Match Thread: Stoke vs Fulham [24/11]

[Mitrovic the warrior]

For once I have to criticise Martin. He made a tactical decision to play Giorgos on the left to counter the threat Walters posed. It didn't really work and it hindered our offensive ability. He should've made the change earlier. As soon as he did we were the better side.

[Jimbobob]

 
 
 
What an awful match..................................

[craig10]

a more 'gifted' CM required along with a CB or 2.....
Stokes 10 in the box tactis works well especially against us when we have no midfielder that can spot a ball and play it

[epsomraver]

We are so pedestrian, players standing about waiting for the pass, watch the top teams like Man U , they move all the time and when they go forward they go with PACE!

[God The Mechanic]

Thought Kara did pretty well, albeit not in the position he was playing in.  Should be him and Diarra in MF with a full squad.

Think today showed how important Ruiz is.  Without him the link between MF and Berba was... Berba.

[BillNRoc]

Without another player of Berbatov's quality, we're going to struggle to break down any stout defense, as Stoke demonstrated so resoundingly today. Meanwhile, our defense is sufficiently suspect it's unlikely we'll keep any clean sheets against teams of mid-table or better talent.

As some speculated mid-week, the time from now through New Year's is likely to be pretty gloomy for Fulham fans. Not enough muscle, not enough pace, not enough offensive guile....yikes!

[kennethwong20]

fair to say we missed the trio of Kaca, Bryan Ruiz and Hangeland today :(

Senderos was awful and I expect him to be dropped and replaced by Baird for the Chelsea match

[MJG]

Its Stoke away...do you really expect anything else? Always a game I write off..if we get anything its a bloody bonus.

Maybe also a reality check for those of you who say we could be top six. Yes top ten, maybe 7th with a prevailing wind, but really 8-12 is the our level.

[Berserker]

We all knew this would be a difficult game after last week, and we weren't let  down. Disappointed that a miracle didn't happen but not surprised. It will be a difficult few weeks as said by Mr Peabody a couple of days ago :-(

[Mr Fulham]

We are so pedestrian, players standing about waiting for the pass, watch the top teams like Man U , they move all the time and when they go forward they go with PACE!

You shouldn't expect pace when you play around 10 players who are 30+.

[craig10]

Thought Kara did pretty well, albeit not in the position he was playing in.  Should be him and Diarra in MF with a full squad.

Think today showed how important Ruiz is.  Without him the link between MF and Berba was... Berba.

agree with this 100% as i stated the other day i would have (if fit) gone with Kara and Diarra in CM i just do not rate Sidwell or Baird at all in there, sorry!

[cebu]

We are so pedestrian, players standing about waiting for the pass, watch the top teams like Man U , they move all the time and when they go forward they go with PACE!

Manure? I'd be happy if we could match WBA's passing and movement right now.

[zander]

I'm currently travelling up country so have heard little to nothing about the game. However a 1-0 loss away to stoke has to be the most predictable and uninspiring result in world football.

Sounds like the team lacked pace today. How did our midfield hold up against theirs?

[MJG]

We are so pedestrian, players standing about waiting for the pass, watch the top teams like Man U , they move all the time and when they go forward they go with PACE!

You shouldn't expect pace when you play around 10 players who are 30+.

is that starting line up, because I can think of 4 players below 30 in that eleven?

[epsomraver]

We are so pedestrian, players standing about waiting for the pass, watch the top teams like Man U , they move all the time and when they go forward they go with PACE!

You shouldn't expect pace when you play around 10 players who are 30+.

Got nothing to do with it at all, I would have expected a more thought out  response from you.

[grandad]

Baird & Sidwell have been given enough chances & continue to be out played by every other midfield. Diarra has to come in,fit or not.Even bring Duff inside. At least he has some pace. The extra space may suit him. Time perhaps for Kasami being given a chance. Senderos unsettles the whole defence. They are having to watch out for his cock ups rather than concentrate on their own game.

[ScalleysDad]

I think I get the point being made about age and pace. Today the team was full of changes, either personnel or positional, the tactics were impossible to fathom and again we were top heavy with lets say more players closer to thirty and above and/or short term fixes. (so long Jol Revolution). Posters are getting at Senderos but if Diarra was fit enough for the bench he should have come on with time to spare. That might have offered us two options, some protection for the back four and perhaps holding the ball in midfield. He would have had to be top of his game of course but I am becoming suspicious of his numerous absences these days.

People will be focusing on individuals, another abysmal away performance and probably ignoring the earlier battle cry of 'toughen up four tough games' coming etc but ............... had we not got a couple of early wins against now vastly improved sides we would be in the mire. Damn the stoicsm I'm not impressed lately.

[Mitrovic the warrior]

Thought Kara did pretty well, albeit not in the position he was playing in.  Should be him and Diarra in MF with a full squad.

Think today showed how important Ruiz is.  Without him the link between MF and Berba was... Berba.

He's consistently impressed me, today his performance was let down because he didn't stick to his role but the distribution and defensive work were good.

[Mr Fulham]

Sometimes it is frustrating to be the fan of a British team. A german team, Freiburg for example, would have thrown in Kasami and Banya without thinking twice about it. It's frustrating to watch all those old Fulham players (average age 31.2 years) because there's no plan B, no pace and nothing "special" apart from Berbatovs occasional glimpse of pure class. Too pedestrian.

[MJG]

Sometimes it is frustrating to be the fan of a British team. A german team, Freiburg for example, would have thrown in Kasami and Banya without thinking twice about it. It's frustrating to watch all those old Fulham players (average age 31.2 years) because there's no plan B, no pace and nothing "special" apart from Berbatovs occasional glimpse of pure class. Too pedestrian.

that average is thrown by Mark S & Karagounis.
Now I'm as keen as anyone to see youth given a chance but would Freiburg ever play a team like Stoke?
 I would not throw in a youngster for a debut against them at home on a wet November up there. If anything, against them, I would pick the most experienced hardest bunch of players I had. Never. A place for gifted youngsters.