Monday Fulham Stuff (03/03/14)...

[MOR :]

Holtby dropped so Fulham could 'fight'

Fulham manager Felix Magath said it was a tactical decision to drop on-loan Tottenham midfielder Lewis Holtby to the bench for the Whites' defeat against Chelsea.

The German has arguably been Fulham's best player since joining from Spurs until the end of the season, but he was dropped in favour of fellow loanee Clint Dempsey, who made his final appearance before returning to Seattle Sounders.

Fulham missed Holtby's invention and were firmly beaten 3-1, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League and in serious relegation trouble.

But Magath said: "The reason [Holtby was dropped] was that we wanted to fight against Chelsea because they have the better players.

"You have to prepare for a game where Chelsea has control over the ball and we have to fight, and I think for 45 minutes it was the right way.

"Lewis is a player who is thinking forward, who is very skilfull and can make good passes, and against Chelsea you will not create many chances – nobody will."


http://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/football-wls-boss-explains-lewis-holtby-omission

Dempsey has done nothing since his return to Fulham, and there's more fight in Holtbys little finger than anything Dempsey had to offer...

Felix got it wrong...

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

So `to fight against Chelsea' you play Bent and Dempsey and lob long balls forward for Terry and Cahill to gobble up gratefully all day?

And you certainly don't play energetic players that will harry their defenders and run at and behind them? Nor do you play your most creative player otherwise he might just play a defence splitting pass or two that could get you some game winning goals?

Too subtle for me.

[ToodlesMcToot]

Magath's comments on the whole are starting to sound as if he was conceding the 3 points (certainly 2) to Chelsea, running Bent and Dempsey out against them so as to conserve Holtby and Mitro or Rodallega. Appears to me that he's managing the schedule so that he can attempt to get the most out of the team in the games that mean the most. If Mitro and Hangeland are fit for Cardiff, I believe we'll see the team that Magath plans to lean on for the rest of the season.

Just another take on the comments and squad selection.

[aconnecticutyankee]

Magath's comments on the whole are starting to sound as if he was conceding the 3 points (certainly 2) to Chelsea, running Bent and Dempsey out against them so as to conserve Holtby and Mitro or Rodallega. Appears to me that he's managing the schedule so that he can attempt to get the most out of the team in the games that mean the most. If Mitro and Hangeland are fit for Cardiff, I believe we'll see the team that Magath plans to lean on for the rest of the season.

Just another take on the comments and squad selection.

Had the same thought. He will pull out the stops starting this weekend.

[HatterDon]

Magath's comments on the whole are starting to sound as if he was conceding the 3 points (certainly 2) to Chelsea, running Bent and Dempsey out against them so as to conserve Holtby and Mitro or Rodallega. Appears to me that he's managing the schedule so that he can attempt to get the most out of the team in the games that mean the most. If Mitro and Hangeland are fit for Cardiff, I believe we'll see the team that Magath plans to lean on for the rest of the season.

Just another take on the comments and squad selection.

Which is exactly the take I had. I guess I should have spelled everything out for the rest of the board.

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham's Holtby outshone by his former Bruschweg Boy teammate

Andre Schürrle and Lewis Holtby, former team mates from Mainz, met again in the Premier League, but this time only one of them starred.

September 25th 2010: Bayern played at home against Mainz 05 and lost 1-2. It was the sixth victory in a row for Mainz at the beginning of a stunning season. At the end of the season the team, which had always fought against being relegated to the second division, ended in fifth place and qualified for the European League.

The key players of this young team were Adam Szalai, Andre Schürrle and Lewis Holtby. In that season the three of them celebrated most of their goals in the same way: Schürrle playing air guitar with the corner flag, Szalai playing the drums with his shoes and Holtby imitating a singer.

The media soon started to call them the Bruchweg Boys, a mixture of the name of the stadium where Mainz plays, Stadion am Bruchweg, and their choreography which reminded people of a boy band.

