The View from South Texas -- West Ham U v. Fulham FC

[HatterDon]

God, That was Ugly

By the time there were 30 minutes on the clock today, my major hope was that we would salvage some of the goal difference we won on opening day. We did ... just. The post-Dembélé Era began on the Boleyn ground for a "lunchtime" [read 0645] match against our bogey team. I am confident that we will look better than we did today. I am also confident that West Ham will not.

Their first goal came with barely 50 seconds on the clock. Kevin Nolan made a fortuitous connection with a knock down by the excellent Ricardo Vaz Te and Schwarzer could do nothing but pick the ball out of his net. I say "fortuitous" because Nolan spent the rest of the match swinging and missing at much easier chances. Vaz Te's combination of speed, skill, and aggression would trouble Fulham's somewhat panic-stricken defense all day. He was, without a doubt, the best player on the pitch. He had a complete stormer.

Fulham? Not so much. Despite the fact that the back four + Schwarzer were the only unit untouched by injury or transfer, they spent much of the match looking as if they'd only just met in the dressing room. Riise was back from injury, so Fulham were – arguably – stronger in defense than they were at Old Trafford last weekend. However, despite the fact that West Ham is nowhere near Man United in skill or manpower, our defense proved totally ineffective in controlling the newly promoted Hammers.

Their second and third goals were both down to poor marking. Nobody was near Winston Reid when he headed in from a corner 29 minutes in, and Matthew Taylor had the entire postal code to himself when he slammed home the third a few minutes before the interval. In both cases, new boy Andy Carroll was drawing all the attention. Fully four players were marking him for the third. I can't remember when I last saw Hangeland play so ineffectively. I hope not to see it again this season.

Much of Fulham's defensive slackness can be attributed to weakness in the midfield. Only Diarra stood out in this area, and he was constantly on the verge of being overrun. West Ham were quick to close down any Fulham player in possession and the only way that Fulham could string together more than three passes was among the defenders and twenty yards deep in their own half. Richardson made his debut and looked okay going forward but was totally ineffective in shielding or covering for Riise. Duff was our entire offense for 45 minutes, but Riether was also left on his own all too often. Steve Sidwell? Well, I thought he was horrible, so I'm saying no more than that.

Petrić and Rodallega were our primary attackers. Petrić looked somewhat lost at sea and it was no surprise when he was sacrificed at half time. Rodallega turned in a good shift and played the entire 90 minutes. I fervently hope that I can make that statement many more times this season. But it was our substitute forward who really caught the eye. Dimitar Berbatov was a lovely combination of artful flicks, turns, and gliding moves. He was, really, the only player in white who remotely troubled West Ham. And their pressure affected him much less than any of our other players. He was the reason that we became a credible attacking force [70 minutes after the opening whistle], and he was the architect of what could easily have been a consolation goal from Rodallega.

All-in-all, the first match after the transfer period was pretty ugly to look at and a disaster of a result. If there's mitigation it is that it's ludicrous for the transfer period to end on the day before a match. Of course, there was no reason why we had to sign Richardson or Berbatov on Friday when we had the entire summer to make deals. But the problem wasn't that we didn't have time to get our new boys acclimated. The problem is that, since the Tottenham match last Spring, Fulham have lost four key players from our midfield – a midfield that was clearly our major strength and difference-maker last season. Add to that the unavailability of Bryan Ruiz today, and we're just not good enough without them.

We'll get better. The midfield will tighten up [Sidwell is not the answer here, by the way], Berbatov will pair nicely with Petrić, and the defense should settle down. We WILL get better, but it will take a while. In the meantime, it's safe to say that from now until late November, this season is going to resemble the first few months of the last two seasons. Our fondest hope should be that the second half of this season will also resemble those of the last two.

Hatter Don's Man of the Match goes to Dimitar Berbatov, with honorable mention to Mahamadou Diarra.

Back at the Cottage against West Brom next, and it would be nice to bag three points. Count on Berbatov starting. Count on that being a very good thing for Fulham. COYW

[HatterDon]

sorry for the delay; I had a bitch of a time getting on the site this morning.

[dont stand me down]

Good points HD.

