Saturday Fulham Stuff 07.08.10

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Fulham 5 - 1 Werder Bremen

Fulham's final pre-season friendly of the 2010/11 campaign certainly got off to a high tempo start with both sides eager to show their attacking prowess from the opening whistle. They were aided by the slick surface of Craven Cottage's newly-laid pitch.

An early strike from Claudio Pizarro tested Mark Schwarzer's handling abilities as he collected the ball low to his left. The Australian international was called into action again in the 7th minute when Pizarro's deep cross was met at the far post by Portugal international, Hugo Almeida. Schwarzer reacted well to parry the forceful effort to safety.

The visitors took the lead minutes later when another deep cross, this time from the left wing, found Pizarro at the back post, who had the simple task of volleying past Schwarzer from close range.

A timely clearance form John Pantsil on 21 minutes helped resolve a dangerous situation after Clemens Fritz was able to find space on the right flank. Then the post came to Fulham's rescue two minutes later to deny what looked like a certain goal for Thomas Schaaf's men. Almeida was played clean through and chipped the ball over the rapidly advancing Schwarzer only to see the ball strike the upright.

The visitors were clearly enjoying great success with deep deliveries to the far port where they were often able to crate dangerous attacking situations.

Fulham's first notable chance of the game came on 33 minutes when Bobby Zamora was played into space on the left side of the Werder penalty area – his shot narrowly missed the far post, with Simon Davies also sliding in hoping attempt to make contact.

The Whites made a bright start to the second-half. Damien Duff crossed right footed for Simon Davies to head just wide at Tim Wiese's near post.

Fulham were back on level terms on 52 minutes when Clint Dempsey flicked a neat pass with the outside of his foot into the path of Bobby Zamora. The Fulham striker had time to check the Assistant Referee's flag before calmly side footing the ball past Wiese.

The Whites were certainly performing to a higher level in the second-half, putting Werder well on the back foot.

Clint Dempsey was replaced by Zoltan Gera on 61 minutes as Mark Hughes made his first change of the match. The Hungarian international joined Zamora up front as the Whites pushed for the winning goal.

Hughes swapped both full-backs moments later with Freddie Stoor and Stephen Kelly coming on for John Pantsil and Paul Konchesky.

Zoltan Gera put the Whites in front with a spectacular strike on 65 minutes. Fulham's Player of the Season for 09/10 collected the ball with his back to the defence before gliding across the pitch and hitting an unstoppable left-footed shot past Wiese.

Zamora and Gera combined in the 71st minute to further extend Fulham's lead. Zamora found space on the right flank and his cross found Gera unmarked in the area. The Hungarian international placed a firm header beyond the reach of Wiese. He completed his hat-trick five minutes later after Wiese came out of his area in an attempt to dispossess Zamora. The keeper did just that but the ball rolled into the path of Gera who, from 30 yards, side footed the ball into an unguarded net.

Eddie Johnson rounded off the scoring on 86 minutes after Gera's first touch pass found the American in space – Johnson applied a routine finish from 10 yards.

Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/MatchAndTeam/MatchCentre/Matches/1011/PreSeason/WerderBremenHome.aspx#ixzz0vw7HIYWm

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http://www.cottagersconfidential.com/2010/8/7/1610908/zoltan-gera-leads-fulham-to-a-5-1

Zoltan Gera Leads Fulham To A 5 - 1 Victory Against Werder Bremen

Fulham ended their pre - season with a 5 - 1 victory over Werder Bremen at Craven Cottage. Werder Bremen actually led at the half 1 - 0. Fulham scored five times in the second half to get the victory. Bobby Zamora scored the first goal in the seconf half for Fulham. That goal was followed up by Zoltan Gera's hat trick. Eddie Johnson scored the final goal for Fulham. The Mark Hughes era begins with a win.

According to Fulhamfc.com, Claudio Pizarro scored in the 10th minute of the match to give Werder Bremen the early lead. In the 33rd minute, Bobby Zamora had a quality shot that just missed the net. This was Fulham's best chance of the first half according to Fulhamfc.com.

