Monday Fulham News 23/10/17

[Friendsoffulham]

What are the betting odds on Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic replacing Bilic at West Ham?



The highly-rated Serbian is on the radar of the Hammers and the bookies think he could replace Bilic

Enormously under-pressure West Ham manager Slaven Billic is clinging to his job by the skin of his teeth and he has two games this week to save his job.

A whole host of names have been linked with his position since the dire 3-0 defeat to Brighton at the London Stadium last Friday, with the manager himself admitting at the time he doesn't know how long he'll have to turn it around.

One name linked with the job is Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic, who steered the Cottagers to only narrowly missing out on the Championship play-offs last season with an attacking and attractive style of football.

• Bilic has two games to save his job

• Fans want Mancini

• Bilic has NOT said goodbye to players

The former Watford manager has got Fulham in 10th this season after 13 games and is once again expected to get this side very close to or hopefully, this season, in the play-offs.

With Jokanovic earning such a good reputation, that has inevitably seen him linked with the Hammers, as he was when Bilic was under-fire last season too.

The Serb is available with three bookmakers, as we have detailed for you below:

SkyBet 8/1

BetVictor 8/1

Paddy Power 11/2

http://www.football.london/west-ham-united-fc/news/slavisa-jokanovic-west-ham-bilic-13801016

[Friendsoffulham]

December Home Games on Sale



Tickets for Fulham's matches this coming December are now available for supporters to purchase on General Sale.

The Whites take on Birmingham City on Saturday 9th December, 3pm with tickets starting from £30 for adults and £15 for juniors.

Then enjoy Christmas at the Cottage as Fulham welcome Barnsley to SW6 on Saturday 23rd December, 3pm. Tickets for this match start from just £20 for adults and £10 for juniors.

supporters can secure their seat online, by phone on 0203 871 0810 (opt. 1) or in person from the Fulham Ticket Office.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/october/23/december-home-games-on-sale

[Friendsoffulham]

David Button believes Fulham are benefiting from friendly rivalry between him and Marcus Bettinelli



The 28-year-old has been the number one keeper since the start of the season but Marcus Bettinelli has been pushing him all the way in training this season

David Button believes Fulham are benefiting from the friendly rivalry between him and Marcus Bettineilli, with the 25-year-old keeper keeping him on his toes.

The 28-year-old reclaimed the number one jersey this season after Bettinelli ended the last campaign with the number one jersey, but an injury at the beginning of the season meant that Button stepped into the role and has kept the jersey ever since.

Button has produced a number of good performances this season, despite not keeping a clean sheet since August, and has been one of the better performers so far, but Bettinelli is never far from the first team and has been keeping the stopper on his toes in training.

The former Brentford man admits there is a friendly rivalry between the two but believes it's great having the 25-year-old pushing him all the way for the number one jersey.

He said: "It's obviously really good, we get on well but we push each other hard because we both know we want to play.

"I know from last year that anything can happen so I need to be at my best to keep my place and hopefully I can continue to do that.

"I'm enjoying myself at the moment and I'm enjoying playing week-in, week-out and working hard and hopefully I can continue with the way I'm doing at the moment."

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/david-button-believes-fulham-benefiting-13799610

[Friendsoffulham]

Player ratings: Kevin McDonald named your Fulham man of the match in Villa defeat

Your player ratings from the Villa game don't make pretty reading - here's the full list of how you rated the side on Saturday afternoon

I really didn't need that situation on a personal level at Reading, admits Fulham midfield ace

Kevin McDonald was your Man of the Match in the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, but the ratings you have given the Fulham side are nothing to shout home about.

The Scotsman, who had another decent game in the heart of midfield, scored highest in your player ratings after the game with a total rating of 6.1 - which paints a story for the rest of the side.


John Terry's header gave Villa the lead before Stefan Johansen's curling free kick found the corner and got Fulham an equaliser just before half time, but Albert Adomah's second half goal secured the points for the home side.

Ibrahima Cisse ranked lowest, with the second half sub getting a rating of just 4, while Rui Fonte was also towards the bottom, with his rating getting a 4.2.

