Why hasnt the club sorted out the CB?

[Jim©]

Lots depends upon the form of Mawson I think this season. He's a good player, he's proved it in the premier league for a few seasons. Last season was  not a good one for him or those around him.
Look at CBs that work well in that league and compare them to the players we have: Cathcart, Coady, Stephens (southampton), Steve Cook (B'mth), Tomkins. Playing ability is very similar across this bunch, and I'd easily include Mawson in that lot.
So two things stand out
1) Who do we have to fit alongside him that's good enough. Ream, don't forget was exceptional the season we went up. Truly exceptional. As an aged CB i was in awe of his calmness in all situations. Heading ability and passing were outstanding. Odoi on his day is a mobile and athletic partner, MLM could be the gem at this level, in glimpses last season (i know it's not about glipses) he looked very assured.
2) Perhaps we don't look at the defence as a unit, preferring to (as I have) look at names and individuals. Many of the above are not exceptional when viewed in isolation, but very good as part of a unit (as per Aaron in the Aaron & Brede partnership).
For me 2 is key here- we need to get a solid partnership up and running and stick with it. The chopping and changing (injury/suspension) last season was debilitating.

[bill taylors apprentice]

A good question!

Poor recruitment to say the least!
Hutchinson, Bodurov, Madl, Stearman, Djalo, Sigurdsson.
Burn was worth a punt but very one dimensional (that's being kind) and even Ream only came good when the "keep ball" tactics came in.

Odoi? I have a soft spot for him but he's not really the permanent answer at CB is he?
MLM? Looking decent most of the time is not enough if you always have a couple of dodgy moments every game.
Mawson? Now fit, now is the time to see his ability and leadership.

[JoelH5]

A good question!

Poor recruitment to say the least!
Hutchinson, Bodurov, Madl, Stearman, Djalo, Sigurdsson.
Burn was worth a punt but very one dimensional (that's being kind) and even Ream only came good when the "keep ball" tactics came in.

Odoi? I have a soft spot for him but he's not really the permanent answer at CB is he?
MLM? Looking decent most of the time is not enough if you always have a couple of dodgy moments every game.
Mawson? Now fit, now is the time to see his ability and leadership.

I think Mawson will be good enough as long as he stays fit. He isn't the worry at all. We do need someone else to play alongside him though.

[toshes mate]

The key here is.............rumours.
Who knows what's going on really ?

I am not expecting anything until they appear substantiated on the offal.  I'll be shocked if we do sign a truly fit for purpose (and the other FFP) RB and RCB.  They are key positions but the marketplace isn't richly populated with them because all teams know the virtues of a good quality full back and the essential command a good quality central defence brings with it. 

Attackers are measured and essentially bought to fit an equation.  Either they tackle back and cover well or are so ruthlessly effective at finishing they seldom miss chances.  Defenders are not so critical when you are 7-0 up with thirty minutes left to play and the other team hasn't yet ventured out of their own half, but in most cases if you are hard to score against you'll draw matches you should have won.  It is dealing with those potential two point losses that can make or break a season.  I'd prefer a devastating possession style of play that creates chances at will with forwards who know where the net is.  Perhaps we already have the ingredients for that.  We'll see.

[filham]

A very good OP Duece , I too am disappointed at the money we have spent and yet failed to sign a good centre back.
I think perhaps we should realise that Hughes and Hangeland were exceptional and were bound to leave us with a problem when they left, we should however have solved that problem by now.

I actually had time for Dan Burn who is playing well right now , perhaps we should have kept hold of him a litte longer

[WindyCity]

"Why hasnt the club sorted out the CB?"

Maybe, just maybe, there are no quality backfielders to be had?  Just saw FFC going after another winger, Cabral, Portuguese, for approx 15m.  Maybe strategy is to go all in for offense?  Personally, I feel the back line defense has to get some upgrading.

[filham]

Not sure the centreback is our priority, we have added Mawson and Le Marchand since we were last in the Championship, that may get us by.
If Anguissa is not going to stay then another strong midfield player is more critical.

[AnOldBrownie]

Fulham has limited money, and we have Christie, Odoi and Ream on the bench against West Ham that is an exceptional championship bench, yet preseason Kebano is in our first XI upfront. I would upgrade by getting attacking midfielder to cover Cairney and maybe left winger to replace Kebano/Ayite.

cav will play down the left.

He'll start on the left.   Aren't successful attacking sides suppose to be fluid up top?

[AnOldBrownie]

Uhm...maybe because their are high hopes for our youth CBs.    I've seen a lot of talk about Fulham's in house RBs, but what about the CB position?

[fulhamben]

Fulham has limited money, and we have Christie, Odoi and Ream on the bench against West Ham that is an exceptional championship bench, yet preseason Kebano is in our first XI upfront. I would upgrade by getting attacking midfielder to cover Cairney and maybe left winger to replace Kebano/Ayite.

cav will play down the left.

He'll start on the left.   Aren't successful attacking sides suppose to be fluid up top?

o, if you have a left winger who is playing exceptionally well only an idiot would move him. Most so called fluid teams only swap around if they are getting no joy on their original position

[The Rational Fan]

Not sure the centreback is our priority, we have added Mawson and Le Marchand since we were last in the Championship, that may get us by.
If Anguissa is not going to stay then another strong midfield player is more critical.

