Great game yesterday and its amazing how far the team has come to take the game to the opposition. Who could imagine us taking the game to Arsenal. Was watching the same game last year abroad and was being ridiculed for supporting Fulham... Don't think would have been the same yesterday. One small point on refs... Poor decisions in a couple of points...
Well, we got this: ex-Arsenal man Keown: 'Berbatov is class. Look at this: isn't Arsenal's defence shocking... (continue on theme of Arsenal's defence for several minutes')... Linker: 'We can't just talk about Arsenal. Fulham are an excellent side to watch. Now, on with the next match'. I was a little surprised that we weren't on first, but then realised the decision says more about how Arsenal are now seen than how we are. The MOTD people had a choice between a game with five goals between title-contenders and a team hoping to avoid a relegation battle, or six goals between two safe mid-table sides. Put like that, it makes a certain degree of sense. Watching the build up to Arsenal's equaliser, Hangeland's decision making and consequent movement is poor - coming out to play for offside at precisely the wrong moment (and on his own) gave Giroud acres of space. It just underlined what others have been saying: he's not living up to what we expect of him. Hughes allowed his marker to lose him for one of the other goals too. I agree with others who have said it's time to freshen up the centre back pairing. I know this won't be popular with some of you, but Senderos deserves to start soon. If he had been in the side for the last few weeks and playing the way either Brede or Aaron have, he would have been slaughtered on this site.
Great game and performance, I thought. Berbatov and Ruiz were fantastic, but good performances all over the pitch. My only disappointment on our side was Dejagah, who didn't seem up to par with the rest of the boys - I'm not sure why Duff wasn't played ahead of him. Kaca was, again, very dangerous for us. Thrilling game. It was said by the match commentators, and I agree, that the only place on the pitch were we couldn't match the quality of Arsenal was in the middle of midfield. He said Fulham lost a lot when Murphy and Dembele moved on and that Sidwell and Baird were OK, but too cautious with the ball, back passing to defenders more often than not.
Jol's done a good job introducing his style to our play and bringing in players to strengthen our squad- only 4 players in yesterdays team were from the 09/10 season. The majority of players he has brought in or developed have been an improvement on what we had before. At some point he will need to replace Hughes (33) and Schwarzer (40) - Senderos has never looked great next to Hangeland, who may also be on the way out (although he has smiled at Jol http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/hangeland-smile-convinces-jol-hell-pen-fulham-deal-3629571). Jol's done a great job re-vamping our attack, I'm fairly confident he can do the same with our defence. A big positive is that we got yesterdays result at what should be a transitional point for the club, especially considering how depleted our midfield still is. If Jol continues making the improvements and our away form carries on then there is a lot to look forward to, particularly if Berbatov and Diarra stick around.
Can't agree with you on Dejagah DR, he played very well IMO. Sidwell was the weak link for me, very nearly got sent off (again) and kept passing back to Schwarzer. This would be ok as a safe option (if still annoying) but Schwarzer would just punt it back to an Arsenal player every time. Have to agree on the CB pairing, unfortunately. We need at least one younger player who is quicker to cover for the full backs. I don't think Senderos is the answer but he probably deserves a run (if he's fit?). In January or perhaps the Summer hopefully we can get someone like Douglas in. And a better CM than Sidwell and/or Baird to partner Diarra. Sidders and Baird are good stand-ins but not good enough to start. Why aren't Kara and Tavares playing?
Have to agree with Bidley here DR, thought Dejagah was very good yesterday, tormented their defence in my opinion and was unlucky not to score. Sidwell didn't have a great game, neither did Baird to be honest, which only enforces the need for a quality CM in January. We can't rely on Diarra all the time. I'm not sure the problem with the CB's is pace Bidley, as neither Hangeland or Hughes seemed to be left for dust yesterday, the problem for me was lack of strength. Hughes was pushed off the ball far too easily from Giroud in the lead up to that great save Schwarzer made at 3-3. Jol needs to be in for Douglas in January, and at £3 million it would be fantastic business.
