View from Liverpool

[terryr]

First one of these for the new season! Football has returned to give our lives meaning

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It's my privilege to kick-off the first pre-match thread of the 2022/2023 campaign. Congratulations for winning the first trophy of the year and let's have an ever better season than the last one. I'd like to see us win the league again this year but to do so, we will need to stop drawing so many games.

Our first game of this season is away in London at Craven Cottage. The ground holds about 25,700 (Wikipedia says 22,384) which is, I think, the third smallest this season. There is some work being done that will take it up to 29,600 but this won't be finished until next season which probably means that the capacity for this season will be under 20,000 (anyone have an update on this?). Above is an artist's impression of what the ground will look like.

I looked up their season ticket prices and new prices range from £460 to over £1,000. The top end seems a lot of money to pay for a yo-yo team. They were in the top division two seasons ago and dropped down to the Championship last season but bounced back winning the league.

Their top rated players are probably Palhinha, Mitrović, Solomon, Pereira and of course, Harry Wilson. A decent first team but nothing to worry us when we are in top form.

Their squad is valued at about £160M against our £780M; that's quite an imbalance and reflects how much better our squad is. I guess their aim is to try to avoid relegation and then to slowly build. The great danger for them would be to over-spend and get into financial problems.

My assessment is that they haven't improved from last year and I expect them to be in and around the relegation places again. One of the threads on one of their forums is about how many points they will need to stay up so they aren't that confident either.
Everyone should know that we have brought in Núñez, Carvalho and Ramsey and that Carvalho was bought from Fulham (does that mean that he won't be playing?).

We have sold Mane, Williams, Minamino, Grujic and the legend who is Origi.

Mane was one of my favourite players and I was sad to see him leave. However Nüñez and Carvalho are two exciting players who I'm looking forward to seeing.
Diaz and, of course, Salah are going to continue where they left off last season.

On the injury front, we have Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jota with ongoing injuries. Alisson, Kelleher, Tsimikas and Ramsay all had knocks and therefore haven't had any recent matches. Konate may have picked up a minor knock yesterday. Hopefully most or all of these injuries will have cleared up by the weekend although Ox and, maybe, Jota are the main doubts. It's nice to see Harvey Elliott back in contention.

Fulham tend to be a passing team with a lot of possession and their formation is 4-2-3-1. However I don't expect them to have much of the ball against us and the difference in class should tell. Upsets do happen but I don't see anything other than a comfortable win for us. However, a couple of seasons ago, they drew with us at Craven Cottage and beat us 1-0 at Anfield. We do tend to have a slight weakness against some of the teams that we expect to beat and do draw too often when we should win. As I said, that is something we need to restrict to a minimum if we are going to challenge for the league. We will need to treat this game seriously (I have no doubt that we will) as Fulham will be fighting for every point.
Although our pre-season was a bit mixed, Salah, Thiago, Diaz, Firmino and Nunez all looked sharp. We did look pretty good against City and deserved to win.

Starting lineup?

Alisson
TAA.  Matip   VVD   Robertson
  Henderson Fabinho Thiago
   Diaz  Firmino  Salah

Subs to play: Keita, Nunez, Elliott + 2 more

I think we'll win 4-0.

I'm going to cut this pre-match post short as I know we are all ready to talk about the coming season. Sorry I had planned to put more content into this post but I reckon that keeping it short would be better.

So over to you guys to talk about the game and the season ahead.

"I'm confused: Fulham have a riverside stadium. According to my bluenose mates that means they should be winning the Premier League and Champion's League regularly, right?
Oh yeah. Let's twit these boat race watching, Michael Jackson statue regretting, property in Mortlake owning, Pak Choi scoffing, Hodge Owl revering, Sloane ranger twats"

"Sorry mate, you're well off the mark, there. As a Red living in Down here for 50 years, Fulham fans are the nice, "ordinary" people in general. Don't confuse them with some of the idiots that follow the blueshite a couple of miles away."

