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Wednesday Fulham Stuff - 28/10/20...

Started by WhiteJC, October 28, 2020, 12:07:42 AM

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WhiteJC

Slaven Bilic has discovered something that can help West Brom beat Fulham

Here are the talking points from the AMEX as the Baggies look to Craven Cottage

West Brom added another valuable point to their Premier League tally on Monday night - but the wait for that first win since returning to the top flight goes on.

Karlan Grant's first goal for the club on his second appearance earned Albion a point at Brighton after Jake Livermore's own goal summed up a desperately poor first half.

Albion were much better in the second and might've won it had Matheus Pereira converted one of his chances.

Here are the talking points from the AMEX as the Baggies look to Fulham.

Razor sharp

The one thing that struck me about Grant's goal in the final ten minutes was that it was pretty much his first sight of goal in the entire match - yet the way he took his chance was frightening.

Grant barely had a kick in the first half and did what he could in the second, before Callum Robinson's pass deflected invitingly into his path off a defender.

The first touch, the composure, the finish...everything about it was superb. You wondered whether, despite the turn of the tide in the second half, it'd be Albion's night when Pereira passed up a couple of chances.

But Grant, as he has been brought to the club to do, was the man who stepped up when required. Just being off the mark is psychologically significant, too - the wait is over before it ever really began.

It went down a treat. More of the same please, Karlan.

Front foot

The turning of the aforementioned tide that enabled Albion to lay siege to Brighton's box was catalysed by the introduction of Robinson and Kyle Edwards.

Grady Diangana really struggled to make an impact on the left, albeit against an excellent young defender in Tariq Lamptey, and the withdrawal of captain Jake Livermore was bold move by Slaven Bilic too, when you consider it meant the naturally attacking Filip Krovinovic filling the void in front of the defence. He did so admirably.

The shift in system and personnel meant too that Pereira could operate in his best position, behind the striker, and so from there the chances came. With the relentless Conor Gallagher a constant menace and the fresh legged Robinson and Edwards on the wings causing concern, Albion were a different side in the last half hour.

Had the game run for ten minutes more, they'd have nicked a winner. Now the decision comes - do you utilise it at Fulham? It'd be very tempting, and I think it can be a success.

No one's safe

The one glaring omission from the squad was Romaine Sawyers.

Bilic's midfield metronome has struggled to assert himself in the top flight thus far, bar one very good display against Chelsea. He came off the bench against Burnley but didn't make much of an impact.

A week later, and he's made way for Rekeem Harper, who himself is the next cab off the rank in the absence of the injured Sam Field. Bilic confirmed post match that it was a selection decision on Sawyers' part.

Following on from the exclusion of Kieran Gibbs last week - he, incidentally, was an unused substitute here - and the ongoing bombing out of Charlie Austin, it's further proof that if you're not doing enough in Bilic's eyes on the training pitch in the week, you can expect to be uninvolved on match-day.

Time to build

This point is a useful one, on the face of it. It's certainly more welcome when you factor in that the equaliser only came in the later stages of the game.

But Albion really must fancy themselves to go forth now and claim a first victory of the season at struggling Fulham next Monday. Posting a result there would make this single point picked up at the AMEX look ever better.

In many ways, the Craven Cottage clash is key; not only would Albion be giving a relegation rival a bloody nose if they were to see them off, but ultimately it is - on paper - their best opportunity to claim a win for the next few weeks.

They have Tottenham and Manchester United on the horizon, either side of the next international break - urgh - and so preparing for that double header without a first win of the season is less than ideal.

Albion haven't won in 10 league games now, so a win on Monday is so important for various reasons.



https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/slaven-bilic-discovered-something-can-19173049

WhiteJC

Chelsea ace admits he pushed for loan move and speaks out on potential permanent transfer

Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek says he initiated talks with Frank Lampard about leaving the club for a loan move to Fulham this season.

