Sunday Fulham Stuff (20/01/13)...

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham manager Martin Jol on his side's 2-0 defeat at Manchester City

Fulham manager Martin Jol was satisfied with his side's application in the 2-0 defeat at champions Manchester City.

The Cottagers conceded in just the second minute to David Silva,who then made the points safe in the second period to cap a masterful display.

Jol said afterwards: "You are fearful - we were very concerned because if you concede a goal after one-and-a-half minutes, you really fear for a bad game, a bad afternoon.

"But it wasn't, we did okay. If you consider they scored the second goal in the 69th minute, we could have hurt them today.

"In the first half they had a shot from (Edin) Dzeko over the bar and a shot from (Carlos) Tevez but that was probably it. I felt we could have done a bit more and scored the equaliser.

"But if you have got Silva - he has extra quality, probably the best player in the Premier League. He was fantastic but overall I felt we did okay."

On the continuing stand-off with left-back John Arne Riise, who was once again omitted from the matchday squad, the Dutchman added: "John Arne Riise is a fantastic boy - he will never come up with that sort of rubbish, he didn't want to travel.

"You have got (Matthew) Briggs, who is younger and who can go on the bench. John Arne Riise stayed at Motspur Park to do an extra session. I promised him if he was not starting it is probably better if you don't go with us.

"I wasn't happy after the Liverpool game, when (Stewart) Downing scored his first goal since joining Liverpool - John was playing against him, and there was another goal.

"I am trying to do something, maybe to freshen things up or alert John to do more or to do better. He is an experienced player, so if he is not playing he is not happy.

"He wants to play but I have got three left-backs now. Kieran (Richardson) probably did the best job of the three."



http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/8414009?

[WhiteJC]

 
Mutiny aboard: Martin Jol is facing a Fulham player AND fans revolt

Cottagers boss has been forced to deny a rift with John Arne Riise while Schalke are waiting in the wings should he decide to leave

Martin Jol is battling with sections of his Fulham squad – as well as the club's fans.

Manager Jol hit out at Fulham supporters who booed his side after last week's 1-1 draw with Wigan.

But Jol is also facing ­opposition from senior members of his playing staff, who are unhappy with some of his methods.

As revealed in last week's Sunday Mirror Sport, ­German club Schalke have included Jol on their list of candidates to become the club's next boss.

The potential departure of Jol, who has been forced to deny feuding with John Arne Riise, would not be greeted with sorrow by everybody at Craven Cottage.

Sources complain that Jol can come across as arrogant and his mood during ­Fulham's poor Premier League run is said to have severely darkened.

Jol claimed Fulham had approached him about ­taking up the one-year ­extension to his initial ­contract that expires at the end of this season.

But not everybody at the club believes it is certain Jol will be at Fulham next season – whether or not Schalke make a move.

Having lost at ­Manchester City yesterday, Jol and ­Fulham entertain West Ham at Craven ­Cottage next in what could be a vital ­Premier League clash on January 30.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/martin-jol-is-facing-a-fulham-player-1546235?

[WhiteJC]

 
Matthew Briggs: 'Early goal cost us'

Fulham defender Matthew Briggs has admitted that his side did not help themselves during today's trip to Manchester City.

The Londoners fell a goal behind with just 95 seconds on the clock as David Silva slotted the ball into the net from close range.

The same player added a second for City after the restart, but Briggs believes that the damage was done during the opening two minutes of the encounter.

"The Etihad Stadium is one of the toughest grounds to visit," Briggs told the club's official website. "So when you concede so quickly, it makes it even harder. There are few teams that would recover from that, and of course, it set us back.

"You don't want to be chasing a team like City for so long, on top of that, they don't give much away here either. They are the champions of England and have so many world-class players.

"In a football sense, coming from behind at City is one of the biggest challenges. It was an uphill battle, and it just didn't happen for us. You never want to go behind so early on, and this was an example of that."

The loss has seen Fulham drop to 14th in the Premier League table.


http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/fulham/news/briggs-early-goal-cost-us_64997.html

[WhiteJC]

 
City thumps Fulham, Liverpool hits five in Norwich rout

Manchester City cut Manchester United's Premier League lead to four points by beating Fulham 2-0 on Saturday thanks to a brace of goals from Spanish midfielder David Silva.

