Tuesday Fulham Stuff (24.08.10)

[White Noise]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6332120,00.html



Eddie ready to deliver


Striker happier in Hughes' regime and looking to deliver

Last updated: 23rd August 2010   


Eddie Johnson believes he is ready to deliver at Fulham and the environment is right to achieve his goals.

The American hot-shot joined the Cottagers from Kansas City Wizards in January 2008 and went on to spend the 2008/09 season on loan at Cardiff.

He returned to the Fulham fold last season but found himself as a bit-part player under old boss Roy Hodgson before going out on loan again to Greek side Aris.

But the 26-year-old insists he can now step up at Craven Cottage and he believes his style of play suits new boss Mark Hughes much more than it did Hodgson.

Good environment
"With a new coach coming in my job as a player is to try and impress day-in, day-out, and I'm in a good environment to do that," Johnson said in an official Fulham magazine.

"A lot of the boys such as myself like to express themselves and that's something that maybe we couldn't do as much with the style we played with Roy, which was more focused on being well organised and playing a lot of one and two-touch football.

"Our new coaches put the emphasis on attack and like players to express themselves ... there are times in a game when you do need to take more than two touches."

Johnson believes it is tough for American players in the Premier League, but he draws inspiration from Clint Dempsey, who has become one of Fulham's star performers since arriving at Craven Cottage in 2007.


Respect
"Being an American it's tough to come over here and do well in such a big league where American players are still fighting for respect," Johnson said.

"I know it was tough for Clint Dempsey when he first came over and he had to fight his way into the team.

"But the club took a chance on me, so now it's time for me to deliver ... I'm at the stage where I should be playing regular first-team football and I feel like, after the loans I've had at Cardiff and in Greece, I'm ready."

[White Noise]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23870081-expect-plenty-more-blood-to-be-spilt-this-season-as-the-minnows-look-like-they-really-havent-got-a-prayer.do


Expect plenty more blood to be spilt this season as the minnows look like they really haven't got a prayer


Dan Jones


23.08.10


Before they kicked off at Craven Cottage yesterday, Javier Chicharito' Hernandez was down on his knees in the centre circle, praying like the apocalypse was on its way. It was quite a thing. I've seen footballers cross themselves before taking to the field, and Diego Maradona twitching like a mystic in the dug-out but this was a new one.

Chicharito seems like a nice young man, though I say that only from watching him run about on a football pitch: not an infallible measure of character. But still, in his two Premier League matches for Manchester United this season, I've been impressed with his diligence and general understated vibe.

At no point have I seen Chicharito bellow obscenities in a match official's face, flick the V sign at opposition supporters or pretend to have been head-butted in a disgraceful fashion.
Neither have I yet read a tabloid story about him screwing anyone else's wife or a hooker. In football that practically qualifies a man for beatification.

Even so, the wee legume's God-bothering did United scant good yesterday. Either God wasn't listening or he supports Fulham. Or, possibly, Mark Hughes had led a sneaky prayer circle in the home dressing room before the teams ran out at Craven Cottage.

Then again, maybe this was a case of form over faith. United have a reputation as slow starters in the Premier League and don't tend to win both their opening games. Yesterday was a continuation of that.

Fulham caused United problems through some sheer dog. They could even have won, had Edwin van der Sar been less sharp and the referee been more generous.

After a slack first 20 minutes, they pressed United high up the field, and denied both Chicharito and Dimitar Berbatov time and space to play.

But then again, United were a missed penalty away from a 3-1 victory and did not look terrible by any means.

Paul Scholes is a wily menace from his deep-lying midfield position and watching him direct and shape the game for 90 minutes yesterday was truly entrancing.

We are used to praising attacking midfielders, such as Real Madrid's new signing Mehmet Ozil, who cause problems by occupying the space between the opposition's lines of defenders and midfielders.

But Scholes is reviving the art of the deep-lying quarterback' attacker — sitting between the opposition's midfielders and forwards and pulling strings from deep. He is a devil to track and only Danny Murphy yesterday managed to lay anything on him, by taking a 20-yard run-up and sliding into Scholes's shins like a man on a runaway bobsleigh.

In the end, 2-2 was a fair result between the intricate, crafty United, and a more robust, bustling Fulham side. Is there any sense trying to extrapolate from this weekend's games the way this Premier League season will develop?

Well, probably not. But there are perhaps some early indicators of the sort of season we have lined up.

The thing to note now with any certainty is that the early season looks set fair to be jammed full of goals. Chelsea have pumped six past both Wigan and West Brom; Arsenal did the same to Blackpool and, weirdest of all, Newcastle trousered the rudderless Aston Villa by the same scoreline yesterday.

There have been 21 6-0 wins in the history of the Premier League and four of them have taken place in the last fortnight.

It may be a statistical belch, but then again, it more likely is not. The gap between the Premier League's rich and poor is widening. It is never easy to be promoted. And it is harder still to match the achievement of a club like Fulham, who have managed to secure and hang on to Premier League status for a decade.