We have three centre backs among the 21 most valuable centre backs in championship, plus we have Odoi and S.Sess. Plus no team has two centre backs rated higher than MLM. Personally, i think MLM is an significant upgrade on Odoi at RCB and very minor upgrade on Ream. MLM was poor the first half of last season cause we were swapping abc changing with new players against brilliant attacks. MLM is a championship defender, but he did keep three clean sheets in a row with Ream, in fact based on end of season form only, he did as well as Mitro. Parker might think that his firm may continue.

[AnOldBrownie]

Fulham has limited money, and we have Christie, Odoi and Ream on the bench against West Ham that is an exceptional championship bench, yet preseason Kebano is in our first XI upfront. I would upgrade by getting attacking midfielder to cover Cairney and maybe left winger to replace Kebano/Ayite.

cav will play down the left.

He'll start on the left.   Aren't successful attacking sides suppose to be fluid up top?

o, if you have a left winger who is playing exceptionally well only an idiot would move him. Most so called fluid teams only swap around if they are getting no joy on their original position

Don't Manchester City and Liverpool play with fluid front lines.   Even Manchester United hopes to toy with it this year since a dedicated flat track striker (Lukaku) isn't in their long term plans.

Mind I'm not saying they don't have ROLES.  Just that their positioning is fluid.

[fulhamben]

Fulham has limited money, and we have Christie, Odoi and Ream on the bench against West Ham that is an exceptional championship bench, yet preseason Kebano is in our first XI upfront. I would upgrade by getting attacking midfielder to cover Cairney and maybe left winger to replace Kebano/Ayite.

cav will play down the left.

He'll start on the left.   Aren't successful attacking sides suppose to be fluid up top?

o, if you have a left winger who is playing exceptionally well only an idiot would move him. Most so called fluid teams only swap around if they are getting no joy on their original position

Don't Manchester City and Liverpool play with fluid front lines.   Even Manchester United hopes to toy with it this year since a dedicated flat track striker (Lukaku) isn't in their long term plans.

Mind I'm not saying they don't have ROLES.  Just that their positioning is fluid.

but again it really isnt. Salah can pretty much always be seen down the right with mane left of firmino. Same for city if aguero is playing sterling is pretty much always to the right of him

[The Rational Fan]

It seems they are going to loan out Anguissa to get a centre back, swapping and changing the team is not good.

[Facts Not Fiction]

Fulham has limited money, and we have Christie, Odoi and Ream on the bench against West Ham that is an exceptional championship bench, yet preseason Kebano is in our first XI upfront. I would upgrade by getting attacking midfielder to cover Cairney and maybe left winger to replace Kebano/Ayite.

cav will play down the left.

He'll start on the left.   Aren't successful attacking sides suppose to be fluid up top?

o, if you have a left winger who is playing exceptionally well only an idiot would move him. Most so called fluid teams only swap around if they are getting no joy on their original position

Correct. Example being Sessegnon last season.

[Facts Not Fiction]

We were patient with Cavaleiro and Knockaert, and in the end we got 2 superb signings.

If we have to wait for the right CB, then we wait.

[toshes mate]

Fulham has limited money, and we have Christie, Odoi and Ream on the bench against West Ham that is an exceptional championship bench, yet preseason Kebano is in our first XI upfront. I would upgrade by getting attacking midfielder to cover Cairney and maybe left winger to replace Kebano/Ayite.

cav will play down the left.

He'll start on the left.   Aren't successful attacking sides suppose to be fluid up top?

o, if you have a left winger who is playing exceptionally well only an idiot would move him. Most so called fluid teams only swap around if they are getting no joy on their original position

Correct. Example being Sessegnon last season.

Fluidity works in myriad ways.  Analysis of the opposition plays a big part in how a team is set up.  Understand the enemy better and your chances of victory improve.  The crucial factor is that the enemy is doing the self same thing with your team, and, like chess, the opening moves dictate what remains of the game.  Players move around in order to disturb equilibrium among many other factors and the better equipped a team is with a play maker the better the outcome will be.  A player having an off day can be targeted.  Fluidity isn't always about overcoming negative outcomes it is also about preventing opponents from staying in their comfort zones.  Human beings love being able to get their own way, and its is common for opponents to exploit this as a trap.  What you see and what you make of it are the stuff really good managers and coaches are made of.  They do not watch games the way we biased supporters watch them. 

[bill taylors apprentice]

Odoi, Mawson, MLM & Ream appear to be going nowhere,
Along with a youngster as back up I think its fair to say that's it for this season.
Ideally, I think we could do better but at least the 4 of them should know how each other plays by now.

[Mince n Tatties]

Is Cahill still available?😝

[filham]

Our back four could be S.Sess. Mawson, Le Marchand, Bryan which is completely different than we last played in the championship and which cost us a few million pounds.
We really can't continue throwing money down a drain on defenders, this line up may prove good enough for the championship and perhaps we have to try to get the best out of it until a defender who is clearly better is spotted.