Parkerball feels empty

[MJG]

The following three statements sum it up for me:

1. I am a massive football fan and have lived and breathed Fulham for many years.
2. We are third place towards the end of the season.
3. I have no interest watching us play and almost regard it as a chore right now.

How can these add up? The style of play is so so dull and it's the same every week. I dont remember ever being so disinterested in all things Fulham. We have had much worse seasons and it wasnt so. Football is meant to be entertaining; we are not. I cant wait to get rid of Parker.

I've said it before, 42 years a fan and many promotion chasing seasons and this is the most underwhelming one ever. 3rd and I should be moving heaven and earth to get to games, but just haven't got the will for it.

[70sPimlico]

I find myself watching games recently and rather than getting excited when we get over the half way line, I found myself more analysing exactly what it is we are trying to do.

After about 50 mins on Friday, hand on heart, I did think that maybe our strategy is to lull the opposition into a false sense of security. "We dont really want to score" "We're quite happy just knocking the ball about in our half", with maybe a last 15 minute change of heart and just catch them by surprise. It sort of happened.

[ffc73]

The following three statements sum it up for me:

1. I am a massive football fan and have lived and breathed Fulham for many years.
2. We are third place towards the end of the season.
3. I have no interest watching us play and almost regard it as a chore right now.

How can these add up? The style of play is so so dull and it's the same every week. I dont remember ever being so disinterested in all things Fulham. We have had much worse seasons and it wasnt so. Football is meant to be entertaining; we are not. I cant wait to get rid of Parker.

I've said it before, 42 years a fan and many promotion chasing seasons and this is the most underwhelming one ever. 3rd and I should be moving heaven and earth to get to games, but just haven't got the will for it.

These posts, unfortunately, I am in total agreement with.

[Fulham Tup North]

The following three statements sum it up for me:

1. I am a massive football fan and have lived and breathed Fulham for many years.
2. We are third place towards the end of the season.
3. I have no interest watching us play and almost regard it as a chore right now.

How can these add up? The style of play is so so dull and it's the same every week. I dont remember ever being so disinterested in all things Fulham. We have had much worse seasons and it wasnt so. Football is meant to be entertaining; we are not. I cant wait to get rid of Parker.

I've said it before, 42 years a fan and many promotion chasing seasons and this is the most underwhelming one ever. 3rd and I should be moving heaven and earth to get to games, but just haven't got the will for it.

These posts, unfortunately, I am in total agreement with.

100% agree, we SHOULD be so excited about the next match and thinking it cannot come quickly enough. I find myself not enthused. I chose to work Friday night rather than watch the team I love. Why is this???

[Luka]

Parker is single handedly destroying all that is dear to so many who support this club.
For so many hardened life long Fulham fans to feel this ambivalent about watching, never mind actually going to a game is very sad.

[70sPimlico]

Parker is single handedly destroying all that is dear to so many who support this club.
For so many hardened life long Fulham fans to feel this ambivalent about watching, never mind actually going to a game is very sad.

I've been pretty vocal recently since I came to the conclusion that parker is crazily underperforming with this squad but parker is not getting anywhere near destroying my love for the club.
Step too far

[WindyCity]

My two cents....

I happen to think way too much being made of "pretty"/"boring" football.  For me, I really don't care how pretty/boring or not the football is as long as there are three points for FFC at FT.  Many of the draws and losses so far this season has forum fans complaining about boring football, but I suspect had FFC managed to find three points in those games, the forum discussions would be much different.  It's all about results in my football world.

JMHO

[HV71]

I have been on the sudden if sticking with Parker but like so many have said the energy and excitement has slowly been sucked out of me.

Parker should be an anaesthetist

[RaySmith]

First World Problems?

[RaySmith]

My two cents....

I happen to think way too much being made of "pretty"/"boring" football.  For me, I really don't care how pretty/boring or not the football is as long as there are three points for FFC at FT.  Many of the draws and losses so far this season has forum fans complaining about boring football, but I suspect had FFC managed to find three points in those games, the forum discussions would be much different.  It's all about results in my football world.

JMHO

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[70sPimlico]

My two cents....

I happen to think way too much being made of "pretty"/"boring" football.  For me, I really don't care how pretty/boring or not the football is as long as there are three points for FFC at FT.  Many of the draws and losses so far this season has forum fans complaining about boring football, but I suspect had FFC managed to find three points in those games, the forum discussions would be much different.  It's all about results in my football world.

JMHO

We're 3rd in the table and lots of us are complaining. I'm not a forum moaner. Far from it. When MJG starts moaning, you know you've got a problem. If we had turned the draws and defeats into wins, we'd have been playing a different style of play and I cannot imagine anyone of us would be moaning. We'd have also won every game we'd have played.

I kinda know what you mean. The last game I saw we got 3 points was Huddersfield at home. 3 fantastic goals aside, we were passive and second best all over the pitch and didn't deserve anything. I came out of ground a strange mix of happy and frustrated.

