Wednesday Fulham Stuff (23/03/16)...

[WhiteJC]

 
U.S. U-20 men open Dallas Cup with split

The U.S. U-20 men's national team beat Monterrey, 1-0, in its 2016 Dallas Cup opener thanks to a strike by Duke's Jeremy Ebobisse. On Monday, the U-20s dropped a 2-1 decision to Fulham. In both games, they faced Californians. Jonathan Gonzalez started for Monterrey, while Luca de la Torre, who helped set up the first goal, and Marlon Fossey started for Fulham.
Brooks Lennon, who played for the Real Salt Lake-Arizona academy team before joining Liverpool's youth program, set up Ebobisse's 31st-minute goal against Monterrey.

U.S. goalkeeper Jonathan Klinnsman made four saves while Monterrey keeper Santiago Ramirez made two.

In the Fulham game, the U-20s took the lead on Emmanuel Sabbi's goal in the 17th minute, but Fulham responded a minute later on a goal by Stephen Humphrys. A goal by substitute  Elijah Adebayo with five minutes remaining gave the Cottagers the win.

March 20 in Dallas
USA 1 Monterrey 0. Goal Ebobisse (Lennon)  31.
USA -- Klinnsman; Herrera, Robinson, Lombard, Borges (Nelson, 83); Lennon (Perez, 82), Williamson, Acosta, Bashti (Yueill, 71); Elney (Sabbi, 70), Ebobisse.
Monterrey -- Ramirez; B.Gonzalez, Sanchez, Lopez Munoz, (Rivero, 83), Ibarra; Arellano, Aguilar, J.Gonzalez, Lopez Sandoval; Rodriguez (Ibarra, 13), Montoya (Dominguez, 58).
Att.: 3,800.

March 21 in Dallas
USA 1 Fulham 2. Goals: Sabbi (Trusty) 17; Humphrys (Walker) 18; Adebayo 86.
USA -- Marcinkowski; Olosunde, Trusty, Redding, Nelson; Saucedo (Bashti, 79), Yueill (Acosta, 90+1), Lindley, Perez (Ebobisse, 64); Sabbi (Herrera, 90+1), Mansaray.
Fulham -- Norman; Fossey, Davies, Jerome, Scheckleford; de la Torre (Thomas, 71), Smile, Harris (Adebayo, 64), Thorsteinsson; Humphrys (Pearce, 80), Walker (Nabay, 64).
Att.: 800.


http://www.socceramerica.com/article/68127/us-u-20-men-open-dallas-cup-with-split.html?

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham's Sturm Graz loanee has the savvy to survive in the Championship says gaffer

Mike like by Whites supporters with Slavisa Jokanovic also endorsing talents of Austrian defender


Vienna waltz: Michael Madl celebrates

Fulham fans think Michael Madl is the best of the new loan bunch over the last two months.

The Sturm Graz defender is even better than stalwart Chris Baird, back for a second stint at the Cottage, two years after he left, according to supporter forums.

Their boss is diplomatically reticent to agree, but concedes the join is hard to detect in Madl's performances since he swapped Austria's top flight for the Championship.

"Michael Madl arrived and understood the job very well. He arrived in a new competition and it is his first time in England," said Slavisa Jokanovic.

"He's improved our side in this few games and that is why he has made starts."

The man who celebrated his 28th birthday yesterday has made a straight run of nine games in a constantly changing Whites defence.

Athough booked three times in a row, the last in the 1-1 draw with Birmingham on Saturday, Madl has nonetheless mirrored the robust performances demanded by Joka.


http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulhams-sturm-graz-loanee-savvy-11077651?

[WhiteJC]

 
Captain Smile

Fulham's Dallas Cup Captain Josh Smile discusses the tournament so far ahead of the Whites' final group game on Wednesday.

We took a point against Hoffenheim in our first match, but that must have been disappointing having been 3-0 up?

It was very disappointing. We went three up quite early and it was a great attacking display from the team, so it's just a shame that we didn't walk away with the three points. We let two sloppy goals in from set-pieces and crosses into the box, and that ended up costing us.

Talk us through your goal in that game...

The ball's gone out wide to Josh Walker who's played it to Jon [Dagur Thorsteinsson]. I made a late run and Jon's laid it on the edge of the box and I put it into the far corner. That's me, outside the box is where I normally score from. I rarely get into the area so any goals I get tend to be outside!

