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Monday Fulham Stuff (12/11/18)...

Started by WhiteJC, November 12, 2018, 08:01:59 AM

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WhiteJC

 
Slavisa Jokanovic claims offside call at Liverpool was 'disrespectful' to Fulham

• Fulham manager describes Mohamed Salah's opener as 'absurd'
• Jürgen Klopp: 'We were a bit lucky. It's not 100% offside'

Slavisa Jokanovic accused the referee Paul Tierney of disrespecting Fulham by disallowing an Aleksandar Mitrovic header 14 seconds before Mohamed Salah's "absurd" opening goal for Liverpool during Sunday's game at Anfield. Jürgen Klopp agreed that his team "were a bit lucky" with the offside decision but argued the Serbia striker was level with Andy Robertson because of a foul on the Liverpool left-back.

The Premier League's bottom club performed well at Anfield but were incensed when a marginal offside call went against Mitrovic with the game goalless. As Fulham complained Liverpool took a quick free‑kick through Alisson – "the ball was still rolling," added Jokanovic – that led to Salah's eight goal of the season.

"I've checked the clips and Robertson didn't sufficiently squeeze up, my player is onside and it is a goal," the under-pressure Fulham manager said. "Then, the ball is rolling and so this is a crucial moment for us. Instead of being 1-0 up we are 1-0 down. In this country you normally cannot show disrespect to a referee but it is a little bit of a problem when they show disrespect to myself, my team and the Fulham supporters. The situation was a little bit complicated but you must be sure to make this decision.

"I don't want to say Liverpool didn't deserve to win the game, they created chances and they can score the goal. We didn't defend this counterattack well but this counterattack should not have existed. It is completely absurd situation that we needed to defend."

Klopp praised the "brilliant" reactions of Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah that combined to punish Fulham but insisted the offside decision was far from clearcut. "I'm not sure," the Liverpool manager said. "What did the guys who have seen it 20 times say? It's still difficult to tell. I don't want to compare but against Arsenal we scored a clearer goal which was not offside.

"If you watch the situation back, it was a very good routine from Fulham. It's difficult to see for the ref but there's a clear foul on Robbo. He is our second guy to go there and prevent the cross and he couldn't because a Fulham player stopped him. In the end we were a bit lucky. Because of Robbo it's not 100% offside because of his heel. But before that somebody had held him. We cannot change it. Fulham cannot change it. The reaction was brilliant."



https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/nov/11/slavisa-jokanovic-liverpool-fulham-mohamed-salad

WhiteJC


Liverpool 2, Fulham 0
It could have been worse

So Slavisa Jokanovic, an a day that could see him lose his job as Fulham were facing six defeats in a row, went out and deployed four center backs by trade and a fullback in a formation that was very confusing to understand when first observed. By game time, it was quite clear that this was going to be a counter-attacking system that would hope to catch Liverpool's attack napping. Instead, Liverpool stayed compact and professional and claimed a comfortable 2-0 win.

But if anything, this defeat was more in line with the one against Tottenham earlier this season than it was against Manchester City or Arsenal. In other words, Fulham didn't give up, stayed true to their formation and had a game plan that seemed to work earlier in the contest. If anything, they made the Anfield crowd nervous and begged their side to push harder. Liverpool might have gotten away with it in the end and they bluntly were the better team by the game's end, but that wasn't without them putting more effort than they were expecting.

Ryan Sessegnon displayed probably his best attacking effort during his time in the Premier League and probably should have taken Fulham out of a possible shootout. In one attempt he received a perfectly placed header from Aleksander Mitrovic that saw him through Liverpool's defense and with only Alisson to beat him. Unfortunately, Sessegnon was in a rush and decided to shoot outside the box and wide right. Along with that, another long range blast from Andre Schürrle that saw Alisson struggle to gather the ball only for Sessegnon and Mitrovic to fail at putting another shot away themselves. Besides that, that was all of Fulham's attack. Once more, Fulham's system essentially neutered their buildup play and Liverpool were able to get going once they figured out how to beat their defensive alignment.

Jurgen Klopp's trio of Sadio Mané, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino continued to work in concert as they were seeking to break the deadlock. It was always going to be that Fulham would struggle to stop them: they could only hope to contain them. Along with that Xherden Shakiri was excellent as Liverpool's most attacking outlet from midfield. Lastly, the strength and speed of Joe Gomez and the endeavor of Trent Alexander-Arnold were brilliant from defense.

