The tactical dliema of our manager and his team .

[colinwhite]

I couldn't be at yesterdays game but was seated directly behind Fulham´s bench for our previous two home defeats .
It was interesting to watch Slavisa Jokanovic, and his reactions to various things that happened in both matches . Watching the interviews Pre and post match of this man since he took on the job ,it is obvious that  the task that he took on is bigger than he at first anticipated.
It was refreshing to have a charismatic figure at the helm. Someone not afraid to say it like it is and prepared to make changes if his tactics weren't working. Despite limited English its obvious he believes in his own ability and has a determination and stature about him which players often buy into .
After a few difficult results his initial decision of which style of play to go with was to be offensive. To keep the ball is something we are equiped to do ,as the stats clearly show even against the better sides . In the Burnley match we played all the football , we looked like the team with premier league potential ,and apart from Greys goal we had the group of players that showed flashes of class. That game should have been sewn up by half time , but it wasn't and we contrived to hand the game to Burnley who couldn't believe their luck . Burnleys trainer was  not a happy man until the final whistle when he must have thought it was his birthday!
Slavisa reactions  to various things   during the game were revealing. He was not happy with Lonergans slow distribution and with several players lack of ability to follow his instructions . Having opted for the 352 with wing backs it was obvious that he was extremely frustrated with  both Garbutt and Fredricks in their positioning and decision making  in this system . Despite often getting his head to the ball Burns poor heading ability was driving him crazy.His looping headers lacked distance and often went straight back to the opposition.
Tunnicliffe  also annoyed Slavisa with his great energy mixed with too much carrying of the ball at times and running all over the place , most of the time out of position. Dembele was also getting a fair amount of criticism ,mixed with praise in a very vocal style.
Since the Bristol game, Jocanovik seams to have concluded that our wing backs and wide players cant defend ,or compete . This plus an emphasis on experience and `fight`explains the changes that have been made of late.
I like Slavisa and I really hope that he is the man to take us forward next season , because god knows we need a bit of stability and I do think that he has the nous that we have been lacking when constructing our present squad.
Most of all I hope that Jokanovic ( who is no messiah) is successful because he is clearly the owner`s man. I hope and believe that if we survive , SJ will get money to spend and we wont be going for `championship experience`. The players   that were brought in from other championship clubs all(including Ross) came from clubs in the lower half of the championship table. How was it possible that that was going to take us forward ?
I dont believe that Slavisa will settle for that and for this reason I really hope that he can put a run together now, and get the  financial backing of the owner in the summer.
His biggest achievement so far as manager of Fulham was keeping both Ross and Dembele and for this reason ,in spite of our obvious problems I ,for one, am still optimistic.
   

[One James stannard]

I couldn't be at yesterdays game but was seated directly behind Fulham´s bench for our previous two home defeats .
It was interesting to watch Slavisa Jokanovic, and his reactions to various things that happened in both matches . Watching the interviews Pre and post match of this man since he took on the job ,it is obvious that  the task that he took on is bigger than he at first anticipated.
It was refreshing to have a charismatic figure at the helm. Someone not afraid to say it like it is and prepared to make changes if his tactics weren't working. Despite limited English its obvious he believes in his own ability and has a determination and stature about him which players often buy into .
After a few difficult results his initial decision of which style of play to go with was to be offensive. To keep the ball is something we are equiped to do ,as the stats clearly show even against the better sides . In the Burnley match we played all the football , we looked like the team with premier league potential ,and apart from Greys goal we had the group of players that showed flashes of class. That game should have been sewn up by half time , but it wasn't and we contrived to hand the game to Burnley who couldn't believe their luck . Burnleys trainer was  not a happy man until the final whistle when he must have thought it was his birthday!
Slavisa reactions  to various things   during the game were revealing. He was not happy with Lonergans slow distribution and with several players lack of ability to follow his instructions . Having opted for the 352 with wing backs it was obvious that he was extremely frustrated with  both Garbutt and Fredricks in their positioning and decision making  in this system . Despite often getting his head to the ball Burns poor heading ability was driving him crazy.His looping headers lacked distance and often went straight back to the opposition.
Tunnicliffe  also annoyed Slavisa with his great energy mixed with too much carrying of the ball at times and running all over the place , most of the time out of position. Dembele was also getting a fair amount of criticism ,mixed with praise in a very vocal style.
Since the Bristol game, Jocanovik seams to have concluded that our wing backs and wide players cant defend ,or compete . This plus an emphasis on experience and `fight`explains the changes that have been made of late.
I like Slavisa and I really hope that he is the man to take us forward next season , because god knows we need a bit of stability and I do think that he has the nous that we have been lacking when constructing our present squad.
Most of all I hope that Jokanovic ( who is no messiah) is successful because he is clearly the owner`s man. I hope and believe that if we survive , SJ will get money to spend and we wont be going for `championship experience`. The players   that were brought in from other championship clubs all(including Ross) came from clubs in the lower half of the championship table. How was it possible that that was going to take us forward ?
I dont believe that Slavisa will settle for that and for this reason I really hope that he can put a run together now, and get the  financial backing of the owner in the summer.
His biggest achievement so far as manager of Fulham was keeping both Ross and Dembele and for this reason ,in spite of our obvious problems I ,for one, am still optimistic.
   
