exposed defensively in the Premier League.

[Lordedmundo]

Yes - completely agree. Aside from Kamara and Sess - it was only a 32 year old Ryan Babel who had any pace last time we were in the Premier League! Now we just have Kamara, although Hector is quick for a centre half.  The club has somehow spunked £30m plus on three attacking players (Knockaert, Reid and Cavaleiro), none of whom are that quick.

I think it is essential that we bring in a pacy right back and another quick centre half, plus another attacking player with some speed (if it has to be Babel again then I would be happy enough - provided the other positions are covered).

[The Rational Fan]

Usain Bolt has been released from his club and he is a lot faster than Ryan Fredericks.

[bencher]

Usain Bolt has been released from his club and he is a lot faster than Ryan Fredericks.

But can he do it on a wet and windy Tuesday night at Burnley?

[We Are Premier League]

A key asset in the PL. Last time around, we did not exactly possess it in spades. The only pace merchants we had were AK47 (barely used) and Ryan Sessegnon (used but often out of position, and teams found out how to rob him of the ball). Anguissa offered some thrust in the centre of the pitch but had injuries. We were hugely vulnerable to pace from the other teams. We didn't replace Ryan Fredericks whose speed used to get us out of trouble.

This time, if anything we have even less pace in the team. If we manage to recruit Antonee Robinson, his pace, which is somewhat reminiscent of Fred, could be very helpful. But we are in dire need of some more pace injected into the squad. If Anguissa returns and stays fit it would help. Harrison Reed, if he joins permanently, has that useful mixture of speed with anticipation, which would help, but he's untested at PL level. Going forward, we will need to offer the threat on the counter attack so ensure teams cannot camp in our half without worrying about the space behind them.

Not sure i woudl go as far as calling Anguissa and Reed speedy...altough they would add strength and a lot of tackles...   

[bencher]

One other player to add into the mix. As alluded to by TRF, it's not so much about raw pace as pace/power/athleticism mixed with control, which is a huge differentiator between PL and Championship.

It will be interesting to see how Josh Onomah deals with the PL. He has some of the physical attributes that could be very helpful at the higher level. A long way to go of course but I would like to see him look to emulate Yaya Toure as a midfielder that can dominate games, carry the ball up the pitch at speed and score goals.

[The Rational Fan]

Usain Bolt has been released from his club and he is a lot faster than Ryan Fredericks.

But can he do it on a wet and windy Tuesday night at Burnley?

No he couldn't do it in Australia's A League, but Usain Bolt did ok at West Ham's stadium in mid-summer 2012.

[colinwhite]

Good post. agree. people think pace and quickness are the same thing ,they are not. The only player we have with pace at present is Kamara,which is why we werent particularly good on the Counter last season. Reid ,knock hart and cavalero are quick but cant beat a man with pace.We have missed fredricks and sessignons pace and mobillity since 2018. I am sure SP is very aware of this.

[toshes mate]

Good posts from bencher and colinwhite.

In my memory from games during last season I have seen some of our players produce pace and panic in equal measure.  They simply lose their heads.  I am not going to name them because it is a natural thing for a player to suddenly realise that by conceding possession they may have left a gaping hole somewhere.    Some players do the pace thing better than others (George Cohen, I believe, was once clocked around eleven seconds for a one hundred yard sprint which is impressive) but it is always about how you use all that speed.   Those who lack real pace become more obvious in the panicky moments because you know they haven't the legs to run really fast to help team mates out and recover control of the football.   Opponents know that too.

Good game readers probably get a good half yard start on some if not most opponents and we are going to meet plenty of those in the PL and that is where our coaches can earn their money by turning players into better readers of the game.   The seasonal improvement in some of our core players from the season just ended appeared to me to have come from having more time to think before acting and getting delivery of action right both when using the ball and when defending the ball. When the ball is moved fast and true then there is a natural increase in tempo and pace, with a commensurate degree of improving confidence.   The converse happens when players panic because you stop thinking about what you are doing and that is when multiple mistakes can occur.

Aboubakar running at pace at a defender is a great sight but watching him make a deft assist for another player to score is equally pleasing to the eyes.   There is perhaps more talent in this squad than is readily apparent to us supporters which gives me confidence that we will do better this time.  Forget the opposition because Onamah's goal against Cardiff was a treat and Kebano's dead ball kicks are sublime as examples of rising confidence.   We do need some squad additions to help us manage games better than we did last time in PL especially when we are defending but I remain optimistic about next season all other things being equal.   Parker has managed to persuade me there is life after Jokanovic and I hope he gets all the support he needs from elsewhere within the Club.

