Fantastic Fulham!

[Nick Bateman]

I was wonderfully surprised by the recent display Fulham performed against Villa at the weekend and one only has to thank one man, Rene Meulensteen.  049:gif  I've not seen such a great performance by Fulham in many years!

The new manager showed what was lacking in Jol's "sloth-like" approach; the latter encouraging the players to move and show similar effort as himself!

Meulensteen however, displayed why he worked at Manchester United successfully for so many years, and perhaps why they are now struggling without him.  David Moyes removed him from the back-room staff, the people behind Fergie who never received any credit, and replaced him with, Philip Neville.....  Excuse me!!??

Our new guv'nor put paid to suggestions that Parker and Sidwell cannot play together, and they put in a shift that makes one wonder why neither of them have been called up for England!?!  082.gif

The entire team chased everything and 'worked their socks off', even the usually laconic Dimitar Berbatov.

And I must single out another fellow whom I've been (rightly) critical in the past, our goalkeeper Stekeneburg was almost flawless in between the sticks, pulling out an excellent tip over the bar from a fiercely hit curling chip, and coming out to claim a corner in a crowded box, his crowning moments with a clean sheet.  He looked more the 'keeper I was impressed with before his shoulder injury, and again one commends the manager for his motivational skills.

Compare Fulham's display to that of others in danger, like Hull and Swansea on Monday.  That game was a dire slow-paced affair - Fulham played like a top four team in tempo, accurate passing and attacking prowess.  We created over 20 shots more than half on target, which exposes Jol's negative tactics which sometimes produced few shots, ZERO on target!

Hats off to the team and we must ensure United do not come back to reclaim their man, when Moyes eventually gets the sack.

Also credit due to Khan for having the foresight to appoint Meulensteen in readiness of Jol's predicament.  Perhaps one day he will rid us of those Star Trek jokes.  051

[The Equalizer]

Well said Nick! I agree with all of that.

[rusty shackleford]

I think I read somewhere that its a popular misconception that Moyes tin canned Rene and he was in fact offered the chance to work with Moyes and declined.

[jarv]

Moyes loss, Fulham's gain.

[Count Berbatov]

To be honest, I don't think Moyes would have listen and taken advice from Rene. David is as stubborn as Sir Alex. Look at how he does (not) handle United 's weak midfield. A similar problem for fulham wich Rene solved at once with a couple of tweaks and a very clever 4-1-4-1. Moyes would never think that far. He's old fashioned like Sir Alex and will always favor some form of 4-4-2. Not with the personel he has, he shouldn't. But he doesn't adjust.
Rene would have been a waste here. I know understand

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[Willard]

I think I read somewhere that its a popular misconception that Moyes tin canned Rene and he was in fact offered the chance to work with Moyes and declined.

Moyes replaced Phelan, Meulensteen and Steele (GK coach) with his lot from Everton. He offered Rene a role in the Man Utd Youth set-up with no involvement with the 1st team. Essentially a demotion since that was where he had been some years previously.

[Furby]

I wouldn't have been surprised if Meulensteen had said something along the lines of "Look, I've worked with players a lot better than yourselves, but they all still worked their socks off to win matches, and if you don't start with that you'll win nothing"

Of course, I can only guess this!!

[filham]

Nice post Nick,it makes enjoyable reading but lets just wait for a few more results before we jump to the conclusion that all problems are solved.

A couple of points from the next two games and I may be right alongside you but it is more likely to be a couple of defeats and we will all begin to have those nasty doubts again.

[Ichabod Magoo]

(quote snipped)

Hats off to the team and we must ensure United do not come back to reclaim their man, when Moyes eventually gets the sack.

Also credit due to Khan for having the foresight to appoint Meulensteen in readiness of Jol's predicament.  Perhaps one day he will rid us of those Star Trek jokes.  051

I think it's a little early to worry about Rene's departure for ManU.  Fergie brought Moyes in.  He's not going to admit he screwed up very quickly especially since Fergie got off to such a bad start himself.

[hovewhite]

Two great performances and the villa performance at the standard of hodgsons teams
Well done rene for getting into the players so quickly.