Are we better than last year?

[nose]

I think the football is more interesting and attacking this season and by and large it seems to me we are playing better BUT we do need a tougher central midfield and/or a dominating captain. Brede is a good player but i don't see him as a leader as such.

[BlaWhiArmyyyyyy]

Yes without doubt.

Everyone comments on the centre midfield issue as being our weakness. Bar the West Ham game, we have looked solid in the centre and its giving a good solid defensive foundation to allow our 4 attacking players and full backs to influence the game.

Pogrebnyak, AJ, Dempsey compared to Rod, Petric, Berba?? I know what attack is better. Dembele is the only player i wish we still had but i think we are doing very well without him.

Were 3rd top highest goal scorers aint we? Also Ruiz has 3 assists in 4 games so far, hes showing hes got the ability. We are a much stronger unit than last year in my opinion. I think we have the replacement goals for Dempsey and Pog in Berba and Rod easily and throwing Petric into that we are again even better.

Defence is where we need to look at in the next few windows. If Brede wants out then so be it, let him go and bring in Douglas. Although im sure he will stay. If we can sign a player in Jan to go in centre mid then we will be in a very strong position i believe.

[BestOfBrede]

The one player we sold that I would have back is Moussa Dembele. I really do think we will struggle to replace him with someone of the same quality without splashing the cash. Our attack and defence (on paper) have improved but we are missing that attacking influence from the middle of the park.

Totally agree...  Just hoping Ruiz  starts to live up to his true potential.. it might add some creativity.  I believe up front we now have 3 striker who can...and will  score week in week out

Agree with you both. Definitely better than before. Only things for me are: Centre halfs are not getting any younger and this will need addressing soon. Another real find in central midfield is required (we are missing Danny's balls). And Dembele is hard to replace, although I believe that Bryan will aptly fill this loss. And lastly, I think it's time for another no 1 (sorry Mark you have been superb but we need to think about the future!). I think we are stronger and really think Mr Jol is taking us that step up, unlike a few!

[HatterDon]

No, we are not -- not even close.

[MJG]

On the basis that we have got rid of a load of moaning minnies who thought they had a god given right to be in the team, then I would say yes.

Just out of morbid curiosity, who would that "load" consist of?

The two forwards and Etuhu at least.

[west kowloon white]

can't believe that comment Hatter Don-tosh in my humble opinion-if we are not better ,or  at least equal surely...losses - only the mega - overated Dempsey(gt at our level)and Dembele ,who flattered to decieve until second half of the season.
Not concerned about the "dodgy"Hangeland getting his dream move now,either......

[Riverside]

Better than we were this time last year . Same as the second half of the season . So should mean a higher season total points . Real excitement as well as the Academy players come through.

[jazz hardrockin]

Jol's war chest

"I knew Dimitar Berbatov was on the fringes and thought if I can add him maybe we can go for the top six.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4575967/Martin-Jol-Theres-20million-in-my-Fulham-war-chest.html#ixzz28ZPiTZzF

[jazz hardrockin]

And Redknapp, who lives on the south coast, is loathe to be based in the Midlands.

An ideal opportunity for the 64-year-old boss would be a top- flight London club.

At the moment the two that appear potential vacancies are QPR, after their nightmare start, and Fulham where claims that Martin Jol is not popular with his playing staff continue.

:046: bullpoo
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/mark-hughes-running-out-of-time-1364717

[jazz hardrockin]

Cottage industry: United weigh up January move for Fulham defender Hangeland

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/manchester-united-weigh-up-january-1365170

[Mr Fulham]

Plus our squad is far weaker in depth than it was.

Rubbish.

[HatterDon]

wow, that's 6 or 7 posts without an "lol." I hope you didn't pull a hammy or something. 

[hongkongfulham]

we have arguably 2 starting elevens that could survive the premiership. Have we ever been able to say that?

Diarra > danny
Berb > Dempsey
Rod > AJ (maybe haha)
Petric > Zamora
riether>kelly

Its really just dembele who was always going to leave at the end of this year anyway. but, Duff is looking better than ever (and has competition for places), Ruiz has a season under him now, Kaca/frei do as well. Sidwell uninjured.

I just don't see how we are any worse! heres to smashing soton  082.gif

[jazz hardrockin]

wow, that's 6 or 7 posts without an "lol." I hope you didn't pull a hammy or something. 

don't you have chickens to count?...lol

[Lighthouse]

Plus our squad is far weaker in depth than it was.

Rubbish.

Once again a concise argument that puts me in my place. I love this free flow of opinion.

FREE FLO LOL

[LordNelson]

I think this question was just answered.

[Mr Fulham]

Plus our squad is far weaker in depth than it was.

Rubbish.

Once again a concise argument that puts me in my place. I love this free flow of opinion.

FREE FLO LOL

Then tell me where exactly is this squad 'weaker in depth than it was'?