Here's how the rest of the side ranked in your ratings:

McDonald - 6.1

Fredericks - 6.0

Button - 5.8

Johansen - 5.8

Ream - 5.5

Sessegnon - 5.3

Kalas - 5.3

Ayite - 5.3

Cairney - 4.8

Kamara - 4.8

Kebano - 4.5

Norwood - 4.3

Fonte - 4.2

Cisse - 4.0

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/player-ratings-kevin-mcdonald-named-13799237

[Friendsoffulham]

Swap Craven Cottage For The Amsterdam Arena



On 1-3 June 2018, two weeks before the World Cup kicks off, hundreds of football fans will take part in Prostate Cancer UK and the EFL's Football to Amsterdam bike ride and you could be one of them.

Putting rivalries aside, fans will unite to ride 145 miles over two days before finishing at the Amsterdam ArenA.

Not only is it a chance to represent Fulham Football Club, but with the help of fans from across the EFL, it's an opportunity to turn the game around for men everywhere.

This is a game of two halves and your mates and you can make the difference to relegate the most common cancer in men in the UK.

Last year 380 football fans took part and raised £600,000 which can pay for over a year's worth of life-changing research, so this really is a ride of a lifetime.

Tracey Leaburn, a Charlton Athletic fan did it for her dad and is already building her squad for 2018.

"Last year's ride was extremely emotional," said Tracey. "I did it for my dad and every man and their family fighting prostate cancer. We can't wait to go again next year."

Once signed up riders are supported every pedal of the way and will join an elite club to receive a Prostate Cancer UK cycling jersey plus a unique finishers medal when they cross the finish line.

There are two start locations to choose from – one in London at the Olympic Park and the other in Yorkshire at Barnsley's Oakwell Stadium.

So what are you waiting for? It's time to get on your bike and represent The Whites in the biggest ride in football.

Sign up by the end of October and get £50 off registration with the code EARLYBIRD50.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/october/23/swap-craven-cottage-for-the-amsterdam-arena

[Friendsoffulham]

Fulham's season so far - we take a look at the stats behind the side's start to the Championship

We've extensively crunched the stats from Fulham's season so far to see what the numbers say about the Whites' performances

Fulham considering entering U21 side into next season's Checkatrade Trophy

It hasn't quite been the start most were expecting from Fulham - the free scoring side of last season haven't quite turned up yet but they still sit in 10th, just four points off the play-offs.

However, Saturday's 2-1 defeat showed once again that there is a lack of firepower up front and that the side look without ideas when they enter the final third, especially without a fully fit Tom Cairney pulling the strings.

Last season the side were extremely lucky with injuries but this campaign couldn't be further - Cairney, Rui Fonte, Floyd Ayite, Ryan Fredericks, Aboubakar Kamara and now Stefan Johansen have all suffered so far.

Fulham, like most teams nowadays, use stats heavily in both their recruitment of new players and their analyse of games, and like it or lump it it's the way football is going.

So on the back of that, we've taken a look at the OPTA stats from Fulham's season so far and it makes for telling reading.

Passing accuracy - Joint 1st (82%)

This one was always going to be top of the pile - Fulham play a certain way under Slavisa Jokanovic and that won't change, regardless of how things go.

Already this season the side top the charts for their passing accuracy, which is no surprise when you watch the side as they try to pass the opposition to death.

It's all about working their way into areas where they have a high scoring chance, such as inside the 18 yard box, which is why we never really see Fulham scoring a 25-yard screamer as it presents itself as having a smalling scoring percentage than a shot inside the box would do.

Aston Villa midfielder surprised by Fulham's style of football during 2-1 victory
Passing - 2nd (6,532)

Fulham rank second in the division for passes, 200 shy of Nottingham Forest who rank top (and also, interestingly enough, are joint top with the Whites in passing accuracy).

This ties in once again with how Fulham play football and the ideology that Jokanovic has in that passing the ball and keeping possession is a better way to win a football match than bypassing midfield and hitting the front men.

Last season it was much the same, and so in this sense it would seem that Fulham are continuing where they picked up at the end of the last campaign and continuing with their style of dominating football matches.



