Saturday Fulham Stuff - 31/12/22...

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Peerless Pele was perfect
This afternoon was already going to be emotional enough – with Fulham preparing to pay tribute to George Cohen at Craven Cottage in their first home fixture since the 1966 World Cup winner's sad passing – without the news filtering through from Brazil on Thursday night that Pele had also died. Fulham's historic home was the only London ground that the greatest footballer to ever play the game graced when he scored the perfect penalty for Santos in 1973 before Fulham fought back through Alan Pinkney's header and stole a surprise win through Steve Earle.

In contrast to his feelings about being pressurised into playing exhibition matches all around the world for his club side following the 1970 World Cup, Pele spoke positively about his only game in London. He remembered how warmly Cohen greeted him in the Cottage as he arrived with his team-mates and just how loud a packed Cottage cheered when he found the top corner from twelve yards. How do I know this? Because, as a twelve year old who fancied himself as a sports journalist, I was plucked from the relative obscurity of putting together a Saturday night sports paper on the streets of west London to front a press event raising money for Children in Need with the Brazilian legend and the formula one supremo, Eddie Jordan.

My job was fairly simple. I was supposed to introduce the illustrious guests to the invited guests at Saatchi and Saatchi's headquarters in Golden Square and ask them questions about their careers – allowing Pele to reminiscence about the days when he scored more goals than anyone else in the history of the game and Eddie Jordan to discuss his hopes for the new Formula One season and unveil his new car. I didn't really think that was going to be too difficult, but Saatchi and Saatchi still opted for an experienced compere and insisted on a full rehearsal with all the participants in an ante room an hour before.

Both Pele and I were irritated by this charade. So, he decided to interrupt and ask a question of his own – which football team did I support? I told him I was a Fulham fan and that they were making progress towards the top flight. The great man beamed a big smile and waved his hands in the air to indicate that the rehearsal was over:

    "Fulham? Fantastic. I played at Craven Cottage in 1973 with Santos. It was the only time I played in London – one of the only regrets of my career was not to have played at the great cathedral of football in England, Wembley. I was nervous because I didn't play well in the 1966 World Cup. I shouldn't have been. As soon as I arrived with my wife, there was George Cohen who greeted me with a big hug like I was his brother. These friendly matches were the way Santos raised money and I played a lot of times, but this one was special. I remember scoring a penalty and the roar was like we were playing in Brazil! I liked the ground a go. It was very different and had a special character".

Because I wasn't expecting this rhetorical flourish, no cameras were rolling and we had to get Pele to repeat it afterwards, which he did willingly, adding plenty of further details, in both his very impressive English and Portuguese to ensure I got a full quote for next week's Sportscene. The event went brilliantly, because I now knew Pele was a Fulham follower as well as my new best mate, and the jovial Eddie Jordan bounced off him brilliantly. Rather than freezing in front of the cameras, I had to referee their repartee to ensure we kept vaguely on schedule.

I was supposed to have five minutes with Pele afterwards. It was more like five hours. I was shepherded through the madness by the brilliant Jonathan Wills, then of London Tonight. Pele insisted that I sat in on all the interviews and before he left swapped a copy of Sportscene for a replica of his 1970 World Cup shirt, signed 'To Daniel, from your friend, Pele'. It seemed most unfair, but it was fortunate that that issue had an article on Rivaldo's fine form at Barcelona. He told me he would keep in touch and I thought nothing of it, until two weeks later an email arrived from his office asking for a copy of the newspaper in which Pele featured. He sent me a Christmas message every year in English, always finishing with 'Come on your Whites!'. I was slightly surprised when last year's one was entirely in Portuguese, which briefly had me stumped. He had an added a sentence asking me to 'congratulate Marco Silva on a fantastic first six months for my favourite English football club'.

As I said on Cottage Talk last night, it is now 25 years since a twelve year old boy had the best day of his life and I still can't actually believe it happened. Others who were present will be able to tell the story of when Santos played at the Cottage – and lost, but I can confirm that Pele was not only the greatest footballer to play the game, he was a perfect gentleman. Thank you, Pele.