" I wasn't really being serious, just trotting out a load of absurd sterotypes about the region in the traditional manner of the 'Let's twit these..." posts :)
And I agree, I've never had any issues with any Fulham fans I've known. Seems a nice little club with a decent enough fanbase"

" I've only seen them in person once and their fans were... sound.  None of the baiting songs and just a half-hearted repeating of "We are full-um, full-um, full-um, we are full-um".  I think Houllier was still the manager back then though so it's been a few years "

" The Blueshite a couple of miles from Anfield or the other Blueshite a couple of miles from Fulham's ground?"

" That new stand looks good a t Fulham.
They seem to have had a mixed set of pre-season results like us.
Can't wait after the City game, Mo is flying, hope we get an early goal."

" No mention of young midfield General Harrison Reed in the OP?"

"Starting to get excited for this, after the Paris disappointed I honestly thought I'd struggle with this season but the bastards have roped me back in."

"Yeah really looking forward to this, not the worse game to open the season with. Bearing in mind how we looked on Saturday, I'm hoping for a comfortable win.
The starting line up, bar injuries, almost writes itself but I expect Nunez to be on it within a few games."

" Away to a newly promoted team, like last season. Sometimes I think it's not a great to play a new team but we looked sharp and ready against City and we'll be well aware we need to hit the ground running, same as every season!
Assume the line up will be very close to what started against City. Nunez for Bobby and Konate for Matip about the o key possible differences I reckon.
Think we could see both our former Fulham players off the bench, Carvalho in particular had looked really sharp in pre season and I think will be a frequent sub this season.
Looking forward to it now. Saturday whetted the appetite. Ready to go again!"

"Our record against sides that finished outside the Top 4 last season was 28-2-2 which is absurdly good so I wouldn't say we drop many points to teams we should beat to be honest.
Anyway, Fulham doesn't seem to be the toughest side to break down so I reckon we'll control this and win fairly handily."

" Saturday was a competitive friendly, didn't really mean anything.
But if the Fulham players and coaching staff watched it, which I'm sure they will have, they will bricking themselves.  As we know, "there aren't any easy games in the PL™" - but we're better than Fulham in every position, we know the sum of our parts are greater than the whole, and they should be focused on damage-limitation against a very sharp-looking Liverpool side.
Mo to score again on the opening day?"

" Their manager seems really unhappy with their transfers (or lack of) so far. Only been training with 16 senior players and looks like Wilson will be out with a knee injury
'Marco Silva has just finished a short post-game press conference. Pleased with the performance against a Champions League team.

But when asked if Fulham are ready for the Premier League season: "No." #FFC'

Marco Silva has just finished a short post-game presser. Pleased with the performance against a Champions League team.

But when asked if Fulham are ready for the Premier League season: "No." #FFC

— Peter Rutzler (@peterrutzler) July 31, 2022

?t=PxCnAF8DDtgZxKKwZSEKuQ&s=19

Silva asked if team needs 1 or 2 additions: "You are being positive. We have 16 senior players in our squad, no one can compete at this level with 16. I will tell you one more. No one can prepare a season with two central defenders at this level." #FFC

— Peter Rutzler (@peterrutzler) July 31, 2022

?t=Zz2UjhjGWHmK_2Ya6WhySA&s=19
Although they'll be up for it doesn't sound like they should have the squad to really worry is unless we do something dumb"

" It's good to be back. Last Saturday has really fired me up for the season and what's to come. Intrigued whether he throws Darwin in or continues to manage him in the background. Personally I would love for him to be thrown in and think a Fulham level opponent is a good starting point to get off the mark and build some confidence. Can't f*ing wait"

" Still get nightmare-ish flashbacks of the 3-3 game against Watford to kickstart the season in... 17/18? Marco Silva's first game I think and their last minute equaliser was OFFSIDE!"

" Was just reading through the Fulham forums and they back up what you have said above, Chris~ .. as you said, they have a first team squad of only 16 players, and only 2 CB's .. they get a couple of injuries and they are very much up against it early on, unless they make some astute signings between now and end August.