[ffccornwall]

The following three statements sum it up for me:

1. I am a massive football fan and have lived and breathed Fulham for many years.
2. We are third place towards the end of the season.
3. I have no interest watching us play and almost regard it as a chore right now.

How can these add up? The style of play is so so dull and it's the same every week. I dont remember ever being so disinterested in all things Fulham. We have had much worse seasons and it wasnt so. Football is meant to be entertaining; we are not. I cant wait to get rid of Parker.

The following three statements sum it up for me:

1. I am a massive football fan and have lived and breathed Fulham for many years.
2. We are third place towards the end of the season.
3. I have no interest watching us play and almost regard it as a chore right now.

How can these add up? The style of play is so so dull and it's the same every week. I dont remember ever being so disinterested in all things Fulham. We have had much worse seasons and it wasnt so. Football is meant to be entertaining; we are not. I cant wait to get rid of Parker.

This totally sums up my feelings.

[charlesoz]

Tom Cairney is a shadow of the player he was.  More back passes than forward passes-subbed so many times, it's hard to believe he is our captain.
He is, obviously, lacking in confidence and a lot of the blame must lie with the way Parker wants us to play
Check out the YouTube videos of Cavaleiro at Wolves and Knockaert at Brighton, just to remind yourselves how dynamic each was playing in teams that attacked with pace and intent.  They both look world class.  Knockaert in particular.  Not just for his great goals and assists but his real wing magic-something we have not seen playing for us because of the pedestrian build up play that Parker has instituted
We got promoted with Wolves.  Consider the vast difference between us and Wolves now
Forget Luton away-where we scored 3 times; Middlesbrough away-where we lost our keeper; Barnsley away-because it was the first game of the season-but check out our other away games.  We have lost 20 points away from home by losing or drawing against teams that do not have a fraction of the talent our squad has.  In each game, we showed zero attacking intent and played the same ponderous way that Parker insists on, creating minimal chances
Add to that the home defeats where we have been played off the park by inferior sides- Barnsley, Reading, Hull
Add to that the defensive lapses that resulted in goals for the opposition.  By my count, at least 15 - 20 clear errors
Then we are told by MacDonald that the Barnsley defeat was only one game.  Seriously, is he delusional?
Following the draw at Derby, Parker appears on Sky and announces to the nation that we are in 3rd position BECAUSE of the slow, pathetic way he has us playing.  I am sure he felt good being able to answer his critics in that manner but the undeniable truth is that we are in 3rd place DESPITE the way he has us playing.  We are still there (just) because of the failure of other teams around us.  Pure luck.  A loss against Swansea and we could drop to 5th.  I don't believe there is a single Fulham fan who believes that we will go to Leeds and West Brom and take 3 points from both because Parker will have set us up, yet again, to play with no attacking intent
That means, Mr Parker, that we only have 10 other games to make a difference. 
We need to show that we really WANT promotion.  If we give 100% and fail, no true Fulham fan will complain
We just don't want to go out with a whimper

[grandad]

I think some forget that there are 2 teams on the field. They know how we play & they do all they can to frustrate us. As soon as Rodak has the ball they pull back into their own half apart from 2 pressing us high. When we play the ball to Bryan they then pull everyone back. It is then difficult to find a way through.
When Rodak does launch a long ball to Mitro he rarely has anyone to lay it off to. I don´t think our 4-3-3 works any longer. It is now too predictable. A change to 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 would give other teams something different to think about.

SP has to change our system if only to quieten the moaners.

[f321ffc]

All out attack,  Keeganball rather than Parkerball with our attack we should be able to out score most teams in this division just need to be more adventurous.

[abfg]

For me there's 2 issues here:

Firstly, there's nothing wrong as such with possession football. I actually like it, be it Tigana style, or for example the Argentina goal against Serbia in the world cup a few years ago (Cambiasso?). Even the Barca Tiki-taka style, which everyone hated to watch, I loved it. But, the big difference is that the possession is probing - seemingly going nowhere for 15 passes until suddenly coming to life. If the opposition press, or the forward makes a good run, or the defender is slow to cover, the team bursts at the speed of lightning to exploit the gap created. Look at Man city at their best (last season), when pressed in a corner they can pass it and with 2-3 passes they have a break away where the opposition defence is overstretched. Or the goalie launching a long goal kick when the moment calls for it for the forward to run into space.

Alternatively there's a less expansive way of being successful, look at Hodgson when he was here or what Simeone did at Atletico before his team was somewhat dismantled. There's no disgrace in playing more organised or defensively, and actually I enjoy seeing a  defensive minded team doing a number on another team - I think the stupid pundit phrase of the moment is 'a tactical masterclass'. But again, the key is that when the opportunity presents itself, the team must move the ball lightning fast to exploit an over committed opposition.

Either way, it's about moving the ball quickly, when the opportunity is there. So for me it's not so much about style as a whole, which I think masks the issue, but the style we're playing at the moment is not being done so effectively.