As things stand, United are lagging some way behind Chelsea on goal difference: plus three as opposed to plus 12. But Chelsea won't find Fulham as timid as Wigan or West Brom. And United, with Chicharito, Berbatov, Rooney et al controlled by an evergreen Scholes, are very likely to dish out a few beatings of their own when the minnows come to Old Trafford.

It could be a bloody season for the bottom sides. Maybe the plead with God' thing will start to catch on.

[White Noise]

http://blogs.loughboroughecho.net/goaltastic/2010/08/wardrobe-malfunction-at-fulham.html


Wardrobe malfunction at Fulham

By Isaac Ashe on Aug 23, 10 04:53 PM in Oddballs

CRAVEN Cottage was positively erotic at the weekend as Fulham's players rocked a wet T-shirt look.

Spotted by Amy's Fashion Fix, while sporting their latest kit by Kappa, described as "excellent quality in 83% Nylon and 17% Lycra", the entire team had to change at half-time after their rippling torsos were paraded for all to see - while Manchester United's players looked snug and dry.

Made of Kappa's WetFit technology which takes sweat away from the body to keep the player cool - unfortunately it seems the aforementioned sweat stays in the material itself.

Not such a problem for professional athletes, but I can't imagine the more portly supporters - not to mention female fans - will be too pleased to find their latest strip has the consistency of wet newspaper.

[White Noise]

http://cravencottagenewsround.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/the-re-education-of-dickson-etuhu/

Craven Cottage Newsround

August 23, 2010


The re-education of Dickson Etuhu

Filed under: General — weltmeisterclaude @ 7:14 pm

"Dickson Etuhu, who I had at Preston, was fantastic in training, but not so good in matches. Roy Hodgson [Fulham's manager] rang me about Etuhu. I said, 'If you can get him to play for Fulham the way he does in training, and I think with your experience you can, you have got the next Patrick Vieira.'"  Craig Brown

And now we begin to see it.   I have always felt that Etuhu's contibutions to Fulham were undervalued anyway.   True, he rarely passed more than 15 yards, rarely threatened the opposing goal, and didn't always make the most of his physique, but equally, he was always in position, deferred to better ballplayers, and never gave the ball away (despite what people like to think).

That was about that.    It was always a case of the system inhibiting his instincts, the question was whether he'd have the game to take advantage of the (missing) freedom.   Consensus seemed to be that he would not.    Maybe we're about to find out otherwise.

Here's a comparison between his first ever game for Fulham and his most recent:



The slight difference is the passing forwards, which didn't happen to start with but which happened more than ever before on Sunday.  His brilliant surge into the area forced van der Saar into a pair of good/lucky saves, and while you might argue that Etuhu should have done better, the first shot was fair and he had little time to react for the second.   It would've been some goal.

The difference, of course, was the removal of what we might as well now call "Hodgson's Handbrake".   Here are our last two home games against United, and the team's average positions.  The yellow lines show where the central midfielders have stationed themselves.



That's a pretty sizeable difference (also note that the full-backs seem a bit narrower).   It leaves a bigger gap between defence and midfield, but closes the gap between midfield and attack.   Take your pick.   Hughes is backing his defence to be able to survive without a shield.    Based on how Hangeland and Hughes played on Sunday, that might be okay.   And it means we might well see Dickson Etuhu turn into that rarest of beasts:   a legitimate box-to-box midfielder.    There aren't many who can be a force at each end, and while it's a bit much to expect this of Etuhu, it remains exciting to see him develop his game.

I don't think we need blame Roy for holding him back though.   You could very well argue that the entire team has benefitted from Roy's schooling, and is now 'ready' to go to the next level.   Just as the Karate Kid honed his skills with repetitive drills that he longed to leave behind in favour of exciting tournament drama, so the Fulham players must have longed to burst free of their shape-led regime.    But in insisting on this dedicated approach Hodgson (Miyagi) probably did them a favour, laying a 'walk-before-you-can-run' foundation which they absolutely needed, and from which they might now, finally, go to the another level.   While we wouldn't have got where we are without Hodgson, the chances are we wouldn't have got beyond here either.    Under Hughes it really does feel as if the sky's the limit.

[White Noise]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6332060,00.html

Hangeland - Spirit won't falter


Norway centre-back praises mood in camp


By James Riach   


Last updated: 23rd August 2010   

Fulham defender Brede Hangeland claims the team spirit will not falter despite a change of manager at Craven Cottage.

The West Londoners have started the Premier League season with two draws from two games, holding Manchester United to a 2-2 stalemate on Sunday.

New manager Mark Hughes has made few changes to the side he inherited from former boss Roy Hodgson, who has taken the reins at Liverpool, with Fulham having enjoyed a successful campaign last time out.

Norwegian centre-half Hangeland made amends for his own goal against the Red Devils at the weekend, equalising with a late header to earn his side a point.