The England international recently left Stamford Bridge to spend the season at Craven Cottage, and it remains to be seen if he can make the most of this opportunity to play more and show what he can do.

Loftus-Cheek has long looked a big prospect at Chelsea, but he's struggled to play regularly under a number of different managers now.

The 24-year-old has previously been out on loan at Crystal Palace, a spell he feels really boosted him and his international prospects, so he'll no doubt hope for a repeat at Fulham.

He says, however, in an interview with the Sun, that he does not view his move to Fulham as one that could end up turning into a permanent transfer, as he still believes he has a future at Chelsea.

"We had an honest conversation. I was the one who initiated it. I felt like it was paramount that I played a lot of football this season," Loftus-Cheek said.

"With the strength in depth at Chelsea and how I was feeling, I was not sure being out for so long that when I had the opportunity that I could play fantastically and hold down a place in the starting XI.

"I was not 100 per cent I could do that, because I need to build my confidence back up.

"That was basically the theme of the chat. The gaffer agreed on that and things went on from there.

"I still see my future at Chelsea. I believe in my ability 100 per cent. This is obviously not a permanent move.

"This is a platform for me to go and express myself and find that form that was showing a couple of seasons ago.

"I believe in my ability, and we will see where that takes me."



https://www.caughtoffside.com/2020/10/27/chelsea-news-ruben-loftus-cheek-on-fulham-loan/

WhiteJC

FFC: A mental (and physical) breakdown
While Fulham's giving us all a mental breakdown with every passing game, Eamon has a breakdown of a different kind, as he looks at how the side can improve.


To say Fulham's results so far have been less than ideal would be an understatement. Sheffield United away showed promise, but Parker's side couldn't convert that promise into three points, nor were we able to continue that (small) momentum past the eighth minute against Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace. Like many other Fulham fans, I have ideas about how Fulham can improve. I've divided my ideas into two sections: physical, what the players should be doing tactically on the pitch, and mental, how the team should be thinking in order to succeed. Additionally, each of those are broken into their own two sections: attacking and defending.

Physically, when defending, the White's need to track their runners into the box, and on the attacking side, make more runs that move the defence, creating passing lanes to get in behind. Mentally, we need to fulfill Parker's work hard mantra by constantly thinking about where the danger is and how we can eliminate threats when defending. Offensively, we need to remain a team. We don't want the on-loan players thinking they are "better" than the permanent players in our side – we'll only survive as one team playing together.

Physical – defence
Our once leaky defense has tightened in our last three games, but it remains porous. The key culprit in my eyes is our tracking of attacking runs into the box. Ironically this isn't the defence's problem to begin with, it's the midfielder's responsibility to follow their opposition counterparts into the box.

Too often has an opposing midfielder this season ran in from a deeper position, splitting our centre-back and full-back, left alone to receive uncontested, swivel and score. If you rewind the tape you can often find footage of a Fulham midfielder (*Cough* Cairney *Cough*) pointing to the man who's just galloped into the acre of space between our two backs. Don't wait if you see a player making a run, stick with him!

Physical – attack
Fulham's greatest offensive struggle is the lack of runners breaking defensive lines.

Football is not a complicated game. Media pundits like us to believe they know something "non-experts" couldn't figure out. There is a false idea that great coaches see something on the pitch that regular fans can't see for themselves. The truth is that regular football fans like you and I can understand these ideas as well as anybody. The job of the defence is to keep any attacks in front of them and restrict space as much as possible. The job of the attackers is to get behind the defence and expand the playing space as much as possible. Simple.

Often against Palace we could break into the Palace half with solid build-up play, but once forward, didn't make any runs to create scoring opportunities. At times, we'd have players – Mitrovic, Loftus-Cheek, Lookman, Cairney – lined up along Palace's back line, but the ball would pointlessly swing side to side, with every attempt to get behind the Palace defenders easily squelched.

