Just not good enough!!!!!

[Spirit of 2000]

Parker has to go. Clueless selection and tactics yet again.  Cav on bench? Sub the sub O'Riley who was doing well, way to knock the kids confidence. Too little too late today and yet more failure agsinst inferior opposition under the (mis) guidance of Parker.  Get rid now.

Agree on the O'Riley sub, as he was growing into the game and got more and more involved. Disagree on Cavaleiro, as I believe he was very rightfully benched after two below par performances, with him in my opinion being the worst player on the pitch against Luton. It seemed to work as well, as he looked good when he came on.

Knockaert hasn't played well for about 4 months.

[Sting of the North]

Parker has to go. Clueless selection and tactics yet again.  Cav on bench? Sub the sub O'Riley who was doing well, way to knock the kids confidence. Too little too late today and yet more failure agsinst inferior opposition under the (mis) guidance of Parker.  Get rid now.

Agree on the O'Riley sub, as he was growing into the game and got more and more involved. Disagree on Cavaleiro, as I believe he was very rightfully benched after two below par performances, with him in my opinion being the worst player on the pitch against Luton. It seemed to work as well, as he looked good when he came on.

Knockaert hasn't played well for about 4 months.

He played well as a sub against Luton, and also played well against Stoke. Both those games happened within the last 4 months (the last week or so even).

[filham]

Not sure we have the best squad of players, the most highly paid maybe but that does not mean the best,
Would have been pleased to exchange the Reading wide left player for our wide right player today for starters.

[AnOldBrownie]

No Cairney and no Onomah.

So pretty much two of our starting attacking mids not in this game.

Next.

Sent from my CMR-W19 using Tapatalk

[Arthur]

I don't think that the substitution of O'Reilly merits criticism. The lad played for 64 minutes; many-a-player has been substituted having spent less time on the pitch than that. Moreover, he did well - and I don't doubt for a moment that Parker will have told him so, so why should his confidence suffer? Bringing on De La Torre to try to find a different way to break through their defence was worth a go, in my opinion.

[@jolslover]

Parker has to go. Clueless selection and tactics yet again.  Cav on bench? Sub the sub O'Riley who was doing well, way to knock the kids confidence. Too little too late today and yet more failure agsinst inferior opposition under the (mis) guidance of Parker.  Get rid now.

Agree on the O'Riley sub, as he was growing into the game and got more and more involved. Disagree on Cavaleiro, as I believe he was very rightfully benched after two below par performances, with him in my opinion being the worst player on the pitch against Luton. It seemed to work as well, as he looked good when he came on.

Knockaert hasn't played well for about 4 months.

He played well as a sub against Luton, and also played well against Stoke. Both those games happened within the last 4 months (the last week or so even).

Exactly

[@jolslover]

Parker has to go. Clueless selection and tactics yet again.  Cav on bench? Sub the sub O'Riley who was doing well, way to knock the kids confidence. Too little too late today and yet more failure agsinst inferior opposition under the (mis) guidance of Parker.  Get rid now.

Agree on the O'Riley sub, as he was growing into the game and got more and more involved. Disagree on Cavaleiro, as I believe he was very rightfully benched after two below par performances, with him in my opinion being the worst player on the pitch against Luton. It seemed to work as well, as he looked good when he came on.

He wasn't the worst player on the pitch against Luton - created a goal out of nothing for Reid - are you joking? Did you see our defence that day.

[Sting of the North]

Parker has to go. Clueless selection and tactics yet again.  Cav on bench? Sub the sub O'Riley who was doing well, way to knock the kids confidence. Too little too late today and yet more failure agsinst inferior opposition under the (mis) guidance of Parker.  Get rid now.

Agree on the O'Riley sub, as he was growing into the game and got more and more involved. Disagree on Cavaleiro, as I believe he was very rightfully benched after two below par performances, with him in my opinion being the worst player on the pitch against Luton. It seemed to work as well, as he looked good when he came on.

He wasn't the worst player on the pitch against Luton - created a goal out of nothing for Reid - are you joking? Did you see our defence that day.

Why would I be joking? Not really sure what the joke would be.

