If Andy Carroll plays on Wednesday who do we play at CB ?

[Riverside]

Genuine question as we have been bullied by Carroll and Fellaini .

How do we cope or minimise the damage at the back .  079.gif

[TonyGilroy]

Carroll's mostly not that good. We caught him on a really good day earlier this season.

The way to stop him though is to limit the crosses he can get on the end of. Perhaps we could attack West Ham and let them worry about stopping us.

I'm being ridiculous, I know.

[Swedish Terrier]

Dan Burn.

[Northern Cottager]

He is one of the worst strikers i've seen for a long time, and when we played them at their place and he started I was rubbing my hands. Little did I know we'd make him look unplayable.

[EJL]

Jarvis won't be a problem. Riether has had pretty much ever winger he's come up against in his pocket this season.

Joe Cole is the other outlet that needs to be stopped; he's been the fulcrum of their attacking play since his move to West Ham.

Reid and Collins will play hoof-ball all game long. IF WE PRESS, meaning Berbatov will have to do some running, it'll make their already general 'hit it in that direction' distribution defunct.

Riether + someone with his eyes on Joe Cole for 90 minutes + PRESSING (which will require effort) + urgency + balanced midfield combination of brawn and playmaker = 3 points. Too many variables, though. Draw it is then.

P.S - Hangeland has got to rough up Carroll. I miss the old Brede who would bully every Premier League striker. That was our downfall at Upton Park: getting kicked but not kicking back.

[mangoputney]

voted Pray

purely because other than Everton, they are a massive bogey team & the big man upstairs owes us one

if not, Hangeland needs to compete and we need to press as a team ie what everyone does to us everyweek :$

[Mr K.Dilkington]

Dan Burn.

Hopefully that's a joke.  064.gif

[Basil]

Carroll's mostly not that good. We caught him on a really good day earlier this season.

The way to stop him though is to limit the crosses he can get on the end of. Perhaps we could attack West Ham and let them worry about stopping us.

I'm being ridiculous, I know.

That's exactly right he is not the sort of striker to outpace us on the break so put them on the back foot. Just like we used to to teams at the Cottage. First 20 mins will be crucial.

[Roberty]

I think he needs to be Frimponged

[FFC1987]

I think he needs to be Frimponged

DENCH

[horse1031]

vaz te is their best player.

[Burt]

Is he definately back from injury? I thought that was in the balance...

[HatterDon]

Genuine question as we have been bullied by Carroll and Fellaini .

How do we cope or minimise the damage at the back .  079.gif

Fellaini has been transferred to West Ham? I missed that somehow.

This is the first match that Carroll will be able to play since his injury. If we see him at all, it'll be late in the match for about 15-20 minutes. Big Sam won't want him to go back on the list for another few months.

If I remember correctly, the WHU match was unusual in that Hangeland didn't have the measure of Carroll. I seem to remember Big Brede handling him quite well in the past.

[BillNRoc]

Maybe Barca would let us borrow Mascherano for a few weeks. He'd give the WHam strikers something to think about while looking for crosses or long balls.  Sadly, don't think there's anyone currently under contract to Fulham who can do the same.

[Riverside]

No general consensus on this one

H+H
Hangeland + Senderos
Pray

running neck to neck

[Logicalman]

Is he definately back from injury? I thought that was in the balance...

Me too, I checked the WH site last night and he wasn't mentioned as being fit, far from it, but here's the latest:


http://www.whufc.com/articles/20130129/big-sam-on-fulham_2236884_3057179


Big Sam on: Fulham
Sam Allardyce spoke to the press ahead of West Ham United's trip to Craven Cottage
29.01.2013


Sam Allardyce is pleased to have added to his defensive options ahead of Wednesday's Barclays Premier League meeting with London rivals Fulham.

The Hammers completed the loan signing of Wolfsburg defender Emanuel Pogatetz on Monday and Big Sam says the ex-Middlesbrough man could be in line for a quick debut at Craven Cottage. He also revealed that Andy Carroll is in contention after taking part in training this week.

Sam, could you talk us through the team news for Wednesday night?

SA: "We've signed Emanuel Pogatetz on loan from Wolfsburg and I'm pleased to have him, because we've had defensive problems - particularly as the loss of James Collins and George McCartney [to injury] leaves us short at the moment. He's an experienced defender, both in Germany and of course at Middlesbrough. It gives us a bit more opportunity in defensive terms where we are short on players at this moment in time.

"We're still waiting on Andy Carroll, whether we think it's right to add him to the squad because he's only had two days training with us, in terms of joining in with the players having not played for a number of weeks. We don't know whether that'll be too risky and we'll make the choice later on Tuesday. The rest of the squad stays the same. It's quite good at the moment, and it's quite strong, and we have to play to our best to start getting some points on the board.

"The biggest message is to play better than we have been away from home. We haven't been able to secure a clean sheet for an awful long time. That and the shortage of goals particularly away from home - we've got to improve all of that.

"We've got the players available, we know what the players are capable of. They've proven that they can perform and they've got to get to that level of performance again. It's two massive games in terms of Wednesday and Saturday coming up. It's two massive efforts from the players [we need] to establish their position in the Barclays Premier League, and to secure the points in both the games. I'm not saying win both, we'd love to win both, but certainly to come out the back of the next two games undefeated. As always you're trying to win a football match when you start and if we can do that then that would be great. Put points on the board in both games - that's the important thing for us."

You've signed Emanuel Pogatetz. Is there a chance that he could make his debut?

SA: "He comes straight into the squad. He's said he's fully fit and ready to go. He's had a winter break as they do in Germany but he's been training every day and has been available every day for Wolfsburg. He's said he's ready to go straight in and of course he does have some experience in the Premier League. Hopefully that'll stand him in good stead when we need him."

[Forever Fulham]

Well, at least one coach got his act together during the transfer window.

[EJL]

Andy Carroll is destined to fade away into obscurity.

[rusty shackleford]

He will probably throw in Carroll too early since he tore us apart at UP. He will have a great game, score a couple then go off injured for the rest of the season around 60 mins

[west kowloon white]

Big Sam on Fulham?
Nothing on Fulham at all-just his team-at least the CB poll was conclusive-87% will be able to condemn Jol for getting it wrong-winge on