The View From South Texas -- FFC v. Blackburn Rovers

[HatterDon]

Clattenburg Gets It Wrong Again -- THANK GOODNESS!!!!!

In a weekend of entertaining see-saw matches in the Barclay's Premier League, Fulham played their part in the drama. Twice taking the lead through great goals by an irrepressable Irish wing wizard and twice losing the lead to scrambled ping-pong goals, the Mighty Whites secured all three points by converting a penalty that ... that ... well, I really don't want read any more posts complaining that we never get any calls.

Yes, I know that there were two very creditable penalty shouts for fouls on AJ that were ignored, and I know that there should have been a free kick [and perhaps a sending off] after a foul on Damian Duff by the last defender that resulted in NO foul and, ultimately, a yellow card for Chris Baird. What I also know is that Clattenburg awarded Fulham a penalty on a play with no discernable foul, and a yellow card on a player who -- apparently -- committed the heinous crime of standing in the referee's view when he blew the whistle. The international broadcasting crew reviewed the replay a good dozen times and found only two mild embraces of Fulham players on the play, neither of which were committed by Grant Henley, who got the yellow. I'm not COMPLAINING, mind, and I thought we were much the better team on the day, but this was a ludicrous decision by a frazzled ref. Before you defend the call, just ask yourself how much you'd be screaming if that had been called on a Fulham player and we lost 2-3 as the result.

About Blackburn. Well, they don't really have a striker worth a crap, do they? For three seasons ending in the Spring of 2009, I kept going on record saying that we needed to have a look at Jason Roberts. Well, much has happened since then, and there's nothing to make me think that Roberts is a Premier League striker any more. The Good Diouf doesn't seem to be doing much either now that the Bad Diouf has scarpered to Glasgow. Blackburn were certainly hobbled by the loss of Dunn, but despite weaknesses up front, in midfield, and despite a defense driven crazy by Our Late President and Damian Duff, I was kind of impressed with them. Regardless of the score, every time they gained possession they had but one aim -- go straight for the Fulham goal in numbers and attack it. This singlemindedness on the road should be enough to keep them up, and I'll be interested to see what Steve Keen can do next season with a side that he builds himself. Say what you will about them, Blackburn contributed mightily to a very entertaining two hours. They have two very good players in Hoilett and Olsson who troubled us throughout.

About Fulham. Well, I thought that this was very much the Damian Duff Show, featuring Andrew Johnson and Dickson Etuhu. Blackburn's central defenders are large and ponderous. They like to have large forwards running at them and having high balls drifted in their direction. Samba is large enough to have his own postal code. What he and his fellow behemoths DON'T like is being dragged out to the touchlines by little elfin creatures 1/3 their weight. I don't think there's much in the universe that might frighten Chris Samba, but I imagine waking him up from a nap by yelling "COVER JOHNSON" might just do it.

Fulham's defense did a good job. Defensively, Salcido was the weakest of the four, but he didn't do anything to hurt us. Offensively, Baird had a major nightmare in the first half. There was a fifteen minute stretch where I thought he was planning on passing to every Blackburn player on the field, but I really dont' think you can blame anyone for the two Blackburn goals. We were under great pressure and the ball did some strange things out there. Despite the fact that Schwarzer's distribution hit an all time low on Saturday, his defensive agility and positioning sense almost compensated. I wonder, however, how many we might have scored if ... well, if he'd fed our attack with any of the urgency and accuracy shown by the markedly inferior Paul Robinson. And what can one say about Hangeland and Hughes? They're just too good.

Our midfield did a good job. Etuhu drew an early yellow card on his first challenge, but managed to play aggressively and cleanly for the remaining 81 minutes. He forced a good save from Robinson and won any number of balls, including some inside our penalty area. Good game for him. Although this was nowhere near his best form of the season, Murphy did fairly well. He also created the event that caused my greatest anguish. I have neighbors in Leon Valley who were no doubt startled out of their wits by my screaming when, with nearly every Fulham player waiting for the ball in Blackburn's penalty area, Cap'n Danny meekly delivered a free kick to the nearest Rover. Nemmind, eh. He's still the biggest bit of class we have. Dempsey had a fair game by his high standards. I think he's lost a bit of form sitting as he is on the verge of double-digit league goals. It was interesting to see him take over Danny's central mid position on 60-something minutes. I've been saying for a long time that I think he's the logical replacement for Danny in that role, perhaps as early as next season. I wonder if Mark was auditioning him. Damian Duff was massive -- if you can be 3'8" tall and still be massive. He tied Blackburn's defense in knots for 90 minutes. The color announcer on the international feed kept saying, "Why do Rovers keep forcing him into the middle of the pitch? Don't they know about his left foot?" I kept laughing and saying, "I know; isn't it cool?" It was also nice to see Duff show some respect to the Rovers fans after his first. The way he's barracked by the Toon fans, it's nice to see the amount of respect that the fans of his other two Premier League sides hold him, and to see him repay it.

