Monday Fulham Stuff - 03/10/22...

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Man City	6-3	Man Utd
Leeds	0-0	Villa

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Chalobah Sees Red As Newcastle Thrash Fulham

Newcastle United made the most of an early red card for Fulham's Nathaniel Chalobah, thumping their hosts 4-1 in their Premier League clash at Craven Cottage on Saturday to secure their first away win of the season.

Defensive midfielder Chalobah was sent off in the eighth minute for a dangerous challenge on Sean Longstaff that referee Darren England initially only deemed worthy of a yellow card, but he upgraded it to a straight red after a VAR review.

The visitors wasted little time capitalising on his dismissal, Callum Wilson bundling the ball home from close range to open the scoring three minutes later, and Miguel Almiron made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute with a sumptuous left-foot volley.

Things went from bad to worse for Fulham as Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has scored six times in eight league games so far this season, hobbled off four minutes later with an injury.

Newcastle went into the break 3-0 up after Sean Longstaff reacted quickest to thump home the rebound after team mate Sven Botman's header was turned onto the post by Fulham keeper Bernd Leno.

Almiron slotted home his second from Joe Willock's precise pass to make it 4-0 12 minutes into the second half, and only the linesman's flag stopped him from completing his hat-trick as he had a goal ruled out for offside in the 69th minute.

Newcastle will be delighted to have scored four times despite missing record signing Alexander Isak, who missed the game after pulling out of the Sweden squad during the international break due to injury.

Bobby De Cordova Reid scored a late consolation goal for the hosts but it made little difference as Newcastle move into sixth spot on 11 points after eight games, while Fulham are two places below them on goal difference.

"It has been a long time coming, we have had a long wait for the second win of the season," Newcastle coach Eddie Howe told BBC Sport. "Right from the start we had a good feeling, with good energy, and created chances early on.

"Obviously the red card made it easier but I am very pleased with the players' response, their attitude – we wanted more, we weren't happy with what we had, always trying to score," he added.



https://iafrica.com/chalobah-sees-red-as-newcastle-thrash-fulham/

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TC: Bounce Back Quickly

Tom Cairney was hurting after Saturday's tough afternoon at the office.

An eighth minute red card for Nathaniel Chalobah set the tone for a fortuneless outing at Craven Cottage, with Newcastle United scoring three times before the break.

"It was difficult," Cairney admitted. "I think you could say it's our first bad feeling we've had after getting promoted. These things can happen.

"It was a very, very early red card so you're basically playing 90 minutes with a man less, but I feel like we could have dealt with the situation a lot better with 10 men in the first half.

"The game was a massive uphill battle from half-time really."

Fulham improved in the second period but the damage had already been done. Cairney is keen to move on quickly, though.

"We had our moments I suppose in the second half," he said. "We pushed for a goal and managed to get one near the end.

"It was definitely a better performance in the second half, but you're not going to win Premier League games if you're 3-0 down at half-time. We knew it was damage limitation a little bit.

"We take some encouragement from the second half but we obviously move onto next week now because we can't be too down. It's been a very good start to the season and we need to bounce back quickly."

To compound things for the Whites, Aleksandar Mitrović was substituted after just 37 minutes.

Marco Silva said post-match that it was too early for a prognosis, and Cairney joined everyone in hoping it was nothing serious: "We need him. He's our top goal scorer, he's third top goal scorer in the league, so hopefully he's back as soon as possible."



https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/october/02/tom-cairney-bounce-back-quickly/

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West Ham secured deal of the century by selling £15m man and signing 26-year-old

Selling Issa Diop for £15 million and signing Thilo Kehrer for £10 million has to be the deal of the century for West Ham.

David Moyes has been under real pressure so far this season, after his side's poor start to the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

The Hammers beat Wolves at the London Stadium yesterday though, and all of a sudden, things are looking a lot brighter.

Thilo Kehrer has been the standout performer for West Ham this season in my opinion. What an incredible signing he has proven to be for just £10 million!