And the powerful defender claims Hughes does not have to worry about the team spirit within the camp following his arrival at the club.

"There is no reason why we should lose our team spirit because we changed manager," he said.

"Towards the end against United our team spirit was every bit as good as it has been for the last couple of years. We came back again at Craven Cottage as we have done many times.

"It was a great feeling to be part of that and I'm confident Mark Hughes can lead us in the right direction.

"The determination in the dressing room is the same every season.

"It's more for those people around the club to make up stories about what is going to happen when we change manager.

"As players you always try and do your best and you have in mind what you have done last year and the year before that."

Pressing
Hangeland believes that while Welsh coach Hughes may not have made major changes, he says Fulham are beginning to press teams more under the former Blackburn and Manchester City boss.

"Now we get at teams a bit more. We did that yesterday a bit more against United than we have done in the past against good teams, even at home," he added.

"We used to concede ground earlier and let the opposition play whereas now we press high and take the game to them.

"It worked at times and other times not so well but I'm sure we'll get better as we get time to work on things.

"I think we knew already before we changed manager that on our day we can play well against most teams and we showed that again yesterday.

"We should have respect for those good teams but not have any fear."

[White Noise]

http://hammyend.com/index.php/2010/08/fulham-v-manchester-united-player-ratings/


Fulham v Manchester United (player ratings)


by Lork on August 23, 2010

Alright, first post, might as well introduce myself. The name's Lork, you might have seen me around on TiFF or Friends Of Fulham, and I've been asked to do some writing for HammyEnd. So with the pleasantries out of the way, here goes.

David Stockdale – 7, played well including making one stunning save from Berbatov just before Scholes' goal which he could have done better on, it looked like he could have sorted his feet better although it would be harsh to blame him for conceding what was a superb strike. Caught almost everything else, including a nice catch from a deflected Berbatov shot, but they were all routine really. Something's been made that he didn't come to catch any crosses in the game but United's deliveries were on the whole dealt with Hangeland and Hughes, and I don't think it's a weakness considering his aerial performance against Bolton where he claimed crosses very impressively. So yeah, a good performance from the young gloveman who promises much.

Pantsil – 7, started off quite poor really (two incidents stick in my mind, the tackle where he should've got a yellow near the beginning and when he lost the ball to Park in a really dangerous position) and as per his crossing was below average, but improved as the game went on with some big defensive headers. Noticably didn't get forward as much as Konchesky which is suprising considering Park doesn't offer as much threat as Valencia, especially on the counter.

Konchesky – 7, found himself in space on the left loads of times but never took advantage of it fully. However he did provide a good and important outlet out wide especially since Davies and Duff like cutting inside. Valencia and then Nani were kept quiet, and he only made one 'big' mistake when he switched off with a backpass to Stockdale. Very solid display.

Hughes – 7, not sure how underrated he is now considering everyone's saying it! The usual from him, superb anticipation and acceleration.

Hangeland – 9, from zero to hero in 5 minutes with goals at either end but he made many more contributions to the game aside from that. His tackling and intercepting were both top class, he wasn't afraid to come deep to get infront of the striker and when he was the othermside he always seemed to stick a leg out. Composed on the ball and dominant in the air, this was a very impressive performance which added a goal to his disappointing tally, when you're as tall and as good a header as he is you should be getting more than 3 goals in two and a half seasons from set pieces. The only black mark on his display was the own goal which he should have prevented, you can see him jump out of the way of the ball instead of taking responsibility for clearing it, but he made up for it at the other end so I'm not gonna be too harsh.

Etuhu – 8, had a very impressive performance going forward and defending. No doubt he should have scored from the double chance from which van der Sar made two very good saves but he made a few good runs like that which shows a significant change from the way Fulham's midfield played under Roy, where both Etuhu and Murphy stayed deep. He barged players off the ball, made some of good tackles, filled defensive spaces well and according to the Guardian chalkboards didn't miss a pass (I think that's wrong, I'm sure he did one of those silly round the corner first touch passes he likes doing, why he does I don't know). Despite this and his athleticism I don't think he's good enough for that role, Etuhu has many positive attributes but he's not technically gifted or creative in possession which I think you need in a midfielder who'll get forward often but who knows, on the offal Etuhu says he's always been a box to box player so it'll be interesting to see how he plays this role in the rest of the season, assuming a replacement doesn't come in of course.
Murphy – 7, just a shame he isn't 5 years younger then! You can tell his legs are going as both Lee Dixon and Graham Taylor, pundits yesterday for the BBC, pointed out that he didn't close down Scholes much especially in the first half, and more often than not he'll be subbed before the end of the game. Having said that he shouldn't be replaced just yet and yesterday's game showed why as after a couple of poorly misplaced passes he ran our midfield and made some nice tackles. With Etuhu breaking forward more often Murphy's adopted the same role as he did when Bullard played in midfield by hanging back and protecting the back four when we have possession. He didn't make too many defence splitting passes, but maybe that's too much to ask against a team like United.