AJ put in a MOtM performance again today. I've already spoken of the havoc he wreaked upon the Rovers' defense. The man can find a channel on a billiards table. Keen obviously told his defenders and midfielders to keep Dembele under control. That they did for the most part, and he had a quiet day as a result. I think that other teams will do this at their very peril in the future though. Rovers' concentration on Dembele and Dempsey helped give Duff and AJ all that room.

It was good to see Bobby back, but my goodness he is covered in rust, isn't he? I'm glad he took the penalty. As usual, I haven't read ANY match reports before I typed this, so I'm wondering if any of my fellow FofFers commented on the fact that Bobby's penalty followed the exact same trajectory that Dempsey's did [the one he scored after overruling Murphy], and whether they criticised him for the "weak penalty" he scored as much as they did Clint. The good news is that he still looks strong and committed. The rust will all be off after about 90 more minutes on the pitch, and we're all going to have some fun watching Fulham once he's back to full sharpness.

Gael Kakuta looked very good out there. He has as much ball skill as Moussa and as much pace. For that reason, I don't think anyone is in the same class as those two in the instant panic they can create in opposing defenses. What I liked most about his performance yesterday, however, was not his quick mazy forays towards the Blackburn goal; rather, I loved how he pressured three Blackburn players -- starting just in front of our goal and ending at the halfway line -- in the minutes following our third goal. He relieved the pressure on our defense singlehandedly. This young lad won a fan in Texas with that tigerish defending. Here's an idea: let's give him three full 90 minute appearances: at Old Trafford and at home to Arsenal and Liverpool. Let's let him run at central defenders and create giant holes in their game plans. We might put 6 past Arsenal if he plays for 90 minutes against them like he played for 20 minutes against Rovers.

I'm liking Mark more and more every game. Both his substitutions were with nothing but attack in mind. He felt that we should beat Rovers and he had no intention of settling for anything else. I like this approach. I also like Mark for his wise reaction to Schwarzer's distribution problems. He KNEW that Tha Big Aussie was going to hold the ball, grimacing madly, just long enough for Rovers to get into position and then punt it directly to one of them. Since we weren't going to win any first balls that way, Mark obviously told the lads to win the second balls. I have no idea if this sort of stat is kept, but I'll bet we won over 90% of second balls resulting from kicked clearances by our keeper. I only remember ONE kick that actually went to a Fulham player. So well done the gaffer.

Man of the match? Damian Duff -- with mighty South Texas props to Johnson and Etuhu.

Next up is Everton. They've lost Pineaar and Cahill, but they looked very good against Newcastle. We're unbeaten in 5 league matches, so I'm thinking if we can keep Saha under control -- no easy task -- we might change the course of mighty rivers and actually get a point at Goodison. Two more wins in our last 9 matches should do it. Let's get them before March is over, eh?

COYW

[Mr Fulham]

Great read, Don. I agree with most of it -

nevertheless, I think Paul Robinson is a decent keeper. As you said, his long-balls were pinpoint as ever, and I think his overall play was improved. He's clearly a better keeper than 2-3 years ago.

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who thought AJ had another cracking match. :54:

[MikeR]

Two more wins in our last 9 matches should do it. Let's get them before March is over, eh?

Great post, as always HD. Unfortunately, even redirecting the Thames thru Goodison won't give us two wins before March is over - we only have one more game this month.

[timmyg]

Great stuff Don.

However, just a quick note: there's only one game left in March. Ah hell Mike R beat me to the punch. It's still absurd though.

God bless the FA Cup and International breaks...

[HatterDon]

Thank you, Mr. MikeR. Exit Hatter Don, red faced, and slouching towards Luckenbach.

[BarryP]

Excellent write-up as usual Don.  I explicitly concur with your opinion of Kakuta and the instant panic factor he brings to the pitch.