March 1st 2013: Two of the Bruchweg Boys met again, but this time in the Premier League match between Fulham and Chelsea. Schürrle is a starter for Chelsea and contributes all three goals to their 3-1 victory. Holtby, who is just six weeks older than his former team mate, is a substitute for Fulham and comes in after 62 minutes.

Schürrle is first in the table with Chelsea and will probably go with Germany to the World Cup this year, whereas Holtby struggles to be a starter for the currently last team in the table in the Premier League. Most likely he will watch the World Cup at home on tv.

Why did their careers take so different directions?

Actually at the beginning the two players seemed to make a similar career boost. Both left Mainz to Bundesliga clubs that regularly qualified for international competitions. Holtby went back again to Schalke and also became a key player there, while Schürrle joined Leverkusen where he managed to develop to a top striker.

Another similarity in their careers was that they then moved to ambitious Premier League clubs. Holtby joined Tottenham and Schürrle Chelsea, but both of them first had difficulties to get used to the new style of football sin England. Holtby went then to Fulham on loan, whereas Chelsea's Coach Mourinho started to trust Schürrle every time a little bit more and today he paid him back with his three goals.

Who knows, maybe we see him soon celebrating his goals by playing air guitar with the corner flag again, only this time accompanied by John Terry playing the drums with his shoes and a singing Eden Hazard. Even though that's not very likely to happen, it's still good to know that at least one of the Bruchweg Boys is doing pretty well in his career right now.


http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014/03/03/fulhams-holtby-outshone-by-his-former-bundesliga-teammate/?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham's Kieran Richardson not giving up on Premier League survival

Fulham's Kieran Richardson is refusing to give up on their chances of securing Premier League survival.

The Cottagers remain rooted to the bottom of the table, four points adrift of safety after losing 3-1 at home to West London rivals Chelsea at the weekend.

Richardson, who was a member of the West Brom side that stayed up against all the odds in 2005, insists all is not lost and knows they must beat second bottom Cardiff in a relegation six-pointer next week.

"The manager came in after the game and said 'it's gone now, it's finished. We've got to move on because Cardiff is a massive game'. And he's right," Richardson told the Daily Star.

"I know from what happened with West Brom that you can turn it round with a couple of results.

"There's 10 games to go - that's 30 points - a lot to play for."


http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9194347/fulhams-kieran-richardson-not-giving-up-on-premier-league-survival?

[WhiteJC]

 
Kasami: We Look Forward

Pajtim Kasami has urged his Fulham teammates to forget about Saturday's Chelsea result and concentrate on securing survival with 10 games left this season.

After an encouraging first half against our SW6 rivals, a quick-fire treble from Andre Schurrle saw Chelsea race into a 3-0 lead at Craven Cottage, before John Heitinga's late effort proved little more than a consolation.

"The first half was good," Kasami told the official website. "We pushed on and we tried to score. We were playing well and had a couple of chances but then in the second half we lost concentration a couple of times and Chelsea took advantage."

The defeat leaves the Whites bottom of the Barclays Premier League table. They now head to South Wales this weekend for a crucial clash with fellow strugglers Cardiff City who sit a point and a place above Fulham in the standings.

"Everyone knows what we have to do now – we have to stick together and we have to look forward," stated Kasami. "We can't dwell on the Chelsea game even though it's disappointing – it's important to quickly move on to the next match and put all our focus on that.

"We have the quality to get out of this. We have the desire. Cardiff is a huge game. Everyone knows how important it is."

Recalled to the starting XI on Saturday for Felix Magath's first home game in charge, Kasami vowed to do all he can to help the Whites secure their place at the top table of English football.

"I was very pleased to be back in the team, although obviously it wasn't the result we wanted," said the Switzerland international. "I had quite a hard two months so it was good to be back in the starting XI. I'll always give my best and now we have 10 games left to try and stay up.