Duff – 7, made a great run for Davies' goal with a bit of good fortune thrown in, and set up Hangeland's header, and set up the corner from which he set up Hangeland's header and worked hard in defence, but I thought he was quiet otherwise. Oh yeah, he also gave away a freak penalty which I thought was stonewall but others disagree. Again he looked more threatening on the right of midfield than the left.

Davies – 8, looked dangerous all afternoon and could have added to his goal if he had a bit more composure with his chance from a nice Zamora knockdown. His intelligence is so impressive, and with last season's injury problems behind him it's good news we've got him for another 3 years. Worked hard with some clever little passes and movements, including giving Evra a massive headache in the first half when he often drifted inside to cause problems. Good finish too.

Dempsey – 6, looked out of sorts. The pundit on my stream mentioned his intelligent movement which helped assert us onto the game which I couldn't see, which is why he might be getting the lowest rating of the day. But took shots from distance when he didn't need too, and when he got subbed his body language was poor. One of our most talented players who I think is much better suited to left midfield than behind the striker but he hasn't looked good in the couple of games we've had. Maybe 2 years of non stop competitive football has caught up to him.

Zamora – 9, had a stormer. His strength and target man play were top class, poor young Jonny Evans was completely dominated by him aerially and on the floor. He kept most long balls up to him (and there were a few) to start counter attacks and hold possession, although I think he would have benefitted from Dempsey and then Dembele not dropping so deep because he often had to hold up the ball for quite a few seconds, by which time the attack loses alot of momentum. Had a tricky but clear chance a few minutes before Hangeland scored the own goal, but if he carries on like this he's surely a shoe-in for the England squad in september.

Substitutions:

Dembele – 7, looks remarkably similar to Zamora in terms of physique. Some intelligent runs, flicks and passes, but it's way too early to say how good or bad he'll be for us. I thought Dempsey gave us better shape despite his below par performance and we didn't play as well when he came on but that may also be down to Nani coming on for United.

Greening – N/A, only on for 10 minutes so can't really give a rating. Most notable contribution was a clever foul on Nani which earned him a yellow card. Desperately needs an amazing beard again.

[White Noise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/23/manchester-united-nemanja-vidic-mistakes


Manchester United must cut out sloppy mistakes, warns Nemanja Vidic

• Defender concerned about falling behind Chelsea

• 'We need to improve at set-pieces,' says Vidic

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Dominic Fifield guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 August 2010 15.47 BST Article history


Nemanja Vidic has warned his Manchester United team-mates they must learn quickly from the sloppiness that cost them victory at Fulham on Sunday if they are to keep up with Chelsea at the top of the Premier League.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side dropped their first points of the season at Craven Cottage after missing a late penalty and then conceding a stoppage time equaliser to Brede Hangeland. The manager admitted in the aftermath that his side had dropped "silly points" with Vidic, one of the visiting players outjumped by the Norwegian at the home side's second, just as frustrated by the wasteful stalemate.

"Everyone in the dressing-room was very disappointed," said the Serbian defender. "It was a bad result, especially as we were winning in the last minute of the game. It's hard to take the draw. We have to make sure that the goals we lost today don't happen again. All in all, it's hard to take. If it had finished 2-1 we would have been happy with the result, but not that much with the performance. But if we'd won we could have forgotten this game. Now there are definitely some lessons we must learn from this.

"We need to improve at set pieces. We knew it would be hard even before: we always find it difficult against Fulham. They have many strong players like Bobby Zamora, Hangeland and Dickson Etuhu. They are good in the air and we knew what we were going to face."

United's draw ensured only the defending champions, Chelsea, boast a perfect start to the new season having won both their games resoundingly. "We've slipped behind early before, it's happened in previous years," said Vidic.

"We drew against Newcastle two years ago and had some other bad results at the start of the season and still gone on [to challenge]. We don't want to be too down after the Fulham result, but it's definitely hard to take because we had the result in our hands and, with the experience we have in our team, we shouldn't allow that to happen two minutes from the end."

[White Noise]

Quids in! Premier League big-guns still the kings of cash despite Champions League flop


By Sportsmail Reporter

Last updated at 4:50 PM on 23rd August 2010


English teams continue to dominate the Champions League in financial terms even if they failed on the pitch, figures released today by UEFA have revealed.

Despite not progressing beyond the quarter-finals, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool earned a combined total of £114.6million from television and prize money alone from last season's tournament.

That figure reflects the high value of the new ITV and Sky broadcasting deals for the competition and is comfortably higher that the £95m earned by the four Italian teams including champions Inter Milan, and the £86m by the four Spanish teams in the competition.
Rolling in it! Chelsea and United still had a successful year off the field despite Champions League failure
Inter Milan were the top individual earners with £39.8m followed by Manchester United with £37.4m.

Arsenal, who also made the quarter-finals, earned £27.3m with Chelsea making £26.3m and Liverpool £23.6m.