We have just too much for them .. I can see us running totally riot this weekend, with Klopp determined to set down a marker, letting City and the rest know what they are up against this season. I can see us scoring 5. Mo will continue his run of scoring on the opening day of the season each year. Captain him in your Fantasy teams, lads!"

" I haven't been following any of the Fulham pre season chat or results but I do remember Neil (TAW) having a chat with a Fulham guy at the end of the season and the lad was saying Da Silva was using the last few games, (with promotion in the bag), to try out a more combative, conservative approach with the Premier League to come in mind. Therefore that could be the way they go. More pie and mash and less vol au vonts from the would be Kings Road Crew. I think we'll do it 2-0.
Thanks Stockdam for the OP.
Any win please (x 38).

" Is it too simplistic to say we've signed their best player and he's now our sixth best forward?
I'm expecting a tough game just by virtue of it being their first game back in the Premier League and it being their first home fixture of the season.  That said, this manager and this team just repeatedly make light work of such fixtures.
I'm expecting the same XI as the Charity Shield but hopefully with Alisson back in goal.  The subs did themselves no harm at all but similarly the starters were also very good."

" I've missed football.

I think right now, it's a bit of escapism from everything that's going wrong with the world. The Government, the cost of living, the war in Ukraine, etc. love me, it's a lot and it's hard not to get down about it.

In 2018, I tried to take my own life a couple of times - I was poo at it, obviously - but the one shining light was watching Liverpool. 90 minutes where I forgot about being depressed and just watched Klopp's tricky Reds. It was mint. I know that football today doesn't reflect our society, that a lot of us often feel priced-out, forgotten, and neglected... but I'll always love the club for giving me that escape.

Up the Reds and let's have a cracking season."

"
Take care mate. And always remember when you support Liverpool....YNWA. There's always people here who will help."

" Similarly to Norwich last season this is about as kind as a fixture you could have asked for on the opening day, with all respect to Fulham. Being home would have been nicer but really it shouldn't make too much of a difference and hopefully we can carry a win into our first home fixture.

Alisson
Trent   Matip   VVD   Robertson
Fabinho   Thiago   Henderson
Salah   Nunez   Diaz

Feels so weird not having Mane in a predicted line-up. Some good points on Alisson's fitness and whether he should play, for me absolutely but even with Adrian we should be far too good for these. Without a shadow of a doubt I'd start Nunez over Firmino, too. I think if he starts, he scores at least one here. Salah loves a goal on the opening day so let's hope there's one in it for him, too. Remember when the front three all played together at Watford on the opening day and each one scored? Something like that would be lovely, just with all 3 points this time. Fulham's line-up is little to right home about, I'm hoping we can go here and just get loads of shots off at Leno, who's a bit shite IMO. Anyway ...

COME ON YOU FUCKIN REDMEN!!!!!!"

" Looking at Fulham's main message board, and a lot of posters trotting out predicted starting XI's that include such relegation stalwarts like Kebano, Ream, Cairney, Reed, Decordova-Reid, etc.

This could be a mauling.

Fulham's hierarchy apparently never learn and unless something drastically changes over the coming few weeks, Fulham are going straight back down to the Championship without any semblance of a fight."

" We will win, but I have this irrational fear that we get a really tough game down there on most occasions?
Our last 4 games with Klopp we drew one, lost one, two wins including one by a Milner penalty.
4-0 to us."

" If Silva sets them up how he did last season it could actually be embarrassing, cricket score territory"

"I'd be very surprised if he did that."

" Question is do they know another way of playing? We've been frustrated by plenty of teams in the past but most of them will have had prior experience setting up to frustrate. Most of that Fulham squad (As named above by Lone Star) are only used to comfortable Championship victories and comfortable Premier League defeats. Defensively they weren't even very good last season, and they lost 10 games in the Championship. No shame in that happening over 46 games but it doesn't bode well for the Prem.

