Saturday Fulham Stuff (16/12/17)...

[WhiteJC]

Eight years ago tonight, Fulham shocked Basel in the Swiss snow
by Dan on December 16, 2017

How time flies. It doesn't seem eight years since Fulham, given next to no chance of progressing from a Europa League group comprising CSKA Sofia, Roma and FC Basel, went to Switzerland for a must-win final game without Paul Konchesky, Chris Baird and Erik Nevland – who were all suspended – and Simon Davies, Andy Johnson and Diomansy Kamara through injury.

When the team line-ups came through, it was clear that Roy Hodgson had half an eye on the visit of Manchester United to Craven Cottage three days later. Brede Hangeland and Damien Duff were only on the bench, although Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu did return in central midfield. Duff's replacement, Bjorn Helge Riise, seized his opportunity by sending over two brilliant crosses that Bobby Zamora converted to put the Whites two up at the break.

Nerves started to jangle when Basel were awarded a soft penalty when Chris Smalling was adjudged to have handled in the box – especially when Alexander Frei rifled the spot-kick high past Mark Schwarzer. Just when it looked like being an uncomfortable denouement in the freezing cold, Fulham scored a brilliant third goal on the break. A flowing 15-pass move culminated in Stephen Kelly surging down the left and cutting the ball back for Zoltan Gera to tuck home – sparking joyous celebrations in front of the travelling fans.

There was still time for Marcelo Streller to reduce the hosts' arrears from Valentin Stocker's corner with three minutes to play, but Fulham actually finished the stronger with substitute Clint Dempsey somehow headed another Riise cross straight at the keeper when he was unmarked in injury-time. Basel, who had won all of their previous European home ties by at least a two goal margin, were out and Fulham had made the last 32. You can read our full report from the evening here

Hodgson praised Zamora, who was still getting some criticism from sections of the Fulham fanbase, for his contribution in leading the line, saying afterwards:

    Bobby Zamora carried on from where he left off in the Premier League. I thought he was very unlucky to have a first goal ruled out for offside, and he was a real thorn in the flesh of the Basel defence.

    I took him off as a precaution, he had a slight problem with his back. But he's got to be delighted with his performance. Bobby is one of our more popular players, he has a chant of his own and the fans seem to appreciate and like him.

Reading them back now, his comments about where Fulham could go after qualifying from the group stages are remarkably prescient.

    I am particularly pleased for the fans. I walked around Basel today and I was stopped by fans saying how much they were enjoying the adventure. I am looking forward to the next round, the draw to see who we get and then we see how far we can go. I wouldn't mind playing Juventus.

    We have done more than we set out to do. It's been a bonus so far and now we face an even bigger bonus.



http://hammyend.com/index.php/2017/12/eight-years-ago-tonight-fulham-shocked-basel-in-the-swiss-snow/

[WhiteJC]

 
Sky Sports pundit backing Sunderland to get first home win in a year against Fulham

The former Sheffield Wednesday man reckons Fulham will be the team to end Sunderland's one-year winless run at the Stadium of Light

Sky Sports pundit David Prutton is backing Sunderland to get their first home win in nearly a year when Fulham visit the north east.

The Black Cats, who have hired former Fulham man Chris Coleman to try and get them out of a relegation dogfight, last won at the Stadium of Light on December 17 when they beat Watford in the Premier League.

Since then, it's been a miserable time at home and the former Sheffield Wednesday man is backing the away side to get their first home win against Slavisa Jokanovic's side today, with a 1-0 win being predicted.

In his Prutton Predicts segment on Sky Sports, he said: "We've reached a year since Sunderland last won a game at home. December 17, 2016 was the last time the Black Cats could celebrate victory at the Stadium of Light, when they beat Watford in the Premier League.

"They're up against a somewhat revitalised Fulham who have started to rediscover some of the style that catapulted them into the play-offs last season.

"But I think this will be the day for Sunderland when that dreadful run ends."



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sky-sports-pundit-backing-sunderland-14045998

[WhiteJC]

 
Slavisa Jokanovic believes Fulham need to find a solution to their lack of goalscoring form

The Whites have only scored 27 goals this season and have so far failed to find the form that saw them finish last season as the Championship's top scorers

Slavisa Jokanovic believes it's clear that Fulham need to find a solution to their lack of goals, but insists the side are confident after two clean sheets at home.

The Whites have only scored 27 goals this season as they've struggled to show the ruthlessness they showed in front of goal in the previous term, with Rui Fonte having only scored once this season, while Aboubakar Kamara has scored just two goals.

However, Fulham have ground out two back-to-back home 1-0 victories against Millwall and Birmingham respectively, and have picked up ten points from their past five games as they head to Sunderland this afternoon hoping to add a further three points to their tally.

And despite the lack of form in front of goal, Jokanovic believes his side are confident and that they must be ready for the busy Christmas period.

He said: "It's clear, we need to find a solution in the opposite box.


(Image: Ker Robertson/Getty Images))

"We make less mistakes last few games and we won, in the past five games, ten points and then we had a big crash and a big accident against Brentford where we could do it better from a different situation.