Goals - 9th (17)

Last season no one scored more goals than Fulham, who finished the season top of the pile with 85 goals.

If Fulham want to reach that number once again this season, they will need to score 2.7 goals a game (obviously they can't score .7 of a goal, but in stats terms this number is okay as the average).

It's not impossible by any stretch of the imagination, but it leads us onto our next few stats which I will group together for ease of comparison.

Shots - 10th (170)

Shots on target - 17th (47)

Conversion rate - 11th (13%)

It's clear from looking at the stats (and from watching on the pitch) that Fulham aren't having the best of times in front of goal so far this season, and it could come down to a number of things, but I personally think it's the lack of an out-and-out striker.

Only 47 of the strikes the 170 shots they've had this season have hit the target, that's just 27.65%.

Take from that that only 13% of those attempts have actually resulted in a goal and you start to see why people are growing frustrated at the lack of attempts that Fulham are having this campaign.

Fulham simply aren't doing enough in front of goal so far and it's starting to tell - they struggled to break down Villa and the goal only came from a set piece, while in front of their own fans at the Cottage they've struggled to score regularly too.

Let's now look at the other end of the scale.




Goals conceded - 12th (14)

Tackles 14th (215)

Tackle success rate - 21st (61%)

Clearances - 16th (344)

This makes for interesting reading. irst of all, we must remember that Fulham like to dominate the ball and as such, they won't need to make as many tackles as other teams in the division who perhaps don't play a style of football like Jokanovic's side.

That will also explain the clearances figure - Fulham like to play out from the back as we all know, and so the amount of clearances they make in a game will, again, not be as higher as other sides in the division.

But what we can look is the tackle success rate, which is only 61% and one of the worst in the division.

Are sides finding it easier to score against the Whites because they aren't as strong in the tackle?



It surprises me, because Fulham have perhaps one of the best defensive midfielders in the league in Kevin McDonald, who I would imagine probably props up that tackle success rate figure quite a bit.

Does this mean that players, despite being good on the ball, aren't particularly good at the defensive side of the game which is just as important?

I've always said that Championships are built on defences - Jose Mourinho certainly seems to think that way too and despite the criticisms of his style, he's won titles and is in with a shot at another one this season.

Do Fulham have the defensive capabilities to win a title? Judging from last season and this, the stats seem to suggest they don't.

We've put all the sides into our OPTA widget below, so you can see how the Whites compare in all these categories to their promotion chasing rivals.

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulhams-season-far-take-look-13798565

[Friendsoffulham]

U23s Travel To Wolves



The Whites travel to the Midlands on Monday evening to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the PL2, kick off is 7pm at AFC Telford.

This match presents a good chance for Fulham to climb the table. The Whites currently sit 11th in the PL2 table on six points, however with Wolves in seventh spot on nine, a win of 3 goals or more would see the Whites jump four places in the table.

Last time out Fulham recorded their second win of the season at home to Stoke City. Rob Atkinson scored his first goal for the Club from a corner, and Elijah Adebayo secured the win from the penalty spot.

That win made it two wins out the the last three matches for the Whites.

Wolverhampton lost their previous match 2-0 as they hosted Aston Villa, and have lost three of their previous four matches.

You can follow the match via live updates on the Club's twitter account, @FulhamFC.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/october/23/u23s-travel-to-wolves

[Friendsoffulham]

Aston Villa midfielder surprised by Fulham's style of football during 2-1 victory



Albert Adomah scored during his side's 2-1 victory but admitted he'd never faced a team who continued their style of play like Fulham did

Aston Villa midfielder Albert Adomah was surprised by how Fulham continued to control possession after going a goal down, revealing it's the first time he's played against a side who has done that.

John Terry's first Villa goal put them in front against Slavisa Jokanovic's before Stefan Johansen equalised, but Adomah's second half goal ensured the home side would take all three points.


Fulham's style of play is well noted in that they like to keep possession and try to dominate the game, eventually working into goal scoring opportunities, but Lambeth-born Adomah revealed it's the first time he's played against a side that continued that style of play despite being a goal down.