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2022/12/peerless-pele-was-perfect/

[WhiteJC]

Marco Silva makes James Ward-Prowse claim ahead of Fulham vs Southampton Premier League clash

Southampton travel to Craven Cottage on New Year's Eve to take on Fulham, with Marco Silva picking out James Ward-Prowse ahead of the game as someone the Whites must be wary of

Fulham manager Marco Silva has picked out James Ward-Prowse and his set-piece capabilities as something his side must be wary of when they face Southampton at Craven Cottage this afternoon (Saturday).

The Whites welcome Nathan Jones' Saints to west London for the final Premier League fixture of 2022, where they'll be hoping to cap off a successful year with three points.

Fulham won automatic promotion back to the Premier League in May, clinching the Championship title with a 7-0 win over Jones' former side Luton Town.

They've made a strong return to the top-flight, moving to ninth in the table following their Boxing Day win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Saints meanwhile have struggled this season, coming into the New Year's Eve clash with Fulham sat bottom of the table with ten defeats from 16 matches.

Despite that, Silva has picked out several things that his side will need to be careful of when they take on Southampton, including captain Ward-Prowse's strengths from dead balls and direct free-kicks.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, the Fulham boss said: "It's always a dangerous game and it's always a tough game because it's the Premier League. Even if you are at home and we normally feel really well playing at home, you feel stronger at home as well.

"It is always tough. We respect them. We know how they are dangers in counter-attacks or they can punish you if you have some moments that you switch off.

"They have a player on set pieces that is probably one of the best in this country as well with Ward-Prowse who can decide a match. There are so many things for us to be focused on and to not think that it will be easy because that will be the first mistake and we don't want to make mistakes."

As always, you can follow along to all the action for Fulham vs Southampton with HampshireLive's blog of the day which will go live at 11am on Saturday morning.



https://www.hampshirelive.news/sport/football/football-news/marco-silva-james-ward-prowse-7982674

[WhiteJC]

Former Chelsea striker backing Fulham to beat Southampton as Nathan Jones point made

Southampton have lost ten of their 16 Premier League matches so far this season and head to Craven Cottage to face Fulha on Saturday sitting bottom of the table

Former Chelsea striker Chris Sutton is predicting that Fulham will back up their Boxing Day win over Crystal Palace by beating Southampton at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

The Whites picked up their sixth win of the season at Selhurst Park by beating Patrick Vieira's side 3-0, keeping their place in the top half of the Premier League table as a result.

Saints meanwhile have lost ten of their 16 league matches and sit bottom of the pile heading into their New Year's Day clash against Fulham.

Nathan Jones' side lost 3-1 in their last game against Brighton & Hove Albion at St Mary's on Monday, leaving them 20th in the table and two points from safety.

BBC pundit Sutton has been impressed by Fulham and is expecting that Marco Silva's side will continue their good form with another win on New Year's Eve.

Predicting a 2-0 win for the Whites, he said: "I need to apologise to Fulham fans because I have been writing them off all season and it's become apparent that they are a very well-balanced team who deserve to be where they are in the top half of the table.

"Fulham got a brilliant win at Crystal Palace and that was not the first time they have surprised people this season - they are not just well organised defensively, they always carry a threat too.

"Southampton, in contrast, have got big problems. They are bottom for a reason. The alarm bells were ringing when I heard their new boss Nathan Jones talk about how easy his side made it for Brighton after Saints had lost his first game in charge. He has got a lot of work to do."



https://www.hampshirelive.news/sport/football/football-news/chelsea-fulham-southampton-nathan-jones-7982246

[WhiteJC]

GW18 FPL stats: Managers reverse Mitrovic decision

Fulham forward is most transferred-in player just days after being among the most sold

Aleksandar Mitrovic (£7.0m) has been snapped by more than 810,000 Fantasy Premier League managers for Gameweek 18.

The second most-sold player over the season break, Mitrovic overcame a foot injury to score 15 points on Boxing Day, his biggest haul of the season.

Despite being one booking from a suspension, Fantasy managers wasted no time in reversing their decision to ditch Mitrovic ahead of Fulham's home meeting with Southampton. 

