Lineup: Schwarzer; Kelly, Hangeland, Senderos, Briggs; Kasami, Murphy, Etuhu, Duff; Dempsey; Johnson. Looks like Big Mart has one eye on the derby. Hope we get a good win tonight, I'm thinking 1-0 to us.
Right on Bidley. Good to hear AJ scoring a brace and look forward to seeing his goal (when home from travelling). I reckon he is still earning his keep. Well done Fulham!!
With our team failing to bang them in in the PL, and AJ doing the opposite in Europe, I'm not sure even Valjing can make a case for shipping him out? Oh yeah, the old "weakened opposite" angle Well, you can only score against what's in front of you... Pleased with our win tonight, let's bring the spirit back to the Cottage this weekend! COYW!
Bidley,you are an AJ fan I am not. Still the worst record as a Fulham c/f in league matches since pre war
I'm not an AJ fan in particular, he was overpriced and he's overpaid. But I can't deny he's doing well for us. He has the best Fulham CF record this season so far...
We very much need AJ at the moment, it's not like any of the rest of our players are banging them in at the moment. He looked the only one likely to score for us today.
Pleased for AJ, and us of course. He worked the whole 90 minutes - possibly the only one who did - and deserve the plaudits. Overall comfy against a pretty poor team. Could have been much more so but for sloppy play at times - Murphy and Senderos in particular. Still lacking a sharpness in midfield and not making enough clear chances to feel confident that a corner has been turned. But job done. I suspect our expectations (well mine anyway) are a tad high and if we'd got this result 2 years ago would have been 'over the moon'.
AJ is awful. However, if he scores goals, I don't give a toss about his ability as a football player. Six goals so far this season- six much needed goals. Maybe he can prove me and many others wrong, and become the player he was supposed to be when signed. A real shame that Ruiz can't play in Europe. It would be the ideal place to introduce him, get him used playing with the team, and give him a chance to find his boots against some weaker opposition than the premier league has to offer. The jury is still out on him, but i feel he has real potential.
Not the best of games to inspire confidence. Team seemed too relaxed, very poor in passing. Murphy, Duff and Kasami were woeful. I might have been holucinating but I think I saw Etuhu pass the ball forward TWICE the other 100 passes went 2 yards sideways or back!!! Only 4 players stood out for me, as if they were up for it, Schwarzer, Kelly, Dempsey and Johnson. Still a win and 3 points away, can't complain too much.
A much needed win tonight and great for moral. Odense are not a bad team and at times showed the potential weakness of our system under Jol. When we play with Murph's, Etuhu, Duff, we lack pace and at times get caught out when we push forward and lose the ball. I thought we lacked the fluidity up top and did not pick up their midfield runners enough. Etuhu is not the player we need to move forward. Would of much preferred to see Gecov, who looked good against Chelsea. Bit of luck for the first goal from AJ but he did what you want from a striker and his second was a fantastic finish. Job done, but time to get the youngsters in instead of Duff and Etuhu. Good to see Senderos getting another yellow card !!!! Has he actually managed a game for us without getting carded ? COYW
I think everybody is getting a bit excited at AJ's brace...... the club have gone as far as rewarding him with a new contract (hopefully with reduced wages!) http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,12040_7211563,00.html
I seem to think the opposite to Gilly's comment when it comes to AJ. I thought he played well last night, as he generally does, but his finishing wasn't the best. Bidley makes a good point that you can only play against the opposition who are actually out there, but I thought most (probably all) Premier League keepers would have saved one or both of those goals. He got both hands on the first and didn't keep it out, and the dive for the second was frankly poor. AJ's a good, honest worker of a player who has added a lot to our approach play this season, but (at the risk of giving his demonisers more ammunition), I don't think his finishing is up to what's needed for the Premier League. That said, if the stats say he's our worst centre forward in the Premier League, then the stats are lying. He's not that bad, but he's not that good either. I thought we were good value for the lead in the first half and should have added to it a lot earlier in the second, although we rode our luck and could very easily have come away from that game with only a 1-1 draw. What we need is for Bobby to get a run of games and find his form of the last couple of years.
I'm not a AJ hater - never have been. I wouldn't say he's value for money considering his cost, but every time he's out there for us he gives it all and he's got quality. He's also, at this point, the only place player we have playing up front so I think he's needed. He was certainly man of the match for us last night in what I thought was a rather uneven performance from our players. Murphy's passing was off and he gave the ball away half a dozen times. Kasami was good and bad - he's got a knack for provoking other players. Duff was a non-factor. Dempsey was dangerous in the first half, then faded. But I'm with Super Brian that the game didn't inspire any confidence in me, either. A win is a win, yes, but it was a mixed performance against an inferior opponent who, with any luck, could have drawn or won the game. Our first half was good, but the second half worse, perhaps because we seemed to shift the formation from a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1. I should add that I thought Senderos, whom I've dismissed in the past, was very good for us last night, better than Hangeland.
I think the team was a bit of a mish-mash of players. I think we were weak in the middle of the park - Murphy's on his way out, let's be honest, and Etuhu is out of match practice. I'll take an unconvincing away win away in Europe with a relatively unfamiliar team going into the weekend.
Bizarrely DR, I seem to be the reverse of you re: Senderos. I've defended him frequently, but thought he didn't have a great game last night. He seemed to have a recurring knack of losing his footing at just the moment to put us in danger.
