Fulham's Strongest Line up at the moment(I believe)

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

It is unfair to criticise Bettinelli too strongly because he was playing behind a very shaky defence that was particularly poor at defending set pieces, especially corners.

After his performances last season he deserves to start and time behind better defenders who are better organised where he can gain confidence in commanding his area.

[Classic94]

----------------------Betts

Jazz-------Bodurov--------Burn-------Garbutt

----------------------O'Hara

-------------------------------LVC

--------Cairney---------------------------Kaca

-------------------McCormack

-------------------------------Dembele


- I'd personally give Dembele a chance but Kit will likely go with Smith.

- Bod over Hutchinson (until we sign another CB). Hutchinson is not good enough to start.

- Kaca over Pringle for now - either he steps up or gets replaced.

- We must also sign a DM - someone like McDonald would be ideal.

[General]

Hear me out.

I prefer Burn and Bodurov pairing for now(until we get new signings) because they are steadier than Hutchinson. Hutchinson is committed but just lacks ability and makes foolish mistakes.

We need one midfielder to be given the specific role of protecting the back four. Currently O'hara fits the role best. So often last season, and pre season we lacked the midfield man blocking attacks.

Christensen and Cairney both prefer to play in the centre, both like the freedom to play and are able to go box to box, so with O'Hara Protecting, they are able to roam and create.

Pringle and Mccormack are the best crossers of the ball at the club, while Mitroglou is the best finisher. Whether or not he will still be here come September is a different matter. I know people prefer Ross to be int he middle, but he is able to keep the ball in wide positions, and is able to provide the final ball. And this way we can fit both Cairney and LVC in the middle which i think is key to winning the midfield battle.

This is our best team at this moment......I think.

I think you're more on the money then the others in terms of my opinion of what's our best lineup, that said whether it proves to be the preferred is a different matter.

That said, I'm annoyed it doesn't include Hyndman as he will be a future u.s. captain and so therefore think it should or at least include him for all our cup games and as a frequent sub.

I am also generally unsure of our defence. Burn, Bodurov and Grimmer are all players I have phases of confidence followed by concern at their selection.

I think as far as gk's go it's very evenly matched between betts and longran.. purely for the quality vs potential quality and their age differences.

[Jonaldiniho 88]

Lonergan should be our first choice keeper IMO. Betenelli would become a better keeper by battling and fighting for that spot next season. And Dembele direct running at defenders and dragging them away is very good and we should see him start and get 60 mins atleast in a friendly?

What are you basing that on? And please don't say it's because he is old

I dont think Betenelli is good enough at claiming crosses or coming out for corners. Remind me of Anti Niemi who was a great shot stopper but would always stay on the line. Then Schwarz came in and was better all round. I think Betts will get better hes only 23 but for our poor defence a keeper who will come out to claim crosses more often will help our CB.

It may not be his strength but it wasn't de gea's either. He picked it up and I think betts deserves a chance to do the same. I'm sure in the lower levels there may be less of that style of play and probably less big wiley old pro's making life difficult. Is lonergan any better? I haven't seen him play.

[YoungsBitter]

This is sort of how I expect us to play (expecting a few new faces though), but it's hard to pin a formation down when I reckon Kit will have our midfield as very fluid and regularly changing in-game.

Shaded players are expected backups.

Spot on!

This is the line up for me but ensure that Dembele ,Woodrow,Hutch, Hyndman and Grimmer are available on the bench.

I think we are forgetting the club captain - Kit will play Parker alongside O'Hara with Cairney and LVC in front of them and subbing in Pringle or Kaca, unless he forgets Smith and has McCormack at the point.

[fulhamben]

It is unfair to criticise Bettinelli too strongly because he was playing behind a very shaky defence that was particularly poor at defending set pieces, especially corners.

After his performances last season he deserves to start and time behind better defenders who are better organised where he can gain confidence in commanding his area.

to be fair though, it's an even craper defense at present than it was last year

[@jolslover]

a 442

Betts, Richards Burn Bodurov Garbutt, Cairney Christensen O'Hara Pringle, Smith Mccormack is what I expect we will go with against Cardiff. Unless a new CB is bought in

If Mitrog is still here i would like to see him and Mccormack up top. If Mitrog isnt here I would like to see Dembele and Mccormack but dont think that will happen

[Burgf001]

Would surprise me if Cairney was on the right. I thought one of the reasons he joined was promises of playing in the middle.
I wouldn't be surprised if Kaca was played on the right.

[davew]

I think the original poster of this topic is having a laugh....ISN'T HE??? Probably a QPR supporter in disguise hoping that we will be fooled into fielding that team, too many selections that I would disagree with to even start to reply to tonight! There is too much speculation at the moment, when the bookies cut our odds from 20's to about 8's then we know we might just have a squad that will be good enough to go up, until then let's just keep playing chess with the players that we already have!

[McBride78]

This is sort of how I expect us to play (expecting a few new faces though), but it's hard to pin a formation down when I reckon Kit will have our midfield as very fluid and regularly changing in-game.

Shaded players are expected backups.

Spot on!