And at the same time, selling Issa Diop for £15 million (The Telegraph) makes the Kehrer signing seem all the more impressive.

What unbelievable business from the Hammers...

West Ham United's deal of the century
Kehrer has been an absolute star for the Hammers since arriving at the London Stadium from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer transfer window.

His swashbuckling displays have given he West Ham fans some real hope throughout what has been an awful start to our 2022/23 campaign.

Kehrer has been superb when playing at centre-back for West Ham but he really excelled at right-back against Wolves last night.

Kehrer has all of the attributes needed to succeed as a full-back in the modern game.

The Germany international has demonstrated his blistering pace regularly during his opening nine games in a West Ham shirt.

The 26-year-old is also a really tenacious tackler and has great energy.

He has also played in both full-back positions regularly for PSG, Schalke and Germany.

The difference between Kehrer and Diop really is chalk and cheese.

In the eight Premier League games that Fulham have played since Diop arrived at Craven Cottage, the centre-back has made just three appearances, with two of those matches ending in defeat.

When West Ham sold Diop to Fulham, we warned their fans about how poor he was.

The frustrating thing about him is that he has all of the attributes required to be a success in the Premier League.

Unfortunately for him, and Fulham, his concentration levels and positional sense are quite frankly abysmal.

Perhaps he's just not suited to the Premier League, what with the intensity and speed of the football that is played.

Fulham may well have made a huge mistake by signing the defender.

And at the same time, West Ham have got an unbelievably good player in the form of Thilo Kehrer, for £5 million less than we sold Diop for!

That bit of business has to go down as the deal of the century for West Ham.



https://www.hammers.news/columnist/west-ham-secured-deal-of-the-century-by-selling-15m-man-and-signing-26-year-old/

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Fulham boss Silva provides injury latest regarding summer signing after Newcastle United loss

Latest Fulham news emerges regarding summer recruit

Fulham boss Marco Silva has admitted that Layvin Kurzawa hasn't been training '100%' with his team every day.

The summer recruit from PSG didn't have much of a pre-season and is slowly regaining his fitness.

He started for the Cottagers for the first time against Newcastle United this weekend but didn't last until half-time.

They ended losing 4-1 to the Toon Army in what ended up being a tough afternoon at Craven Cottage.

Injuries are proving to be an issue for the London club recently and key striker Aleksandr Mitrovic was also substituted against his former club.

Silva has said it is 'too early' to know the extent of his issue. On Kurzawa, he said, as per West London Sport on YouTube:

"He didn't do the pre-season with us.

"He's not training every time 100% but he did a good week and we thought he could do 60, 70, 80 minutes to give him time to get into the best shape he can."

Fulham swooped to land Kurzawa from PSG on deadline day to add more competition and depth to their defensive department.

Despite their difficult clash against Newcastle, it has been a strong start to the season for the Cottagers and they will be hoping to recapture their form in their next match away at West Ham United next weekend.

Silva's men have slipped down to 8th place.



https://www.londonworld.com/sport/football/fulham/fulham-boss-silva-provides-injury-latest-regarding-summer-signing-3864435

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FPL review: Mitrovic injury, why Gordon was benched, Trossard treble

Our write-ups of the Gameweek 8 action continue with the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points from Saturday's fixtures.

The numbers you see in this article are from our Premium Members area, where you can access Opta player and team data for every single Premier League fixture.

MITROVIC INJURY LATEST
Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.9m) limped out of Fulham's defeat to Newcastle United on Saturday, lasting only 37 minutes of the 10-man Cottagers' 4-1 loss after failing to shake off a knock.

Marco Silva said it was "too early" to know how serious the problem is, with further assessment to follow.

The Fulham manager also suggested it was a recurrence of the issue he had while away on international duty with Serbia.

    "Too early, we have to assess him, of course.

    "The situation with Mitro, [we didn't know if he] will be or not in his best physical condition. Yesterday we assessed him and we was OK to play.

