Great performance. We bossed the game almost from whistle to whistle and it's a long time since we've done that!
Really good performance and well deserved win. Agree with surly, we dominated from whistle to whistle. Some fortuitous luck, gritty determination and intelligent play. Hing Rene can keep this impetuous going, tough game against a talented Everton next up. COYW
Reneâs approach to interviews - clear and simple - appears to be rubbing off on our football. The 4-3-3 system was both clear and simple with the players obviously understanding their respective roles. In particular, some of our âpass and moveâ play was brilliantly simple but cut Villa apart. Almost impossible to pick out one player, though if pushed Iâd say, Scotty Parker. He was outstanding. I also have to eat my hat and commend Steve Sidwell. He made a huge number of forward runs and while not always getting the ball he drew defenders and made space. Inevitably MOTD will look at he controversial bits. First though, Mr Dean was awful - apart from the penalty decisions he stopped the game far too often unnecessarily. So, the penalties. We should have two (push on Beba; clatter from behind on Dejagah) before the one he gave. The pass from Berba to Kaca was just so much class but I really donât think Kaca was fouled. Mr Dean adjudged he was but why, as Surly said, no card of any kind?? Villa should have had one when Riise armed the ball away in the first half and when Hughes tripped their player in the second. Despite his incompetence, Mr Dean could not spoil a wonderful display of confident, aggressive football by Fulham. We were so good that my kind of prediction of 8-0 wasnât far of the mark. PS Canât leave the post without remarking on the difference Kara has made to our game in the last two matches.
A little analysis from me... Positives: Wingers - I'm not sure what Dejagah and Kaca did to upset Jol this season, but they were the stars when we were playing well last year and were very good again today. Both of them looked up for the task at hand and both seem to link excellently with Berbatov. Central midfield - Karagounis and Parker are just such great players, in spite of their age. Together with Sidwell they ran the park today and looked comfortable. Sidwell took his goal brilliantly and with a three man midfield he seemed to be out of position much less. Shots on goal - Can you believe we had 21 shots on goal and 9 shots on target? The team seemed to have the confidence to have a go and it is very obviously true that you cannot win games without having shots on goal. Clean sheet - We have conceded too many this year. Meulensteen's hand has been somewhat forced by injuries, but Riether/Hughes/Senderos/Riise certainly seems to be our best back line. Riise was a revelation today, top effort and top performance. Riether was his usual self and Senderos didn't have his one blunder (Hughes had it instead, and got away with it). Team performance - We played as a team today and our players showed us fans that they do care and can try (it's about damned time). It felt like they were playing for each other and for the manager, rather than just talking about it. Negatives: We didn't kill the game off - We dominated this game. Villa didn't deserve anything, yet they should have had a penalty with ten minutes to go to give them a chance to get back into things. If we'd had a bit more luck, maybe one of the shots would have gone in rather than hit the wood work. Mike Dean - This was not only a terrible refereeing display, but also a terrible display of a referee. Why does he feel the need to be in the spotlight all the time? Several questionable calls throughout the game. Bryan Ruiz & Darren Bent - It is telling that Ruiz didn't even come off the bench when we were winning. I like Ruiz and he has the skill, but Meulensteen clearly hasn't become enamoured with his work as yet and it's sadly telling that our hardest working performance came without him. Darren Bent is not even in the squad anymore and I am starting to think that maybe his attitude is as bad as everyone said. Hopefully Meulensteen will either get him up to speed, or speed him off.
What impressed me with todays game was the aparent improvement in fitness level, and a cohesion we have not seen for a long time. I was impressed with Stecks kicking distribution, he commanded his area well although not having a great deal to do my only criticism is Sendros,wo we must replace ASAP,but today was well covered by our other midfielders. Berbs ,one of the best games i have seen him play for a long time,?has he discovered his old form of putting himself in the shop window. But for me the man of the match was JAR,good tackaling and some good wing runs. Well done Rene you seem to have brought some belief,and we all stood up often.
At last. Hallelujah! I've been waiting 8 months for a team performance like that one. It could have been a season defining game if we'd lost! Dominated throughout and could have had more. It would have been a huge injustice if Villa got a goal or a way back in the game. If you think back we've not had any luck this season, umpteen own goaks, no penalties, last minute winners for the opposition etc. Brings renewed hope against an Everton that is flying. COYW
Congratulations on a great result, to beat Villa who are annoyingly lucky and not without good players and after your recent woes will hopefully bode well for the future .
I have news for you... We have a team. Two consecutive displays! And this team is fighting. The players put their feet in the challenges and won most of them. My faith is being restored!! Bent was not eligible today. Ruiz will need to work harder than he has been used if he wants a place in the starting team. Worry the knock that Kara was nursing at the end of the game. Well done to the team...
