Anticipating Jol’s lunchtime press conference, which I believe will now be tomorrow. Not rocket science to suggest that midfield will be the key. Well, it usually always is but more so than normal in this game. Allardyce will pack his with five and our D-Duo will continue with the diamond experiment. I presume with a full week and everyone back Rene has been working hard on making that new formation work. There were positive signs in the Swansea match. However we still need the midfield to be more competitive and, as said, none more so than on Saturday. For me, the Dutchmen have to take Bryan and Berbatov out of the equation. I’d replace them with Dejagah and Taarabt, putting Kasami at the top of the Diamond: ……………Boateng………. …Dejagah…Parker….Taarabt… …………….Kasami……. In front of them, personally I’d go for Bent - as others have said the more often he plays, the more likely he will take the chances missed in the Swansea game. Jol (and I mean Jol, not Jol and Rene) I suspect will persist with his favourite Berbatov. I don’t believe Hangeland will be available so the only real issue at the back for me is Richardson. Admittedly he was very exposed against Swansea but his positional play was poor as was his (few) efforts to get the ball across. Again though I doubt that Jol will change anything, and the back will probably be: ……………..Steckelenburg………. ..Zverotic….Hughes…Amorebietta…Richardson.. A final comment - on Sidwell, since he was mentioned in “The Outs“ thread. I’m sorry to say I wouldn’t even have him on the bench. One, I just can’t see him having the discipline to fit into the Diamond formation. Two, harsh maybe, but all of the late goals conceded by us this year could have been avoided by him.
I was up last night thinking about a decent formation for us to move forward with. How does the following look: Stek Reither Amore Hughes Richardson Parker Dejagah Boateng Kaca Ruiz Bent I know Reither isnt available on Saturday. My thoughts really are Parker eases the pressure 8n the back 4. Dejagah and Kaca in their preferred positions, Boateng breaks up play, Ruiz central and can orchestrate balls to the left, right and through to Bent. Goal!
I would go with C58's formation. No room for walkers like Ruiz and Berba... Kasami behind Bent can potentially be a great combination. Both of them running and making space.
Indeed. In a late morning press conference today, Jol said that Berbatov is "ill". Ah, ehm, well.. Otherwise Brede is "looking terrific" but not likely to be in the running and Hugo and Matt Briggs are still sidelined. I've got a naughty suspicion he's going to play Bryan 'in the hole' behind Bent. Probably Bryan's correct position but for a game against the robust Allerdyce West Ham? Would still prefer to see Kasami there. The good news following on from Berba's debility is that Moussa Dembele will surely be on the bench.
It's all in the last minute - expect changes tomorrow and pace up front! [video=youtube;4jfu8MQyE1g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jfu8MQyE1g[/video]
Will be interesting to see what the changes are, pace up top ????? I can only assume that Dejagah will start on the right with either kaka or Tarrabt on the left. Pace up front though, will we get to see dembele ?
Fulham XI: Stekelenburg; Zverotic, Hughes, Amorebieta, Richardson; Duff, Sidwell, Parker, Kasami; Taarabt; Bent. Can't see an abundance of pace there - 4 of the front 6 are 30+ in age
The referee is Mr Atkinson. The man Jol once praised and got in a pickle with the FA as a result. please log in to view this image
I thought I would watch this one as I have really only listened to our games this season. Having not watched us a lot I am pretty shocked by the inability to keep possession and the lack chances we are creating. Parker looks capable in the middle but is being swarmed by west ham players every time he gets the ball. Hard to see us scoring at the moment.
We will never come back from this. If that's the way we targeting "lesser" sides there is no hope! I wish I am wrong...
Madness, I am genuinely shocked by just how poor we are. We are losing the game mange to get the crosses in but only 1 player in the box, not good enough smile as that. On the football I have watched today we deserve to be in the bottom 3. Having seen some of the under 21 highlights, we should be blooding some of the youngsters.
Yet again.... We have not had a single shot on target then eventually we make a substitution after 64 minutes... Ruiz for Duff, as if that's going to make any difference!!!!!!!!!!! If we don't change, we could easily lose by more than one. Might as well give Dembele a chance, but that won't happen. C O Y W !
From BBC: West Ham 1-0 Fulham There's not been much in the way of a response from Fulham. If Martin Jol is to go out tonight, he's not doing so with much of a fight at the moment. There's still plenty of time though. There is no fighting spirit in this team. Froggy thanks for the feedback. Abroad and can only listen to Gentleman Jim. Heart breaking... The question from Gentleman Jim: how can we have so many good players, a world class manager and still we can't play football! Even if these 11 have met for first time they should be playing better... I rest my case... Jol needs to leave now!
lol, I was just about to beg SA to put on Cole. Fulham just seem 2nd to every ball. we should be 4 up Carlton
Exactly Madness! I've been listening to the doom and gloom on-line. We needed something up front, so having got Bryan we got have Kara. Meanwhile, they bring on Cole who scores immediately. And then in the 83rd minute Dembele comes on - All too late! + Gentleman Jim: "The West Ham 'keeper might as well have stayed at home for the second half"