    "He got a knock in the first game with the national team. It's in the foot." – Marco Silva on Aleksandar Mitrovic

The historically profligate Miguel Almiron (£5.0m) scored a brace in Newcastle's thumping win – that's as many strikes as he had in his previous 37 league appearances – and Callum Wilson (£7.2m) made it 29 attacking returns in 48 Premier League appearances for the Magpies with a point-blank range opening goal that will distort expected goals (xG) numbers considerably.

Kieran Trippier (£5.3m) consolidated third spot in the FPL defenders' points table, managing to bank clean sheet points when being substituted before Fulham's late consolation.

There were starts for two sub-£4.5m midfielders, meanwhile, with Sean Longstaff (£4.4m) and Jacob Murphy (£4.3m) part of the visitors' line-up. Longstaff was only in the side due to substitute Joelinton's (£6.0m) knee injury, however, while Murphy will be the likely makeweight when Allan Saint-Maximin (£6.4m) returns.

    "Hopefully, Allan will be back next weekend. It's always difficult to give a guarantee, but he did train with the team yesterday and trained well.

    "For me, it was too early to involve him. We need to make sure that when he comes back, he's fit enough to do himself and the team justice. Hopefully, with a good training week under his belt, he could be close." – Eddie Howe

We can't really take too many lessons away from this game, in truth, with Nathaniel Chalobah's (£4.4m) eighth-minute red card killing the game as a contest. Fulham were also short of several regulars through injury.



https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2022/10/03/fpl-review-mitrovic-injury-why-gordon-was-benched-trossard-treble/

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Jack and Loz at the Cottage - Blog 227
Date: 1st October 2022

Opposition: Newcastle United

Score: 1-4

Fulham goal scorer: Bobby Deconsolation Goal

Weather: blue skies, golden sunlight and turning leaves

Atmosphere: Credit where it's due - the Newcastle fans were our loudest visitors for a while; the home stands were more.....subdued

MOTM (football): seriously?

MOTM (non-football): it was fantastic to see Kevin McDonald again, and looking so fit and well too. It would've been even better if he could have featured in the starting line-up

Cafe: Pret for lunch, Costa for post-match maple and hazel hot chocolate, which helped. A bit.

In a parallel universe, Fulham played Newcastle on Saturday and Aleksandar Mitrovic, who had already scored 4 goals this week, scored a few more; Fulham returned to the Champions League places and Nathaniel Chalobah was Man of the Match with a performance so good that the watching Joao Pahlinha resolved never to get another yellow card for the rest of his long and successful Fulham career.

But the reality was vastly different.

There were hints of the horror to come when the starting line-up was announced. Of course, we knew we would be missing Pahlinha due to his record breaking 5 yellow cards in 7 games but we didn't realise quite how much we'd miss him. Joao was replaced by Chalobah who must have been desperate to grab this chance to show what he can do in the Premier League.

But Chalobah wasn't the only new face in the starting 11. Kurzawa, who we haven't seen other than pictured with a pen in his hand signing a contract, and Mbabu, who we haven't seen since he literally assisted a Spurs goal, were our starting fullbacks.

So, half the squad are injured. Never mind the long term sick, Wilson and Solomon; Robinson hasn't recovered from the Spurs match and Kebano got a "knock" on international duty. But what on earth happened to Willian and Tete, last seen (somewhat suspiciously it now turns out) playing cricket with Geoffrey Boycott? When you add the fact that Joao has a broken wrist and both Mitro and Kurzawa were to limp off before half time you start to wonder if Motspur Park looks more like a hospital than a training ground.

Anyway, with apologies to those of a sensitive disposition, we must get on to the match itself.

For a whole 6 minutes, Fulham were at full strength (in terms of quantity not quality) but we looked feeble in the face of Newcastle's fast and aggressive start. They too were under strength but were full of confidence. It felt like this was going to be a very tough game even before Chalobah picked his moment to show us what he can actually do in the Premier League. In the worst performance by an English person since the Prime Minister went on local radio this week, Nathaniel flung himself into a tackle which might just have earned a yellow card in the Championship but only because they don't have VAR. As it was, he saw red and the Championship is probably his next stop.