Not to say we are in any way equivalent to them - but todays team reminded me a lot of UTD of old. Wingers staying close to the touchline, full backs offering an overlap and the central players spraying early balls out wide to the space. We had more shots today than I can remember- more, possibly, than we've managed all season at home (OK that's an exaggeration.) I'm feeling excited about match days again, you can see the players are really trying and with Parker and Kara on the pitch no-one is going to be half-arsed about their duties. Berba, who I think got unjustified praise after the Spurs game, was magnificent and, if he carries on like this, I will be sad if goes. DejegaH and Reither showed great understanding and we dominated the right wing. The back four looked solid too. The only criticism I would make is of Kacaniklic, despite him winning the penalty. In some ways a penalty was the best thing to happen in that situation as I had little to no faith he was going to put it away. He has got good qualities, his pace and directness, but he is weak, one-footed and lacks a final product. I'd rather see Kasami in that position drifting in. Ideally we want to replicate the kind of play down the right, maybe a new left winger and left back is in order, perhaps not this January though. It's maybe a bit harsh on what many I know consider to a promising academy prospect but I don't see him playing at this level for his career. He is not smart and skillful enough to account for his weakness and consistently chooses the wrong option or, I suspect, isn't even making a conscious decision about what he going to do but just goes a bit headless. Beside that 'negative' it was a sparkling performance and my doubts about Rene have been dispelled very quickly. The players are coming over to the fans again and we have renewed confidence. The guys who might have been inhibited by the booing are out of their shells and we don't look like we are lacking leaders anymore.
Silkship, one of the positive things I took from the game was the developing relationship between Berbatov and Kaca, to the degree that I still want Kaca starting - SurlyC: I agree about Dejagah/Kaca and Jol this season, with both linking excellently with Berbatov. OK, I think Kaca drew a soft penalty, but I'll take that given Berbatov could have had one in the 7th minute. C O Y W !!
After all the rubbish we've seen in 2013 (actually since Sunderland end-2012), it was an absolute pleasure to have a couple of back-to-back performances to make us feel proud. Teamwork now exceeeding the sum-of-the-parts again!
The fact that Rene is a world class coach is definitely a major factor in the change in the way we are playing and approaching matches. You can't work at United and win umpteen trophies without knowing your business and, whilst we don't have the quality of players United do, we do have some very, very talented individuals and one world class player and they will know how good the coaching is and respond to that. This is why I am so glad Billy Mac was told to hit the road - what on earth could he coach Berbs to do?
As a player type he does suit Berbatov, I remember he worked well Lennon too at Spurs. Berbatov's ability to put balls through gives him a lot of the ball and he's our only outright left winger with real pace so I think he will continue starting. Ideally I'd like to see us bring a similar player type in but with more composure but it's not a priority for January - I hope Kaca improves with his decision making and saves us the signing, frustration is just from watching (my seat overlooks the left wing in the second half) him be put or get into these positions and waste the opportunity. Being there is to his credit though.
Have just got back from the game (we almost drunk Putney dry celebrating the win and performance)! I echo everyone's comments. Lots of pleasant surprises all over the pitch, particularly the ever reliable Hughes and the dramatically improved Senderos at centre-back, real unsung heroes today. Big Phil was magnificent, he bossed the defence and looked solid as a rock. I was convinced he would slip up and clumsily gift Villa a penalty - but thank god he didn't! The last time I saw our defence that composed was away to Shaktar Donesk! Good to see Berba putting in a shift. There were quite a few frustrated shrugs, but he kept going for 90 mins. If he keeps performing like that, I've got a horrible feeling Arsenal will pinch him in Jan. Even though the muppet Villa fans were singing 2-0 to the referee, we met and were chatting to some real decent fans in the Railway Tavern before the match. So decent and friendly, I gave one of them my Benteke match tactics T shirt (wrongly sent instead of the Berba one). He was over the moon! Anyway, onwards and upwards. If we keep performing like that, we should be out of trouble and finish mid-table at the end if the season. COYW!
Never mind MOTD2, their dubbed commentary and blinkered (clearly did not watch match in itâs entirety) pundits, here is a true reflection of the game: please log in to view this image The Performance Score graph reflects the game in its entirety, parity until the opening goal and then dominance from the home side and while Villa could not get going Fulham went from strength to strength. In fact one minute before the goal, on the 20 minute mark, Paul Lambertâs side were actually leading terms of Performance Score, 67 to 55. The next time the Performance Score updates, at 25 minutes, Villa have dropped to 10 while Fulham have hit the dizzying heights of 115. This continued until full time when Fulham, the victors, had reached 307 while Villa were as low as 60.
The MotD coverage was pretty laughable. Going on that, you'd think Villa were unlucky to get nothing despite a) their manager saying they didn't deserve to win and b) the commentator's clear surprise when they finally had a second shot on target near the end. Never thought I'd say it but I agree with Stan Collymore, who said it was one of the most one-sided games in the league this season. As an aside, two Fulham players in the BBC team of the week (picked by legendary know-nothing, Garth Crooks): Riise and Parker. Although they say "Thank goodness Fulham have Scott Parker. It was Parker primarily along with Steve Sidwell who secured the 2-0 win over Aston Villa for the Cottagers". Guess they forgot our Greek already?
just watching your game now against a good young developing Villa side. played well and completely deserved win. Won every battle & the "crazy Greek" was immense. Well done you should be safe this season. not sure but you do seem to have an ageing squad & you need some youth in there i reckon villa are a good team and in a few seasons with a bit more experience they will become a force. That was a good win good luck
thanks, the greek is amazing player for his age, 1 result does not change things around, it gives us hope when we had no hope before, http://i.imgur.com/p7aLpZh.gift