He said: "It's the first time I've played against a team who kept the ball so well when they went 1-0 down.

"Usually when teams go 1-0 down, they start kicking the ball long but they still tried to pass it and I think that's the way they play.

"Some games you're not always going to be able to attack – it was a game of two halves.

"You could tell towards the end that Fulham were more dominant which is always what happens in the Championship.

"Sometimes you're dominant in the first half and then you have to grind it out in the second, which we did.

"Everything – I think the match tempo was right and even though they went 1-0 down, Fulham kept the ball and we just had to press them high, which we did really well.

"We also defended really well and got the goals."

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-midfielder-surprised-fulhams-13796914

[Friendsoffulham]

Slavisa's stalling Fulham side




The Whites travelled to Villa Park on Saturday afternoon off the back of a bland four game unbeaten run, but the lacklustre performances continued with Slavisa Jokanovic's stalling side yet to get going. Once lauded for his ability to switch things tactically at Watford, Jokanovic's side have become predictable and teams turn up with a game plan to limit the passing game; whether it's Preston's high pressing style or more of deep defensive block just begging for a team who has been without its premium creative talent to break them down.

The predictability has simply been highlighted through Tom Cairney's injury, Slavisa Jokanovic has remained stubborn with his shape to the extent of forcing our multi-million pound number nine out wide to retain the three in midfield despite lacklustre performances from both Stefan Johansen and Oliver Norwood in the absence of the club captain. A lack of creativity both on and off the pitch has stifled Fulham's progress regardless of the talent that the recruitment team has assembled; even with Tom Cairney's injury, this team is good enough to be picking up wins both at Craven Cottage and on the road.

It's the surprising perseverance with averagely performing players in a system that Jokanovic slavishly adheres to which doesn't help frustrations – nothing is being changed to make things better and Slavisa has the personnel to make drastic changes to the shape and player positions whilst retaining the possession style of football.

Considering Cairney is currently unable to start games, Fulham could switch to a 4-2-3-1, with the goalkeeper and back four remaining the same, unless you wanted to start Rafa Soares at left back or Denis Odoi at right back. To provide the defence a little more solidity – perhaps necessary when the Whites have managed just two clean sheets in thirteen league matches – you can add Ibrahima Cisse alongside Kevin McDonald to provide a defensive shield allowing the three in front to support and create for the striker. With no Tom Cairney, you've got a couple of options for the number 10 role – Rui Fonte can feature there if you want to start Aboubakar Kamara or alternatively the Portuguese can take up the lone striking role. Johansen could take up a more traditional attacking midfielder role but it wouldn't be my preferred option. Out of our attacking/wide midfield players, Neeskens Kebano is arguably most suited to the free role behind the striker, which allows you to slot Ryan Sessegnon on the wing (introducing Soares at left back) and Yohan Mollo on the right (or whatever combination of wide players either side of Kebano you would prefer).

The three-man defence has become more fashionable recently with Chelsea's success under Antonio Conte (although here the Premier League shows itself up as a copycat league following that formation's ascendancy in Italy over the past five year). Fulham's game is already built around full backs surging forward – and one of these systems would allow them to take full grasp of these positives in their game. Odoi can come in as one of the three in defence alongside Tomas Kalas and Tim Ream, having filled in remarkably for Kalas at Reading and Leeds and is one of our more athletic footballers. The midfield upwards are where the questions come in, do you go two forwards and three in midfield or two in midfield and three attacking players? Either could work at Fulham, the extra man in defence could give you a McDonald and Johansen central midfield partnership with two wingers supporting your striker (again, who you'd prefer – some would say Soares at wing back and Sessegnon further forward, some like Floyd Ayite: others don't). The other option is your midfield three where you can keep McDonald, Johansen and Norwood in the middle but have Rui Fonte up front alongside Aboubakar Kamara.