And then the full scale of the nightmare we were facing revealed itself.

During the next half hour, Fulham did not look like a top 6 team. Or indeed, a Premier League team. Despite the best motivational efforts of Captain Ream and much arm waving from Tosin, Newcastle scored 2 quick, effortless goals while Nick Pope (another English person who had been having a bad week) had nothing to do.

Kurzawa looked like he'd forgotten how to play football while Mbabu looked like he never knew in the first place. Puzzlingly, Marco Silva's only tactical contribution to the carnage was to send Tom Cairney out to enliven the mood of the Hammy Enders. Tom very sensibly watched the rest of the first half from by the corner flag rather than returning to whatever crisis was going on in the dugout.

At 35 minutes, Mitro decided he'd had enough and limped off. Newcastle scored another goal and Kurzawa couldn't take anymore. In the flurry of early subs, Mbabu was rescued from further indignity and we just about held on until half time.

After Kevin's Forever Fulham award presentation which, while we're in this mildly critical mood, we have to say would have been a lot better if his song hadn't been drowned out by music on the PA system, play resumed and Fulham looked stronger and more organised.

This is entirely due to the subs. Tom was easily our best player even before his skill and vision set up the goal, Kebano was lively and industrious and Diop was solid and unflappable. This brings us to Vinicius who, as we have previously remarked sounds Roman. He thus entered the arena like a gladiator ready to take on the northern hoards but it turns out he's a retiarius (the ones who fought with nets and trident like fishermen (what was that all about anyway?)) rather than a more dangerous murmillo.

Suffice to say, we drew the second half but rarely looked better than average. The ball was hard won but easily lost, there were some moments of individual skill but very little linking up and the scoreline would undoubtedly have ended up worse if it wasn't for Leno. Harrison Reed and Andreas deserve mentions in dispatches for working very hard while Dan James ran around a lot but did little else.

In fairness to the newbies, this was a baptism of fire. They will get better and the wounded will return so we won't have to rely on the understudies so much. But it's notable that our best (and we use the word advisedly) players were mainly the old hands and that it was 3 of them who combined for Bobby's dazzling goal.

This was a disappointing match in every way, including the fact that after the sending off the players didn't show the level of fight required to give Newcastle a good game. However, it's the first league match in 8 that we've felt like that and there were extenuating circumstances. But the rot has to stop here.

Random musings:-

- The minute's applause for Fred Callaghan was lovely and was supported by 100% of the Newcastle fans

- It was nice to see Matttt Ttargetttt again

- Marco only made 4 subs. Everyone else was too young to be scarred by playing a game like that. Or injured, obviously

- The ref made some odd decisions

- Hopefully Mitro's departure was mainly precautionary - there was no point in exacerbating a minor injury by chasing a lost cause

- It was great to see fans in the upper section of the Riverside. They paid 3 figures to watch that match though.....

- From the mutual applause between players and fans at the end of the match you would have thought we'd won not self-destructed, which was good to see.

We've been very critical but the fact of the matter is Saturday's starting 11 didn't match up to the high standards Fulham have set this season or last. Their manager tarnished his Silva sheen by making some mistakes, most notably not starting Tom and not playing Tim at left back where he excelled against Forest. Maybe Mitro shouldn't have started and maybe the first subs should have been made much earlier. But Marco is allowed a bad day at the office and hopefully he won't have to cope with such a depleted squad again.

After our excellent start, this match was an aberration but also a warning. As exciting as it was to see Fulham's name in the top 6 over the international break, that isn't where we're going to finish the season. No one is too good to go down, and in football, as Nathaniel Chalobah demonstrated, things can go very wrong, very quickly.



https://werdsmith.com/p/8SdZPWBHhHs8Yy