Magath Praised

[Roberty]

Too much negativity of here me thinks!

Surely someone has something good to say?

We have been bitching about the age of the team and the lack of opportunity given to academy players since - forever.
I for one am please to see a younger, fitter team still trying to get back into the game up to the final whistle.
I would be sure that no one could have named the team he put on the field for Saturday. I am sure they will have benefitted so much from the experience and as the match went on I could see them beginning to gel.

So all praise to Felix for making the changes and I wish him well.

[grandad]

Too much negativity of here me thinks!

Surely someone has something good to say?

We have been bitching about the age of the team and the lack of opportunity given to academy players since - forever.
I for one am please to see a younger, fitter team still trying to get back into the game up to the final whistle.
I would be sure that no one could have named the team he put on the field for Saturday. I am sure they will have benefitted so much from the experience and as the match went on I could see them beginning to gel.

So all praise to Felix for making the changes and I wish him well.

:plus one:
I never worry about the very few who keep on with the same old negativity. They would do it no matter who the manager is or what players we have.

[Northern Cottager]

Team played well. Lacked a cutting edge though. I hope we get it right and bring in the right players. Stafylidis and Hoogland look very good and he has promoted the right youth players thus far.

[bulgariawhite]

 :plus one:

[TheManOnTheBus]

 :plus one:

I couldn't find time today to re-watch the whole game. But I did see the last 15 minutes again to see how good our come-back (that might have been) looked.  And whether that praise being lavished on Roberts was justified.

It looked GOOD. A couple of final balls off a second goal.  A blocked shot from Roberts. A stray cross from Staf.  Fast tempo. Good passes. Even Parker looked good.

Well done boys (and granddad Parker).

Well done Magath.

[TonyGilroy]

I agree.

At last the prospect of a team that will improve. Exciting times ahead but we need to be patient.

[RaySmith]

Yes, much to be positive about.

I think few managers would have had the courage to introduce young players wholesale, as Magath has.

On Talksport this morning Neil Warnock, after praising McCarthy and Ipswich, was saying that Fulham have no chance in this division with youngsters -well, let's prove him wrong.

[shnlwswlkr]

The pace is in the team was a plus, Roberts looked like he could physically handle the game and I think he should be a starter. Once we've settled we'll be okay. We played against an Ipswich team who haven't really made many changes to their team since last season so they've played a lot together. We had them pushed back for a lot of the game, they were lucky to get a win. First game of the season, away from home in a new league with a new team, we did alright. I expect us to win on Saturday, playing at home and got the nerves out the system.

[PakistaniWhite]

Onwards and upwards I say! Let's hope Magath succeeds. I am sick of loosing though. Lets hope we start winning far more then we loose or draw!

[Lighthouse]

I think it is odd that after so many years of depressing football IMHO. We have the signs, as others have said, of the start of something special. Yet I guess fans who bought into the walk to the championship propaganda are shocked that eight or nine new players making their debut need time to gel. Now players will make mistakes and I will always look on the negative side of things. But for the first time in so long, watching a Fulham side showed the signs of positive exciting play. Much to work on, but compared to the last several seasons. A breath of fresh air.

[Riverside]

In the last 10 minutes we were getting stronger and scoring rather than the implosions of the last 2/3 years !

It was Ipswich you wanted the full time whistle not us .

[FinFFC]

I am also thrilled with everything that is happening at FFC. I think Magath is getting it right while seeing the season as marathon rather than a series of sprints, thus giving game time to the youngsters who may not yet be totally ready or McCormack, who maybe isn't in 90 minutes condition. I think the learning curve of the youngsters can be surprisingly steep and we may have a pleasant surprise in a few games time, when those kids look like they've been playing at this level for ages. And about McC, well, the sooner he is fit, the sooner we can start to reap the rewards out of him.

Onwards and upwards! :clap_hands:

[Peabody]

I think Felix should be applauded for giving youth a chance. Just one thing though, I am atad worried about the goalkeeping side of things, unless more experience is brought in there, we could be vulnerable.