It might be enough to hold out against average sides, but it should mean very few problems for Liverpool."

" Hopefully I don't end up with egg on my face here but I don't think we could of asked for much of a better first fixture to be honest. I think we'll win by 3 or 4"

" Personally I would go for Nunez, he got his goal against City which despite what everyone says that was a very competitive game to both sets of players

Would be good for him to go against a lesser team as his first PL game and he looked sharp in that game. Knowing Klopp he will prolly go with Bobby though. Think the rest of the team literally picks itself. id be shocked to not see Alisson

Alisson
TAA
Matip
VVD
Robbo
Fab
Hendo
Thiago
Salah
Nunez
Diaz

Subs; Adrian, Gomez, Konate, Milner, Jones, Keita, Elliot, Carvalho, Firmino"

" I think my fear is just Adrian v Mitrovic and if they targeted him. I have faith in the defence but Adrian's distribution is dreadful, as we saw on Saturday, and I think think he'd come off well against a physical presence if they went route one or peltered us with crosses.

However, thankfully we control so many games and our defence is very good, so any Adrian slip up could hopefully be bailed out by the forwards - again, like Saturday.

I don't want us to risk Ali in any way, especially with Kelleher out. There are some big games coming early - away at Old Trafford, away at Chelsea and away at Everton in the first 5 weeks of the season."

" The Community Shield game was a massive help, I think. People can say it's a friendly all they like but it felt way more competitive than most friendlies, and against an elite side to boot. I doubt any of Fulham's pre-season games have come close to that level of intensity."

" I'm always a bit conflicted playing promoted clubs early, we've seen a few hit the ground running, treating every game like a cup final while the opposition are still getting up to speed. A bit of early positivity from them in their home ground could make things a bit tricky. That said, they're so many levels behind us and we look sharp enough that I think we'll just bag a few goals anyway.
I'd be tempted to start with Nunez personally, it gives him minutes to bed into the team and he should get plenty of chances to score. The only way I'd go with Bobby is if we think they're going to spend the first hour crunching our players while the ref shrugs his shoulders."

" Not sure it's been mentioned in the thread but Harry Wilson is out for two months so will miss this."

" That's a shame for the lad, hope he gets the chance to play us at Anfield"

" That'll be a big blow for them. Championship or Premier League I feel with a couple of decent players surrounding him he'll always be good for goals and assists.
Do they have anything else going for them in the middle? Any other creative players to make something for Mitrovic? I know they've brought in one who used to play for Man United."

" In short, no.  Wilson was far and away their leading assist maker last season (with the caveat that he took nearly all set-pieces) and Carvalho was a distant second.
De Cordova-Reid, Seri and Reed are good players but not particularly creative or attack minded.  I'd imagine Mitrovic will be flanked by two wide forwards, usually Carvalho and Kebano last season, but I'm not sure they've even replaced Carvalho.
If they're relying on Andreas Pereira being their creative spark it's going to be boring old season for them  "

" Carvalho and Wilson for a while going to be a big blow for them. Not exactly done much business and down two key attacking players.
Can see a similar game to Norwich away on the opening day last season. They'll make it hard but we just need to be clinical. Obviously if we're not it's a difficult afternoon. Need Ali to be sharp when called upon as well if he plays."

" Didn't De Cordova-Reid score the obligatory, once in a lifetime worldy against us?"

" I'm not sure how this Fulham team stands up against that Norwich one but it shouldn't matter if we're on form. The signs from the Charity Shield were really positive to me and I'd expect it to carry on into this, doesn't need to be a thrashing but I'd love something similar to that Norwich game where we are just too clinical for them. They might want to contain us but I don't think they have the tools to frustrate us judging by their record in recent times."

" Salah to bag at least a brace...
Fulham will be well setup though. Wouldn't surprise me if they stay up this year."

" Assuming Virgil contains Mitrovic then De Cordova-Reid is probably their biggest goal threat (it's all relative!).  I watched the Championship highlights most weeks last season and picking up balls 20 yards out and getting in well struck shots was a common theme for him."

