The Thames Barrier

[St Eve]

The good thing is Senderos is now 4th choice

[Chutney]

The good thing is Senderos is now 4th choice

I wish he wasn't a choice.

[ffc73]

Hughes isn't the same defender he was 2 or 3 years ago but he's great to have in squad - today he showed why. I'll be worried if he's first choice next to Brede the whole season, because he's not as quick as he used to be and he still struggles against big target players, but as long as he plays like he did against Sunderland I won't complain.

:plus one:

Slightly off topic, the same applies to Duff.  Another great servant and professional that, like Hughes, put in a workmanlike shift yesterday but probably only played due to injuries to Dejagah and Kaca.  Duff offered nothing going forward and his most telling contribution was a stunning defensive tackle in our own box just as a Sunderland player was about to pull the trigger and I was expecting our net to bulge

[ffc73]

does not make sense? who is Bur?

think he meant Burn

Apologies,  iPhone on the playing up last night or more likely I was tired and missing characters off.

I did mean Burn.

And the cryptic point I was failing to make was that new players should and will be brought in to maintain 'the Thames Barrier' and they will be assessed against the formidable H&H partnership that unfortunately cannot go on forever

[Me-ate-Live, innit??]

Aaron Hughes has done a sterling job for Fulham FC, that is not in doubt neither is his partnership with Hangeland,  they have a unique understanding. Please don't devalue Hughes contribution to this club,  by petty squabbling and condemning the guy as slow and a poor decision maker.  He played a full game mid week for NI,  beating Russia.
He has grey hair and is getting older, we all are you know.   
The point of yesterday is , we saw what a central defending partnership should look like
........................ ( and it ain't Hangeland and Senderos )    

[epsomraver]

Aaron Hughes has done a sterling job for Fulham FC, that is not in doubt neither is his partnership with Hangeland,  they have a unique understanding. Please don't devalue Hughes contribution to this club,  by petty squabbling and condemning the guy as slow and a poor decision maker.  He played a full game mid week for NI,  beating Russia.
He has grey hair and is getting older, we all are you know.   
The point of yesterday is , we saw what a central defending partnership should look like
........................ ( and it ain't Hangeland and Senderos )    

:plus one:

[Deanothefulhamfan]

I wouldnt break up a defence that kept a clean sheet in their last game,  and performed brilliantly, despite who is available...  When was the last time Amboreita played? I think he could be lacking s bit of match fitness.

Hughes had a great game yesterday alonsgide Hangeland, he should keep his place until he performs badly....

[epsomraver]

Yes it does matter where you sit, first half in Jh player has good game playing directly in front of the stand, second half he plays poorly in front of the Riverside, so opinions will  differ as to his game, How do you know Amorebieta is going to be so good?We hope so but  I watched him from the Riverside last Monday and he was not at all impressive, on the other hand when he came on against the same team Hughes was.

What was he playing in last monday?

Oh pickey pickey, the friendly against Real Betis, the one you said you went to , remember?

[Deanothefulhamfan]

Aaron Hughes has done a sterling job for Fulham FC, that is not in doubt neither is his partnership with Hangeland,  they have a unique understanding. Please don't devalue Hughes contribution to this club,  by petty squabbling and condemning the guy as slow and a poor decision maker.  He played a full game mid week for NI,  beating Russia.
He has grey hair and is getting older, we all are you know.  
The point of yesterday is , we saw what a central defending partnership should look like
........................ ( and it ain't Hangeland and Senderos )    

Great post

[epsomraver]

Hughes is one unsung player for Fulham and he was solid and had a lot of good games,he struggled at right back because he had no support from Frei and Alex who are both light weight in defence and tackling back. I sit in the JH and had a good view of Hughes last season, where do you sit? Because it seems to have an influence as to where the game is viewed from. Also  remember he was injured for a while and then the thames barrier wobbled badly, I won't blame Senderos with all the problems but I know who I would start in my team

Riether played 35 games last year, all at right back.  As a result Hughes could only have played a maximum of 3 games at right back (Manolev at least played 2 taking that down to 1).  Frei barely played last year and Kaca played left wing for the vast majority of his games.  Last year Hughes had by far his worst in a Fulham shirt, he was shaky, easily beaten and often positionally poor.

I''m not gonna suggest that Hughes as always been a poor player, but last year he certainly wasn't worthy of any real praise.  The number of times he'd make a mistake and it be ignored or papered over on here, when a similar mistake made by Senderos resulted in him being crucified was insane.  Does he deserve more leeway because of past performances; from a fan probably, but I'd hope the club aren't always as sentimental as fans are.

Well he stepped up to the plate yesterday , shame some of the so called  popular players didn't do the same.