[Bassey the warrior]

We desperately need more pace and this is why I was disappointed we signed Knockaert permanently, he is very slow which is why he can't beat his man. Cavaleiro is quicker even if he's not rapid and Reid doesn't rely so much on pace, he relies more on movement. I don't see Knocky as being PL quality, so I hope we upgrade on him.

[Bassey the warrior]

Yes - completely agree. Aside from Kamara and Sess - it was only a 32 year old Ryan Babel who had any pace last time we were in the Premier League! Now we just have Kamara, although Hector is quick for a centre half.  The club has somehow spunked £30m plus on three attacking players (Knockaert, Reid and Cavaleiro), none of whom are that quick.

I think it is essential that we bring in a pacy right back and another quick centre half, plus another attacking player with some speed (if it has to be Babel again then I would be happy enough - provided the other positions are covered).

I've not seen Babel play since he left but you'd assume at his age that he has lost at least a yard of pace.

[Statto]

Good post. agree. people think pace and quickness are the same thing ,they are not. The only player we have with pace at present is Kamara,which is why we werent particularly good on the Counter last season. Reid ,knock hart and cavalero are quick but cant beat a man with pace.We have missed fredricks and sessignons pace and mobillity since 2018. I am sure SP is very aware of this.

I'd suggest you watch this and fast-forward to the 32nd minute of ET if you don't think Cavaleiro has enough pace to counter-attack. He does about 80m in 8 seconds by my calculations and doesn't even appear to be going flat-out.

https://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?topic=76972.msg1154724#msg1154724

SP is clearly not interested in pace, or at least, he wasn't this year. Our failure to attack with pace this year was solely and entirely down to his tactics, including playing both wingers on the wrong side and having them always cut inside rather than go outside.

I agree we'll need more pace in our game next year. I hope we bring in some more fast players, ie not Babel. But more importantly, I hope SP tweaks our tactics and actually utilises those players correctly, along with our existing fast/quick players like Kamara and Cavaleiro. 

[RaySmith]

Yes - completely agree. Aside from Kamara and Sess - it was only a 32 year old Ryan Babel who had any pace last time we were in the Premier League! Now we just have Kamara, although Hector is quick for a centre half.  The club has somehow spunked £30m plus on three attacking players (Knockaert, Reid and Cavaleiro), none of whom are that quick.

I think it is essential that we bring in a pacy right back and another quick centre half, plus another attacking player with some speed (if it has to be Babel again then I would be happy enough - provided the other positions are covered).

I've not seen Babel play since he left but you'd assume at his age that he has lost at least a yard of pace.

I wouldn't assume that he'd lost that much pace, or even any, in less than 2 years. In fact I  would think it highly unlikely at his age, and in his  condition as an elite athlete, who obviously takes care of himself.

Fitness doesn't drop of a cliff in such a short time while still i the early/mid 30's - such changes are  slight, though obviously incremental as the years  draw on, unless he just stopped playing and  keeping himself fit for  some reason.

You speak as if he was a  sedentary  60 year old, whose main activity was  putting the bin out and feeding the cat!

[Statto]

Yes - completely agree. Aside from Kamara and Sess - it was only a 32 year old Ryan Babel who had any pace last time we were in the Premier League! Now we just have Kamara, although Hector is quick for a centre half.  The club has somehow spunked £30m plus on three attacking players (Knockaert, Reid and Cavaleiro), none of whom are that quick.

I think it is essential that we bring in a pacy right back and another quick centre half, plus another attacking player with some speed (if it has to be Babel again then I would be happy enough - provided the other positions are covered).

I've not seen Babel play since he left but you'd assume at his age that he has lost at least a yard of pace.

Agreed

[The Rational Fan]

Fulham could easily find out his speed over a 30m sprint. The problem with Ryan Babel is without pace I am not sure he would be very effective and if his pace is gone could be a shocking purchase. What's more, he will lose a lot pace compared to when he came here and he probably wants a contract of 1000 days.

[Bassey the warrior]

If we were really ambitious we would bid for Ismaila Sarr. He's rapid and a great dribbler with a good cross on him. Etienne Capoue would be a good backup for Reed.

[Sting of the North]

If we were really ambitious we would bid for Ismaila Sarr. He's rapid and a great dribbler with a good cross on him. Etienne Capoue would be a good backup for Reed.

I would guess Capoue would never come to us to play second fiddle to an unproven player like Reed, but more likely it would be the other way around. I think people are putting far too much faith in Reed performing as well in the PL that he did for the last portion of last season. Hopefully he will, but many seem to believe that he is already at an established PL level, which is of course totally wrong. So many players have failed to make that step, for one reason or another. Capoue on the other hand has 170 something PL starts.