The figures reflect a 25 per cent increase in the value of the broadcast deals being paid by ITV and Sky for the television rights for the 2009-12 period and apart from Chelsea, each English club enjoyed an average 10-15 per cent rise compared to the previous season despite having a less successful Champions League.

Cashing in: Fulham's run to the Europa League Final significantly boosted their bank balance
The figures also highlight the discrepancy with sums earned from the new Europa League, even though that competition has been boosted by central marketing of TV and sponsorship rights.

Beaten finalists Fulham earned £8.1m, while Everton's income was £2.8m, and Liverpool earned £2.3m after dropping down from the Champions League for the knock-out phase.

The disparity is even sharper in Scotland where Rangers earned £14m for their part in the Champions League, almost ten times as much as Celtic's £1.5m for their Europa League run.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1305459/Liverpool-Manchester-United-Chelsea-Arsenal-kings-cash-despite-Euro-failures.html#ixzz0xT1q2hPn

[White Noise]

SHOW SOME MUSCLE


Jonny Evans found it tough to cope with the muscle of Bobby Zamora, while Richard Dunne and Ciaran Clark failed to deal with Andy Carroll. The first thing you do as a centre back is set your stall out to dominate your opponent.

Dunne and Clark sat so deep against Carroll that he knew he had a run at aerial balls. By pushing up sometimes and jostling with him, they would have made Carroll think a bit. Would he be outmuscled? Could he be offside? But standing so deep and goalside the whole time meant it was all too predictable and easy.

Zamora was the same. He shouldn't even have been allowed in the area where he put the cross in for Simon Davies' goal. He should have been outmuscled by United.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1305520/After-6-0-6-0-6-0-Premier-League--heres-theres-case-defence.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0xUxmFfV2

[White Noise]

http://hammyend.com/index.php/2010/08/exciting-times-ahead/

Exciting Times Ahead


by lydia on August 23, 2010

Yesterdays match got me very excited about this year as a Fulham fan. First of all we got to see the sort of team that Hughes is building at the Cottage and we also got to see the sort of team spirit that we have been used to over the past 2 and a half years at Fulham. I asn't quite sure how exactly Fulham were lined up yesterday. At first glance I thought that Dempsey was playing beside Zamora but then some sources made it look like he was playing as part of a 5 man midfield. Whatever way it as, however, it was very successful, particularly in the second half. Duff, Davies and Dempsey all seemed to be switching positions every so often which was very successful. I know myself from playing alot of hockey that it is extremly hard to keep track of players when they keep switching positions. In fact, as a defender, it truely does my head in!

As the match went on, I realised just how smart several of Fulhams players are- especially Dempsey. He made the right runs and attempted the correct passes which confused Evans and Vidic all day long. If the Fulham midfield can keep on working like that I can see us scoring alot of goals this season. Also Dembele excited me. He looks like a quality player and one who will give us a new angle of attack. He is strong and quick which is never fun for defences.

Another thing that looks very promising for Fulham is how well the defence coped. Hughes and Hangeland where both excellent yesterday. This is good as I had thought that if we are going to be much more attacking, that this would leave us much more leaky at the back. But if the back 4 keep on like that, we'll be OK. I think Hughes is already starting to make a good impression at the Cottage and I think we will be having alot more fun this season watching our team!

[White Noise]

Arsenal still hopeful on goalkeeper deal

Published 23:00 23/08/10

By John Cross



Arsenal are still hoping to push through a deal for Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer, 37, who missed Sunday's game with Manchester United.

Schwarzer has asked for a transfer, is desperate to join Arsenal and yet Fulham have knocked back a £3m offer and the saga has yet to be resolved.

Arsenal want an experienced keeper to help develop their younger prospects like Wojciech Szczesny, 20, but Fulham have been reluctant to sell and value Schwarzer at £4m. Arsenal hope the deal will be completed as soon as Fulham get a replacement



Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Gunners-still-hopeful-on-Mark-Schwarzer-deal-article562301.html#ixzz0xUyEktXK
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[White Noise]

Hangeland: We fear no-one, despite Roy's exit


Published 23:00 23/08/10


By John Cross



Brede Hangeland last night promised Fulham will never lose their "never-say-die" spirit.

Fulham defender Hangeland says the dressing room has remained as strong as ever even after Roy Hodgson's departure.

Craven Cottage boss Mark Hughes inspired Fulham to upsetting Manchester United for the third year in a row, holding Sir Alex Ferguson's men to a draw to put an early dent in their title challenge.

Hangeland, scorer of the last minute equaliser to cancel out his own goal, said: "There is no reason why we should lose our team spirit just because we have changed the manager.

"I'm confident Mark Hughes can lead us in the right direction.

"Towards the end of the game our spirit was every bit as good as it has been in the last couple of years. We came back again as we have done many times and it's great to be a part of that.

"On our day we can play against most teams. We should have respect for these teams but we shouldn't have any fear.

