News:

Use a VPN to stream games Safely and Securely 🔒
A Virtual Private Network can also allow you to
watch games Not being broadcast in the UK For
more Information and how to Sign Up go to
https://go.nordvpn.net/SH4FE

Main Menu


Jack and Loz at the Cottage at Christmas - Blog 93

Started by Snibbo, December 27, 2018, 10:22:10 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Snibbo

Their reports always amusing,  well written and insightful.

Jack and Loz at the Cottage at Christmas - Blog 93

Date: 26th December 2018

Opposition: Wolves

Score: 1-1

Fulham goal scorer: Ryan Sessegnon, 18

Weather: mild

Atmosphere: good

MOTM (football): in a largely good all round team performance it's hard to choose between Rico for keeping us in the game yet again and Mitro for ceaseless hard work up and down the pitch whilst doing everything except score. Shout outs to the ever improving Mawson and the increasingly consistent Seri

MOTM (non-football): Cyrus Christie has spent the Christmas period supporting homeless people and encouraging others to do the same. He is a fantastic human being and a pretty good right back too

Mitromometer: a rolling boil

Pub: we had tea at half time. Where has the cappuccino concession at the Hammy End gone??? How does Claudio manage for drinks???

You spend 5 years bemoaning the fact that Fulham never play at home on Boxing Day then when they finally do you remember how inconvenient it is getting to Craven Cottage without the full range of public transport on offer. At 12.00 we were stuck in traffic cursing the bargain hunters of Westfield although we grudgingly thanked them later when our very brisk walk from Hammersmith meant we burnt off a few mince pies.

Christmas came early for Fulham fans this year with the arrival of that rarest of gifts: a clean sheet. Admittedly the wholehearted celebrations of this feat were tinged with desperation but it was a genuine sign of progress and the effectiveness of the Ranieri regime. Besides, it's Christmas.

The question we were all asking ourselves as we arrived at the Cottage on Wednesday (slightly out of breath in our case) was could we build on the Newcastle result or was it a festive fluke? Claudio set up the team with a back 5 again and they were looking confident after their hard fought 0-0. Their assurance transmitted to the crowd and for the first time in ages we were able to watch a half of football with our heart rates at fairly normal levels.

The problem with playing 5 defenders and Calum Chambers (and Rico obviously) is that this leaves only 4 slots for attackers and Claudio has to choose them carefully. Of course Mitro picks himself but Seri has played his way back into the side with admirable commitment and AK is improving so fast that by the end of the season he won't even be eligible for Fulham's most improved player because he'll have been snapped up by Barcelona. Interesting that the weak link in what would have not long ago been a makeshift attack is World Cup winner Andre Schurrle who is a motorised lawnmower to AK's Bugati. As well as being slow, he rarely wins and often loses the ball and we were hoping he would be subbed at half time. On the assumption that Ryan is back to full fitness we probably won't see Andre again for a while.

When Fulham played Wolves at the Cottage last season we said in our blog that the football was of such high quality that it felt like a Premier League encounter. This match, conversely, had a Championship flavour at times with a lot of heading and hoofing and mistakes from both sides. Nevertheless, this, the fourth consecutive half in which we have kept a clean sheet, was a strong and convincing effort with Fulham looking the better side and the simmering Mitro unlucky to score on several occasions.

Wolves, who are a good team, seemed to have arrived at the Cottage with the fixed intentions of playing for a draw, using all means necessary to get one, and abusing Mitro. The ref was unfortunately submerged in Christmas spirit and had a very laissez faire attitude to misdemeanours with the Wolves players getting away with all sorts of snaps, snarls and shirt tugs. They also had a tendency to fall over very easily and the half ended with most of them going down like dominoes before all the outfield players forgot what sport they were playing and hurled themselves into a tag team wrestling match.

The Wolves players came out savager and stronger after half time and enjoyed a long and intense period of possession. We worried, as Shurrle gave the ball away again and Mitro was mauled unpunished for the twentieth time, that Claudio was leaving his subs too late. We were watching Ryan warming up when we wanted to be watching him on the pitch. Finally, he got the call, Schurrle gave way gracefully, and One of Our Own raced onto the pitch. His impact was almost immediate as he set up a good chance for AK and the Wolves defenders could barely cope with the combined pace and guile of our two young attackers. When his own chance came Ryan seized it and after some excellent work from Mawson and Odoi he smashed the ball into the top of the net.

As fantastic as it was to have a goal to celebrate we were reminded that defending a narrow lead is a skill which our trainee premier league defenders haven't yet mastered and whilst panic set in on the pitch blood pressure soared the stands. Wolves' goal was always coming and it's worth mentioning that it came after Seri and AK went off. Tom Cairney had been watching the match like a spectator whilst he warmed up and unfortunately he wasn't much more than a spectator when he came on. We are big fans of KMac and the defensive sub made sense but the team which finished the game was weaker than the one which started it and whilst we've stopped leaking goals there is still room for improvement defensively with, fortunately, the transfer window about to be flung open.

The draw was a fair result but, as with Leicester and Brighton, we can't afford to keep losing leads and we have to start winning games. This was a match with more positives than negatives though. The starting 11 looked solid, compact and committed. Mitro, who was unlucky not to score yet again in the closing minutes, is surely bubbling up for a goal and when he scores one he often scores two - look out Huddersfield!

Random musings:-

- did anyone else notice that Captain Mitro didn't hand over the armband when TC came on? Were we witnessing a changing of the guard and what does it mean for Tom, our hero at Wembley only 7 months ago?

- for a man who can run at the speed of sound AK left the pitch very slowly at a point when we weren't winning. Sure, he was disappointed to be taken off but this was the one flaw in his otherwise impressive performance

Two games unbeaten is another small thing to celebrate but they've come at exactly the same time as we made the initial progress in our 23 game run last year. We are improving and the teams around us aren't. Our goal difference has been reined in, theirs is spiralling out of control. We need to start taking our chances better but those chances keep on coming.

Claudio has stopped the rot and shored up the defence. A team captained by Mitro, anchored by Rico and kept in line by Mawson looks like a fierce fighting unit - a team of pirates in fact. As we've said since August, we only need to finish 17th. We are a club which often excels in the second half of the season and we are a club which flies under the radar. On Boxing Day we scraped ourselves off the bottom of the league, now watch us creep up it, one place at a time.

https://werdsmith.com/p/FSpUj8AWrprAX