In his lunchtime press conference, Jol confirmed that Hugo is out for 5 to 6 weeks and Briggs for 5. Hangeland has been training however and will get a fitness test tomorrow to see if he’ll be okay to start. Riether is obviously out. If Jol cares about the Club and his own reputation for that matter, he has to accept that the ‘formation he has in mind’ isn’t going to happen. The impression he gives is that injuries have meant that he can’t get the right players out there to bring it about. Well, for ten games now he has stuck with the same system and jiggled players around in different positions to fit his formation, without effect. The players don’t seem to know, or understand, or adapt to their role and everything appears off-the-cuff; the very antithesis of a formation. What he has to do now is go the other way and play a system that fit’s the players, not his ideals. I know I’m becoming repetitive but that has to start in midfield - our current of two cannot cope - which is hardly surprising when you consider how every other Premiership team lines up. Sidwell is constantly chasing the ball and Parker, a defensive midfielder, cannot at 33 be expected to defend and go forward. The gaps we leave are just too easy to exploit. Not just because it’s an away match and Liverpool to boot, we need to go back to having two solid central midfielders. I’d go for Parker and Boateng. If one goes forward the other can cover. In front of them we need players across the park who will harry and fight for the ball. If that means dispensing with a ‘floating’ No.10, so be it. The line-up I’d start with (assuming Brede is okay) then is: ……………………..Stekelenburg…………… ..Zverotic….Hangeland…Amorebieta……Richardson.. ………………Boateng……..Parker…… ….Dejagah………….Kasami………..Sidwell… ……………………Berbatov………. There’s a valid case for Bent instead of Berba, However, I’d give Berbatov the nod probably because Jol will and probably because we‘ll get a penalty!!
Like his earlier press conference, this week's internal video is "short and sweet": [video=youtube;BpMyqqdPiMg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BpMyqqdPiMg[/video] With a possible hint that Bryan will be on the bench?
Totally agree with first statement above - it's quite a liberal use of the word team in the title of this thread. Perhaps 11 players to play Liverpool? Also agree on Parker and Sidwell's incompatability, Sidwell is a poor mans version of Parker, doesn't hold his position and we end up losing shape. We need more clearly defined roles in midfield, with Boateng we get that. He is there to break it up and then Parker is the one to do the more creative stuff (although that is not his natural role he is better than Sidwell at it). I'd also put forward Parker and Karagounis as an option for 60 mins, with Parker playing the Boateng role and Kara dictating the tempo. Murphy did some good analysis on the lack of pressure being applied by the front men - I think our problems in midfield partially stem from this. With no attacker making an effort to close down defenders it forces our midfielders forward. I'm toward the end of Fergie's book now and have been interested to read his comments abouts Berba. Not overly negative, but makes two interesting points - one, that his lack of running was a problem for UTD because every player had to do his bit. Second, his need to feel/be told he was a great player. I'm all for no more floating 10's - it's just not worked. The problem at the minute is getting the ball from the back to the attackers via midfield. Bent is wasted with no-one putting his through early. I think Jol, like Hughes, should just go back to the 442 system Roy employed to see us through the season. Play Bent and Berbatov up front, but then pack the midfielder with workers. Kasami on the right (with clear instructions to drop back and help the right back) Duff on the left holding position.
