I was very impressed with your youngsters Captain Morgan - some academy you've got there - but not sure about your tactics today. It's all well and good having the Lions share of possession, but it's irrelevant when you create very little - in this League it's very hard to win games with only 1 up front, and when you changed formation in the 2nd half and bought McCormack on, you looked far more dangerous. Putting it into perspective, despite your dominance, the best 3 chances of the game came our way. Once it all clicks and you have the right balance of youth and experience, you will be a very good team in this division!!
Thanks Captain for a well balanced summary! A counter to the few boo-boys and negative social media BS. COYW!
I just wanted to pop-by and commend you guys on playing some entertaining football this season. I'm very very entertained
First half I thought we were unbalanced in the formation with just Hugo up front, and Millwall put a lot of pressure on the back 4 leading to some panic. George Williams did well on the left wing, and combined well with Stafylidis, but on the right Hoogland and Eisfeld didn't combine well, and Hoogland was out of position for the Millwall goal, poor defending as Burgess came across to fill in at right back and Bodurov followed him over, and both were beaten by Fullers cross, leaving space in the center. Midfield Parker and Hyndman were playing well, but Christensen wasn't in the game and got subbed at Half time for McCormack. The second half the combination of McCormack and Rodallega worked better and Millwall were pushed back and their strikers put less pressure on our back four giving our midfield more time as Millwall formed two rows of 4 to defend in depth and hit us on the break. McCormack, Rodallega had good chances to score and Roberts came on as a late sub and ran at the Millwall defense with a decent shot at goal saved by the keeper. Positives Good left side combo of Stafylidis and Williams. McCormack Rodallega strikeforce could have potential Another good game from Hyndman Bodurov settled into centerback well Joronen had a more settled game, though his kicking is inconsistent. Negatives We were bullied again, (not helped by an inconsistent Lee Mason), but that is the nature of this league, and our younger players don't have the same strength yet. Some of our players like Marlbranque and Dembele had the same problem and took a while to adjust. Some of the players need to take more responsibility they rely on passing to Parker too much, and it's obvious to other teams to close him down, and Scott is liable at losing the ball in defensive positions, as he has done in the past. So far I haven't been impressed with our corner kicks.
Having watched our young team for a very long time when they were academy players, i along with other youth supporters had no doubt that they could make their mark at a higher level, this has been proved by the many glowing reports from opposition fans. So what is my concern!. The tactics and playing formation seem to be out of kilter with both their ability and direct approach in the method to which they are instructed to play. I also feel that Pat Roberts should be in the starting line up. But many will query a 17 yr old as a constant first teamer, notable others of that age Luke Shaw, Ross Berkeley, Wayne Rooney and our own Jonny Haynes regular first team football did not harm them.
Holloway - "The difference between them and us was millions of pounds, but we play for each other and the fans. Was there evidence that Fulham werent playing for each other and their fans? I doubt the cost of each team was hugely different. I like Ian Holloway but it does get so tedious when he keeps on spouting the 'poor me' and look 'I can put a team together on half a sixpence' BS. It looks once again that we won't be scoring many goals this season. I hope I'm wrong. Lots of encouraging signs but encouraging signs doesn't mean points. However, I am delighted that the younger players are getting a game. They will get better as the season goes on but what id give for a couple of wise heads or a Steve Sidwell.
Captain summed it up nicely. As frustrating as it is that we have lost the first 2 games, we have played the better football in both games. As the team bonds and gels the chances will become more clear cut. We are going to have to get used to teams defending deep and allowing us possession. I think McCormack will be just what we need once he is fit and upto pace. He seems to fill the gap better striker and midfield well, we will need runners from wide to provide options for the pass inside the back 4. Hyndman was superb again, and I thought Scott Parker looked better. Not sure why Cauley Woodrow has not started up top, for me he is our best option, he has pace and strength and looks to get behind. Was unimpressed by Rodders really. The results aside, it is fantastic to see us playing some very good quality football. Once we can open teams up a bit more I still maintain we will be a very difficult team to play.
Craving, I think we've got the wiser heads, and in every department of the team: Bodurov, Hoogland; Parker; McCormack. What we need is time for them to impart their wisdom to the youngsters. McCormack looked much better this week than last, let's wait and see whether we're struggling to score goals once he's firing on all cylinders. We had 22 shots against Millwall. On another day we would have scored and it would have been a different game. We're nowhere near as bad as 0pts out of 6 sounds. I hope Magath learns from the second half and looks to play with two strikers rather than one from now on, but the team is shaping up nicely.