I know Ivan created the goal since I watched the game, although to say it was created out of nothing is in my opinion a clear exaggeration. Nevertheless, I usually try to judge players on their overall contribution (to the best of my ability, and unfortunately most often based on the limited view that one gets from watching the game on TV). Thus, whether or not Ivan did a good thing in one particular sequence is just a small part of the equation when assessing his game.

Since I watched the game I also witnessed our defence, who on the whole had quite a bad day at the office. That doesn't mean that other players can not also be bad, because it is quite possible for several players to be bad in the same game. Ivan did manage to do almost everything wrong all game, with the exception of the aforementioned and admittedly very nice assist. Several times he lost the ball completely unnecessary so that he managed to create chances for Luton completely against the run of play. He destroyed our momentum time and time again with bad decisions. In my opinion he had an absolute stinker, and he also rightfully got benched for it.

You are free to disagree of course. For future reference, please rest assured that if I am joking, it will be much funnier than saying that player X was the worst on the pitch.

On a related note, I thought Ivan was very good when he got introduced today.

[Whitestone]

Overall I thought we played well today considering the injury/illness situation that is affecting the midfield in particular. Despite that we coped quite well for the majority of the game.  The real problems are at the back and once again were there for all to see. Whether it's down to coaching or lack of ability is a matter of opinion. Michael Hector should be an upgrade. I hope he is joined by others.

[LittleErn]

Of course our defence is as leaky as a sieve, but why? For me it is at full back that the problems start. For  the first goal today, Christie failed to close his man down enough to prevent a cross. He looked uninterested, lacking urgency, which is a shame as he has played much better recently. For the second he was tighter but was well beaten one on one. But our right flank is just as open with Bryan also standing off his man. If our central defenders were better they might compensate for this, but Ream is static and often caught dwelling on the ball. Mawson is in and out of form, and Odoi works hard but is not dominant. Then again, there is the tactics  issue which often leads to our defence being caught in an open, stretched, situation where defenders have little support. Compare that with the compact units our attackers are having to deal with. Something has to change- and soon!

[Whitesideup]

Despite the fact we were a bit unlucky, especially with the deflection for the first goal, you can also argue we made our own luck. Early doors we had a wonderful opportunity to go 1-0 up, a chance we did not take, despite having about three attempts at it. Maybe it was a good save, especially the second one, but I tend to view it as a miss. 1-0 up and the psychology of the game changes. Instead the reverse happens, and we are on the back foot, in a game that we really should not have lost.

[Mince n Tatties]

We quite literally have the weakest manager in the league, but the best group of players. Not ideal.

We have not got the best group of players, nowhere near it, we have one of the weakest defences, today lacking height strength and physicality.

Yes its quite funny reading all the time the same posters coming out and saying we have the best squad....Nonsense.
Our back four wouldn't get into any of the other top sides.

[toshes mate]

Casting an eye over the range of opinions about certain players shows what the real problem is - nobody is clearly standing out from the noise of mediocrity that is cycling around the whole team.  Most players have been much the same throughout - inconsistent and unconvincing.   Nobody looks settled and in tune.   The new guys and youngsters have done much the same job as those replaced  because this is a very ordinary and uninspiring team.  Nobody looks to be enjoying life except for Denis Odoi who does what he always has done, his best without getting carried away with himself.  The team lacks leadership within and without, so it is no wonder McDonald is such a prized dressing room morale raiser. 

[@jolslover]

We quite literally have the weakest manager in the league, but the best group of players. Not ideal.

We have not got the best group of players, nowhere near it, we have one of the weakest defences, today lacking height strength and physicality.

Yes its quite funny reading all the time the same posters coming out and saying we have the best squad....Nonsense.
Our back four wouldn't get into any of the other top sides.

Yes it would, Lets compare our defence with Leeds - Ayling a bang average Championship defender who has always been in and around mid table. Berardi a fullback converted to a CB, walking red card playing in Serie B before Leeds and alongside Ayling was part of a Leeds team that consistently finished mid table before Bielsa came in. Dallas an average championship winger converted to a fullback under Bielsa and Ben White who admittedly looks good but before this season had no experience above league 1 level

If we had Bielsa in charge we would be top by some margin and this defence would be looking solid.

[Cornishnick]

At this level, 2 wins in 7 says it all.

or 6 wins in 11 !!  -  glass half full; or empty ?

