Will Jol make history and start with the same starting line-up three games in a row ? I think not. Schwarzer will be back in goal. Will Richardson come in at left back ? While I would give him a try, I think Jol will prefer to use him from the bench giving him different position options for change during the game. Will Petric come in to partner Berbatov ? Possibly but then who does he replace ? No, I think Petric will be used as an 'impact sub'. So, all in all, just the one change to start with - ..............Schwarzer....... ..Riether..Hughes..Hangeland..Briggs.. ..........Kara..........Sidwell... ..Dejaga.....Ruiz.....Kaca... ...............Berbatov.....
The chickens predict a loss, which doesn't bode well. I think that's a good enough team to win, though.
Training Today at Motspur Park please log in to view this image The Club have put up a set of pictures and pretty much everyone seems to be training; including Duff and Riise. I'm going to change my startibg line-up a little therefore - Duff staring ahead of Dejagah, but no Riise. Here is a link to the full set of pictures - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/january/10/training-gallery Edit: Just had another look at the pics and can't see Kerim Frei anywhere. Curious !!
In his lunch time press interview today Jol said that Sidwell is doubtful with a hamstring problem !! That leave's few options in midfield with Diarra also out - Baird (with transfer speculation) or Richardson. Jol also said tha Frei is out injured and confirmed the likeliehood of Stephen Kelly's move to Reading. The other main story is the stalling over Hangeland's contract and the fact that (most) of the others in their last year will get an automatic exension. That of course does not clarify the position of the likes of Sascha Riether. Here is the post from the Club - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/january/11/jols-wigan-preview
Could be this lineup with the injured players coming back in .............Schwarzer....... ..Riether..Hughes..Hangeland....Riise.. .....Karagounis.............Richardson..... .....Duff.........Berbatov.......Ruiz...... ..............Rodallega....... Think Jol will bring back his signings (favourites) Schwarzer in for Stockdale who hasn't done enough to claim the jersey. Riise in at full back if fully fit as Briggs hasn't been consistent and lacks concentration. Richardson in for an injured Sidwell to help Riise on the left. Duff to take over from Dejagah who has been poor on crossing and shooting. Rodallega up front as he played well at the Wigan Away game.
Ruiz cannot play out wide, this has been tried several times and has not gone down well. Will Duff be fit enough to start? I presume not, so will go for Kaca out wide with Rodallega with Ruiz behind Berbatov.
But Sidwell is out, says Jol in this week's internal video. Although no hint at the actual line-up. And our problem, especially at home, is not enough 'quality' shooting! [video=youtube;IwOgVMcHud0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwOgVMcHud0&feature=player_embedded[/video]
I'd like to see Stockdale; Reither, Hughes, Hangelaand, Rise; Sidwell, Karagounis; Ruiz; Frei, Kaca; Berbatov Stockdale suits this game, he is much better at playing the ball out through defence and we shouldn't (in theory) be letting them have too many shots. If Riise is fit then I would bring him in- Briggs is not a bad player but he is still learning and doesn't look ready to be PL left back. I think Kaca on the left and Frei on the right could work if they were encouraged to stay wide and give Ruiz an option. We should try to get in behind and put crosses in rather than having the wingers cut in to their natural foot and take on a crowd. If we can scare Wigan with pace out wide then it should leave more space in the middle for Ruiz and Berbatov, otherwise it gets crowded and makes it easier for them to defend. If Duff is fit it would be nice to see him introduced at some point- he's been out for a while would be surprised to see him starting.
Sidwell and Frei are injured Silky, unfortunately. Isn't it cruel that midfield is our weakest area as well as the area we've had injury problems with for months. Every time we get a player back another gets injured. So frustrating.
A fully fit midfield consisting of Diarra, Sidwell, Duff, Kaca and Ruiz is actually very good on paper. It's just unfortunate that they've rarely been given the chance to play together at the same time.
It's down to injuries, the last time I remember them all playing was maybe Sunderland? Since then Diarra, Duff and Ruiz have been out for long periods. You're right though, on form and fully fit that's a decent midfield, with Kara, Baird, Dejagah and Frei on standby it gets better. I just think we need to a) find some bastard form! B) keep everyone bastard fit! And C) buy that elusive world-beating (or thereabouts), team-leading, talismanic central player! No easy task, but we're not a million miles away. I hope our dealings are just on the down-low, which I think they might be to some degree - remember, the press don't even report much on us when we play games of football!
Team to play Wigan: Schwarzer; Riether, Hangeland, Hughes, Richardson; Duff, Ruiz, Karagounis, Kacaniklic; Berbatov, Petric. I like the look of that team, especially having Duff back. Playing Richardson at LB will be interesting, he might do well (touch wood) EDIT: actually just looked at our CM, not so keen on Petric playing when we could have done with Baird helping Karag at DM
Looks a decent side, good to see Richardson at left back, he's done well there in the past, let's hope he replicates that. It looks like we're going for the win too, although like RR says, I'd be a tad more comfortable with Baird helping Kara. Is Baird on the bench? EDIT: To answer my own question, yes. The bench is: Stockdale, Riise, Senderos, Baird, Kasami, Rodallega, Dejagah.
Ratings Schwarzer - 7/10 - Didn't have an awful lot to do bar a few routine stops, made a fantastic save from Maloney second half. No chance for goal. Riether - 5/10 - Allowed Di Santo to waltz past him. Poor. Hangeland - 6/10 - Much more solid than usual, not a lot to do Hughes - 6/10 - Same as Hangeland Richardson - 7/10 - Could he be our answers at LB? Good game today. Didn't have to do much defending though. Kacaniklic - 5/10 - Has bundles of energy but no end product. Disappointing as of late. Ruiz - 7/10 - Along with Karagounis, controlled the midfield Karagounis - 7/10 - See Ruiz, brilliantly taken goal, more than replaced Sidwell. MOM Duff - 5/10 - Like Kaca, disappointing today, not sure a lot of his crosses were met. Awful defending for their goal. Petric - 4/10 - CANNOT PLAY WITH BERBATOV. STOP TAKING FREE KICKS. Wasteful in front of goal. Berbatov - 6/10 - Quiet game, but solid, linked the play well with Ruiz, despite him dropping deep. Subs Rodallega - 5/10 - Didn't do an awful lot, but then again had absolutely no service. Baird - 5/10 - Hardly noticeable Dejagah - 5/10 - See above Jol - 4/10 - A lot of poor decisions from him again. Richardson was a plus, but the amount of defending he had to do, Riise would have coped just as well. Petric and Berbatov should never start up front together, and the former should have been taken off at half time for Rodallega playing out wide with Ruiz back in his favored ACM role and Duff removed for Baird to line up alongside Karagounis. I understand this happened about 5 minutes from the end but should have been FAR sooner. Utterly dejected after watching the game. Completely outplayed by Wigan at home, had most if not all of our players fit, so injuries not really an excuse (which will be given by Jol) Not going to spend money in January so unless we pull another Pog out of the bag, no improvement in terms of quality added to the team. One shot on goal all game tells you all you need to know.
Good summary Bandit. A few of points. Ruiz was not a 7/10. More likely 3/10. Slow, no marking, lost the ball most of the time. Berbatov equally not good. Jol simply clueless!