Surely enough, the moment of today's contest is where a Fulham free kick seemed to have been converted into a goal by Mitrovic only for him to be ruled offside. As soon as that decision was made, Alisson kick started a counter-attack to Alexander-Arnold for him to find Salah beating what was left of Fulham's offside trap and easily make it 1-0. It was a frustrating moment as Jokanovic believed Mitrovic was onside on the play. I don't see it that way as he was probably half a body length offside and there have been much worse offside decisions in the history of the sport.

Next, Liverpool were able to convert a failed corner attempt where Andrew Robertson was able to find an open Shaqiri where he was able to calmly volley it past Sergio Rico. From there, it was a matter of seeing the game off from the home side as Fulham just struggled to get any attacking output the rest of the way.

As mentioned, this is not an embarrassing performance for the players involved today and Slav can take some pride in that. However, I just don't know how repeatable of a performance you can get with the same system. Maybe Calum Chambers as a six is an interesting experiment to continue, but besides that, Fulham have to get their buildup play and front three much better if they are ever to stave off relegation. Otherwise the rest of these 26 fixtures ahead will be some of the most miserable to watch. Here's to an International break to ever get that sorted out.



https://cottagersconfidential.sbnation.com/2018/11/11/18084204/liverpool-2-fulham-0

WhiteJC

 
What Aboubakar Kamara got up to on Sunday while Fulham were playing Liverpool may surprise fans

The Fulham forward went to watch a different Premier League match while his side were in action up on Merseyside

Fulham forward Aboubakar Kamara was in the stands for a different match against a top six club as his team took on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

The distaste between fans of the Cottagers and their west London neighbours Chelsea is well known - but it seems someone forgot to tell 'AK-47'.

He was left out of the squad that travelled to Liverpool, where the Whites lost 2-0 thanks to strikes from Mohamed Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri despite having what looked a legitimate Aleksandar Mitrovic goal ruled out for offside.

And while his colleagues toiled away on Merseyside, Kamara headed to Stamford Bridge to take in the 0-0 draw between Chelsea and Everton.

Fulham failed to score for the fourth match in a row, but despite that, Jokanovic didn't name Kamara in the matchday squad once again, the third time in a row that the Frenchman hasn't made the cut.

He hasn't featured since he started the 3-0 defeat to AFC Bournemouth where Jokanovic started Kamara to utilise his pace against Eddie Howe's side, but the decision backfired with Kamara having next to no impact on the game.

He arrived at Craven Cottage last summer and scored seven goals in his debut season, but his performances and ability have always split opinion in west London.

Kamara has also struggled to adapt to the demands of the Premier League and Jokanovic has preferred using summer signings Luciano Vietto and Andre Schurrle to the Frenchman.

And even at Anfield, the head coach picked Neeskens Kebano, who has played only 60 minutes of football this season, on the bench over Kamara, who was left to take in the Chelsea game instead.



https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/what-aboubakar-kamara-up-sunday-15402324


WhiteJC

 
After dreadful start, has Arsenal loanee Calum Chambers found his perfect role for Fulham?

During Fulham's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, Arsenal loanee Calum Chambers shocked the Whites support with an excellent display in the centre of midfield.

Previously derided by the Fulham faithful after his abysmal defensive performances, it appears the Englishman might have found his best position for the Whites as a midfielder.

The Gunners loanee was signed by the southwest London club this summer amid great fanfare, with many celebrating the deal as an astute acquisition of a versatile, ball-playing defender.

Yet after his decent debut against Crystal Palace, Chambers turned in shocking performances in the following matches, struggling against Tottenham and seeing himself dropped to the bench as a result.

His late September display against Watford was also dreadful, resulting in Chambers being completely left out of the squad for the next two league matches.

And when the loanee returned against Cardiff, the Bluebirds tore the 23-year-old to shreds when he was stationed at right back. Hauled off at halftime, Chambers didn't feature during losses versus Bournemouth and Huddersfield, yet was shockingly restored to the starting eleven at Anfield.

Chambers proved the doubters wrong and was excellent all afternoon, delivering crunching challenges, tireless pressing, and denying Liverpool attackers space in the centre of the park.

In the first half in particular, the 23-year-old provided Fulham's back four with the shield they sorely needed, presenting himself as the Whites' best holding midfield option.

Despite Calum Chambers' torrid defensive start to life at Craven Cottage, it appears the Arsenal loanee has found his ideal role in centre midfield for the Cottagers.



https://tbrfootball.com/after-dreadful-start-has-arsenal-loanee-calum-chambers-found-his-perfect-role-for-fulham/