[Lighthouse]

At this level, 2 wins in 7 says it all.

or 6 wins in 11 !!  -  glass half full; or empty ?

You found a glass? Where did you find it?

[ByTheRiver]

We quite literally have the weakest manager in the league, but the best group of players. Not ideal.

We have not got the best group of players, nowhere near it, we have one of the weakest defences, today lacking height strength and physicality.

Yes its quite funny reading all the time the same posters coming out and saying we have the best squad....Nonsense.
Our back four wouldn't get into any of the other top sides.

Yes it would, Lets compare our defence with Leeds - Ayling a bang average Championship defender who has always been in and around mid table. Berardi a fullback converted to a CB, walking red card playing in Serie B before Leeds and alongside Ayling was part of a Leeds team that consistently finished mid table before Bielsa came in. Dallas an average championship winger converted to a fullback under Bielsa and Ben White who admittedly looks good but before this season had no experience above league 1 level

If we had Bielsa in charge we would be top by some margin and this defence would be looking solid.

Exactly this! I wonder why so many people are so blind to it.

A good manager/system can make bad/average players look good (Hodgson with Pantsil, Konchesky, Etuhu, etc, or even Slav with Aluko and Malone who both looked good, went for big fees, and have never been anywhere nearly as good outside of his system). And bad managers can make good players look bad (a relatively recent and good example being Alex Ferguson leaving Utd as Champions, Moyes coming in with the same squad plus a few big money additions, and doing far worse and all the players suddenly reverting to standard/becoming worse).

The problem is not the squad... The squad under Bielsa or Slavisa would be walking the league this year (amazing that we are in still in touching distance given we've lost 8 games already! It's a poor year). We'd now be already planning our league title boozer plans and booking the Monday after the close of season off for a bender. 

[clarkey]

Parker set the team up wrongly. Mitro looked lonely, frustrated and clumsy all afternoon, our full backs are both useless and the problem is made worse by having wingers who do not defend or track back (see first goal conceded and second goal too !)
Meanwhile Cordova Reid needs to play much closer to Mitro and Stefan should not have been dropped after three games in a row as MofM...he looked far from his usual self yesterday.Plus why no free kick routines, no attacking drills or plays and no throw in disciplines.

Fulham look a disconnected team, severely under coached and the defence....well it is shockingly bad.Plus our discipline at goal kicks, body language generally and fitness looks suspect every game.Really sad day we were awful.

[Artful Dodger]

Of course our defence is as leaky as a sieve, but why? For me it is at full back that the problems start. For  the first goal today, Christie failed to close his man down enough to prevent a cross. He looked uninterested, lacking urgency, which is a shame as he has played much better recently. For the second he was tighter but was well beaten one on one. But our right flank is just as open with Bryan also standing off his man. If our central defenders were better they might compensate for this, but Ream is static and often caught dwelling on the ball. Mawson is in and out of form, and Odoi works hard but is not dominant. Then again, there is the tactics  issue which often leads to our defence being caught in an open, stretched, situation where defenders have little support. Compare that with the compact units our attackers are having to deal with. Something has to change- and soon!

Our central defenders get a lot of stick - some of which is warranted - but some of which is due to the failure of others and the system, as LittleErn has alluded to. We essentially play 4-2-4 so why are people surprised that midfielders like Adam aren't picked up when they arrive in the box? Bryan is not a defender in the truest sense (although yesterday I thought he was better) and Christie is up and down, both of which mean the central two are up against it. Until we sacrifice some of the attacking potential, we will be open to conceding but Parker doesn't seem to want to acknowledge it. Joka played a 3-5-1 with the wide men helping out the full backs but we are 4-2-4 (or 4-2-1-3) and it leaves the defence wide open. Ream was player of the year 18 months ago and Odoi was part of the 23 unbeaten run, so they aren't bad players - we just need a system that means they aren't exposed all the time.

[john dempsey]

We quite literally have the weakest manager in the league, but the best group of players. Not ideal.

We have not got the best group of players, nowhere near it, we have one of the weakest defences, today lacking height strength and physicality.

Yes its quite funny reading all the time the same posters coming out and saying we have the best squad....Nonsense.
Our back four wouldn't get into any of the other top sides.

don't think parker would get a coaching job either.