" Interested to see Fulhams starting line up. They have actually made 3 really good looking signings in Leno, Mbabu and Palhinha. Something like this:

Leno

Mbabu
Tosin
Ream/Kongolo
Robinson

Palhinha
Pereira
Cairney

Decordova-Reed
Mitrovic
Kebano

Still seems lacking in the wide areas for the season ahead."

" See they've just brought Shane Duffy in on loan. Not sure if he'll be able to play tomorrow or not but it shouldn't make too much difference. Seems they've made a few late signings which may just benefit teams playing them early as they're not all going to be up to scratch even if they've trained with other clubs.

Wilson being out for them is a big loss. I think whatever version of their back 5 they'll play will look pretty poor for this level, though. Leno looked like a let down for Arsenal plenty of times, some absolute howlers he made for them. Really we've just got to there and look for goals."

" Presuming Nunez starts, should be a bench of Firmino, Carvalho, Elliott, Keita, Milner, Gomez, Phillips, Ramsay, Adrian. Pretty good considering the number of players we have out."

" Absolutely can't wait for this. I know we've got a few injuries coming in but we can still field an arguably full strength first 11 with a strong bench. I have very little idea about how good Fulham were last season, but missing Carvalho and Wilson sounds like a blow for them. We got off to a good start in most seasons in recent memory, no reason this should be different.'

" How much more exciting can this be? Amazing players, manager, coaches and fans playing in a wonderful stadium with everything still possible. If I were to listen to the Pacino speech in Any Given Sunday I'm pretty sure I could run through walls tomorrow morning in anticipation. Klopp could pick the U23's tomorrow and I'd believe we could still get the 3 points. We all just believe now, right?
Can't wait."

" The rumoured team doing the rounds has Nunez starting over Bobby."

" I expect us to comfortably win the league this season."

" Marco Silva has just finished a short post-game press conference. Pleased with the performance against a Champions League team.

But when asked if Fulham are ready for the Premier League season: "No."

Ready for PL? "No, no. These players they are ready for the Premier League. I congratulate them for the work they have been doing. I'm always behind them, they did fantastic last season. They are working really hard.
We as a squad are not ready."

Silva said it had been a strange preseason, and that he was working with 16 senior players. He said the players here were ready and have worked hard, but that was it not possible for the team to be ready with two centre-backs, as example.

Silva asked if team needs 1 or 2 additions: "You are being positive. We have 16 senior players in our squad, no one can compete at this level with 16. I will tell you one more. No one can prepare a season with two central defenders at this level."

On talks with hierarchy: "Of course we're all on the same page, we're all in the same boat. My words are not against any one because I'm the first one out in front. Don't confuse or put Marco is angry. I'm being realistic with you."

Arrivals soon? "I expected they arrive in the beginning of the preseason, the first week of preseason second week of the preseason I hope they can arrive soon. I know that Alistair (Mackintosh) and Tony (Khan) are working on it."

Silva: "Everyone that understands football can see we need at least five or six players that is clear, if we want to be competitive. These players need help to be competitive in the training every day. We cannot be now five weeks in the preseason with two central defenders.""

" He can say what he likes about pages and on the same one but it's clear he is not happy"

" They're under cooked and we should win easily"

" I would start Nunez seen as it's Fulham. Potentially the perfect team to get off the mark against. He'll be full of beans after yesterday. It's only a matter of time before he becomes a starter anyway, I don't see a reason to wait."

" Now it begins. One game at a time. Only thing that matters is beating Fulham. Anything else would be a DISASTER.

I hope to see this
Becker
TAA Konate VD Robbo
Hendo Fab Thiago
Salah Nunez Diaz

Bobby off the bench is awesome. Go Reds!!!!!!!!!!"