Jokanovic remains the right man for Fulham but he needs to show more when his plan A is not coming to fruition – you can point to the possession numbers but for his philosophy to secure promotion, this side has to to be harder to score against and less predictable. I also think the players need to do more – how many of this squad can you say justify their spot in the starting eleven? Kevin McDonald and maybe two or three more? I don't think good footballers playing average football should get away with no criticism either.

We go on to face Bolton Wanderers next week, but if nothing is to change, then prayers to whatever deity are necessary to facilitate Cairney's return to full fitness as soon as possible.

http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/10/slavisas-stalling-fulham-side/

[Friendsoffulham]

Fulham must get tougher to prevent more losses

Fulham's David Button has told Get West London that he thinks the team to get tougher if they want to win more games.

The Cottagers had a tough match this weekend against Aston Villa and it was a great chance for Fulham to show that they could be contenders for a place in the Sky Bet Championship play-offs. However they couldn't do it and they ended up losing to Villa as they continue their recent resurgence and rise up the league table.

John Terry has received a lot of ire since heading to Aston Villa but he bounced back against his former rival team Fulham by scoring the opener and his first for the Villains. Fulham did hit back just before the end of the first half though when Stefan Johansen. But they didn't get off the blocks quick enough in the second half as Albert Adomah would get the winner just four minutes after the restart.

Button believes his team needs to get tougher to stop losing games like this, saying: "It comes down to being strong in both boxes, I think we had a couple of good chances which we didn't take and they got a set piece and goal that was avoidable."

"Based on chances, we probably should've drawn, but we need to understand when we come away from home teams will be strong and physical against us and we need to stand up to it."

"We know we'll be fine on the ball because we have the quality but we need to make sure we're harder to beat."

"It was a little bit more difficult [to get balls to the centre backs]but the conditions were hard with the wind but I felt we got it out okay and our better chances came when we did it well but looking back we could've done better in the first half but it was certainly tricky with their press."

"It's frustrating, it's a good feeling when you make the saves but we need to get something from the game, when you lose it makes everything not as important but we're still close to the top six and top two and we'll keep on going."

http://the72.co.uk/93088/fulham-must-get-tougher-prevent-losses/

[Friendsoffulham]

'NOT BRAVE OR CLINICAL ENOUGH' – FULHAM BOSS JOKANOVIC AFTER VILLA DEFEAT'



Slavisa Jokanovic saw Fulham beaten 2-1 at Villa Park by Aston Villa on Saturday and said his team were not "brave enough" nor "clinical enough", according to the club's official website.

Albert Adomah's goal on 49 minutes saw off the Whites who now sit in 11th place in the Championship after an inconsistent start to the season in the absence of key man and captain Tom Cairney.

Jokanovic said: "We didn't have enough quality, we weren't brave enough playing from the back, we weren't clinical in either box.

"When they started to press us a little bit we played it back to the goalkeeper and went long ball. This is not the best choice for us.

"In the second half we showed more personality and we tried to move the ball. We got the ball in the opposite box but we weren't clinical enough."

He also said: "We missed chances while Villa scored two easy goals from situations which were not dangerous to us. We did not have enough quality or personality to appreciate the situations."

Speaking about John Terry's goal, the Chelsea legend scoring against the club's West London rivals, he added: "Everyone knows about John Terry and his danger from set-pieces. We cannot be surprised because Villa are good in set-pieces and he punished us on this occasion.

"Villa are a physical, strong team – they're fast. We didn't find the quality to have an answer for Kodjia and all the long balls he controlled.

"He always pushed us and he was the winner in this kind of situation. This is another situation that we didn't control well enough."

The Verdict

For managers like Jokanovic, they know that their sides will come under physical pressure because of their style of play and he expects his players to do the basics and deal with it.

However, it will be even more frustrating to them that Villa's pressure saw them abandon their short passing principles on occasion, and when they did stick to them and make chances, they did not take them – something that was an issue throughout last season as well.

That said, when captain Cairney is back, the manager will expect to see a much improved Fulham as he makes them tick and has the quality to hold their passing game together, even in tough circumstances.