United are not in action until Sunday when they visit Tottenham Hotspur and defending champions City took advantage to breathe fresh impetus into their title defence.

Silva broke the deadlock after just 96 seconds at the Etihad Stadium, slamming home from six yards after Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer parried a long-range shot from Edin Dzeko.

Steve Sidwell hit the post for the visitors in the 31st minute and City lost Pablo Zabaleta to injury before Silva added a second with 21 minutes left, gathering a Carlos Tevez flick and beating Schwarzer with a dinked finish.

''All we can do is win our games,'' said City assistant manager David Platt.

''We have got 15 left and Man United have got 16 left and I am sure both teams will drop points between now and the end of the season.

''We have to make sure we keep getting victories so if United do slip up, we are in a position to take advantage of that.''

Meanwhile, Luis Suarez's burgeoning partnership with new Liverpool team-mate Daniel Sturridge caught the eye as the Reds routed Norwich City 5-0 at Anfield to close to within three points of the European places.

Jordan Henderson broke the deadlock with a vicious 26th-minute half-volley before home debutant Sturridge's clever dummy freed Suarez to beat Mark Bunn for his seventh goal in three games against the Canaries.

Sturridge tapped in his third goal in three games for his new club in the 59th minute, with Steven Gerrard getting in on the act from 25 yards before Norwich's Ryan Bennett put through his own goal in the 74th minute.

''We have played well for most of the season but Daniel coming in adds that extra threat,'' said Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

''He has pace and power and he has got good touch and good skills.''

Aston Villa climbed out of the relegation zone despite letting a two-goal lead slip in a 2-2 draw at local rivals West Bromwich Albion.

Fine goals from Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor put Paul Lambert's men 2-0 ahead at the break, but Chris Brunt replied early in the second half before Peter Odemwingie lashed home an 83rd-minute equaliser.

Villa's draw meant Reading remained in the relegation zone despite seeing Adam Le Fondre score twice in six minutes as they came from behind once again to win 2-1 at Newcastle United.

Yohan Cabaye's picture-perfect free-kick put Newcastle in front 10 minutes prior to the interval but Le Fondre equalised 65 seconds after coming on as a 70th-minute substitute and then curled in a 77th-minute winner.

''The win can be a massive springboard for us,'' said Le Fondre. ''We've done well since Boxing Day and now we've transformed it into a win away from home.''

It was Reading's second improbable comeback in two games following their dramatic 3-2 success over West Brom last weekend and it meant that Newcastle remain two points above the bottom three.

Joe Cole scored the first goal of his second spell at West Ham United to prevent former manager Harry Redknapp from enjoying victory on his return to Upton Park with Queens Park Rangers.

New signing Loic Remy marked his QPR debut with a coolly-taken 14th-minute goal but Cole gave West Ham a share of the spoils when he converted from close range in the 68th minute after Julio Cesar saved from Carlton Cole.

Sunderland continued their recent revival by coming back from a goal down to win 3-2 at Wigan Athletic, who slipped into the drop zone.

David Vaughan's own goal gave Wigan a fourth-minute lead but the visitors stormed back through a Craig Gardner penalty and a Steven Fletcher brace before on-loan Manchester United forward Angelo Henriquez hit back for Wigan.

Swansea City warmed up for the second leg of their League Cup semi-final with Chelsea by beating Stoke City 3-1 at the Liberty Stadium.

Teenage defender Ben Davies, 19, scored his first senior goal to open the scoring early in the second half, with Jonathan de Guzman adding a classy brace before Michael Owen replied for Stoke to claim his 150th Premier League goal.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/city-thumps-fulham-liverpool-hits-five-in-norwich-rout-20130120-2d0y5.html#ixzz2IUbbQfmY

[WhiteJC]

 
The View from South Texas — Manchester City v. Fulham FC

by HatterDon

Citeh Waltz Past Toothless Fulham

I hardly ever got into fights in high school, but one I remember really only lasted about 15 seconds. The guy took a wild swing. As momentum moved him past me, I grabbed him in a headlock and held on to him for about 15 minutes until he fell down exhausted. I never had to throw a punch. This pretty much describes the first hour of today's Man City v. Fulham match. On the first of at least 20 occasions, Fulham surrendered the ball in their own half. A reasonably tame shot was parried into the path of David Silva who calmly converted and it was 1-0 and game over. This was in the 2nd minute of the match.