Seriously? Our starting 11 Forde - Free Malone - £600K Beevers - £150k Edwards - Free Dunne - Academy Woolford - £150k Abdou - Free Martin - Free Williams - £250k McDonald - Free Fuller - Free Subs that came on Gueye - Free Bailey - Free Easter - Free Total spend £1.1M Or 10% of what you paid for Ross McCormack
With the greatest respect TC, what we spend on players is relative to what we have sold. We have spent about 13 million and sold players to the value of 11 and a bit million. Bearing in mind we have completely overhauled our squad, with 10 new signings and 6 players promoted from our youth academy, spending a couple of million is not much. I have a lot of respect for Holloway, his enthusiasm cannot be faulted, but he does obsess about money. For most fulham fans, seeing the young players coming through our academy is something we have been waiting for ages and it is genuinely exciting to see. Good luck for the season, you have some good players and a good manager. I am sure we will both be knocking on the door of the play offs come the end of the season.
Cheers mate - wasn't having a dig - if you have the money why not spend it - I was just pointing out how wrong Craving was to suggest that there was not a great deal of difference between the costs of each team - as I posted earlier, you must have some academy and its great that they are getting their chance - you will be seeing a lot of them this season and they will only get better
TC, thanks for the clarification. My real point was that we haven't spent zillions. Best of luck for the season.
First time I ve posted since the Millwall game, firstly because of the disappointment two defeats, and secondly because how mad I was at hearing boo's at the final whistle!!!!! We played well and didn't deserve to lose, of course myself and also Millwall fans are not objective so first look at the stats controlled possession had twice as many attempts more corners, now stats are a good indication but don't always tell the full story so look at the neutral reports Who all state Dunne was immense at the back and Forde unbeatable. I'm not taking anything away from Millwall they got infront and then defended brilliantly fair play. There is now big pressure on Wednesday, we need points! My two main points are... 1. McCormack has to play in a front two even slightly lacking fitness he made a difference, made chances and will score goals. His movement and pass to put Hugo in was brilliant and his movement to be played in by Parker again was fantastic shame Forde was equally as good. 2. Teams in this division are well organised and are hard to break down. All three goals we have conceded have come from individual errors ( arguably all centre halves) where as the opposition haven't made any errors in defence yet... We need to cut it out. I would make one more big money signing this week and that's a centre back. I happy with the midfield think they have looked good, the strike force will score goals and the full backs have also looked decent! Despite the constant moaning of the guy behind me none of the three goals have been the keepers fault, it's only the centre back position which has let us down so far, maybe Burn is the answer! Also we keep going a goal down which allows the opposition to shut up shop, let's go a goal up and see what happens when they have to come out more!!!
I agree about needing two up front, including McCormack if he's fit enough yet. I'm not sure about a new centre back though. I'd rather give the youngsters time. I'd be happy to see Burn get another chance (though I don't think Felix looks like giving him one) but I'm happy with Burgess, and haven't written Hutchinson off after one poor game at Ipswich. Bodurov looks like the ideal man to school the youngsters. Did you notice him block off Fuller's run in the second half? A Wiley old pro if ever I saw one! Another one would just block the development of the youngsters.
Back on-line at last, after Sky fiddled about for a week - so frustrating !! Anyway, Saturday’s game. Kind of agree with all the points people have made and certainly about needing two up front. My main observation though is that we are ‘tiny’ and, as against Ipswich, failed to win the ball in the air all over the pitch. That, together with a lack of robustness is going make life difficult in this League. However if we continue to play football and adjust our tactics to suit the flow of the game we’ll be all right. Where I’d disagree with others is about some of the players. Bodurov was okay, apart from letting the cross in that lead to their goal, defensively and as said helped the youngsters. Going forward though he was slow and seemed only capable of making short (right footed) passes to Parker. Just as an example, late on when we should have been pressing, on more than one occasion he brought the ball out and instead of passing to Hoogland or Roberts who were in acres of space on the right, he dithered, turned inside, switched the ball to his right foot and passed to … Parker in the middle with nowhere to go. Stafylidis disappointed me in not running at the opposition and too often did a “Riise”, putting his foot on the ball and passing backwards. Christensen was surprisingly uninspiring - and I can’t offer a reason. And while he had a couple of decent runs Williams G was easily taken out the game. My biggest criticism however is with Rodallega and Mc Cormack. I can forgive young Roberts for just whacking the ball that time he was through after wriggling past a number of defenders but I just don’t understand why those two, seasoned professionals, didn’t show more composure when shooting. Hopefully most of my criticism is to do with players bedding in and/or gaining experience. And indeed getting points on the board will go a long way to the settling in process. That said, Felix does need to get the balance of the side correct and somehow instill the philosophy that "possession football" is not all about holding the ball in your own half while the opposition re-group.