"We didn't show our best performance and we are confident - we found in the last two games at home that we finished with clean sheets, now we have four games from the end of the year where it will be very, very important for us to try winning maximum number of points, to be competitive for the competition that is ahead of us in the next year.

"We must be thinking only about Sunderland but we must be ready for tough fixtures that are immediately in front of us in a busy period and we need to use many people.

"I need people focused and concentrated and ready for immediately in this game what is ahead of us and these few games in the Christmas term."



http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/slavisa-jokanovic-believes-fulham-need-14046097

[WhiteJC]

 
Scout Report: Possession, Pace & Power - What can Sunderland expect of today's opponents Fulham?
Sunderland welcome Fulham to the Stadium of Light this weekend looking to finally win a game at home this year. Fulham, however, will be no pushovers and are currently showing signs of improvement after a slow start to the season.

Photo by Harry Hubbard/Getty Images

Story so far
Fulham are underachieving this season after being touted as promotion candidates at the start of the campaign. Seven wins, eight draws and six defeats leaves the Londoners sitting in 12th place and eight points out of the playoffs.

It took Fulham seven games in all competitions to seal their first victory of the season with a 2-0 victory away at Ipswich. Only one defeat in September, though it was against lowly Burton, put Fulham in a far healthier position, but after that they struggled to find consistency.

A 5-4 win away at Sheffield United at the end of November ended a run of six games without a win, though. They have now won three of their last four to move away from the lower-end of the table, and will be keen to continue their climb with a win this weekend.

Last time out

Last weekend Fulham won an important clash against strugglers Birmingham City thanks to Liverpool loanee Sheyi Ojo, who scored the all important goal in the 14th minute.

Jeremie Boga missed a penalty for the Blues in the 75th minute which would have snatched the visitors a point - though a draw would have been highly undeserved on the balance of play. Fulham had 17 shots and 11 corners in a dominant display while also having nearly 70% possession; the win was well earned.

Dangerman
Tom Cairney is the man that instantly jumps out as someone to watch out for when you look at the Fulham team - especially after last season's heroics whereby the Scottish international bagged 12 goals and 11 assists.

The former Hull man has bundles of quality and will surely be plying his trade in the Premier League soon. This season has actually been a bit underwhelming for the man so heavily courted in the summer - he has only one goal and no assists to his name. However, regardless of this dip in form, Cairney is someone we need to keep an eye on.

Manager
Slavisa Jokanovic had a accomplished playing career where he made 69 appearances for the Serbia and Montenegro national team. He also won the Yugoslav First League twice and La Liga with Deportivo La Coruna. He moved to Chelsea in 2000 and played nearly 40 games for them before leaving in 2002.

Jokanovic began his managerial career in 2007 at Partizan, though he did not really enjoy success until 2014 when he guided Watford to second place in the Championship, and automatic promotion. A shocking sacking followed with Watford opting for a new manager to guide them through their first Premier League season back - and Jokanovic ended up at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Fulham bought him out of his contract in December 2015 and Jokanovic has just enjoyed his 100th game as manager of the London club.

Referee
Stephen Martin is the ref this weekend and this will be his fourth game refereeing the lads already this season. He took charge of our draw at Sheffield Wednesday, our home draw with QPR, and our away defeat at Aston Villa in Chris Coleman's first game as gaffer.

Martin has officiated Fulham once this season, in their 2-1 away defeat at Burton Albion.

The Staffordshire referee likes to keep his cards in his pocket and hands out just two yellows on average per game. He has also given just two red cards this season - hopefully that means the Sunderland players can stay out of trouble!

Statistical analysis
Fulham lined up midweek with a false nine - playing Stefan Johansen in that position. They like to have the ball, playing short passes similar to what we saw with Reading a couple of weeks ago at the Stadium of Light. Subsequently, patience and organisation will be key for Sunderland if they are to find any success this weekend.

The wings are another area in which Fulham enjoy success as Neeskens Kebano and Sheyi Ojo will looks to utilize their pace in order to create attacking opportunities as often as possible.

Basically, if Sunderland are to get a positive result this weekend they will need to be tight and compact while trying to break with counter attacks. We will not have the ball much and we will struggle against their attacking players. It will probably be wise if Coleman matches their three in midfield, and a player like Didier Ndong returning could be crucial to our chances of breaking up Fulham's play.

Statistically speaking Fulham are the worst kind of team for Sunderland to face since they are so good with possession, especially if they dominate the game early on and the home crowd gets tetchy. With our ball winners either suspended, injured or not 100% fit it will be a tall order to expect Darron Gibson, Lynden Gooch, George Honeyman, Elliot Embleton or Ethan Robson to stifle Fulham's midfield. Hopefully, Coleman has the Lads well prepared in order to find our first home win in what feels like forever.

Ha'way the Lads!



https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2017/12/16/16781012/scout-report-possession-pace-power-what-can-sunderland-expect-of-todays-opponents-fulham