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/not-brave-or-clinical-enough-fulham-boss-jokanovic-after-villa-defeat/

[JoelH5]

Found the stats article very interesting.. Our defenders basically can't tackle and our strikers aren't being clinical enough. I still actually think Fonte and Kamara will improve so I'm not as worried about that but the tackle success rate is shocking  087.gif

I know it's part of our game but I think we would be better served having two proper full backs rather than wing backs. We wouldn't create as many chances but we would certainly concede far less

[gerrys]

I would also suggest that, if our possession figures are so high, it is very unlikely that we shall have a high number of tackles as the opposition don't often have the ball.

[Friendsoffulham]

Fulham's end of season form masked a stark reality - the side lack the firepower to score goals



Fulham ended the season on fire in front of goal, but Ryan O'Donovan believes that masked a stark reality that wasn't addressed in the summer

Fulham at the end of last season were ruthless, scored goals at will and were, quite frankly, frightening.

Sides were already beaten by the time they stepped out onto the pitch with Slavisa Jokanovic's men, fearing what could happen if they made a mistake going forward knowing full well six passes later it would probably be in the back of their net.

Newcastle, Huddersfield, Norwich - it made no difference, Fulham would show up, put on a spectacle and stick the ball in the back of the net at will.

Witnessing those victories at St James' Park and at the John Smith's was something, but in truth it masked a reality that the side are facing up to now.

There's just no firepower at the club.

It's easy to say the same about last season too, there was no real striker at the club, although the way Chris Martin played football dragged centre backs into a dogfight and gave space to other players, but the midfield and wide players stepped up then.

This season, they aren't.

Stefan Johansen, despite some quarters calling for the Norweigian to be dropped, is the club's leading scorer and has stepped into the void left by Tom Cairney, creating chances and sticking them in the back of the net, but apart from that the scoring charts make for bleak reading.

It looks something like this:

Johansen - four goals


Piazon - two goals

Kebano - two goals

Kamara - two goals

Norwood - two goals

Odoi - two goals

Ayite - one goal

Fonte - one goal

Sessegnon - one goal

Fulham's front men who were bought in over the summer have only netted three goals between them and are struggling in front of goal - Fonte looks like he needs to play off someone in the number ten role while Kamara is raw but isn't ready to lead the line in a side chasing the Premier League.

The lack of firepower was clear for all to see last season and it needed to be addressed in the summer, but Fulham's ruthlessness in the latter part of the season masked the reality, with Dwight Gayle being described as a 'bonus' signing when in fact, a player like him should've been a nessecity.

There's no doubting in my opinion that Fonte is a good player, however he's not a wide player and is currently under utilised in the squad, nor is he the out-and-out striker to lead the line.

Jokanovic has seen this, his formation change for the trip to Forest proves that, where Fonte was far more effective playing behind Kamara who had a field day against a slow and frightful Nottingham defence, but a 22-year-old who has never played Championship football before is not going to be doing that every week.

The 2-1 loss at Villa showed just how badly Fulham miss that firepower up top - they were out of ideas in the final third and struggled to break through, becoming rash and just hitting the ball in hope.

Would a striker like Gayle have made a difference?

Yes - Fulham were dangerous on the break and someone with his ability to play on the shoulder and stick the ball in the next would've made a difference, but the club unfortunately don't have that at the moment.

Whether or not Fulham go back for the Newcastle man in January remains to be seen, but if the club's recruitment department will have learned anything from the first quarter and a bit of the season is that the same problem is still lingering over the Cottage at the moment - the club have no striker that can net goals regularly.

It's worth mentioning, however, that this time exactly one year ago Fulham were beaten at Villa Park - they went out the next week and smashed Huddersfield 5-0 and went on to lose just once in nine games.

A repeat couldn't happen, surely?

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulhams-end-season-form-masked-13796738

[Friendsoffulham]

Button urges Fulham to become 'stronger'



David Button has called on his Fulham team-mates to become stronger after a disheartening away defeat at Aston Villa yesterday afternoon.

