With Riether and Sidwell joining Bryan on the sidelines itâs not too early to look at the team to face Liverpool. Mainly because there a limited choices or are there ? I think so (always assuming Diarra is fit) and came up with four different line-ups dependent on our approach to the game; do we go for it, sit back and try to catch them on the break, and so on. Personally I think weâve nothing to lose, so the starting line-up Iâd go for is - â¦â¦â¦â¦..Schwartzerâ¦â¦â¦. â¦Bairdâ¦.Hughesâ¦Hangelandâ¦.Riise⦠â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦.Diarraâ¦â¦â¦ â¦.Duffâ¦.Karaâ¦Freiâ¦.Kacaâ¦. â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦Berbatovâ¦â¦. Liverpool are likely to attack strongly down the wings with Downing (Iâve a feeling Rodgers wonât persist in the experiment of playing him at left back for this one) and Assaidi on our right and Sterling on the left. Iâve gone for Baird at right back over Kelly because he can read the game better and he and Duff will combine better. On our left Riise wonât get a lot of cover from Kaca but itâs time JAR stepped up his game and what better opportunity than against his old club. The same applies to Kaca of course and to be honest I canât see Richardson, Hugo or Dejagah being any more help defensively. In the middle we need some hustle and bustle to get in among Lucas and Gerrard which I believe Kara and Frei will do. I know Freiâs untested in this position with the first team but heâs played there very effectively for the U21s. Berbatov, as Iâve said before, is more effective up front. But then Iâm not the manager and in reality I think Jol will go for the more cautious (you might say obvious) selection of - â¦â¦â¦.Schwarzerâ¦â¦â¦â¦.. ..Kellyâ¦Hughesâ¦Hangelandâ¦Riise.. â¦Duffâ¦Bairdâ¦Diarraâ¦Richardson.. â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦Berbatovâ¦. â¦â¦â¦..Petric⦠The request from the fans at Stamford Bridge, âWe want Clattenburgâ has been realised. Heâs in charge and one side benefit is that the media attention will be on him (and a certain Liverpool player), rather than our last performance.
Think it will be option B C58... ……….Schwarzer………….. ..Kelly…Hughes…Hangeland…Riise.. …Duff…Baird…Diarra…Richardson/Kaca.. ……………Berbatov…. ………..Petric… OR ……….Schwarzer………….. ..Kelly…Hughes…Hangeland…Riise.. …Duff…Baird…Diarra…Richardson.. ……………….Kara..... ………..Berbatov…...
I think Kaca will come in for Richardson, and Petric in for Rodallega. And I think we'll get something from the game. As for the Downing at left back experiment, I think they only did that to release Enrique to play further forward. After a couple of matches like that, Enrique was back at left back before his injury (I think). If I'm right, that means Downing is only likely to play there if Enrique is still out.
I think Kaca will definitely return against his old club. Jol has said before he plays well in away games.
Another mid-table match (ignoring Brendan Rodgers’ view of being a Top-2 squad – what a joke!). Both sides have something to prove after poor performances last weekend against Villa and at QPR. Fulham can do better, but need more spark than just Berbatov. Sidwell picked up a 5th Yellow so misses, I guess Diarra goes with Baird in the middle. Not helped by Sacha being out until January. So my team is as follows: ……….Schwarzer………….. .Kelly.Hughes.Hangeland.Riise.. …Duff…Baird…Diarra…Kaca.. ………Berbatov……. ………..Petric……….. Our record on Merseyside is poor, but we got a win on May Day this year, so if we can hold out until half-time and the crowd get on their back, then we might nick a point, but three would be a nice, albeit unlikely, Xmas present. I’m driving up for the match - Hopefully, the atmosphere will be better that last time I was there for a scoreless draw in a very flat Anfield. Frankly, Liverpool are the poorest for many years– Some great shopping lists on their board – for a team that lost Dempsey for the sake of a few quid. C O Y W
Don't think we will get anything at Anfield to be honest, despite the awful performance given by Liverpool last week. Jol will go with an unadventurous 4-4-2 as per usual with the usual suspects making up the starting 11 Schwarzer Kelly Hangeland Hughes Riise Diarra Baird Duff Rodallega/Kaca Berbatov Petric
In his Thursday lunch time conference said that Diarra is ruled out for Saturday (along with Bryan, Etheridge and obviously Sidwell). However he also said that he expects that Riether will be fit to play - don't understand how he's made such a quick recovery, but not complaining. So, with no other pointed clues, the revised line-up could be : …………Schwartzer…… ..Riether…Hughes…Hangeland…Riise.. ………..Baird……..Kara…. …Duff…..Berbatov.…(any one of 3) ………….....Petric….. PS Jol also said he was resigned to losing Diarra to the ACON in January, if he was 100% fit
It's a pity that Kasami has not taken up the opportunity. How long will Kara last? And who will be brought in?