This is the line up for me but ensure that Dembele ,Woodrow,Hutch, Hyndman and Grimmer are available on the bench.

I think we are forgetting the club captain - Kit will play Parker alongside O'Hara with Cairney and LVC in front of them and subbing in Pringle or Kaca, unless he forgets Smith and has McCormack at the point.

I do think based on some of the talk on the board and some of the preseason play that our formation will look very similar to this.  My curiosity is how will we accommodate all of the new players, which is not a bad problem to have. 

GK Betts
DL Garbutt
DC Burn
DC (Need a new signing here)
DR Richards
DM O'Hara (one of our best in the preseason, not sure how he is not the starter here)
CM LVC (Hyndman, Cairney backing up?)
LM Pingle (great cross, has to start here IMO)
RM Cairney (not sure he can play the #8) and possibly Kaka?
#10 - Ross, this is where we had him before he came off and looked sick....who is his understudy though?
Striker - Not sure who gets the nod here....I like Dembele or Taggart to get a shot. 

[Chutney]

Kaca > Pringle, pringle is solid back up though

[zschwartz]

This is sort of how I expect us to play (expecting a few new faces though), but it's hard to pin a formation down when I reckon Kit will have our midfield as very fluid and regularly changing in-game.

Shaded players are expected backups.

yes. i would prefer dembele ahead of mitroglou. this is as close as i've seen to what to expect. I don't know if garbutt will start day one, to save face, however it may be for the best.

[JDH101]

Kaca > Pringle, pringle is solid back up though

I can't say I have ever seen Pringle play other than against us last season. But Kaca is so utterly useless that I immediate disagree with this comment. Unless you like lightweight players that get easily pushed off the ball and offer absolutely nothing going forward that is.

[Chutney]

Kaca > Pringle, pringle is solid back up though

I can't say I have ever seen Pringle play other than against us last season. But Kaca is so utterly useless that I immediate disagree with this comment. Unless you like lightweight players that get easily pushed off the ball and offer absolutely nothing going forward that is.

I respect your opinion but I don't believe a full swedish international winger can be described as offering nothing going forward, he's looked dangerous during pre-season, I hope this is a big year for him!

[Zu-Meister]

I preferred Grimmer because he is an academy graduate, should be given more of a chance, and i wasnt overly impressed with richards last season, not sure why we bothered getting him.

I have mitroglou in there because he has pedigree, he was once one of the most feared strikers in europe. If fully fit, we should definitely use him to the full. Him and Ross in attack will be deadly.

I am a huge fan of hyndman, and would love to see him play more this season. I just dont think he should be first pick in the system i have down. Having said that he could fill in in any of the three midfield positions if need be as back up.

Kaca has pace but no end product, pringle seems to have a quality cross on him, so id start him, then bring on kaca to face tiring defenders.

The ball doesnt stick to matt smith, he should be plan b sub when we're chasing the game.

Finally to add, this is definitely not what i expect to see from Kit. He will go 442 with Mccormack dropping into midfield, which i dont find affective.

[hovewhite]

competition in the midfield and the wide players particular means if they don't play well they will be out,would like to see this strength in depth defensively as well.
I don't care who plays as long as they play for the shirt and we win .

[bill taylors apprentice]

If Kaca is chosen ahead of Pringle I will be pissed off big time.

Kaca has failed to provide solid defensive duties, lacks consistency, can't cross the ball accurately or have an eye for a goal.
Oh, and I don't think he's brave enough!

[Craven Mad]

Agree about Kaca.

He's shown moments of absolute class but lacks any sort of consistency, lets his head drop to easily, doesn't track back enough, doesn't commit to 50/50s, is too predictable, too left-footed.

It's disappointing because it's another one of our younger players who is technically gifted but seems lacks the mental strength to make it.

I think he's someone who can offer us something different off the bench but is unlikely to be first choice (LW/LM/LAM - no idea how we'll line up).

I personally would rather Pringle as first choice on the left of the pitch and then Kav as backup against stronger teams or when we want to hold a lead (Kav at LM and Garbutt at LB would improve us defensively) and Kaca backup against weaker teams or when we need to chase a goal (where he'll have the freedom to roam more, without needing to defend as readily).

[Arthur]

Could this prove to be our strongest line-up?

                      Mitroglou         Dembele

                                McCormack

                  Pringle                        Cairney

                                    O'Hara

            Garbutt        Burn       ?????      Grimmer

                                   Bettinelli

Kit would have to be brave to play this XI, however, as it would mean continuing with diamond-formation that earned him so much criticism last season.

[McBride78]

Could this prove to be our strongest line-up?

                      Mitroglou         Dembele

                                McCormack

                  Pringle                        Cairney

                                    O'Hara

            Garbutt        Burn       ?????      Grimmer

                                   Bettinelli

Kit would have to be brave to play this XI, however, as it would mean continuing with diamond-formation that earned him so much criticism last season.

Unless our defense is massively improved (which I have no evidence it is) I would say too many attackers in that formation.  I think we will need two central mids (an CM and a deeper DM) which means we have to eliminate one of your three attackers.  I don't dislike where you are going, we just don't have the back line to play that formation, as evidenced by last year's results.