On way back from GP, let me be brief ...

[colinwhite]

Mitro was very poor today .Too easily dispossessed and contributing virtually nothing. Needs service but today he was poor.

[MJG]

Mitro was very poor today .Too easily dispossessed and contributing virtually nothing. Needs service but today he was poor.

Doesn't help when we created zero chances for him and he's receiving the ball with his back to goal, and then whe does have it there is no one near him, 20-30 yards away. He's far too isolated.

[brightster]

Was there yesterday as well, Brentford didn't have to do much really, we kept giving them the ball trying silly 10 yard passes that they kept intercepting, they won most of the second balls, and when they broke they broke with speed. Rodak kept the score down again, we really looked out of ideas, no movement which is why we kept giving the ball away, also we are so slow in our build up play it's like we want them to get all their players behind the ball to play attack v defence as they do in training.
Very frustrating yesterday and am worried that our performances are getting a little worse each game.
Time for Parker to change our approach with a more attacking with speed game.

[toshes mate]

Mitro was very poor today .Too easily dispossessed and contributing virtually nothing. Needs service but today he was poor.

Doesn't help when we created zero chances for him and he's receiving the ball with his back to goal, and then whe does have it there is no one near him, 20-30 yards away. He's far too isolated.

My feelings too. 

Real lack of cohesion and movement to assist the player in possession and that often means whoever and wherever they are.  Parker is repeating the same mistakes over and over again in a one step forward, three back regimen.  He would be better off ripping up his playbook and starting all over again preferably with a better football mind either as his boss or his main assistant.  He is simply out of his depth as it stands and I am really beginning to feel let down by his lack of imagination and his lack of impact on his squad psyche.       

[SuffolkWhite]

I was out yesterday so did not listen to the game and I was not expecting anything but a loss, in fact I thought we would lose by much more. Reading this forum it appears we should have lost by more. This will continue unfortunately and We will get hammered by Leeds no doubt. I'm not one for calling for the Managers head but something needs to change , I have said before that we need a change of tactic and hope SP works that but he will be out of a job soon if he doesn't sorry to say. Really not looking forward to getting spanked next weekend and can see me leaving early. Thing is we are top 6 apparently!?

[bill taylors apprentice]

For whatever the reason its not working, the chemistry in the team is not right, the tactics are half baked and the opposition out think us too of often.

Parker doesn't need years of experience as a coach to see things need changing and fast.
Start earning your salary Parker!

[Southdowns White]

Positive Performances this season have been far and few, friends and i came away from the Derby game with a feeling of well not a lot has really happened apart from the goals. I really can't see how this bunch of players and the style of football will move us forward this season. Where is the fight, where is the flare? My description of our team yesterday on another thread was 'A void of nothingness' I just hope that Parker is able to realise that something needs to change quickly or he will be a void of nothingness at Fulham sooner rather than later. I can't see us getting promoted, even via the playoffs, which i think will probably be a good thing apart from we will lose Mitro at the end of the season.

[LittleErn]

But we have Cairney, Johansen, Mitrovic, Cav, and Knockaert. I think the attack is there. Agreed the defence has been poor.. probably poor for five or more years and we haven't solved it. However up front the tools are there.

Firstly they are not tools. Don't call them that. Only Mitro and Johansen have been playing well. The rest are not. Cairney goes missing for long spells and his fabled "killer pass" has been absent for some time. He is one footed and therefore predictable. He is good in a winning team but offers nothing when we are on the back foot. Neither Knockaert or Cav have been running past their markers - maybe because of the lack of space in front of them by the time they get the ball. Their finishing has shown a lack of confidence, and the cut inside is now well known and prepared for by our opponents. Despite all the above, the problem lies more with the defence, who dwell on the ball until they are forced to make a hurried pass to put a team-mate in trouble or lose the ball. Opposing wingers are rarely closed down and hence have time to pick out a cross. Passive defending describes it perfectly.

[Bill2]

But we have Cairney, Johansen, Mitrovic, Cav, and Knockaert. I think the attack is there. Agreed the defence has been poor.. probably poor for five or more years and we haven't solved it. However up front the tools are there.

Firstly they are not tools. Don't call them that. Only Mitro and Johansen have been playing well. The rest are not. Cairney goes missing for long spells and his fabled "killer pass" has been absent for some time. He is one footed and therefore predictable. He is good in a winning team but offers nothing when we are on the back foot. Neither Knockaert or Cav have been running past their markers - maybe because of the lack of space in front of them by the time they get the ball. Their finishing has shown a lack of confidence, and the cut inside is now well known and prepared for by our opponents. Despite all the above, the problem lies more with the defence, who dwell on the ball until they are forced to make a hurried pass to put a team-mate in trouble or lose the ball. Opposing wingers are rarely closed down and hence have time to pick out a cross. Passive defending describes it perfectly.