"There are lot of people talking about what's going to happen to the club now Roy Hodgson has gone but as players you always have in mind what you did in the last year and try to do even better. I've not set any targets."



Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Fulham-defender-Brede-Hangeland-We-fear-no-one-despite-Roy-Hodgson-s-exit-article562343.html#ixzz0xUySDJEH
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[White Noise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog


Fulham show leaders of Premier League pack are no longer unassailable

Unfancied clubs are sensing some of the elite are now vulnerable, a feeling backed up by early results

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Kevin McCarra The Guardian, Tuesday 24 August 2010 Article history



The 21st of August is a little early for anyone to be demanding homage. Florent Malouda, all the same, was quizzical rather than arrogant on Saturday when complaining that there are no hymns of praise for Chelsea even when they have opened the defence of the title by scoring half-a-dozen goals without reply in each of the two fixtures to date.

The winger's bafflement may well be genuine. You can understand Malouda's frustration over the hosannas reserved for Arsenal, a club without a trophy since 2005, let alone the Double achieved by Chelsea last season. The Stamford Bridge club even set a Premier League record with their 103 goals. Nonetheless, Chelsea would probably be bewildered if they ever became the nation's darlings.

There is no imminent danger on that front. Should fans of the opposition ever fall silent it is because they cannot decide who to boo first. It does not take much effort to come up with seemingly high-minded objections to Chelsea despite the fact that the proprietor, Roman Abramovich, with the days of transfer market excess behind him, now looks as if the greatest ambition he harbours is to balance the books one day.

Manchester City have the sort of financial backing that makes the present Stamford Bridge operation look like a humble workers' co-operative, but results will have to improve before they can savour the satisfaction of knowing they are feared and loathed. Dread, indeed, is scarce throughout the Premier League. If other clubs sense that the elite are now vulnerable then the early results tend to vindicate them.

Chelsea alone have emerged from their first two games with full points. At this juncture a year ago, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City had kept pace with them. Carlo Ancelotti's team would go on to rack up half-a-dozen consecutive victories. City and Tottenham, for that matter, each started with four wins in a row. The environment this year is more challenging. Arsenal are perhaps the one English club in the Champions League that is expected to get better and the scope for progress was great in any case.

It feels as if there is a convergence of standards in the Premier League. Fulham's 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Sunday was, statistically speaking, a backward step since Sir Alex Ferguson's players had been beaten on their previous two trips to Craven Cottage. That, all the same, was not how it looked.

United did take the lead and would have held a late and unassailable 3-1 advantage if Nani's penalty had not been saved by David Stockdale, but Ferguson had the honesty to state that a draw was the least Fulham deserved. He will be better equipped when Wayne Rooney, who was suffering from ailing form in the goalmouth before illness kept him out of the match, is his true self again.

Fulham had no fear and there was conviction in the way Mark Hughes's men launched themselves at United after the interval. It would be crass to claim that the conservatism departed Craven Cottage when Roy Hodgson left to become Liverpool manager. If there is more self-belief in the ranks it must originate in the sort of nights he presided over, such as the pounding of Juventus, on the path to the Europa League final.

The striker Bobby Zamora is one of the men who seems galvanised by that experience. For his part, Brede Hangeland, scorer of an own goal and Fulham's equaliser on Sunday, envisages an eventful life for a club with reason to be forceful nowadays. "In the past against United and other good teams," the defender said, "even at home we've conceded ground and let them play. Now we try and press higher and take the game to them."

There is a degree of levelling down in the Premier League that should encourage boldness. While some clubs, such as Arsenal, have squads that ought be on the rise, there are few that look intimidating. Even Chelsea have to negotiate a long programme with key contributors, such as Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, who are not all that far from being termed veterans.

By their own expectations, the English representatives had a quiet time of it in the last Champions League campaign, whose final was contested by Internazionale and Bayern Munich. The foremost clubs in this country are very far from disintegration, but there is no cause to consider them unassailable. If the Premier League cannot claim to be the pre-eminent domestic competition in the world any longer, it will serve the public handsomely if it fills our weekends with suspense and unpredictability

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http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/195149/Brede-Hangeland-warns-Mark-Hughes-Don-t-break-us-up/

BREDE HANGELAND WARNS MARK HUGHES: DON'T BREAK US UP 



Brede Hangeland says Mark Hughes doesn't need to rebuild Fulham for a top ten finish
Tuesday August 24,2010

By Tony Banks 

BREDE HANGELAND has warned Mark Hughes he does not need to tear down the blocks and rebuild from the foundations at Fulham. The ingredients are there for another top-10 finish.


Norway centre-back Hangeland should know. Standing 6ft 4in, he has become a cornerstone of Fulham since joining two and a half years ago and is adamant the team which Roy Hodgson built still has plenty of life left in it.

Hangeland's reputation has grown and grown over the last two seasons, so much so that it almost came as a surprise to see him still at the club at the start of this term, such had been the intensity of Arsenal's interest.