[God The Mechanic]

Aaron Hughes has done a sterling job for Fulham FC, that is not in doubt neither is his partnership with Hangeland,  they have a unique understanding. Please don't devalue Hughes contribution to this club,  by petty squabbling and condemning the guy as slow and a poor decision maker.

I'm not trying to devalue what he's done, just giving my opinion on last year's performances.  In the same way that I was glad when Murphy left, as he was starting to become a bi of a hindrance at times and some of his final season performances were rather iffy.  But equally, the guy is an absolute hero and his time at the club should be remembered in that way.
As for the partnership he has with Brede, that is by far the best we have defensively.  There ain't no doubting that :P  and that is one of Hughes' biggest attributes.

[epsomraver]

Aaron Hughes has done a sterling job for Fulham FC, that is not in doubt neither is his partnership with Hangeland,  they have a unique understanding. Please don't devalue Hughes contribution to this club,  by petty squabbling and condemning the guy as slow and a poor decision maker.

I'm not trying to devalue what he's done, just giving my opinion on last year's performances.  In the same way that I was glad when Murphy left, as he was starting to become a bi of a hindrance at times and some of his final season performances were rather iffy.  But equally, the guy is an absolute hero and his time at the club should be remembered in that way.
As for the partnership he has with Brede, that is by far the best we have defensively.  There ain't no doubting that :P  and that is one of Hughes' biggest attributes.

From you ''m not gonna suggest that Hughes as always been a poor player, but last year he certainly wasn't worthy of any real praise.  The number of times he'd make a mistake and it be ignored or papered over on here,

Well which is it then? I know which of your opinions I agree with.

[God The Mechanic]

From you ''m not gonna suggest that Hughes as always been a poor player, but last year he certainly wasn't worthy of any real praise.  The number of times he'd make a mistake and it be ignored or papered over on here,

Well which is it then? I know which of your opinions I agree with.

The two H's compliment each other better than any other combination of centre backs (though I would have quite liked to ave seen Senderos and Amorebieta for at least a half during pre season to see how that worked out).  And for a good three years or so were absolutely one of the best partnerships outside of the top 4, for how they played each other.  However based on individual performances, last year Hughes wasn't overly great.   But what he offered (and still does) is as good a foil for Hangeland as there is in the squad.

Playing the best players together doesn't always make the best team.  IMO Amorebeta is better than Hughes is, however I think him and Hangeland are too similar to work effectively.  In fact, I think Hangeland, Amore and Senderos are pretty similar (not equal in terms of ability) and Hughes is the only real and effective foil for them.  And I think that is a problem.

[rusty shackleford]

One good game they should start every match

One bad game hughes is past it and should be sold

[Logicalman]

One good game they should start every match

One bad game hughes is past it and should be sold

Hmm, does the order matter?

[Bassey the warrior]

Personally I look forward to seeing the Hangeland-Amorebieta partnership develop, they are similar types of player with good technical ability. I am pleased that Hughes is still capable of those types of performances though.

[Lighthouse]

The point is Hughes is still a very good player. He has always been a favourite of mine. I have no idea if he is better than last season or Amo but I suspect not. Just glad Hughes can turn in a performance as solid as yesterday.

[WolverineFFC]

Hughes isn't the same defender he was 2 or 3 years ago but he's great to have in squad - today he showed why. I'll be worried if he's first choice next to Brede the whole season, because he's not as quick as he used to be and he still struggles against big target players, but as long as he plays like he did against Sunderland I won't complain.

This.

Hughes was part of a great partnership in the past with Brede, but age has caught up with him. His agility and strength are not what they were.

He is a fantastic back-up (as are Karagounis and Duff) because he can still hold up in certain matchups and/or fill in for 1-2 games at a time like yesteday. But he is not a player you want in the starting 11 for a full season anymore if you plan to challenge for the top half.

[HatterDon]

I thought they handled some young aggressive attackers quite well. It was nice to have the Barrier back.

Oh, can we for this season not have Senderos fans trashing Hughes and Hughes fans not trashing Senderos to make their arguments? After all, if the only reason you like your guy is that the alternative is the worst player on the planet, then your guy doesn't have to be up to much either, does he? Can we PLEASE not do this mindless partisan slating all season long?

Naw, I didn't think so.

[Enter the Frei]

Yes it does matter where you sit, first half in Jh player has good game playing directly in front of the stand, second half he plays poorly in front of the Riverside, so opinions will  differ as to his game, How do you know Amorebieta is going to be so good?We hope so but  I watched him from the Riverside last Monday and he was not at all impressive, on the other hand when he came on against the same team Hughes was.

What was he playing in last monday?

Oh pickey pickey, the friendly against Real Betis, the one you said you went to , remember?

I thought I'd missed a game somewhere because that wasn't a description of what I saw at the Betis game at all. Hughes looked an absolute liability when he came on in that game, thankfully that wasn't the case when we were playing competitively.