For the next hour or so, Fulham maintained control to the extent that the Citeh supporters howled in their frustration. During this period, Fulham managed a corner or two, but only one serious attempt on goal. When yet another midfield turnover presented Silva with his second – and what a player the little guy is – he made no mistake. You would normally say that this second goal "made the points secure" for the Etihad Billionaires, but the truth is that their one goal lead was all the surety they needed on the day. As nervous as the home fans were, nobody on the pitch – in either uniform – had the slightest doubt of the result. I doubt if any Fulham fan did either.

So, yes, we lost 2-0 to the richest club in the world – at their house. Yes, they started the day with Balotelli, Nasri, and Aguero ON THE RESERVES BENCH. So there's no shame, right? Well, perhaps, but it would have been nice to have forced Hart into at least one save, to have forced him to race from his goal line to intercept a dangerous cross at least once. But that never was going to be the case. City were comfortable with Fulham passing the ball sideways, narrowing rather than broadening their "attack," and making few forays near the City penalty area. Yes, City were comfortable. The thing is, so were Fulham.

How to assess the individual performances ... well, just about every player surrendered possession in a dangerous area. This is a by-product of not spending nearly enough possession time actually attacking your opponent. The defense looked better than they have, the central midfield was much improved over the Wigan match. The attackers did what they were supposed to do under the "Jol strategy." The only person to point a finger at for sub-standard play is Mark Schwarzer. He was completely at fault for the opening goal, and his distribution was more horrid than usual. I'm sorry, but we've loaned the wrong goalkeeper to Hull.

When all the outfield players do what they're supposed to do and we still don't mount any serious attempts on goal – or even any 30 yard hit-and-hopes – the problem is not the quality of play. The problem is the game plan. We want to make a lot of passes. We want to move sloooooooowwwwwwwwlllly out of defense into attack. We want to keep Berbatov closer to the halfway line than the opponents' penalty area while in possession. We want to move the wide players towards the center whenever they are 15 yards from the goal line. We cluster everyone so tightly that the fewest number of defenders have to cover us. This leaves more defenders available to turn our 82nd sideways pass into a counter-attack.

So, yes, losing 2-0 to Manchester City at their patch is no mark of shame. It's nothing to get positive about either. Absolutely no attacking against a team ready to play counter-punching football is not a positive step for the rest of the season. It's also hard to celebrate the narrowness of the defeat when you consider that Edin Dzeko could easily have made it 6-0. The fact is that it is going to be a nervous, worrisome next few months. Fulham have the talent to escape relegation easily, but the way that talent is sent out to play every week is going to ensure that points will be very hard to come by.

HatterDon's Man of the Match goes to Steve Sidwell for just always going for it. He was the only starter out there who hasn't caught Dimitar Berbatov Slow-motion Sickness. A strong honorable mention for a quality substitute performance by Matthew Briggs.

Next weekend will be devoted to the FA Cup tie at Old Trafford. COYW


http://www.friendsoffulham.com/wordpress/?p=247

[WhiteJC]

 
Manager Reaction

Martin Jol admitted David Silva's early goal had made a difficult task even tougher as his Fulham side went down to a 2-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The Whites fell behind with less than two minutes on the clock when Silva scored after Mark Schwarzer could only parry Edin Dzeko's long-range effort.

Fulham enjoyed plenty of possession thereafter but never really threatened Joe Hart and Silva made sure of the points for the hosts when he raced through to grab his second of the game with 20 minutes to go.

"If you concede a goal after a minute and a half you really fear it's going to be a bad afternoon," said Jol. "But it wasn't; we did okay if you consider that they didn't score the second until the 69th minute.

"I really felt that we could have done a bit more and scored an equaliser. The early goal didn't help but Silva is probably the best player in the Barclays Premier League.