[TonyGilroy]

Zamora's penalty was stronger than Dempsey's. He hit it harder and, I think, hit it central because the keeper had already committed.

What you won't have seen on TV is just how bad our pitch is. Heavy and bumpy and impossible to play quick passing football. It does us no favours and if improvements can't be made in the month before our next home game I think it would be smart to go more long ball.

Zamora's hold up play makles this an option as might playing Kakuta wide left to throw in the crosses.

Dempsey was only nominally in midfield as by then we were bypassing it if possible.

Hughes flexibility in tactics and substitutions is very welcome. I'm a Murphy cheerleader but the pitch and close marking made him ineffective and Hughes made the right call in taking him off and not putting on Greening as a like for like replacement.

[BalDrick]

Top piece, as ever.

Re penalties, Tony's right that Zamora's was struck harder. That said, I'm not convinced it was a great penaltty. There's a vacancy for someone to learn how to take pens correctly - my personal nomination would be Baird - because increasingly we're being awarded them after Murph has gone off.

[Snibbo]

my personal nomination would be Baird - 

Dunno. Seems like Bairdinho strikes the ball well in training, but his frequent free kicks since Stoke, have been very underwhelming. Can't think of one that's even gone close.  So I'm not sure I'd trust him with a penalty. AJ used to be a good penalty taker (saw him slot one away over here a few years ago against Melbourne Victory).  Bobby clearly hasn't lost any confidence, so I reckon he'll be taking them in Danny's absence from now on.

[Lighthouse]

I thought Jason Roberts at 82 did enough to make Hughes look less then his usual self. Our penalty
was iffy but the time Hughes was in the embrace maybe was a factor. In another words it wasn't just a casual peck on the cheek but more a one night stand.

As usual your report is a highlight of the week. Still I look forward to checking the pressure in my tyres so I am no help for the cover credits. You are thinking of putting the reports in book form?

[AlFayedsChequebook]

I thought we got the penalty that we deserved in the end.

Not impressed by Blackburn, yes they got the ball forward but it was ALWAYS in the air and usually courtesy of Paul Robinson who took every free kick, even when it was 30 yrds outside our area. This was the reason Murphy did little, there was no ball there to play with.

Would love Hoillett though.

[BalDrick]

my personal nomination would be Baird - 

Dunno. Seems like Bairdinho strikes the ball well in training, but his frequent free kicks since Stoke, have been very underwhelming. Can't think of one that's even gone close.  So I'm not sure I'd trust him with a penalty. AJ used to be a good penalty taker (saw him slot one away over here a few years ago against Melbourne Victory).  Bobby clearly hasn't lost any confidence, so I reckon he'll be taking them in Danny's absence from now on.

But a pen's hugely different to a free kick isn't it? For a start it's always taken from the same place, plus you don't have a wall running at you. Might be a bit simplistic but if you can learn to get it just inside the post, you'll score 9 times out of 10.

[sipwell]

The world breathes again. Mr. Hatter is writing his weekly reports again. Pheeeeeew.

I am still wondering what the penalty was for, but I'll take it. We've had numerous penalties not awarded in the past, the 2 points don't make up for those but at least it is a first sign of retribution.

As for your review: Dembélé didn't have a very good day. Etuhu is playing himself out of the team. Schwarzer saved us a couple of times. And Duff, well, let's hope he can keep this form until the end of May.

[TonyGilroy]

As for your review: Dembélé didn't have a very good day. Etuhu is playing himself out of the team. Schwarzer saved us a couple of times. And Duff, well, let's hope he can keep this form until the end of May.

You see I thought Etuhu was very good. Very involved, in Blackburn's faces and getting around the pitch more than usual. A big presence in defence as well.

Others criticise Baird who also I thought, played well. Those two and Duff and AJ were our successes IMO.

Out of nowhere Duff is back to his very best and I'd given up on him and AJ gets better match by match. With Zamora ready to return either Dempsey or Dembele are going to have to drop out of the team.

[BalDrick]

I thought Etuhu did better than he has for some time, but I still think he'll move aside the minute Sidders is back.

Re AJ, I'm starting to wonder how much if any game time Gudjohnsen's going to get. AJ against a former club next week too, which for any other team than Fulham would mean he'll score...

[jarv]

Excellent Don, I do think you were a bit harsh on Baird, overall he had an excellent game, best of the back 4. Hangeland was iffy for about an hour, often drifting too far left (to cover Salcido). Other than that, agree with everything else.