Great post Colin  :54:

[Holders]

Well observed and written.

[Berserker]

Very good post

[filham]

A brave of Jocanovic to admit that up to recently his tactics have failed and then to switch to the ugly, physical and more defensive style that we saw yesterday and which has given us four points from the last two matches.

There is now hope of survival but it is going to be a close call.

[Tonywa]

Probably the best post I've read on this board this season. Excellent analysis, thanks. And to the poster previous to myself, I don't think it's so much that he recognises his tactics have failed as a realisation that we need to be tighter, scrap more and sacrifice some of our footballing principles in the current struggle.  Kit obviously thought the same thing last season.

[colinwhite]

The change in tactics has come from Slavisa`s realisation that we have a lot of players whose strengths are unfortunately outweighed by their fundamental defensive flaws. With Burn, Fredricks,Garbutt ,Ohara ,Kacaniklik ,Richards and others clearly on this list. The most obvious example of this being Stearman and Ream (who both have big weaknesses) being preferred out of position because they are simply the best defnsive options in those positions.

[NewYorkYank]

Thanks for this great post.  One misses a lot not being at the stadium, and it was enlightening to know what is going on.
I would take issue with one point, however.  Buying players from lower, or even relegated teams can be an effective strategy.  I have mentioned Hertha Berlin in a old post, a team that would be the story of the year were it not for Leicester City.  They purchased several key players from relegated teams.  However, unlike Fulham, Hertha wins by playing a disciplined system, and they purchased players based upon who fits the system, rather than on statistical analysis.

[davew]

Good posting Colin!! The only thing I would disagree with is your comment about the players we signed, at the time most of us thought we had made some very good signings and that we had a squad capable of at least making the play offs, as time has gone on, most if not all of us now conclude that we are a very poor squad maybe just capable of staying up!

[Asotosyios]

I like Jokanovic too and want him to succeed - I also like the 3-5-2 and the face that it allows to have most of the possession, but I can understand the reason that Slavisa has gone back to 4-4-2 (for now, at least). Perhaps it was wishful thinking on our part that he would come and everything would change quite fast. We definitely need a lot more hours in the training ground with the current and/or new players. I am optimistic that we will survive this year and be a lot better next year (even if that doesn't necessarily mean promotion).

[NogoodBoyo]

I concur that this is the post of the season. 
For those of us who live on a different planet and cannot attend games, how refreshing to see and hear through the eyes and ears of a person who clearly gets it through close study of the man who holds our destiny in his hands.
I'll take this view every day over the strident opinions of the various know-it-alls who so dominate the board via the commentaries of Gentleman Jim and the haphazard training videographers who film the Fulham games.
Nogood "and that includes my opinions too, isit" Boyo

[colinwhite]

I agree with you guys that of course we picked up some good signings , Cairney being the main one , but Ream and Stearman were let go by teams for a reason . Lonergan has been our keeper for most of the season and Bolton let him go etc.
What I was really trying to say is that I dont think that Jokanovic is going to accept scraps from other teams below and around us and be happy. I expect us to sign players with pace and power as well as skill; something we failed to do last summer . To do that we are going to have to look beyond the lower reaches of the championship.
It will be interesting.

[Horse]

Good posting Colin!! The only thing I would disagree with is your comment about the players we signed, at the time most of us thought we had made some very good signings and that we had a squad capable of at least making the play offs, as time has gone on, most if not all of us now conclude that we are a very poor squad maybe just capable of staying up!

I think the point is that the players we bought looked decent on paper but have fundamental flaws. Flaws which Joca has now realised. They could probably do well in a team where those flaws can be covered up by others but unf. that is not the case in this team.

[Whitesideup]

Indeed .. a great post. And interesting, if correct, that certain players aren't filling the brief Joka is giving them. Perhaps that's why players are being played out of position, like Stearman. However it may also help having four central defenders on the pitch when we are defending set pieces. I particularly liked the optimistic, glass half-full, tone of the post. Yes, things have gone disastrously for us, but performances against the likes of Hull, Derby and Burnley, despite the poor return of points, have had positives in them. And Joka seems like a winner, but then what do we know?

[buxsen]

Great post, i was at saturdays post and concur with your opinions. It is apparent that to continue playing attractive football would have been a big risk. Jokanovic is now clearly focusiing on getting enough points to stay in the division and to hopefully go again next season with a style that is closer to his heart. 082.gif

[colinwhite]

Great post, i was at saturdays post and concur with your opinions. It is apparent that to continue playing attractive football would have been a big risk. Jokanovic is now clearly focusiing on getting enough points to stay in the division and to hopefully go again next season with a style that is closer to his heart. 082.gif

exactly. And i have the feeling Jokanovic must have thought it was pretty bad to abandon his favoured principles.

[St. Andrews White]

A really really good and reasonable post.

I think we'll scrap the rest of the season and then switch to a 3-5-2 next season with decent investment to get the players who can follow Slavisa's instructions and work in that formation. Hopefully an exciting summer ahead should we not blow this 7 point gap (touch wood!!)