But fortunately for new manager Hughes, Hangeland remains and proved his worth again on Sunday as Fulham twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Manchester United at Craven Cottage.

It was not the easiest of Hangeland's 112 games for the club. He could only watch as a late Ryan Giggs corner bounced off his knee and into the net to give United what looked like a match-winning 2-1 lead.

But rookie goalkeeper David Stockdale saved Nani's poor penalty and an inspired Fulham charged forward for Hangeland to imperiously head home Damien Duff's corner, saving the day and easing his own misery.

And Hangeland believes that fightback says everything about the Fulham Hughes has inherited.

He said: "There are a lot of good things already in place here and he doesn't want to knock everything down and build it all up again. There are definitely a few areas of our game that can be improved, and he has been looking at these. With this squad, plus a few additions, I see no reason why we can't finish in the top 10."

Hodgson led Fulham to a top-seven finish in 2009 and 12th last term, as well as the Europa League final, before departing for Liverpool last month. Hangeland said: "There is no reason why we should lose our team spirit just because we've changed the manager. At the end of that game our spirit was every bit as good as it has been in the last couple of years.


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"We came back again as we have done many times and it's great to be a part of that. I'm confident Mark Hughes can lead us in the right direction."

Hughes has added £5million Belgian striker Moussa Dembele and Algerian defender Rafik Halliche to the squad inherited from Hodgson and there could be more arrivals before the transfer window closes.

Whoever comes in, Hangeland warned opponents to expect a more aggressive, pro-active Fulham than the wait-and-see style Hodgson developed. Hangeland added: "It seems like we get at teams a bit more now.

"We did that against United. In the past against them and other good teams, even at home, we've conceded ground a bit more early on and just let them play. Now we try to press higher and take the game to them. It worked at times on Sunday and at other times not so well. But we'll get better as we have more time to practice.

"There are lot of people talking about what was going to happen to the club now Roy has gone, but as players you just have in mind what you did in the last year and you try to do even better. I've not set any targets."

Hangeland admits Fulham will miss Europe this season after the adventures of last year and that marvellous night in Hamburg, even though it ended in defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid. He said: "I'm not sure it helps us not being in Europe. I think you gain something from being in Europe because you gain experience.

"It will be far less demanding physically this season. But we will miss it all. It was a remarkable experience and a challenge we relished. We learnt a lot and are very proud of that final. It's something that none of us will forget."

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http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/150543/Brede-Hangeland-Mark-Hughes-will-spark-Fulham-s-fire/

BREDE HANGELAND: MARK HUGHES WILL SPARK FULHAM'S FIRE


By Paul Brown


BREDE HANGELAND claims Fulham can reach new heights under Mark Hughes to make Roy Hodgson a thing of the past.



Hughes' second game in charge saw the Cottagers come from behind to earn a draw against Manchester United on Sunday.



And Hangeland, who hit a late equaliser after scoring a calamitous own-goal, claims the only way is up since Hodgson quit for Liverpool.



He said: "There are lot of people talking about what's going to happen to the club now Roy Hodgson has gone.



"But as players you always have in mind what you did in the last year – and try to do even better."



Topping what Hodgson achieved at Craven Cottage is a tall order as Fulham reached their first European final under the Englishman.



The Cottagers often got by on cast-iron team spirit and a tireless work ethic last season and Hangeland claims Sunday proved that hasn't changed.



He said: "There is no reason why we should lose our team spirit just because we have changed the manager.

"Towards the end of the game our spirit was every bit as good as it has been in the last couple of years.



"We came back again, as we have done many times, and it's great to be a part of that. I'm confident Mark Hughes can lead us in the right direction.



"We would have taken a point before the game against such good opposition but, over 90 minutes, we were good value for the draw.



"On our day we can play against most teams. We should have respect for these teams but we shouldn't have any fear."



Hangeland claims Fulham will play a more attacking game under Sparky Hughes and try to choke the life out of their opponents all over the pitch.



He said: "It seems like we get at teams a bit more. We did that against United.


"In the past against United and the other good teams, even at home, we've conceded ground a bit more early on and let them play.


"Now we try to press higher and take the game to them. It worked at times, and at other times not so well.


"But I'm sure we'll get better as we have more time to practise. On our day we can match United. We did that on Sunday."

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http://hammyend.com/index.php/2010/08/halliche-signs-four-year-fulham-deal/

Halliche signs four-year Fulham deal

by Dan on August 24, 2010

Benfica announced yesterday that their Algerian centre back Rafik Halliche has joined Fulham in a deal worth around £2m.

Halliche, who never actually kicked a ball for Benfica having spent two years on loan at fellow Liga ZON Sagres outfit Nacional, had spent the last couple of weeks in London training with the Whites. Mark Hughes took a long, hard look at the 23 year-old defender in training and completed what may be a crucial signing given the unfortunate injury suffered by Phillipe Senderos late in pre-season.

