Fonte

[grandad]

From what I saw his pass to Sess was not a hit & hope pass. He saw Sess´s initial movement , stepped inside the FB & then made a sumptious pass making it easy for Sess to chest it pass the defender. The rest was all down to Sess´s composure.
Some of you just won´t accept that Fonte can do some things perfectly. It is almost as if you want him to fail. He may not be what we want but I will support any Fulham player if I see him at least try.

[Lighthouse]

It certainly wasn't a hit and hope pass. Fonte is clearly not a forward as I understand it and is more a midfield player. While I am not sure where he can play or why we bought him. One thing is clear. We need a forward in January above all else.

[Holders]

The vision, pass, control and finish were all top drawer.

[Woolly Mammoth]

So after gathering all this information, and further research, can Fonte play a part in Fulham's future, and justify his fee, or is he a waste of 9million big ones. 💵💸💴💶💰💷

[grandad]

In retrospect 9 mil does seem a lot for no more than a squad player. At least in his few appearances he has contributed more than a few more expensive players we have bought.

[Matt10]

So after gathering all this information, and further research, can Fonte play a part in Fulham's future, and justify his fee, or is he a waste of 9million big ones. 💵💸💴💶💰💷

You already know my thoughts, but I'd truly like to see him in this re-found 4-1-2-3 system. It is geared to allow strikers be strikers and wingers be wingers. I think for the minutes he's played in the system as a sub, he has been impactful. I think the fact that he hasn't scored, or shot, in these small minutes is more so due to the scenario at hand (Barnsley holding on for the win, Cardiff holding on for the win), so I'd like to see him in a full match.

I've said it in the other thread though, he needs to start shooting and stop passing so much. I think Fonte is the perfect teammate, but to the fans that's not his job. His job is to score goals, and not constantly set them up. I think that is an unfortunate perspective to have, but we're on the outside looking in. I'm sure his teammates want him to score, but they won't throw him under the bus if he keeps trying to set them up.

[ffcne]

In retrospect 9 mil does seem a lot for no more than a squad player. At least in his few appearances he has contributed more than a few more expensive players we have bought.

What 1GOAL,Missed Penalty and a hit and hope pass .Great contribution.Should be nowhere near the starting 11.

[alfie]

I think it is very unfair to keep digging him out over 9mill price, he did put that price on himself, that was between the 2 clubs

[Fernhurst]

A perfectly weighted pass.

+1

[filham]

I think we are all in a good mood after that unexpected magnificent win on Boxing day and are being particularly kind to Fonte.
Look out for a change in tone if he plays and we lose to Hull on Saturday.

[Mince n Tatties]

Better players than him in league 1,Jack Marriott at Peterborough for a start..

[Baszab]

One thing I'm pretty sure about .... if Fonte had been receiving that pass he would have got nowhere near it

[alfie]

One thing I'm pretty sure about .... if Fonte had been receiving that pass he would have got nowhere near it

I don't see why you felt the need to turn it around, he supplied the pass just give a little credit for that.

[The Old Count]

It was a hit and hope a Sunday league pass into the penalty area that should have  have been intercepted and resulted in another counter attack by Cardiff

Only RS brilliant reflexes turned it into a brilliant goal scoring opportunity

Fonte contributes nothing and he should have brought on Norwood at that stage of the game

This blind optimism on Fonte is weird - watch him live and you will see a very poor footballer

An unjust and incorrect assessment.  He may be finding it dificult to adjust to the Championship bur he is not 'a very poor footballer'.

[Baszab]

Yes I agree he is not a poor footballer and I withdraw that remark

However his contribution to the team has been very poor and obviously not worth his fee

He really doesn't contribute anything the team when he comes on as sub - except for a few tackles and an occasional hoofed up pass - he just looks lightweight and ineffectual

That's my opinion and I have no personal axe to grind - but I don't understand some people's blind optimism that he will come good and we mustn't criticise him

Even Ruiz showed some fine touches while he was getting accustomed to the English game

[MrD1879]

For me he's technically a good tidy player that has struggled to deal with the pace and physicality of a more competitive league then he's used to. It's interesting that he used to play as a loan striker for the majority of the time with Braga as he doesn't have the pace to get in behind or the strength to hold it up. He's a number 10 for me. Only way i could see him working is if he has pace either side of him such as sess and ojo but then he will be operating in the space that we need Cairney to be. I'm afraid it just hasn't worked out and a very expensive mistake by the stat squad

[BedsFFC]

The 700 Fulham fans that went to Cardiff were singing his name and giving him every encouragement. He seemed to feed off that. It hasnt gone as well as we all hoped (I'm sure Rui feels exactly the same)
Right now, he's a Fulham player and he's clearly liked by his teammates. I for one, think he has definitely got something. Whilst he's pulling on the white shirt and giving it his all, why don't we forget all the criticising and wish the guy well?

[davew]

The 700 Fulham fans that went to Cardiff were singing his name and giving him every encouragement. He seemed to feed off that. It hasnt gone as well as we all hoped (I'm sure Rui feels exactly the same)
Right now, he's a Fulham player and he's clearly liked by his teammates. I for one, think he has definitely got something. Whilst he's pulling on the white shirt and giving it his all, why don't we forget all the criticising and wish the guy well?

Agree with most of that....except...I don't see them rushing to pass to him or maybe it is my rose tinted glasses again??? 1 thing I think we can all agree on is that we would like him to do well for FFC either as a striker, support striker, substitute or whatever, it is not his fault that somebody at the club wrote the cheque out for 9,000,000 instead of 900,000 if in fact that was the fee! As far as I am concerned, he has a few opportunities left, but not many!! Expectations are surprisingly growing again (and why not) that we might repeat the performances in the second half of the season as we did last year, but we can't carry players!! Last season was last season and our squad (even Martin) all performed the last 23 games! Rui has to get his act together!!

[Milo]

Just rewatched Fonte pass and Sess really did all the hard work... as much as I'm hoping Fonte will come good I don't think this game was the turning point.

[Whitesideup]

The 700 Fulham fans that went to Cardiff were singing his name and giving him every encouragement. He seemed to feed off that. It hasnt gone as well as we all hoped (I'm sure Rui feels exactly the same)
Right now, he's a Fulham player and he's clearly liked by his teammates. I for one, think he has definitely got something. Whilst he's pulling on the white shirt and giving it his all, why don't we forget all the criticising and wish the guy well?

+1 nice post

+2

PS - were we singing his name because we only have songs for a handful of our players? Like we still have to mention Al Fayed. And Reeeeeeeeem hardly constitutes a song - but I like it!