[CincyFulham1]

God, That was Ugly

By the time there were 30 minutes on the clock today, my major hope was that we would salvage some of the goal difference we won on opening day. We did … just. The post-Dembélé Era began on the Boleyn ground for a “lunchtime” [read 0645] match against our bogey team. I am confident that we will look better than we did today. I am also confident that West Ham will not.

Their first goal came with barely 50 seconds on the clock. Kevin Nolan made a fortuitous connection with a knock down by the excellent Ricardo Vaz Te and Schwarzer could do nothing but pick the ball out of his net. I say “fortuitous” because Nolan spent the rest of the match swinging and missing at much easier chances. Vaz Te’s combination of speed, skill, and aggression would trouble Fulham’s somewhat panic-stricken defense all day. He was, without a doubt, the best player on the pitch. He had a complete stormer.

Fulham? Not so much. Despite the fact that the back four + Schwarzer were the only unit untouched by injury or transfer, they spent much of the match looking as if they’d only just met in the dressing room. Riise was back from injury, so Fulham were – arguably – stronger in defense than they were at Old Trafford last weekend. However, despite the fact that West Ham is nowhere near Man United in skill or manpower, our defense proved totally ineffective in controlling the newly promoted Hammers.

Their second and third goals were both down to poor marking. Nobody was near Winston Reid when he headed in from a corner 29 minutes in, and Matthew Taylor had the entire postal code to himself when he slammed home the third a few minutes before the interval. In both cases, new boy Andy Carroll was drawing all the attention. Fully four players were marking him for the third. I can’t remember when I last saw Hangeland play so ineffectively. I hope not to see it again this season.

Much of Fulham’s defensive slackness can be attributed to weakness in the midfield. Only Diarra stood out in this area, and he was constantly on the verge of being overrun. West Ham were quick to close down any Fulham player in possession and the only way that Fulham could string together more than three passes was among the defenders and twenty yards deep in their own half. Richardson made his debut and looked okay going forward but was totally ineffective in shielding or covering for Riise. Duff was our entire offense for 45 minutes, but Riether was also left on his own all too often. Steve Sidwell? Well, I thought he was horrible, so I'm saying no more than that.

Petrić and Rodallega were our primary attackers. Petrić looked somewhat lost at sea and it was no surprise when he was sacrificed at half time. Rodallega turned in a good shift and played the entire 90 minutes. I fervently hope that I can make that statement many more times this season. But it was our substitute forward who really caught the eye. Dimitar Berbatov was a lovely combination of artful flicks, turns, and gliding moves. He was, really, the only player in white who remotely troubled West Ham. And their pressure affected him much less than any of our other players. He was the reason that we became a credible attacking force [70 minutes after the opening whistle], and he was the architect of what could easily have been a consolation goal from Rodallega.

All-in-all, the first match after the transfer period was pretty ugly to look at and a disaster of a result. If there’s mitigation it is that it’s ludicrous for the transfer period to end on the day before a match. Of course, there was no reason why we had to sign Richardson or Berbatov on Friday when we had the entire summer to make deals. But the problem wasn’t that we didn’t have time to get our new boys acclimated. The problem is that, since the Tottenham match last Spring, Fulham have lost four key players from our midfield – a midfield that was clearly our major strength and difference-maker last season. Add to that the unavailability of Bryan Ruiz today, and we’re just not good enough without them.

We’ll get better. The midfield will tighten up [Sidwell is not the answer here, by the way], Berbatov will pair nicely with Petrić, and the defense should settle down. We WILL get better, but it will take a while. In the meantime, it’s safe to say that from now until late November, this season is going to resemble the first few months of the last two seasons. Our fondest hope should be that the second half of this season will also resemble those of the last two.

Hatter Don’s Man of the Match goes to Dimitar Berbatov, with honorable mention to Mahamadou Diarra.

Back at the Cottage against West Brom next, and it would be nice to bag three points. Count on Berbatov starting. Count on that being a very good thing for Fulham. COYW

:plus one:

[Lighthouse]

I worry that for the second game running (League cup First Contact Credit Drink Cup) we were unable to create many chances. As a supporter of Sidwell I must admit that he has been very poor in the last few games. The back four, The keeper and Sidwell look cross and really not up for it.