In a chat with a local paper today Jol says Bryan hasn't been able to train this week because of his bad back and Brede is still uncertain. Get the impression though that he will move heaven and earthe to playe both. "Fulham boss Martin Jol believes Bryan Ruiz is strong enough to shrug off the effects of the booing he received from the home crowd last weekend when his side run out at Anfield on Saturday. Ruiz was singled out by fans who voiced their displeasure as Fulham slumped to 16th place and two points away from the relegation zone. Jol said: “The Premier League is a tough world. If you do well the people will praise you and if you don’t they will boo you. He’s quite strong, he’s not a pussycat. It will affect him personally but I don’t think it will affect his game.” Whether Jol risks Ruiz depends on whether the Costa Rican attacking midfielder has sufficiently recovered from a niggling back problem which has troubled him for the past few weeks and saw him miss a training session in midweek. But Jol refuses to panic as the pressure grows on himself and his team. “If they (the fans) are disappointed I can understand that,” Jol said. “The only disappointing thing was with Ruiz. As long as we don’t have the results they can do it (boo) with me, but hopefully they will support the team." "We are not in the best of situations, but we are not in the worst.” Jol also has a doubt about Norwegian central defender Brede Hangeland, who has been suffering from a sciatic nerve problem but whose experience could be crucial against the Liverpool strikeforce of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge." Source: http://www.london24.com/sport/fulha...eady_for_reunion_with_liverpool_ace_1_2982083
Bandit, I sort of agree with Jol...the WBA game was disappointing. The Cardiff, Man Utd and other recent games have been diabolical - that's a lot worse than just disappointing!
I thought the Cardiff game was unlucky, really. Yeah, we should have won but it was a worldy that won it for them in the last seconds.
You could say the same about us and the Palace game. Before Kasami's goal we were nowhere to be seen.
That goal was after 19 minutes. We may have been lucky in going in 2-1 at half time, but we weren't lucky in winning that game. However, any team with a semi-decent structure will just outplay us. Home or away. That's very depressing right now.
I get what you mean, but Kasami's goal was the catalyst for Palace's breakdown. The fact that they went in at half time behind to two wonder goals despite having been the far better side crippled them mentally. Had we not scored when we did, I don't believe we would have won the game. It was more a self destruct from Palace than anything.
Agree with Bandit and frustrates me when Jol and others use this as reference for good performance. If we can't beat Palace better just not bother any more...
On current form I cant really see us getting anything today. A point is unlikely, a win would be a miracle. My optimism about my club are like my wife's mood swings!
Riether missing is big for you isn't it? If we play Suarez, Sturridge and Coutinho we'll either play 4-3-3 or the 5-3-2, but either way he'll sit in the hole and look for both strikers - who will move wide and then arc infield. Suarez especially is king of the deadball line... Think you've enough quality to hit us on the break, and Berbatov always does well against us. Premier league needs Fulham, so I hope you get your form back... next week.
Actually, I think Zverotic is a good cover for Riether. But we just do not have the defensive system to counter the pace and movement of Suarez/Sturridge/Coutinho. I expect them topull our central midfield out of position and expose our centre backs. Liverpool are pretty much the worst team for us to play right now!
You nailed it, John. Dimitar has to start repaying Jol's faith and we should stop talking about him until he does so.
The referee today is local boy, Cheshire based, Mr Jones. please log in to view this image Darren Bent will well remember the hapless Jones and the 'beach ball incident' when he scored for Sunderland against...Liverpool!!
Starting XI: Stekelenburg, Zverotic, Senderos, Amorebieta, Richardson, Dejagah, Parker, Sidwell, Kacaniklic, Kasami, Berbatov Not far from our strongest team, and with minimal positional shoe-horning. I'm not expecting a result but I am demanding a performance. COYW!
Abject. Something has to change, whether it's a new coach, a new manager, or players getting benched. I know it's an away game at Anfield, but this cannot just keep continuing.
I don't understand why you play Berbatov away from home. He slows play down just so he can look not bothered while making a pointless flick (which makes commentators all excited for some reason) that ruins the whole attack, he never chases opposition defenders down or runs down channels to get the ball. I understand why you'd play him against smaller teams at home because you need that bit of genius to unlock defences who sit back but away from home he is absolutely terrible. Having such a lazy player is no good when you're without the ball for most of the match.
Lucaaas, currently none of us understand why we are playing Berbatov at all. He doesn't want to be here anymore and he's not exactly playing for a move, as his contract is up in the summer.