"It's disappointing that we couldn't score an equaliser to really frustrate them. Vincent Kompany is a player I know well and he had five or six easy headers when the final ball wasn't great and I thought we could have done better."

Meanwhile, Jol was quick to quash speculation regarding the absence of John Arne Riise from his matchday squad.

"John Arne Riise didn't start so I said it was probably better that he didn't come with us and did some extra exercise at Motspur Park," stated Jol. "But he would never refuse not to travel.

"I wasn't happy with him after Liverpool so I tried to do something to freshen things up. It's about competition for places. He's an experienced player and he wants to play but Kieran Richardson has done a good job at left-back and deserves to start."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/january/19/manager-reaction

[WhiteJC]

 
Barnsley willing to sell Stones but want him back on loan – report

Barnsley are willing to sell John Stones but want him back on loan, according to The Sun on Sunday.

Fulham are reported to be keen on the 18-year-old right-back along with Southampton and Wigan.

QPR will listen to offers for keepers Julio Cesar and Robert Green in order to cut their huge wage bill, the Sunday Mirror say.

Nottingham Forest are reported to be interested in signing Green, who is currently being kept out of the Rangers side by Cesar.

It is claimed QPR only want to sell one of them but will offload whichever one they are able to.

Related West London Sport story: Redknapp not looking to sell Green (11 January)

Meanwhile, Chelsea are keen on Birmingham City goalkeeper Jack Butland, according to the Sunday People.

It is claimed the England international has told friends he expects to leave St Andrews at the end of the season, with Chelsea reported to be interested along with Liverpool and Arsenal.

Fulham were previously touted as the favourites to sign Butland for £4m and would apparently consider loaning him back to the Championship club.

There is more speculation about Lucas Piazon's long-term future following his loan move from Chelsea to Malaga.

Piazon will spend the rest of the season with the Spanish club, whose 20-year-old playmaker Isco is reported to be wanted by Chelsea.

That prompted recent suggestions that the Blues' decision to let Malaga have Piazon was a tactical move in their apparent pursuit of their target.

And the People say Malaga will ask for a cash-plus-player deal involving Isco, with Piazon joining them on a permanent basis.

The Mail on Sunday say Chelsea star Frank Lampard's England future will be in doubt if he chooses a move to LA Galaxy, while the People claim he is in talks with AC Milan.

David Moyes is again linked with the manager's job at Stamford Bridge.

The Sunday Telegraph believe Chelsea are monitoring whether Moyes signs a new contract at Everton.


http://www.westlondonsport.com/paper-talk/barnsley-willing-to-sell-stones-but-want-him-back-on-loan-report

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham Step Up Bid To Sign Dutch Goalkeeper

Maarten Stekelenburg wanted at Craven Cottage.

Fulham manager Martin Jol is to step up his bid to sign Dutch international goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg from Roma after allowing David Stockdale to join Hull City.

Jol is searching Europe to sign a new goalkeeper to provide competition to 40-year-old first choice Mark Schwarzer, following the decision to allow England goalkeeper Stockdale return to Championship side Hull for a second loan spell this season.

Source: Daily Mail

And Jol's fellow Dutchman Stekelenburg is his number one target with the 30-year-old having been made available by Serie A side Roma, who he joined from Ajax in 2011. The goalkeeper has failed to settle in Italy and is looking for a way out and could follow in the footsteps of idol Edwin van der Sar by playing at Fulham.

Roma are understood to be wanting to recoup at least the €6 million they paid Ajax to sign Stekelenburg, but Fulham are hoping to make it a loan deal for the remainder of the season with a view to a permanent transfer in the summer.

Jol had taken Turkish international goalkeeper Sinan Bolat on trial earlier this month but decided not to press ahead with a move for the 28-year-old Standard Liege stopper due to some injury concerns.


http://www.caughtoffside.com/2013/01/20/fulham-step-up-bid-to-sign-dutch-goalkeeper/?

[WhiteJC]

 
U21s Clash Postponed

Due to the adverse weather conditions, Fulham's Under-21s fixture with Blackburn Rovers at Motspur Park on Monday evening has been postponed.

A new date will be announced in due course.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/january/20/u21s-clash-postponed?