Head coach Slavisa Jokanovic was heavily critical of Fulham's lack of bravery and quality in possession as failed to stand up to the physical challenge posed by Steve Bruce's side and goalkeeper Button admits that the Whites will need to become more streetwise if they are to mount a serious push for promotion from the Championship this term. The goalkeeper told Get West London's Ryan O'Donovan:

It comes down to being strong in both boxes. I think we had a couple of good chances which we didn't take and they got a set piece and a goal that was avoidable. Based on chances we probably should have drawn, but we need to understand when we come away from home teams team will be strong and physical and we need to stand up to it.

We know we'll be fine on the ball because we have the quality but we need to make sure we're harder to beat. It was a little bit more difficult but the conditions were hard with the wind but I felt we got it out okay and our better chances came when we did it well but looking back we could've done better in the first half but it was certainly tricky with their press.

Button took little comfort from his individual performance – the former Brentford stopper made excellent saves to thwart Jonathan Kodija twice, Josh Onomah and substitute Ritchie de Laet – after Fulham failed to pick up a point from a game during which they controlled possession for long periods.

It's frustrating. It's a good feeling when you make the saves but we need to get something from the game. When you lose it makes everything not as important but we're still close to the top six and the top two and we'll keep going.

http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/10/button-urges-fulham-to-become-stronger/

[Friendsoffulham]

Fulham manager among favourites for West Ham position but no longer the front runner according to bookies

The Serbian was heavily linked with the West Ham job last season and the bookies have put in him their top five favourites to take the role should it become available

Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield and Reading have been fearing Fulham, former West Ham boss claims

Slavisa Jokanovic is among the favourites for the West Ham job to Sky Bet , although his odds aren't as short as they were when he was linked with the gig last season.

Slaven Bilic, who currently holds the position, is under mounting pressure at the London Stadium having won just twice in the Premier League all season, with the 3-0 defeat to recently promoted Brighton the latest in a long line of poor results.

Last season, the Fulham boss was heavily linked by the national papers to the Hammers job after Bilic became under pressure at the back end of the season, although Jokanovic shrugged off suggestions and led Fulham to the Play-offs.

It's not been quite the same this season for the Serbian as Fulham have struggled to find that rhythm once again, but Sky Bet have him his at the 8/1 fifth favourite for the job, alongside Burnley manager Sean Dyche.

The favourite at the moment is Manuel Pellegrini, who is at 100/30, while Roberto Mancini (5/1), Carlo Ancelotti (11/2) and Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez (6/1) are just in front of Jokanovic in the odds list.

It remains unlikely, however, that Jokanovic would move to the London Stadium at this stage.

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fulham-manager-among-favourites-west-13796100

[Friendsoffulham]

Sessegnon helps England U17s to World Cup semi-final



Steven Sessegnon will feature in the World Cup semi-final next week after he helped the England U17s beat the United States 4-1 in their quarter final yesterday afternoon.

The Fulham full-back, twin brother of left-sided young susperstar Ryan, has retained his place in Steve Cooper's side after coming into the starting line-up for the final group game against Iraq, where he made two goals in a 4-0 victory. Sessegnon delivered a display of defensive solidity allied with the attacking instincts he shares with his brother as England built on a strong start given to them by Liverpool forward Rhian Brewster, who scored twice in the first fourteen minutes in Goa.

Brewster pounced to volley home the opener after Phil Foden's dangerous cross was parried into his path by the American goalkeeper and Foden, of Manchester City, also made the second just before the quarter-hour mark. He played Brewster in down the inside right channel and the striker skipped inside and lifted ball cleverly over the onrushing goalkeeper.

The United States responded bravely and were unlucky not to reduce their arrears with the highly-rated Josh Sargent rattling the woodwork bringing the best out of England goalkeeper Curtis Anderson on several occasions. England went further ahead midway through the second half when Brewster turned provider for Morgan Gibbs-White and, although Sargent pulled a goal back for the States with just under 20 minutes to go, the Liverpool forward completed an impressive hat-trick with a penalty in added time after he had been hauled down by Sergino Dest, who received a red card.