[Snibbo]

my personal nomination would be Baird -  

Dunno. Seems like Bairdinho strikes the ball well in training, but his frequent free kicks since Stoke, have been very underwhelming. Can't think of one that's even gone close.  So I'm not sure I'd trust him with a penalty. AJ used to be a good penalty taker (saw him slot one away over here a few years ago against Melbourne Victory).  Bobby clearly hasn't lost any confidence, so I reckon he'll be taking them in Danny's absence from now on.

But a pen's hugely different to a free kick isn't it? For a start it's always taken from the same place, plus you don't have a wall running at you. Might be a bit simplistic but if you can learn to get it just inside the post, you'll score 9 times out of 10.

Well if it was that easy, nobody would ever miss one would they?  Murphy is one of the few penalty takers who does consistently put it just inside the post.  Zamora still stuck it down the middle, even though, apparently, he had seen the keeper going to the keeper's left.  Risky - could have hit a trailing leg, so presumably Bobby was intending it to go into the opposite corner.  Why wouldn't you do that if you know the keeper's going the other way?  Because the pressure was huge.

I wouldn't trust Bairdinho with a pen, because, under pressure, he doesn't consistently put the ball where he wants it to go. And that's what you've got to do with a pen. The pressure IS huge.

[BalDrick]

my personal nomination would be Baird - 

Dunno. Seems like Bairdinho strikes the ball well in training, but his frequent free kicks since Stoke, have been very underwhelming. Can't think of one that's even gone close.  So I'm not sure I'd trust him with a penalty. AJ used to be a good penalty taker (saw him slot one away over here a few years ago against Melbourne Victory).  Bobby clearly hasn't lost any confidence, so I reckon he'll be taking them in Danny's absence from now on.

But a pen's hugely different to a free kick isn't it? For a start it's always taken from the same place, plus you don't have a wall running at you. Might be a bit simplistic but if you can learn to get it just inside the post, you'll score 9 times out of 10.

Well if it was that easy, nobody would ever miss one would they?  Murphy is one of the few penalty takers who does consistently put it just inside the post.  Zamora still stuck it down the middle, even though, apparently, he had seen the keeper going to the keeper's left.

I wouldn't trust Bairdinho with a pen, because, under pressure, he doesn't consistently put the ball where he wants it to go. And that's what you've got to do with a pen. The pressure is huge.

Of course it's not that easy, my line was a simplification. But if you watch, for instance, Germany, or German sides in Europe, in penalty shoot-outs, the large majority of them score by putting the ball in a place the keeper simply isn't going to be able to reach. Baird doesn't always put the ball where he wants but that's an entirely different form of pressure isn't it? He's got strikers cutting down his space and angles as he plays the moving ball, whereas here we're talking about a stationary ball with only one man to beat, who isn't supposed to move forward at all. I do believe getting penalties right is a matter of practising putting the ball in the right place until you hit that spot 10 times out of 10. Forget the flash little dinks, even the pile drivers à la Julian Dicks etc.

It wouldn't need to be Baird, though equally there's no real reason why strikers generally get to take pens. I'm trying to think of who else would be good - Salcido is still a bit hit and miss, the 2 Hs maybe, though perhaps with such a high centre of gravity it'd be harder to control. Sidders when he's back? Maybe. Duffer - who could have had a hattrick if he'd taken it - again maybe. Simon Davies, well good though he'd be the key criterion we're looking for here is that the player's on the pitch at the time. AJ might be a good shout, think he took all the ones he won at Palace, and had a pretty good record (can't remember exactly but close to 100%).

[AlFayedsChequebook]

There have been a fair few studies on penalty shoot-outs drawing some interesting conclusions

1) Most players stick it in the same place, there are only a select few who can change their mind at the last moment (Scholes and Murphy can I think) so they can be rather predictable.
2) That said, you can be a consistent penalty taker even if you hit the same spot each time (Lampard)

Penalties should really be practised in training. Choose 3 players and keep them on at the end of training for another hour to practice. Same should be done with free kick takers ideally.

[NogoodBoyo]

"Thank you, Mr. MikeR. Exit Hatter Don, red faced, and slouching towards Luckenbach."

Then keep going to Lubbock.  I hear it's a long way to Lubbock.
Nogood "with obscure Cricket references, isit" Boyo