Have to agree with the majority of the above. We need to be able to change our play which is getting too predictable. The defence need to realise that when we are getting pressed they have to play the ball long, but when they do that Knockart and Carvalho need to get closer to Mitro for the knock downs or lay offs. Also need to find some space out wide for the quick breaks but then we need to get players in the box not just Mitro.
Finally Alfie Mawson needs to toughen up, got knocked over far too easily for the first goal, he does not use his weight well.

[FFC1987]

'Lastly, I would really question whether Mitro looks awesome and committed week in and week out. Think he's had several games where he's been off his game, and mostly look like he's frustrated and sulking. His goals, and good games, are very important for us, but he's looked quite bad on more than one occasion this year.'

Pretty damning statement and makes it sound like he's an issue within this troubled side i'd say. As I said, lots of issues with this team, Mitro isn't one of them.

[Sting of the North]

Nothing damning about it whatsoever. You just interpret stuff that isn't there. It was in answer to someone stating that Mitro is always awesome. Which he isn't always in my opinion. You also happened to quote only part of the post, so that you conveniently excluded the part where I explicitly stated that I believe that Mitro is indeed committed.

Mitro should not be beyond critique, just because he is often a very good player. On the days when he's not, he has to take part of the blame, just like all adults. I'm sure he would have no issue with that.

[FFC1987]

Nothing damning about it whatsoever. You just interpret stuff that isn't there. It was in answer to someone stating that Mitro is always awesome. Which he isn't always in my opinion. You also happened to quote only part of the post, so that you conveniently excluded the part where I explicitly stated that I believe that Mitro is indeed committed.

Mitro should not be beyond critique, just because he is often a very good player. On the days when he's not, he has to take part of the blame, just like all adults. I'm sure he would have no issue with that.

I quoted the part that I took issue with originally. Anyone, even hypothesising that a player isn't committed, is stating that it's an issue in the team, even if you go on to backtrack immediately. You might as well have gone back and edited that part if you don't believe it. I wasn't 'conveniently' missing that section, it was that your quote was on the other page and I already copied that, plus, a lot of your post I took no issues with. Not everything is sinister......however you rudely try and frame it.

Mitro can sure as hell take criticism but without him, we'd be one hell of a lot worse off. Not just goals, but his hold up play is usually really good. His issue is Parkers slow tactics that isolate him and four players who have put in some abysmal service recently, I'll pick out Bryan as one in particular. The amount of crosses that went into first man or straight to GK was embarrassing for a non league player let alone a championship player of the year. He definitely is frustrated and I'm not surprised. We don't work hard enough to support him from the midfield and the flanks aren't providing good service so i'm kinda on board with him. And regards to Parkers tactics, this isn't another cheap dig, I just think we don't set up to get the most from Mitro. We almost, at times line up like we need a more dynamic, pacey albeit robust lone striker, like how Rafa played at Newcastle with Rondon, but Mitro isn't that. Just no my cents. Peace.

[Sting of the North]

The first part was about even  Mitro can sometimes look grumpy and less committed. Not the same as him actually not being committed. It was in response to a post arguing that Cairney doesn't look committed, whereas Johansen and Mitro is always awesome. No need to edit it because it's not a contradiction.

I added the part about me not believing him to not be committed to avoid people misunderstanding, even though it shouldn't have been needed. That didn't help.

So, I didn't hypothesize that Mitro is not committed. Just arguing that players alleged appearance on the pitch doesn't necessarily reflect their actual commitment. It is possibl even for committed players to have bad days, because guess what that isn't binary either. The player is then part of the problem on that day, but doesnt mean he is necessarily part of the general problem.

Hoped that cleared it up. Have a good evening.

[AnOldBrownie]

For whatever the reason its not working, the chemistry in the team is not right, the tactics are half baked and the opposition out think us too of often.

Parker doesn't need years of experience as a coach to see things need changing and fast.
Start earning your salary Parker!

This I agree with. I'm not calling for the manager to be changed...but the style of play has to starting right now.

The team looks like it did in preseason and that shouldn't be the case.

Sent from my CMR-W19 using Tapatalk

[Statto]

As I said, lots of issues with this team, Mitro isn't one of them.

Inclined to agree with this.

Of course it's an oversimplification just to say all our problems this season are derived from Scott Parker, but ultimately, there's only so much you can criticise the players without it having the (IMO ridiculous) implication that Parker is not primarily at fault.

In Mitro's case, he's almost irrefutably the best player in this division, and a player than generally in his time at Fulham has shown a great attitude (eg, the AK47 incident) and worked hard both when we do, and when we don't, have possession. If he doesn't perform in some matches, he should of course take a portion of the blame for that himself, but such a small portion (in comparison to the portion that should be attributed to the manager) it's hardly worth mentioning.

It's a bit like seeing an axe-wielding murderer apprehended by a heroic bystander, and pointing out that the bystander is no saint himself, because earlier in the day he drove his car into a box junction when the exit wasn't clear.   

[Sting of the North]

I agree that Mitro is probably the best player in the division. Haven't argued otherwise, and I haven't argued that Mitro is really a part of the problem (nor the contrary because that was not what my post was about, but for the record I don't believe he is). I am also certain that Mitro can be part of the solution. Less certain about Parker.