You were in the Dallas Cup squad two years ago, but it must be very different now as Captain?

Definitely. There's things like making sure the boys are all wearing the same style of outfit when we go out. We went to a basketball game the other day, the Dallas Mavericks versus the Portland Trail Blazers, and I had to make sure we were all wearing similar stuff. I have to listen to the boys' opinions as well, so if for example they're tired then I'll discuss that with the fitness coaches. I have to make sure everyone's on time and knows when our recovery sessions are, things like that. When I was a first year [scholar] coming here it was the older boys telling me, so it's very different now but I'm enjoying it.

You've captained the Under-21s throughout the season as well, so you must relish that responsibility?

It's something that's a bit new to me but I think as every game goes on I'm growing with it, learning more, and starting to really get the hang of it.

On Monday you beat a national side that's an age group above Fulham. Not bad going...

Yeah it was a very good win and the boys showed great character. We went down from a set-piece again; it was very scrappy and they picked it up in the box and scored. But we answered straight back in about 60 seconds when Stevie [Humphrys] headed in, and then in the last few minutes we scored the winner which was crazy. Everyone was up off the bench celebrating.

As we've got such a young squad, we would have been underdogs in that match so you must be very proud of the result?

Definitely. We've only got four Under-19s here, the rest are scholars, so to get a win over the Under-20 United States national team was very good.

Qualification is in our hands ahead of the final group game – we would've settled for that wouldn't we?

We definitely would. Ever since Hoffenheim we've been in a must-win situation, so hopefully we'll go into this game on Wednesday against Monterrey and win again. I really do think we can beat them and progress to the Semi-Finals. We're just taking every game as it comes, preparing right, and doing everything we can to go through.

Monterrey have proven quite volatile in their matches so far. What are you expecting from them?

I reckon if things aren't going their way and we're playing well then it could turn into a feisty game, but we're not going to get involved in that. We'll just go out there and play our football, although obviously we will be competitive as well.


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2016/march/22/captain-smile?

[WhiteJC]

 
Ince: Maintain The Intensity

Rohan Ince reflects on scoring his first goal for Fulham and wants to maintain the intensity levels going into the match against MK Dons.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2016/march/22/ince-birmingham-reaction?

[WhiteJC]

 
Will Fulham's Championship run-in allow them to avoid relegation?

This conversation is one that few Fulham supporters ever imagined having. Just six years ago, the Whites had completed the most famous comeback in their history, beating Juventus 4-1 on a storied night. At that time, Fulham were an established Premier League club with perhaps overly lofty ambitions, but today fans find themselves fretting over a possible demotion to League One. The next eight matches will be imperative in determining Fulham's future.

After relegation to the Championship in 2014, the Whites were expected to challenge for promotion. Yet Felix Magath's abysmal reign pushed us far too close to the bottom of the league and last May, Fulham just about avoided relegation. That was supposed to be an anomaly, and this year Fulham fans expected to be near the hallowed promotion places, yet the Whites maddeningly find themselves in a similar predicament in 2015/16. Fulham are currently 21st, just one point and one place above the drop zone with eight matches to go. Here is a look at the vital run-in.

Must Win Matches: MK Dons (H), Bolton Wanderers (H), Brentford (A)

If the Cottagers want to stand any hope of staying up this year, they will need to gain the precious three points in these fixtures. MK Dons at home after the international break will be a massive relegation six-pointer. The Dons currently occupy the final relegation spot, and are just one point below Fulham. A win at the Cottage would go a long way in ensuring Fulham's safety.

In addition, the Whites must also defeat local rivals Brentford away at Griffin Park. Brentford sit in the bottom half of the Championship table too, and are on awful form, having lost avoided defeat in just one out of their last eight. Fulham must capitalise on Brentford's poor recent form and secure a victory in the West London derby.

Another crucial match is the home fixture against Bolton on the last day of the season. The Lancashire club currently languish rock bottom of the Championship and are a gargantuan 12 points clear of safety. Bolton were just thrashed 6-0 by fellow relegation contenders Rotherham, and this fixture looks like a great opportunity to put relegation fears to rest.


http://tbrfootball.com/will-fulhams-championship-run-in-allow-them-to-avoid-relegation/?