[jazz hardrockin]

"But it was our substitute forward who really caught the eye. Dimitar Berbatov was a lovely combination of artful flicks, turns, and gliding moves. He was, really, the only player in white who remotely troubled West Ham. And their pressure affected him much less than any of our other players"

Very well said.... :047:  :048: If Berba could find a "soul mate" in the team, we'll see more than just a flicks soon...

[LordNelson]

We could have Pele up front but without the midfield sit. fixed it wouldn't matter.

[RidgeRider]

Don great write-up once again.

I thought Reid was well marked by Diarra however Diarra didn't do enough to impede his move to the ball, even though Diarra had his body on him, perhaps thats what you meant. The header reminded me of something our former #23 would have done. Real agression, desire and strength to get to the ball.

This match sort of reminded me of the match we played against them two seasons ago at West Ham. They outplayed us cause they mercilessly shut us down, never letting us really get comfortable on the ball.

Well done sir!

[Jimbobob]

   :022:
Well I can't put a "thumbs up" symbol to anything related to this match Don but well done.
It was a shambles but we had a patch work team in many ways and as you say our back four were awful.
I never understand why we let the spam push us around. Every time we play them...we come in their wetting our shorts.
And I am in the minority but I am fed up with "Crystal Chandelier" Byran Ruiz who is always injured our out or getting knocked down or giving the ball away. He is no savior!!! My lord nothing but a sick bay commando.
I can not believe how optimistic I was on Friday and how pessimistic I am today.
Great job Don!

[alfie]

Very good report HD, i would say that i thought Diarra was class hardly put a foot wrong and to my recolection only made 1 bad pass.

Richardson did not start too well but i thought as the  match went on he started to show some good stuff.

Berbatov - once he gets a couple more games under his belt and gets used to the team we will see goals.

that quick goal really threw us off the game plan, they just could not get into it.

[nevzter]

Solid write up as usual, Mr. HD.  And this comes to mind after that display by Fulham:

U.G.L.Y. You ain't got no aliby, you're ugly!

[cebu]

After sleeping on this, I've decided not to get upset. An away loss at Wet  087.gif  has never told us what our season will be like ... I'll wait till I see our performance against WBA first and then panic.

[Azeedo]

Ruiz did even play today but yet you want to put the blame on him.  C'mon did you see the game today do you believe that our mid and front was the same with out.  Now in the other hand that new guy gave the ball away 10+ times but I guess you are just one those Ruiz haters.

  :022:
Well I can't put a "thumbs up" symbol to anything related to this match Don but well done.
It was a shambles but we had a patch work team in many ways and as you say our back four were awful.
I never understand why we let the spam push us around. Every time we play them...we come in their wetting our shorts.
And I am in the minority but I am fed up with "Crystal Chandelier" Byran Ruiz who is always injured our out or getting knocked down or giving the ball away. He is no savior!!! My lord nothing but a sick bay commando.
I can not believe how optimistic I was on Friday and how pessimistic I am today.
Great job Don!

[BillNRoc]

Wish I could share HD's optimism that our midfield play will improve. It may get tighter (could hardly get looser) but where will the chance-creating play come from? Berbatov was impressive for someone with no recent minutes, but who will provide the service? That's not Diarra's strength, clearly, but Duff and Riise didn't have much success today either. And they're not mids. Yikes.

[jarv]

Good write up. I have decided not to get upset any more, no more knee jerk reactions when Fulham play like that. Let's  hope it is a one off.
Strange thing is, always used to do well against Allardyce Bolton and they had 6 ex Bollton  players on the pitch (I think was mentioned).
Can't they just pretend they are playing Bolton.?

One more thing.....why, why, why was Fulham not in the bidding for Stephen Fletcher??  Top scorer for his club for 3 seasons, 2 today in first game. He will get 20 this season.

[alfie]

Good write up. I have decided not to get upset any more, no more knee jerk reactions when Fulham play like that. Let's  hope it is a one off.
Strange thing is, always used to do well against Allardyce Bolton and they had 6 ex Bollton  players on the pitch (I think was mentioned).
Can't they just pretend they are playing Bolton.?

One more thing.....why, why, why was Fulham not in the bidding for Stephen Fletcher??  Top scorer for his club for 3 seasons, 2 today in first game. He will get 20 this season.

How do you know they were not ?, just because the club don't get a player does not mean they have not enquired, it may just be that the players don't want to come here.