The second half was a different story for Fulham. In the 52nd minute, Bobby Zamora got the equaliser with a  goal and the game was then tied. Zoltan Gera came on in the 61st minute for Clint Dempsey. The scoring was about to go into high gear for Fulham. In a twelve minute span Zoltan Gera scored three times and got the hat trick. He scored in the 65th, 71st and 76th minute.  American international striker Eddie Johsnon finished off the scoring for Fulham in the 86th minute according to Fulhamfc.com.     

The starting lineup for Fulham was as follows: Schwarzer; Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky; Duff, Murphy, Etuhu, Davies; Dempsey, and Zamora.

Fulham will now open their season next Saturday on the road against Bolton. The new season is just about to begin.

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http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=812397&sec=england&cc=5739&campaign=rss&source=soccernet

Fulham hit five in Hughes' first game

Mark Hughes made a fine start to his tenure as Fulham manager, as his side produced a polished display to beat Bundesliga side Werder Bremen 5-1 in a friendly at Craven Cottage.
Claudio Pizarro put Werder ahead in the first half, but the match turned on its head after the break. Bobby Zamora took an early chance to impress Hughes by levelling the scores, Zoltan Gera helped himself to a 12-minute hat-trick and Eddie Johnson netted late on to secure a 5-1 win.

Robbie Keane netted twice, one in the last minute, as Tottenham Hotspur claimed a 3-2 win over Fiorentina. Spurs fell behind to an Alberto Gilardino strike but were on level terms on 27 minutes thanks to a goal from Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Spurs slipped behind before the interval when Adem Ljajic volleyed home, but Keane gave manager Harry Redknapp food for thought with goals on 59 and 89 minutes.

Rangers secured a 2-1 win over Newcastle United in their friendly at Ibrox. Kenny Miller ghosted between two defenders to meet a fine cross from Steven Whittaker and head home on 23 minutes. The advantage was doubled by Steven Naismith and although Peter Lovenkrands cut the deficit 20 minutes from time against his former side, Rangers held on for the win.

Birmingham lost 1-0 at home to Mallorca, West Ham drew 0-0 with Deportivo La Coruna and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake was on the scoresheet as Wolves beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1. West Brom were also facing Spanish opposition and drew 1-1 with Osasuna, with James Morrison on target.

A Bolton side were beaten 2-1 by Barrow, while Hearts and Blackburn drew 1-1.

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Fulham 5 Werder Bremen 1

I doubt if Mark Hughes will be able to keep this up but there`s no doubting that the 5-1 drubbing of Werder Bremen will give the lads a lot of confidence ahead of our season opener next weekend.

Fulham had to come back from a goal down when Werder Bremen took the lead through the ex-Chelsea striker, Claudio Pizarro.

But it was a different state of affairs after the break. Bobby Zamora, hoping for an England call up tonight, equalised before Zoltan Gera, restored to the Hungary squad for the friendly against England, hit a hat-trick inside twelve minutes.

Even Eddie Johnson got on in the act notching up the fifth on a delightful afternoon next to the River Thames.

Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=207930#ixzz0vwNQyGGC

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Fulham - I`m Sorry Folks!

Right it`s time for an apology!

My close friend Al Billy assures me I`ve overstepped the mark when it came to my latest article on Jimmy Bullard.

On reflection I have to admit he`s right and I have to admit I have nothing against Jimmy.

Perhaps the point I was trying to get across didn`t quite come across how I wanted to, or to be honest perhaps it never really surfaced at all.

The point I was trying to make, but in a very juvenile way I have to admit, was that something is seriously wrong when a player leaves a club and is then on the point, due to circumstances behind our or his control, on the verge of joining another club when the club who bought him from us in the first place have yet to pay the full transfer fee.

Is it any wonder football is in such a financial mess?

After all if you buy a car on credit and then sell it on to another owner without having settled that credit are you not committing a criminal offence?

And as for Jimmy, I`d have him back tomorrow, I`m just still gutted he chose to leave us but then again how many of us have left one job for another in order to get a higher salary?

Once again I offer my apologies if the intention of the article was hidden behind what might have looked like a cheap snipe at Jimmy.


Read more: http://www.fulham.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=207934#ixzz0vwXjvAcN