[cmg]

Some people are frightened of change, are uncomfortable with something different. They panic when they see a CB deployed as a DM, even if it may be a young player whose best position has yet to be established. They grow faint when young players are unleashed wholesale into an alien environment. We even get such crazed thinking that suggests that playing Hutchinson was a mistake as he had never played in the English Championship before (doesn't take more than 10 seconds to spot the flaws in that theory).

Whatever attributes affect Magath's thinking, fear does not seem to be among them. What the outcome may be we will have to wait to learn, but he has obviously rejected any idea of looking backward, of grabbing for the comfort blanket of old, tired personnel and methods. There may be some pain to come, but a bit of courage would not come amiss from the supporters to go along with that already being shown by players and manager.

An interesting (if rather technical) analysis of some aspects of Saturday's match appears at VivaelFulham:

 http://www.vivaelfulham.co.uk/articles/talking-tactics-ipswich-2-fulham-1-7-475.html#sthash.6fSVpftS.dpuf

it contains this quote from Magath:
""What do you want? Every week I hear the English people talking about young players and you are scared about foreign players. If you care about young English players, you have to take care of them in games. When do you want to give them experience if not in games? You cannot criticise everything and do nothing. That is a problem for you."

Let's go for it.

[TonyGilroy]

That's a big quote from Magath and the last two sentences apply in many contexts other than football.

By "you" I think he means the British.

The man may not be mad.

[VicHalomsLovechild]

Our fellow relegators didn't have great first games either. Norwich lost and Cardiff drew. Early days. Roy didn't turn things round straight away and Sanchez never managed it with a virtually new term. I thought The Hoo, Staf, Roberts and Eisfeld were really good for us and Parker will be the new Murh, shame about the error but that's football.
Forty five games left, so just time to pull things round.

[Fulham1959]

Well said, all.

"All we are saying, is give youth a chance!"

and remember,

"Doctors need a lot of patients".   :Get Coat gif:

[Arthur]

Some people are frightened of change, are uncomfortable with something different. They panic when they see a CB deployed as a DM, even if it may be a young player whose best position has yet to be established. They grow faint when young players are unleashed wholesale into an alien environment. We even get such crazed thinking that suggests that playing Hutchinson was a mistake as he had never played in the English Championship before (doesn't take more than 10 seconds to spot the flaws in that theory).

Whatever attributes affect Magath's thinking, fear does not seem to be among them. What the outcome may be we will have to wait to learn, but he has obviously rejected any idea of looking backward, of grabbing for the comfort blanket of old, tired personnel and methods. There may be some pain to come, but a bit of courage would not come amiss from the supporters to go along with that already being shown by players and manager.

Great post. It has my wholehearted support.

It's easy, after the event, to criticise Magath for picking the players who didn't, on the day, do themselves justice and overlook the fact that others - notably Hyndman, David and Roberts - impressed. Yet how can Felix be sure which players will perform unless he gives them the chance? This week it could be Dembele and Hutchinson who take the plaudits. Let's show some patience with every player who pulls on a white shirt and not divide them under 'good' and 'not good enough' headings on the basis of just one (or even two-or-three) games.

[FPT]

I do like Felix Magath, he's eccentric but he's done a fantastic job at rebuilding our squad with younger and hungrier players and there could be a couple more to come. I like the style of play he's trying to instil and I like the balls he has as a manager.

He needs time now to get his squad gelled and adjusted to the system; and players also need time to adjust to the league. I'm happy to give him that time, lets see what happens.

I don't agree with everything, but I didn't with Roy Hodgson either.

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

When I first saw the team sheet I was a little disappointed to see Hyndman and Dembele
instead of Williams/Williams and Cauley.
However, Hyndman was a revelation and although Dembele wasn't sensational he was given a few iffy passes, including a lot of 'high balls'
He did nearly give us a 1-0 lead (he was predatory enough to be on the rebound) and would have been
the hero if we'd won 1-0.
We were very exciting for much of the game, although outplayed for 25/30 minutes in the 2nd half.

A breath of fresh air and plenty to be optimistic about.

Magaths impression of a trainee chimney sweep with new equipment will work for a long time to come.