Defence? Nope. Added Riether and may still add Grygera if needed. Got Richardson who can fill in as well. We let go Halliche but THAHAHAHAHAHAHA Halliche. ROFLDOUBLELOL xxxxx

Midfield? Lost Riise jnr., Murphy, Etuhu, Gecov, Dembele and Dempsey (6 players, BUT two of them played no role whatsoever) and added Richardson, Karagounis, Tavares, Dejagah, four players. We will add one or two quality CMs in January and all is well. I agree, midfield is a bit of a concern, but with Karagounis, Tavares we've got enough strength in depth in the CM department. Wings are no contest, lost Dempsey, granted, and Riise jnr., but signed Richardson, Dejagah, Rodallega if needed and have got decent youngsters coming through. Clearly better than last year.

Attack? Absolutely no contest, hands down. Added Berbatov (who can, as he showed us, operate as a smooth mixture between striker and playmaker), Petric and Rodallega. Definitely better than what we had last year, by a million miles.



OVERALL: Apart from CM, we're better in ALL AREAS.

I thought this was clear, hence I picked the short version of this:

Rubbish.

[MasterHaynes]

Plus our squad is far weaker in depth than it was.

Rubbish.

Once again a concise argument that puts me in my place. I love this free flow of opinion.

FREE FLO LOL

Then tell me where exactly is this squad 'weaker in depth than it was'?

Defence? Nope. Added Riether and may still add Grygera if needed. Got Richardson who can fill in as well. We let go Halliche but THAHAHAHAHAHAHA Halliche. ROFLDOUBLELOL xxxxx

Midfield? Lost Riise jnr., Murphy, Etuhu, Gecov, Dembele and Dempsey (6 players, BUT two of them played no role whatsoever) and added Richardson, Karagounis, Tavares, Dejagah, four players. We will add one or two quality CMs in January and all is well. I agree, midfield is a bit of a concern, but with Karagounis, Tavares we've got enough strength in depth in the CM department. Wings are no contest, lost Dempsey, granted, and Riise jnr., but signed Richardson, Dejagah, Rodallega if needed and have got decent youngsters coming through. Clearly better than last year.

Attack? Absolutely no contest, hands down. Added Berbatov (who can, as he showed us, operate as a smooth mixture between striker and playmaker), Petric and Rodallega. Definitely better than what we had last year, by a million miles.



OVERALL: Apart from CM, we're better in ALL AREAS.

I thought this was clear, hence I picked the short version of this:

Rubbish.

Don't forget, we have Kaclinic to add to the forward/midfield pool along with Frei who made an impact last seaso, especially in Europa and league cups but is still improving add Smith and Burn who may both feature later on this season we are looking good.

[Lighthouse]

Mr Fulham I have made it clear why I believe our squad is weaker. Seems a bit pointless making the same point. Still here goes.

Defence - A year older and we have cover for the keeper but centre half we are very weak. Brede is poorer and Senderos is our only cover. As they get older our defence has clearly been struggling in the last few years. So Reither is the only addition. Grygera is injured and will doubtfully ever play for us again.

Midfield added 4, 2 are older and liable to not make 90 minutes and may take time to recover from injury. Lost 6. I know people are no fans of Jol as they keep disagreeing with his assessment. He did say we needed 4 or 5 players yet we still sold two of our best and replaced them with two. So still leaves us 4 or 5 short. So clearly not better than last year. As our present midfield shows.

Attack. We have Rodders and Berbatov and Petric. So one great but old player liable to injury. One old and ok but liable to injury and Rodders whom I like. But he is best when partnered with another striker. Why a million miles better? So far they score and are injured. Three strikers only will cause problems when injury occurs. As I predicted and has happened

So in my opinion and for the very last time. Squad is lacking in depth ALL through the squad. Yes if Kaka and Frei become consistant (always a problem with youngsters) AND our older players stay fit (always a problem with older players) than we will do ok. But take a few players out and we are suffering. As today and last week proved. Jol thinks so which is why he tried toi bring in a centre half and a forward and a few midfielders. Yes he did and the evidence is in what he said at the time.

Players don't stand still unless they are in our back four. We look our age. As always just an opinion and nothing more.

[MasterHaynes]

Results are the final judge and jury - so far, even with sales and injuries to key players we are still doing much better than last year depite many of the teams that ended up lower(and same points) than us along with all the new boys have spent shed loads of money.

I am puzzled why the rush to make a negative subjective judgements on the whole squad player by player and outlook for the season? It is too early to make any objective judgement especially as we have seen only 20 minutes of Karagounis(which was encoraging) nothing of Dejagah and a game and a half of Richardson who just scored. The earliest any proper comparison can be drawn is after at least 12 games. The strange thing about many of the arguments is that we let AJ, BZ and Murphy go all 30+ yet then go on to berate the squad because of players age. I am sure many premier clubs would love to have Duff in their team let alone their squad.

I am confident going by the results and the matches I have watched we could have a very good season but will have more certainty after 12 games have gone.