Halliche, who impressed during Algeria's goalless draw with England at the World Cup, has signed a four-year deal and says he's looking forward to making his mark in English football. The one-time Arsenal target becomes Mark Hughes' second signing for Fulham after Moussa Dembele's arrival last week from AZ Alkmaar.

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Volzy podcast -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/wswf

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Halliche Signs

Tuesday 24th August 2010


Fulham FC News



Fulham Football Club is delighted to confirm the signing of Rafik Halliche on a 3-year deal for an undisclosed fee which will see the player at Craven Cottage until the summer of 2013.

The 23-year-old Algerian international central defender becomes the club's third signing of the summer transfer window.

He started his football career at his hometown club, NA Hussein Dey, at the age of 18. He joins from Benfica having signed for the Portuguese side in 2008 and spent the past two seasons on loan to fellow Portuguese team, C.D Nacional of Madeira.

Halliche has made 20 appearances for Algeria since his debut against Senegal in May 2008 and played in the World Cup play-off match against Egypt resulting in a 1-0 win and World Cup qualification for his country for the first time in 24 years.

He played every minute of Algeria's matches in this year's World Cup Finals which included the goalless draw against England in Cape Town.

Speaking at Fulham Football Club's training ground this morning, Rafik Halliche said:

'I'm so happy that my transfer to Fulham has been finalised. For me, the Premier League is the best league in the world and to be able to play alongside some wonderful players and to be given an opportunity to compete against some fantastic teams for a team like Fulham is something that I've always dreamed of doing.'
.

Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/August/HallicheSigns.aspx#ixzz0xVlCkMlR

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http://hammyend.com/index.php/2010/08/changing-yet-changeless-as-canal-water/

Changing, Yet Changeless As Canal Water...

by gatesy on August 24, 2010

Do you remember back in July?

That oil well was leaking, there was a bit of sunshine, some boring tennis and there was some sort of football tournament petering out in Africa.

Despite spending longer celebrating after the final than he did playing in the world cup, Barcelona were all about Cesc Fabregas this summer. Even though the national side was pretty much Barca players and Cesc couldn't crowbar his way into that midfield the Catalan club decided they needed him. The only problem was the slight stumbling block that he's got a lengthy contract with Arsenal and they aren't massively keen on letting him return to his native country. Which is fair enough. He's their captain, a massively important player for them and a pretty good player too. So they swatted away the initial approach and thought that was that. Done and dusted. But Barca was, and still is, like a dog with a bone. Even though Arsenal have told them they're not interested in letting him go.


Fabregas innit

'We immediately and resolutely told them once again that we have no intention of selling our captain,' said a club statement at the time.

'Barcelona have publicly stated that they will respect our position and we expect that they will keep their word,'

If it's not them putting in another bid for him it'll be the chairman/players/former players piping up in the media about how fantastic the move would be for everybody. Arsenal don't share this view point though and have become tired and a little bit fed up with this. And for standing up to the Spanish giants and doing what was right and fair we've all tipped our hats to them, patted them on the back and give them a hearty well done.

So, is it not something of a double standards when Arsenal seem to be spending a lot of their time making noises in the media about signing Schwarzer given that back in the Springtime "There was interest from Arsenal in May. Their bid was refused. We have not had any more bids and we wouldn't encourage any." Said Sparky when he first arrived at the club.


Mark Schwarzer has a bit of a shout

Only for them to pop up again last week, according to media reports, offering exactly the same in exchange for the 'keeper. Again for Hughes to tell them early in the week "From our point of view the situation has not changed."

And he spelt it out again just before the United game "I don't know if Arsenal are trying to disrupt him. There are many things clubs, players and agents do to unsettle players." And then to draw a line under all this tapping up and unsettling of Schwarzer once and for all, Arsene said yesterday "It's important we do not start saying what we do and they say what they [Fulham] do. I believe it has to be as quiet as possible."

So that's that then. He'll only make a bid if we're happy to let him go. Nice one. We can all move...oh...hang on a minute...

That'll be the papers and the web full of stories and quotes from Seaman and Wenger again banging on about signing our lad again.

Still, well done for being the bigger man when Barca came knocking Arsenal...

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http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/838902-arsenal-make-maarten-stekelenburg-bid-as-fulham-hold-firm-on-schwarzer


Arsenal make Maarten Stekelenburg transfer bid as Fulham hold firm on Mark Schwarzer


Arsenal will turn their attention to Ajax's Holland international goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg if they fail to land Mark Schwarzer from Fulham.


The Gunners have been thwarted in their attempts to prize the experienced Australian from west to north London, with two bids of £2million rejected.


But manager Arsene Wenger is reluctant to increase the offer for a 37-year-old goalkeeper and may now be tempted to drop his interest in Schwarzer in order to approach Ajax over Stekelenburg, who played in the World Cup final for Holland.


Meanwhile, neighbours Tottenham could also be making a raid on the Dutch club as they are still interested in Uruguay forward Luis Suarez.