As painful as it was to watch, Palace provided a masterclass in getting behind the defense. Time after time, Zaha broke into the box resulting in a high percentage shot or cross. In fact, both of Palace's goals came from the exact same run. The Palace player in possession started wide, drifted inside and played a reverse ball to a runner, splitting our center-back and full-back. This run is so effective because if you can start wide enough, the defending full-back is drawn out, and the center-back has to decide if he's going to come support his full-back, leaving the center of the box undermanned, or stay put and leave a gaping whole for an offensive player to run into.

Not all the credit goes to Palace, however. Lookman made the same run twice, splitting the Palace central and wide defenders, both times striking the post. These runs are crucial. It's not just players staying up the pitch that leads to scoring chances, but the movement and positioning of those players, which forces defenders to make difficult decisions and move, opening passing lanes and space to operate.

Mental – defence
Fulham's defenders will find success if they can avoid mistakes and focus on completing each of their individual jobs. As we all know, Parker is strong advocate for hard work. He's constantly reminding us that defending includes finding "that something". In line with this, it's crucial that his players understand what this really means.

While its important that Parker's players work hard, its key that they don't solely work hard physically, but more so that they work hard mentally. It's easy to appear to work hard – running, huffing and puffing usually make it clear – but that doesn't produce much success on the pitch. What really matters is that you do all that running when and where necessary, like when your midfield mark breaks into the penalty box. Its far more important to constantly be thinking: where's my mark? Where's the danger?

Huffing and puffing is at times a sign of laziness, as a hard working player, or a hard thinking player, would allocate his energy more efficiently, as to only expend his energy when needed. This way he can achieve maximum returns for the energy he spends and find the greatest possible production on the pitch.

Mental – attack
If Fulham's offense can remain bought-in to the team then they have a chance to do well. This is meant in two ways. First, they need to show urgency when attacking, and look like they truly believe they'll score goals when going forward. Players need to take charge. They need to make runs, attack the goal with a change of pace and be brave to try that tightly-fitting through ball. We've become accustomed to not scoring and it looks like the players have as well. Take charge!

Second, the team needs to stay together. The on-loan, "premier league players" – Lookman, Loftus-Cheek, Lemina – must remain committed to fighting for the club. Scott will have to work his player management magic in this regard, but we know this is one of his strengths. If cracks appears within the squad and these players stop believing in the team, then there's little chance of survival.

There's still a long way to go this season, but the ingredients we need to stay up are not just found on the pitch – they're also in the players' heads.



https://www.fulhamish.co.uk/post/2020-10-27-ffc-a-mental-and-physical-breakdown/


WhiteJC

Mawson undergoes surgery

Alfie Mawson has today undergone a knee operation (Tuesday).

The centre-back, who arrived on loan from Fulham in September, sustained the injury in the club's first league defeat of the campaign against Middlesbrough.

No timescale has yet been put on his return to competitive action.

The club wishes Mawson well for a full speedy recovery.



https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/mawson-undergoes-surgery/

WhiteJC

Alfie Mawson: Bristol City's on-loan defender has surgery on knee injury


Alfie Mawson captained Bristol City on his league debut for the club, with regular skipper Tomas Kalas out injured

Bristol City defender Alfie Mawson, currently on loan with the Championship club from Fulham, has had knee surgery.

The 26-year-old, who is due to stay at Ashton Gate until the end of the season, sustained the injury during last week's home loss to Middlesbrough.

The former Brentford, Barnsley and Swansea City centre-half has made six appearances for the Robins in 2020-21.

Bristol City, who face Bournemouth on Wednesday, have not put a timescale on Mawson's recovery.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54711187

Jims Dentist

Sadly the game may be up for Alfie.
I guess FFP makes no allowances for this?


alfie

Quote from: Jims Dentist on October 28, 2020, 05:34:12 PM
Sadly the game may be up for Alfie.
I guess FFP makes no allowances for this?
What have I done now
Story of my life
"I was looking back to see if she was looking back to see if i was looking back at her"
Sadly she wasn't