Bryan is definitely up for Saturday but Diarra, Duff and Petric are still in the 50/50 bracket. Regardless of whether all three be okay, the question is which format we play to ensure we take a âhigh lineâ and combat Swansea in their half. If it were a time when experimenting was feasible Iâd be tempted to go three at the back (Riether, Hangeland and Hughes) but it clearly isnât. What is equally important is a balance to the team (sadly lacking in the last three games) and a âcliqueâ of players who work well together. For instance, Riether and Duff or Kaca and Berba. (I still donât understand why Kaca was taken off at half time in preference to Hugo on Wednesday). In recent games where we played well (Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle) we had different players in midfield each time, but we always had three. So, hoping that all are fit to play, Iâd go for a starting line-up of : â¦â¦â¦â¦.Schwarzerâ¦â¦â¦.. ..Rietherâ¦Hughes..Hangelandâ¦Riise.. â¦â¦Bryanâ¦.Diarraâ¦Sidwell.. â¦Duffâ¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦.Kaca.. â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦Berbatovâ¦.. Footnote 1: Riise should be rested but he wonât be Footnote 2: If Diarra is not fit, move Berba back and bring in Petric Footnote 3 : Watch this space for the unexpected injury casualty !
The team I would go with, considering everyone is ruled fit enough is: Stockdale Riether Hangeland Hughes Briggs Sidwell Diarra Kacaniklic Duff Ruiz Berbatov Frei, Dejagah, Petric and Rodallega would be great options to come off the bench and run at the Swansea defence with tired legs. If we lined up like that, I think we would definitely have a great chance of winning, whether or not Jol would have the balls to make such changes however remains to be seen.
Of course, Bandit, if Jol doesn't make these changes it might be that he sees things differently, not that he doesn't have the balls to do it. I more or less agree with your team selection, and the players that I don't necessarily agree on are all borderline calls for me, but it's ridiculous to accuse Jol of being scared to drop players. He wouldn't have got as far as he has in management if that was anything like true. He makes the calls he believes in, whether we like them or not.
Captain, true he makes the call but he is either insane or stupid or even stubborn... Trying the same thing over and over and failing is an example of either fear to change for some reason or there is something wrong. The players/formation chosen in the last 5-6 games is the same and keeps failing apart from the fluke against Newcastle. Bandy's point of making some border line subs will give some freshness in the team and might surprise the opposition. Either like it or not everybody knows our style of the play and it's not difficult to break us down.
Dropping players such as Riise can go either way. Seriously I would give Briggs a go. He's young, hungry and why would a 21 year old who's been at the club a long time sit on the bench and wait. He's been shipped out on loan for last 3 years to struggling teams so difficult to see the good at what it would have done to his confidence. He's played for England at every level pre senior - this is the time we should be playing this lad in my opinion. Appreciate when he did play he got caught out of position a number of times but remember we started Salcido in front of him and now Riise is going the same way as our dear friend Carlos. So i'd change Briggs for Riise, Diarra (if fit) for Baird. Obviously Ruiz comes in for Hugo. Its touch or go whether i'd bring in Hughes for Senderos....I guess so. Will be nice to have a striker on the bench - something we didn't have Boxing Day.
I see that a general problem with all the youngsters apart from Frei and Kaca. Either the manager believes in them and thinks they will come good or send them to new pastures. If we as a club believe in reducing the average age and bringing new players in then we should follow Wenger's example. He gives chances to youngsters. And if they make mistakes people are willing to give them another chance. Examples are Briggs and Kasami despite some poor performances in the past. Get them in for a couple of games. They can't be any worse than some of our current first team players....
I sort of agree but think Arsenal are not a great example as the youngsters they have are generally of a much higher quality than ours. Would like to see Kasami get a good go. I know there is the attitude piece but if he does possess the skills then it would balanace out. Don't forget that Wenger doesn't forgive all mistakes and if younger players really aren't cutting it or developing how he thinks they should he does move them on - Senderos being a good case study. Briggs is our perfect example - not really the answer and probably should be shipped out to a Championship club which is more his ability level yet we insist on holding on to him.
