In his lunch time press conference, Jol hasn't given much away about team selection except to say thet everyone is fit, bar Simon Davies - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/october/25/jols-reading-preview Reading have a good home record and as Jol says their games tend to be close results. How 'fit' he actually means I don't know but his comments after the Villa game he mentioned more than once that he would have liked to play Bryan with Berbatov, so the team I'm going for is - ...................Schwarzer............... ..Riether...Hughes..Hangeland...Riise ...........Diarra...Baird......... ..Duff......Ruiz.........Hugo..... ..........Berbatov......... Subs: Stockdale, Senderos, Dejagah, Kara, Petric, Kaka and Richardson So no place for Sidwell (Richardson gives cover in more positions) and Frei will have to bide his time (somebody is going to lose out if everyone is fit). I'm going for Hugo on the left, despite the fact that I think he is wasted out wide, because I think Jol will set the team up similar to the Wigan away game. The bench allows plenty of options to change things or bring on fresh players dependent on how the game is going. .
I think Kaca will come back in on the left, with Rodallega missing out from Cottager's line up. I agree with Cottager on the other 10 starters. I suspect Frei might be on the bench, possibly at Rodallega's expense.
Jol's more informative internal video interview has just been posted by the Club and while he talks about this week's selection being a 'luxury problem' there are not too many clues as to the side we will see against Reading. Except, he admits Hugo on the right wing against Villa was a mistake and he speaks at length about the youngsters. I could be wrong of course, but it doesn't sound as though Kaca will start. See what you think - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/october/25/jols-video-update
A mistake, maybe. But who were the other options? We were unfortunate in that Dejagah wasn't quite fit enough to start. I don't want to see Hugo starting out of position ahead of frankly better players; Hugo should be rotating with Petric as a CF. I'd say we have Duff/Dejagah/Frei and Kaca/Lister/Frei on the flanks, trust in them. I'd agree with what you say about Kaca though, C58. It sounds like Jol believes he will be great but is not sure he should be playing week in/week out yet. Jol seems keen to send our youngsters on 1 month loans to play some first team football rather than filling our bench (it's nice to have some depth). I like these Jol interviews. It's certainly reassuring that Jol seems to see the games the same as we did!
Agree with Surly Why should we start Hugo out of position on the wing when we are inundated with quality wingers like Kaka, Frei, Duff, Dejagah etc. I'd like to see Jol back to the 4-2-3-1 with Berbs up top, Kaca and Duff (if fit) on the wings, Ruiz behind Berbatov and Diarra and Baird in the centre. Although after being thoroughly impressed with Dejagah last week, I wouldn't mind him starting if either Duff/Kaka are unavailable. Reading have quite slow full backs such as Ian Harte so we need pacy wingers so we can rip them to shreds! Feeling confident of an away win! Hangeland and Hughes will deal with Pogrebnyak. Back five speaks for itself.
Just a small word on the masterful signing that has been Sascha Riether (spelling?). I'll admit to knowing next to nothing about him when he signed, but has been a small revelation at right back. Kelly did a fine job last season and the likes of Baird/Stalteri/Volz before him, but Riether is really impressing me at the moment. It's a joy to watch both him and Riise bomb down the wings to support the likes of Duff and Kaca. Such an underrated player, whom I desperately hope we sign permanently in January if possible.
Well said Bandit. His link up play with Duff has been terrific. And, one thing he does so much better than Kelly for instance, is crossing. Riether's are not always brilliant but he varies the type of cross and at least gets it past the first man. And, he's deceptfully pacy.
Absolutely. He was outstanding last weekend against Villa I felt. One of those players that goes under the radar in a lot of matches and it's only when they are not there that you realise what a good job they do.
Completely agree about Riether. His partnership with Duff has been a highlight this season. My understanding is that we have an option to sign Riether at the end of the year. I wouldn't expect us to sign him before the end of the season (but on current form would absolutely expect us to exercise the option).
I remember Jos Hooiveld went on loan to Southampton last season from Celtic, and his displays up until January had been nothing short of brilliant, Southampton therefore exercised the option to purchase him permanently in order to prevent giving other teams time to build up interest. I wouldn't be surprised if we did likewise.
I'd go with the suggested lineup, but swap Baird and Diarra (both holding midfielders, IMO) for Sidwell and Richardson. That gives us a much better chance, I think, at scoring goals. If we're down at the half, I'd switch to a 4-4-2 with Berbatov and Hugo on top and swap Kaca for either Ruiz, Sidwell or Richardson. Frei would be the next on. Kaca and Frei are young and inconsistent, but their pace and bravery (i.e. they're willing to make mistakes) could change the game for us. But I'd only use them both if we were down a goal late. And, yes, I completely agree that Duff and Riether have been fantastic for us. Riise, too, is having another quietly great year for us.
"but swap Baird and Diarra (both holding midfielders, IMO) for Sidwell and Richardson" DR, are you Lawro in disguise? Bairdhino and Diarra is the pairing du jour for me everytime. Richardson is too erratic and Sidwell is not as good as Diarra. Diarra, IMO, is pure quality.
Wouldn't mind having Richardson coming off the bench, but absolutely not Sidwell. How can you justify dropping EITHER let alone BOTH Diarra and Baird? Sidwell has not performed well this season and Richardson has been very inconsistent, whereas both Diarra and Baird have been a model of consistency. I think we should look to offload Sidwell in January and bring through Kasami (whom I still rate)
I think you could make an argument that Sidwell or Richardson should start ahead of Baird, as Baird and Diarra are both defensive midfielders. However there can be no doubt that Diarra should start if fit; as Craving said, he is pure quality. After the last game, I can't see Sidwell starting ahead of Baird. He had a terrible game and we looked much better after Diarra paired with Baird in the middle.
We don't need attacking central midfielders, we already have attacking threat in the form of Ruiz, Duff, Kaca and Berbatov. We need some balance in the team. Sidwell is attacking but his shots rarely hit the target, and are we forgetting Baird scored last week?
I think we are pretty much on the same page, Bandy. I'm just saying that while the argument could be to not pair Baird & Diarra there can't be an argument for not playing either of them (which is pretty much what you said). Also Baird & Diarra looked pretty good last week, so it's Baird & Diarra for me.
If we're going for a 0-0 draw, Diarra and Baird. Both are safe, but not creative. I see Reading as a team we can beat on the road, so I'd be willing to gamble a bit and play for a win, that's why I like Sidwell and Richardson. It will be interesting to see how well The Pog plays against us. I think he'll give Hangeland some trouble.
DR I see what you're saying ol chap but Diarra (if fit) has to play. I agree that the Reading game would have been marked as an opportunity for some points away from home. I'd love a win. 5 from 12 is not bad for the year, for Fulham! I hope they don't feed the POG and he doesn't score!
If you think about it, the fact that we didn't sign the POG probably paved the way for us to sign Berbatov, who's in an entirely different class.