[Sting of the North]

Pure luck is not determining league position after 30+ games. We are where we are, and the other teams are where they are because they deserve to be. Roughly at least, since luck or coincidences may of course have a marginal impact +/- a couple of points.

I don't believe we have been more lucky than anyone else. It is not lucky that you have a great striker, or a keeper making great saves. I would attribute things such as obvious incorrect decisions by the ref as definitely lucky/unlucky, but after that it gets blurrier.

Just because we are underperforming according to many doesn't mean that we are lucky that some other teams don't win. At least not more lucky than those teams are when we don't win. It's kind of a non-argument, in my opinion. At a stretch it can be deemed fortunate that this is an unusual hard fought division, but if it wasn't then maybe we would have benefited as much as some other teams.

[Matt10]

I think there is a gameplan on the road to be a bit more conservative, while the plan at home is to be more dynamic. We've been guilty of being the cause of our own downfall in some matches as well, so less taking risks is the focus such as our right fullback does not go too far up the pitch because Bryan does that more than enough on his side. Playing out from the back is brave, but risky, yet the penalty we conceded could have been avoided.

The emphasis of our attack is possession, and building through the defensive third via quick combination passes or releasing Bryan for a cross. Our movement off the ball is one thing, but that's only half the battle, and movement becomes just aimless running if the players can't connect quickly enough. Multiple times in the Derby match one could see Reid and Knockaert trying to combine, but Knockaert's touches would often get him in a tighter spot than he started - resulting him trying to do too much.

I wouldn't say Parkerball is empty, it's just that the we have a possession based system that is built on multiple connections, and if one of those connections breaks down, the entire sequence is lost. The problem I see is that the starters do not exactly get behind a defensive line, so we play with our faces towards the ball more than run away from it. We also play a 4-3-3 that doesn't overlap both fullbacks because width is the priority, not necessarily penetration. I think the reason for that is because penetration results in a commitment, a risk, that we would rather not be caught out of position. Basically it's easier to regroup into shape if the shape never gets broken - or only breaks apart slightly.

While I loved the attack when we switched to a 3-5-2 vs Barnsley, we were well exposed in transition, and if Barnsley's forwards could have finished better, it would've been a 6-0 trashing instead of 3-0. When we switched to a 4-1-4-1 vs Derby, we were also a bit exposed, but not to the same level as against Barnsley. TC could drop back with Arter/Kmac, but would still give up decent amount of space as our other 4 attacking players (Mitro, Cav, Reid, Kamara) would have even more room to make up defensively.

Overall, I can understand why it may look boring. I don't necessarily fall in this camp because possession football, on the ground, is quite difficult to master and to openly accept as a style of play. It requires a lot of trust in the players, and the instant results are farther away than they would if someone just hoofed the ball over the top of the defensive line at any given time. In addition, I would also side with the boring play mantra if our shot total severely lessened. The reality is, it hasn't. 9 shots against Millwall, 21 against Barnsley and 17 against Derby. From that point of view, we are indeed getting up the pitch, we are moving the ball, and we are getting in some form of a position to shoot. We're not finishing our chances, and that to me is a reason to be more impatient than anything. We have top quality players on paper who are not scoring goals, not pulling their weight. They are doing great in creating the chances and goals, but when they're there to score...they aren't. 

[Riversider]

I'm sorry but I've got to laugh, there's literally nothing in this thread that I haven't been saying for months, and yet when I've said it I'm negative, I'm glass half full , I'm miserable and all other manner of abuse,
The truth is I'm actually more perceptive than people give me credit for, I've made my views well known in the past with regards to David Stockdale,  Ryan Sessegnon and Ryan Christie and got slaughtered for them, I posted my thoughts on Scott Parker when he was still a rumour, look at how all those examples have turned out,
So I'd like to welcome all of you on here to the bandwagon  , strap yourselves in because there is a bumpy road ahead, some of you have at last managed to grasp that we won't be securing automatic promotion, but these next six games will now determine whether or not we make the play offs , less than six points from these six games and the play off dream could well be over and hopefully so to will be the reign of Parker and Wells.

[Statto]

I'm sorry but I've got to laugh, there's literally nothing in this thread that I haven't been saying for months, and yet when I've said it I'm negative, I'm glass half full , I'm miserable and all other manner of abuse,
The truth is I'm actually more perceptive than people give me credit for, I've made my views well known in the past with regards to David Stockdale,  Ryan Sessegnon and Ryan Christie and got slaughtered for them, I posted my thoughts on Scott Parker when he was still a rumour, look at how all those examples have turned out,
So I'd like to welcome all of you on here to the bandwagon  , strap yourselves in because there is a bumpy road ahead, some of you have at last managed to grasp that we won't be securing automatic promotion, but these next six games will now determine whether or not we make the play offs , less than six points from these six games and the play off dream could well be over and hopefully so to will be the reign of Parker and Wells.

Even a stopped watch tells the right time twice a day