Good point CC. It was quite weird having two fullbacks (Briggs and Kelly) plus a centre back (Hughes) on the bench. Mind you not half as weird as the bench against Liverpool, virtually all of whom hadn't a league game under their belt for months (if at all) . You get the feeling that some are there just to make up the numbers which I guess says a lot about the depth of the squad at the moment.
Why is it that Briggs is all of a sudden a shoe-in a left back, when days/weeks ago he apparently wasn't good enough for us and should be cut loose? There's the possibility that Jol still thinks this, and hasn't changed his mind on a whim. There's also the possibility that Jol sees Briggs as a centre back (his original position) or even a winger.
Because Riise has been atrocious the past few games and Richardson is out injured. The general consensus is that Briggs can't do any worse than Riise has been doing recently.
If Diarra is fit and Jol wants to drop Riise, Baird is another option at left back. It's not his best position, but he's done a job there in the past. Maybe we need to sign a new left back in the window, either to replace Riise or give him some meaningful competition for his place.
Like I've mentioned before. There are a lot of players out of form. Riise is one of them. Baird another. Id try Briggs. I think he'd be a terrific winger.
This is going to be a tricky game today, swansea are one of the best passing teams in the premiership. They beat us twice last season, but they are not so impressive on the road this year. Michub being out is a big bonus but hernandez returns. I read somewhere that we have scored 22 goals in the games Ruiz has played in and only 7 when he has not played. Could be an even affair if we can retain possesion, hiwever, if we let them run at us, could be an away win. coyw
Reports are that Duff is out but Petric and Diarra have late fitness tests. As I mentioned in the other thread Diarra has been slected for the provisional Mali squad to go to the ACON in January, so if he's anywhere near okay we should play him. If he breaks down in the game we've lost nothing.
Right, another 3 points dropped! Performance good at some points. Unlucky? Yes. Desperate? if not yes, getting there. Is Jol loosing the plot? Probable! 3 points dropped is a fact, no need to get into the details! Unlucky as a couple of missed chances could have changed the fan to our favour. Skill, luck and other factors. We are getting closer to the dog fight and staying away from middle table. Desperation was shown with the last substitution of Senderos, and Hangeland moving forward to manage the ball hoofing! Is Jol tactically flat at times? Yes. We could not attack from the left as Frei was stopped at every single effort apart from the goal which he managed to cut from the right. I would have brought in Riise as FB an get Briggs a a winger at half time. Actually if Richardson was available why was not used?? And last but not least we need a new keeper. Stockdale was a disappointment at times... I give Jol a couple of games to hangs things. After that we will be in trouble! Come on Fulham!!
Have not seen any of the match but a disappointing result. Sounds as though Ruiz was very good, but on Sky they implied that Stockdale had a mare for the goals, given it away cheaply in the build up for the first and having a shocker for the second. I pray that MAF does not get rid of Jol on the back of this, although football is a results business and we are not getting the results, so it would be understandable. We have to give Jol money in january and let him have a chance to resolve our issues. COYW
Stockdale to be sold. Thought he would do better but a disappointment. Both goals are due to his errors. The first he parred the ball practically to Swansea legs while in the second his clearance went to the back of Hangeland and then to Swansea. In addition he dropped the ball once and at corner kicks remains a liability! Jol has a share of the blame. He can't milk the sale of Ds last August. That's was done 4 months ago... Btw, Ruiz had a good game, Kara had a good game but the MOTM for me is Sidwell. Run his socks off and was all over the ground correcting errors and providing cover. Hangeland was poor and his matter needs urgently to be addressed! As football is a results game and we are not getting any, Jol will be feeling the pressure. Last year he had still Roy's team with some changes. What is e going to do? With his policy of not providing longer contracts to players over 30 has potentially alienated a few. Something needs to change. As I am not close to the ground and the decision makers I can't tell you. Based on the performances at home over the last 4-5 games and a couple of away games we are approaching relegation dogfight...
Is the one year contracts for over 30s thing Jol's policy? I always got the impression that was more to do with board/chief executive than with Jol or anyone else in the manager's office.
Jol's reaction to the game http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/december/29/manager-reaction Main culprit Stcodale!!