The Young Lions will now face the winner of today's quarter-final between Germany and Brazil in Wednesday's semi-final which kicks off at 12.30pm and will be screened live on Eurosport 2.

http://www.friendsoffulham.com/forum/index.php?action=post;topic=62206.15;last_msg=907415

[Friendsoffulham]

Jokanovic feels Fulham 'weren't brave enough'



Slavisa Jokanovic felt Fulham weren't brave enough to match the physical challenge posed by Aston Villa and lacked the necessary quality in either box after the Whites went down to defeat at Villa Park yesterday.

The Fulham head coach was very critical of his side's reversion to route one when they found the path to goal blocked by Steve Bruce's organised defence and bemoaned the visitors' inability to stretch Sam Johnstone in the Villa goal. After watching Fulham's three-game unbeaten run come to an end, Jokanovic told the press:

We didn't have enough quality, we weren't brave enough playing from the back,. When they started to press us a little bit we played it back to the 'keeper and went long ball. This is not the best choice for us. In the second half we showed more personality and we tried to move the ball. We got the ball in the opposite box but we weren't clinical enough.

The Serbian criticised Fulham's defending for the winning goal, scored by Albert Adomah at the far post after a quick Villa break following Aboubakar Kamara losing the ball in attacking position. He said:

The second goal that they scored came from a long ball which they controlled and many, many players could have scored the goal. We didn't finish our chances and score the goal. They're a physical, strong team, they're fast. We didn't find the quality to have an answer for [Jonathan] Kodjia and all the long balls he controlled.

He always pushed us and he was the winner in this kind of situation. This is another situation that we didn't control well enough, but more important is that we weren't clinical in either box.

Jokanovic was more upbeat on the fitness prospects of midfielder Stefan Johansen, who was forced off through injury late in the second half. He believes the Norwegian, who had levelled matters with a fine free-kick just before the break, will be fit for Saturday's meeting with Bolton Wanderers.

It's some kind of groin problem. We're going to assess him and I expect he's going to be available for the game that's in front of us.

http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/10/jokanovic-feels-fulham-werent-brave-enough/

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Fulham 'not clinical enough in both boxes' – Jokanovic



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Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic said his team lacked quality in both penalty areas in the 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

Former Chelsea captain John Terry headed in his first Villa goal midway through the first half and, after Stefan Johansen levelled with a free-kick on the stroke of half-time, Albert Adomah hit what proved to be the winner early in the second half.

Jokanovic was unhappy with the way his defence failed to pick up Terry for the first goal and was frustrated that Floyd Ayite missed a good opportunity to make it 2-2, only to be denied by an excellent point-blank save from keeper Sam Johnstone.

"I believe we weren't clinical enough in both boxes," he said.

"We missed our chances, we weren't strong enough in our box too – they scored easily on the set piece for the first goal.

"We didn't defend this situation. It's not just John Terry, they are a really good team on set pieces and he punished us.

"We didn't find enough of a good solution for [Jonathan] Kodjia. This is a key situation, where we didn't show enough quality and enough personality.

"In the first 45 minutes, we found a problem with our build-up. We started play so many times with David Button and finished with long balls, which were normally lost.

"In the second half, we started to move the ball better. We dominated the game, we created some great chances but without scoring.

"When you start missing this kind of situation [the Ayite chance], it's not easy to win the game. After this chance, we pushed to find a goal.

"I must be satisfied with the mentality and the desire. We pushed at the end of the game, we tried to score."

http://www.westlondonsport.com/fulham/fulham-boss-explains-went-wrong-aston-villa

[General]

Found the stats article very interesting.. Our defenders basically can't tackle and our strikers aren't being clinical enough. I still actually think Fonte and Kamara will improve so I'm not as worried about that but the tackle success rate is shocking  087.gif

I know it's part of our game but I think we would be better served having two proper full backs rather than wing backs. We wouldn't create as many chances but we would certainly concede far less

The more telling stat is the shots on goal and on target... we're one of the worst.

Something says to me that if you have one of the highest rates of possession then tackles being low makes sense.. but for strikers and forward players not shooting or getting shots on target when that's all their asked to do shows how poor our attack has been. Before last match against villa we were sixth in the league on goals conceded. That'd suggest it's not the defence in itself that's letting us down but more our forward play.