" It's hard to imagine that it the starting XI against Fulham will be any different than the one against City, with the exception that Alison or Kelleher will be in goal if fit to play. With more substitutions this season, Klopp will probably pummel them with the same starting XI for 60 minutes and then introduce some guile in the form of Elliott and/or Carvalho. Nunez could start on merit, but Klopp likes to ease players in even when they are quality, so I would suspect he will go with Firmino in the starting lineup. The rest seems obvious."

" 1st very tough game of 38 very tough games.
Be lucky to get a 6 or 7-0 win here, maybe have to settle for a 4 or 5-0 one.

Oh well, a win is a win."

" Why the pessimistic view, has to be 8 plus, just to get that ball rolling."

" Fulham like to play football don't they?"

" Top scorers in the Championship by some distance.
They won't be as open in the Premier League though, they'd be ripped apart."

" Yeah. Always tricky facing a newly promoted team to start with at their place but we should have too much for them."

"Marco Silva has basically stated they're not ready as well. Crying for more signings"

" Does he post on here?"

" Doubt they scout these boards, they wouldn't learn an awful lot."

" Fulham couldn't of had a tougher start, this is a freebie for them though, no expectations whatsoever. Mitrovic is their only real goalscorer and as with a couple of years ago he will find the likes of VVD and Matip a lot harder than Championship defenders. Thiago will have a field day and we will win by 3 is my prediction."

" Harry Wilson will have an axe to grind. He's twice the player young Harvey will ever be and he'll be looking to prove it"

" take that to imply that you think our manager, coaching staff, and transfer team made a huge mistake when they decided to sell Wilson last year while giving Elliott a place in the starting lineup early in the season until he was injured. That's an interesting position."

" Agree with Nat here, Elliot is slow and gets caught in possession too often, I would take Wilson over him every time."

" When? He played a handful of games for us, and was really good in the games before his injury. Wilson was never good enough for us, if he wasn't Klopp would have kept him."

" I did not say anyone made a "mistake". I merely pointed out that Harry Wilson is twice the player Harvey will ever be"

"That Wilson would be more ready to start than Elliott is hardly surprising, since Wilson is 25 and an established pro while Elliott is 19. Wilson has played three times as many first team games as Elliott, too. Given that Wilson does have considerable talent, it would be very odd if he wasn't a better player at this particular moment in time."

"  It would be logical to infer that if we sell a young player without giving him a chance in the first team and instead promote a vastly inferior player who will never be as good to the starting lineup, we must either desperately need the cash from the sale, or we must not be good at judging talent. So in wasy, you did say that. You just did not put it down in words."

" Maybe he didn't suit Klopp's style or maybe Mo Salah playing Harry's position had something to do with it......"

" given that Wilson plays a position that we have in our formation, I don't think it's accurate to say he doesn't fit Klopp's style. The second point has more merit, but still doesn't quite make sense. Wilson is positionally not that different from Elliott. Both have spent some time in the wide attacking midfield/wing areas and in the AMC role. And even if he would be behind Salah, there would be room for a good backup in the league and a starter in the cups."

" What a very strange take.

Elliott is already better than Wilson ever was."

"Only memorable thing about Harry Wilson is that he is the spit on Torres"

" The basic point still stands. Klopp thought Elliott at 18 was good enough for the starting lineup until he got injured, whereas Harry Wilson never started a first-team game for Liverpool despite having a professional contract with the club for 6 years - and another 10 years in the academy - before he signed on loan for Fulham last year. One got a vote of confidence from the manager, and the other never got a look at the first team squad in a league game. Again, you can come up with a bunch of hypotheticals that can never be completely disproven, since nobody can read minds, but the facts don't support any notion that decision makers at the club thought that Wilson is a better player than Elliott will ever be. Elliott at 19 has 4 times as many competitive appearances in a Liverpool shirt than Wilson."

" I would have liked to see Wilson get his chance at Liverpool, but I think you are right that Klopp never seriously considered him as a first team regular. Wilson is a very good player, and he's shown in the Championship and in his year with Bournemouth in the Premier League, that he can score and create goals at a high level. So I think Wilson faced the same issue that faced Minamino and Origi. They are good players, but not good enough to replace the players already starting for the club. They represented a drop in quality when they started, even if Origi sometimes provided something different that could be very helpful. I don't see the same drop in quality with Elliott, and even if we do lose something in some areas, he makes up for it by being a bit more creative in tight areas than someone line Henderson."