Encouragingly for his owners, no player can better his tally of 63 shots this season.

GW18 most transferred-in players

Player	Transferred in by ('000s)	Pts
Mitrovic	810	-
Rashford	525	-
Toney	327	12

Among the top three recruits for the second successive Gameweek, Ivan Toney (£7.5m) scored his 12th goal of the campaign to equal his tally from last season.

Having also supplied an assist in Brentford's 2-0 win at West Ham United, he has become the fifth player to reach the 100-point mark in FPL this term.

Marcus Rashford (£6.8m) gained over 525,000 new owners after his third double-figure return of the campaign in Gameweek 17.

The underlying stats highlight his goal threat. Indeed, Rashford has been presented with 10 big chances, five more than any other Manchester United player.

Man Utd travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

GW18 most-captained active players

Player	Captained by (000's)	Pts
Haaland	7,296	-
Salah	872	2
Kane	402	-

Erling Haaland (£12.2m) set a captaincy record with nearly 7.3million managers giving him the armband for Man City's home match against Everton. That surpasses his previous high of 7.1m set in Gameweek 10.

Mohamed Salah (£12.9m) took second spot but was unable to continue his good run of form, blanking in Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Leicester City. He had recorded 36 points across his previous four matches.

Second in the Fantasy player standings behind Haaland, Harry Kane (£11.6m) has been backed by 402,000+ for the captaincy. 

Kane has scored in 12 of his 16 appearances in 2022/23 and will be looking to improve on that record when Spurs host Aston Villa on Sunday.

GW18 most transferred-out players

Player	Transferred out by ('000s)	Pts
James	696	0
Jesus	621	0
Trossard	381	-

An injury to Reece James (£5.7m) led to more than 695,000 sales. The Chelsea defender is expected to miss up to a month of action.

Injury also prompted large numbers to continue selling Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m), with Mitrovic and Toney the beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, a disappointing blank at Southampton meant Leandro Trossard (£7.0m) was shipped out by over 381,000 managers.

The Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder will be looking to make amends when Arsenal travel to the Amex Stadium on Saturday.

Early Wildcard use
Finally, even though FPL managers had unlimited transfers between Gameweeks 16 and 17, more than 140,000 of them ripped up their plans for Gameweek 18 and opted to play their second and last Wildcard at the first opportunity in search of better returns. 

Despite having unlimited transfers between GW16 and GW17, 143,255 #FPL managers opted to play their wildcard in Gameweek 18 😮 pic.twitter.com/9mJL9vCdlq

— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) December 31, 2022

https://www.premierleague.com/news/2992201

[WhiteJC]

NUFC star on the brink of suspension ahead of Leeds, Arsenal and Fulham games

Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar is one yellow card away from serving a one-match ban after picking up four bookings in our opening 16 games this season. 

Should he pick up a fifth caution in today's 3pm kick off against Leeds, the centre-back will be forced to miss a huge game against Arsenal on January 3rd.

Joelinton has already served a one-match ban against Southampton after the Brazilian was shown five yellow cards in our first 13 games. He would then serve a two-match ban if he reaches 10 cards before our 32nd fixture. 

Schar has three league games remaining where he remains at risk, with the cut off point (our 19th fixture) for a one-match suspension coming after our home match with Fulham on Sunday 15th January.

Kieran Trippier comes next on three yellow cards and must be booked twice in the next three games to be hit with a ban, while the likes of Dan Burn, Nick Pope, Jamaal Lascelles and Sean Longstaff are all on two bookings for the season.

Considering the formidable partnership he's formed with Sven Botman, we'll have to hope Schar stays out of trouble against Leeds to keep him available for our trip to the Emirates.

    5 – Joelinton
    4 – Fabian Schar
    3 – Kieran Trippier
    2 – Dan Burn, Nick Pope, Jamaal Lascelles, Sean Longstaff



https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2022/12/31/nufc-star-on-the-brink-of-suspension-ahead-of-leeds-arsenal-and-fulham-games/

[WhiteJC]

🖤 pic.twitter.com/PdXHxUIQxc

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) December 31, 2022

[WhiteJC]