I wouldn’t say Dejagah had a poor game but he didn’t have the same impact on the game as the previous times I’ve seen him. I though he had a quiet game yesterday. Apart from DB and MS who drew praise for obvious reasons (MS pulled off some great saves) I thought Kacaniklic was excellent when he came on. Ruiz too had a great game and is playing with far more confidence and isn’t getting pushed off the ball like he was last season. I think we are starting to see the best of him now. I hope this form continues. I thought our pen was a bit soft from where I was sat but didn’t complain. I think that may well account for Arsenal getting a soft pen at the end. It was a hell of game though. After 20 min I was ready to leave was thinking how it was a waste of £35 but we came back well. I would have been heart breaking to leave having lost 4-3 but I think at point at the Emirates is a great result for us.
As soon as Ruiz got in front of Arteta, it was a penalty. Arteta kneed Ruiz in the back of his legs three times once Ruiz had taken the ball; it was an absolute stonewall penalty.
The Ruiz penalty was absolutely stonewall. Ruiz even tried to continue playing after he got up, there was no appeal from him for the penalty, it was Berbatov beside him who threw his hands up in the air. fair play on Ruiz for attempting to carry on. Arteta also had no complaints when the penalty was given.
Yes, Lineker's line was encouraging, but since it was Fulham then nothing happened! And don't forget the hurried comment that Ruiz was class - Again not followed-up with anything! Might as well be on last, as usual. C O Y W
Watching it again with my boys today, there seemed to be two sections of video from the match. The first one was captioned 'Berbatov' and was (I think) meant to be an appreciation of him, but Martin Keown got sidetracked into talking about how Berbatov's movement (which went from 'a good run' to 'ordinary movement' in a matter of seconds) was made to look good by the Arsenal defence, particularly Koscielny. The second section was captioned something like 'Arsenal's defensive woes' or something like that. I think the producers had possibly planned a more even-handed treatment, but Keown's preoccupations with defence and Arsenal ate up all the time that was meant to be about Fulham/Berbatov. Grrrr. I do wish the BBC wouldn't put pundits onto their old clubs. I'd have loved to have heard someone like Pat Nevin explaining why our attacking play is so good.
I have a Wenger-hating, Arsenal-supporting friend. I think I might have to point that one out to him.
As soon as I saw it was Shearer and Keown instead of Hansen and Lawro, I knew what was coming. At least you get some decent analysis with Hansen and Lawro, and despite what many may think, they actually sometimes give us an ounce of respect. I miss Lee Dixon being on MoTD, by far my favorite pundit. I felt we should have been on first to be perfectly honest with you, this was two sides that boast great players and play great football, it was an end to end match, whereas Utd - Villa was a David vs Goliath, not well matched at all, Villa play dire football and apart from their two goals had no attacking threat. As soon as Utd got one goal back you knew who was going to win, at 3-3 in the Fulham game, you had absolutely no idea! It was a far better game with better goals too.
Agreed with Bandit, ours was the better game, certainly for the neutral, and lots more talking points. I was surprised there was no coverage over the Sidwell incident, where the ref went to get the second yellow out, realised Sidley had been booked already, then carded Ramsey. Very strange. The MOTD punditry was very predictable. Shearer was dreadful as always, all he does is tell you what's happening in the clip, there's no insight or opinion. Keown talks about what he knows, which is defending, so we weren't going to get anything from him. I remember at one point Lineker said "But Fulham have got some great players haven't they" at which point Shearer said "Oh yeah, Berbatov is class and, er, um, Ruiz looks excellent...". Yep, ta for that Alan. So now we finally start to shake the "**** away" tag (heard two(!) pundits over the weekend say our away form isn't that bad!), we get to be known as Berbatov FC. Never mind, eh.
Can't agree more with all the comments about MOTD - must be a first where even the edited highlights were edited. To quote this unbiased, independent article, "it's ridiculous !" http://thepremierleagueowl.com/wheres-the-love-for-fulham/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wheres-the-love-for-fulham
Superb, especially the mention of the lack of knowledge about teams outside the top four (six?) and Liverpool. Very true about West Brom, they've gotten no plaudits this season but they've done so well.