"It's been very good under the new Manager. It's good to have him here. We work very hard as a team with him and we just need to keep going."


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2014/march/03/kasami-we-look-forward?

[WhiteJC]

 
Huddersfield Town legend Andy Booth can't wait for the FA Youth Cup clash with Fulham

Great experience for the Huddersfield Under 18 team to play in the capital

I can't wait for our Under 18 side to get to grips with Fulham in the FA Youth Cup.

Victory in London would take the team – who have been excellently guided by Frankie Bunn and Tony Carss – to the semi-finals of a competition which is still very highly regarded among all clubs in this country.

Some of the very best players this country has ever produced have first come to prominence in the FA Youth Cup and if you ask any of them about the honours they have won, they will always include the Youth Cup on their list.

I remember thinking what a great competition it was at the beginning of my career, and I know the lads who are involved now are all enjoying what is a tremendous experience.

There has been a fantastic buzz – and a growing interest from supporters, I have to say – since our lads knocked out Manchester United in the last round.

When anyone beats Manchester United at any level it always catches the eye, and that was certainly the case at the John Smith's Stadium the other Friday night when we came out with a terrific 2-1 win after playing really well.

We have some talented young lads at that level who are top of their league, just like the Under 21s, and they will be keen to make the most of their opportunity to go even further in the competition.

Most people thought we would be facing Manchester City at this sixth-round stage, but Fulham went and turned them over 3-1 and I'm told the Cottagers have some cracking young players of their own.

Our lads will know what they are up against, they will prepare properly and – like they've been doing all season – they will be ready to give it their all.

On the subject of matches in the capital, can I just add my comments to those already expressed on behalf of the club by Ann Hough regarding the Championship match at Charlton.

It has been moved, of course, from a week on Tuesday to the following day (Wednesday, March 12) because of Charlton's involvement in the FA Cup against Sheffield United the previous Sunday.

This will no doubt have caused inconvenience to our fans who were planning to go to the Valley and who may well have already organised accommodation, travel and the like.

We can only apologise for any upset because we had no say whatsoever in the changing of the date.


http://www.examiner.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/huddersfield-town-legend-andy-booth-6752456?

[Texas White]

Magath's comments on the whole are starting to sound as if he was conceding the 3 points (certainly 2) to Chelsea, running Bent and Dempsey out against them so as to conserve Holtby and Mitro or Rodallega. Appears to me that he's managing the schedule so that he can attempt to get the most out of the team in the games that mean the most. If Mitro and Hangeland are fit for Cardiff, I believe we'll see the team that Magath plans to lean on for the rest of the season.

Just another take on the comments and squad selection.

Which is exactly the take I had. I guess I should have spelled everything out for the rest of the board.

Bizarre, selection so we can only hope their is method in his madness.

[Me-ate-Live, innit??]

Holtby dropped so Fulham could 'fight'

Fulham manager Felix Magath said it was a tactical decision to drop on-loan Tottenham midfielder Lewis Holtby to the bench for the Whites' defeat against Chelsea.

The German has arguably been Fulham's best player since joining from Spurs until the end of the season, but he was dropped in favour of fellow loanee Clint Dempsey, who made his final appearance before returning to Seattle Sounders.

Fulham missed Holtby's invention and were firmly beaten 3-1, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League and in serious relegation trouble.

But Magath said: "The reason [Holtby was dropped] was that we wanted to fight against Chelsea because they have the better players.

"You have to prepare for a game where Chelsea has control over the ball and we have to fight, and I think for 45 minutes it was the right way.

"Lewis is a player who is thinking forward, who is very skilfull and can make good passes, and against Chelsea you will not create many chances – nobody will."


http://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/football-wls-boss-explains-lewis-holtby-omission

Dempsey has done nothing since his return to Fulham, and there's more fight in Holtbys little finger than anything Dempsey had to offer...

Felix got it wrong...

Isn't Felix saying pick your battles  and isn't he keeping him safe for Cardiff