For some reason Jol has not made his usual internal video interview this week (maybe people were too tied up with all the parties at the Cottage and Motspur Park). Instead the Club have posted an article based on his press 'conference'. His annoyance about last week's performance had already been widely reported in the papers and in particular one statement - " I was very annoyed,irritated that we played the way we did" he said. "You could say we haven't got the players who are warriors. I felt angry and the players were angry. We spoke about it in a meeting, it was a bit longer than normal. We have to show (against Liverpool) that we can play with passion and our hearts. Maybe with other players." That last sentence however is not included in the Club article. Also not included were his comments that he didn't expect "Berbatov and Petric to be warriors" and that "something different had been worked in training". Given his lack of choice I can only guess that he's going to include players out of their normal position (he did that before playing Kara on the left - with limited success). Possibly he's also thinking of playing Richardson more centrally (if I remember correctly, he played there against West Ham when we also had limited choice). Whatever his selection let's hope he manges to 'get some fire in their belly' tonight. Here is the link to the full Club article, which also goes on at length about the loss of Bryan and the consequent affect on Berba's play - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/december/22/play-with-passion
Well Jol did say they had been working on someting in training. Looks like we're trying to give cover on the wings and will play 4-4-2. No Duff even on the bench, which looks rather weak with not a lot of game time among them. Petric missing also so presumably saving him and Duffers for the more winnable Boxing Day match. Schwarzer; Riether, Hughes, Hangeland, Riise; Dejagah, Karagounis, Baird, Richardson, Kacaniklic; Berbatov. Subs: Senderos, Kasami, Stockdale, Briggs, Rodallega, Frei, Tavares
We left boots, heart and any football mind in the dressing room... Some times we should offer the other teams the match without playing. Awful first half
What's wrong with the team? We can't defend, we can't put two passes together. We all know the midfield is not top quality but nothing seems to be working.
Well for a start nobody seemed to want the ball, for a second there was no confidence (which may be the same as the first but I think not) and third (my current hobby horse) no leadership. Specifically on the midfield, I find it beyond belief the space between each player; what do they do on the training field? Since the tubes are on strike on Boxing Day we should be able to get the person who constantly announces "Mind the Gap" to moonlight at the Cottage !
Unsurprising disappointment. I actually left an away match before the end, as the ridiculous 4th goal went in. The score flattered Liverpool. The core problem remains midfield. I cannot see the point of Richardson, and we were a little better in the second half with Hugo and Kerim, but the damage was done. Berbatov cannot do it all. Frankly we missed Duff and Petric - hopefully, both will be back for 6 points at home coming up. C O Y W
The team for the next game against Southampton, which is now a must win should be Stockdale Riether Hangeland Hughes Riise Diarra Sidwell Frei Dejagah Ruiz Berbatov
Total liability at the moment - responsible for two of the goals today. And I can't remember one tackle he has properly made in the last 3/4 games; everything is back, back, back and that includes the majority of passes. The alternatives (Briggs or Richardson) make me shudder but at least they won't leave our left flank so exposed. To emphasise how bad JAR has been you only have to look at the amount of space (and number of crosses) Simpson got in the Newcastle game - the one game we've managed to win.
Couldn't agree more but Jol won't choose anyone else to play as LB. Briggs is poor and Richardson, well, there are no words.
Is Ruiz fit? Physioroom.com has him down as not being back until Jan 12th? Same question (with less information) about Diarra. Schwarzer/Stockdale is debatable. I've suggested before that maybe - maybe - Schwarzer is starting to decline, but I didn't think any of yesterday's goals were down to him. You might be right on that one, but I'm just not sure. I don't believe there are such things as 'must win' games at this stage of the season. I'd agree that it's a 'could really do with winning', but that's not quite the same thing. At least yesterday the bottom four all lost as well (five, if Villa lose to Chelsea today), so we're no worse off relative to the relegation zone. It's not great, but it's not a crisis yet by a long way.
I think Jol said he was hoping for Ruiz to get back into full training today or tomorrow, with Diarra not far behind. It may be a big ask for either to play on Boxing Day.