" 0-7 minimum."

" If Salah scores in this he breaks his own record by scoring in six consecutive opening day fixtures."

" We're going to *********** smash them."

" We will win and we must since we are the mighty Reds. Klopp's philosophy is contagious.
Any win will be welcome."

" They've got a decent striker but are wanting at the back.
They done really well in the championship but I don't see them coping with our class and intensity.
They'll be glad they got us first game as it will give them early warnings of how much they have to raise their game in the prem.
0:4 for me."

" We have their best player on our bench. "

" I think whatever players we put out over the 90 minutes we should have enough to come out on top. I don't think it's going to be a walk in the park though, I don't think there are any so called easy games in the Premier league....( maybe just the two.... against The Toffee's )
Any win, any how and off we go."

" Super excited me, just got a feeling we could run away with it this year, Pep G putting all his eggs on Haaland scoring the brunt of their goals, leaving them utterly exposed, not back early enough for pre season gives the impression of arrogance and I honestly believe they will suffer, we on the other hand have actually strengthened despite Mane off to Deutchland, Nunez is a fookin beast, Bobby back to his brilliant best, Mo minus the weight off his shoulders looks proper up for it Diaz after his 4 month settling in period is haha settled, within 4 hours and absolutely chomping at the bit,

Wee Harvey a fresh perspective from midfield as well the new lad Carvalho who looks very good indeed, we're hitting the ground running whereas City are probably two weeks behind in terms of preparation, the six P's, ......

PROPER PREPARATION PREVENTS PISS POOR PERFORMANCE !!

We seen in that charity bollocks who is better prepared, I think City had 20 mins max control of the whole game, I know it didn't matter so much but psychologically it may have, I just think we looked sharper, more alert, and well Ready, City were bad, but we made them look bad and way off where you would think Champions should be on the cusp of defending their title  !!


Seems crazy to say it, but I think we've  already got a edge over them, Pep G knows we are a match for his side, but I'm going one better and saying he is actually fearful of us, he alluded to it last year in his 'pain in the arse' comment regarding our rivalry, Jürgen would never say anything of the sort and would remain totally respectful of his rival, it may have been tongue in cheek but the correlation is there ?


It will be close again but for me we have the upper hand, we are a better outfit, are run better, have a better squad of players, are more experienced and perhaps more importantly are a well oiled machine ticking over nicely with no gremlins to speak of, and......are Hungrier, we will want it more !!

IMAGINE BEING US !!!"

"Only just realised from the extra info at the top that we lost and drew to Fulham the last season they were in the PL. Wow! Covid season was mad!"

That's it for today....Wouldn't it be nice to revisit their forums if something amazing happens tomorrow......?
Stay well everyone

[mrmicawbers]

Maybe we shouldn't bother showing up.Love to turn them over.

[Hugh Gentry]

Imagine if I ever gave a flying F what a scousers opinion was, maybe my life could have been different!

[SP]

Thanks Terry.

As the final post mentions our 4 points last time round, perhaps we should adopt Parkerball tactics for this one?

[Kimbleman]

I'm wondering if my hub caps will be safe tomorrow when I park up near the Crabtree???
Please take this shite down....do we really need it??

[Somerset Fulham]

A strange mix of respectfulness and utter cuntery.

eta: Lets not go down the latter route when speaking of them, lads.

[perry geyton]

Do they not remember that we beat them away and drew at home last time around

Tossers

[Deeping_white]

I like how some of them act like they've done research on us but are so far off the mark it's hilarious

[KJS]

Typical crap from their fans.

[Jim©]

Wow, the really are f*****g up themselves aren't they?

[Cobh Fulham Fan]

he is a man of few words isnt he