I suspect there may be an injury or two more after yesterday - Sidwell for instance, despite him finishing the 90 minutes. In any event, it's clear Jol has a different line up already in mind for Chelsea and the only new decision for him is centre back. Against Chelsea, height won't be an issue but holding positions and discipline will be. Ideally Berbatov would be the front man but Jol doesn't really have an option but to play him behind Petric (or Hugo if Mladen is injured - he's in some doubt for the match). What a chance Kasami has missed ! So the line up I'd opt for is - ................Schwarzer....... ..Riether...Hughes...Baird...Riise.. ........Kara.........Diarra...... ..Duff.......Berbatov.....Frei.. ............Petric.......
This is going to interesting. Chelsea playing with just 1 striker means that we are going to have to be well aware of runs from midfield. Can Senderos and Hughes deal with Torres ? I think they would be better used, even though I question whether Senderos has had enough first team football recently. Torres seems to have lost some of his pace which will help us. I think we need Baird in the centre of midfield with Diarra. 2 wreckers in there may help with dealing with Mata, Oscar and Hazard. Duff has to start on the right. Who to start on the left is tricky. Mata is difficult customer and I suspect Jol played him out there against Stoke to see if he could do so against Chelsea. I did not see much of him from the highlights to know how he got on. Jol will want us to play the ball in the opposing half as much as possible, so ball players will be required. Scwarz Reither Hughes Senderos Riise Duffers Bairdinho Diarra Kara Berbatov Petric Love these games, lots of passion means lots of unpredictability. Would be happy to get a point but over the moon to get all 3. COYW
Rafa, "I have delivered at the highest level. Juan Carlos came in and ordered the paella one day" please log in to view this image
Looks like we might be playing them at a good time (hopefully wont regret writing that!)- judging by today we might as well not bother marking torres and focus on the midfielders- he was woeful, hard to think of one thing he did well. We could do with some pace to catch them on the counter- wish I was going!
I think Cottager's line up is probably the right one. Frei did well against Chelsea last season, and with the injuries to Richardson and Kacaniklic, there's a case for giving him his chance on Wednesday. The only debatable point would be whether we need Baird at centre back or in midfield. My preference would be defence, but there's also an argument for playing Senderos there to let Baird take Kara's spot further up the pitch. I was expecting the worst against Stoke. I'm inexplicably optimistic about the Chelsea game. We're due a win against them and this might just be it, even with all the injuries and suspensions.
I go for ................Schwarzer....... ..Riether...Hughes...Senderos...Riise.. ........Baird.........Diarra...... ..Duff........Frei.......Dejagah .........Berbatov.......... Reasons Although I think Senderos and Hughes aren't a good partnership (They both play better with Hangeland) I still think Senderos can pass the ball better than both, but the down side he makes more mistakes. From his comments after Stoke I don't think Jol is convinced with Senderos. Baird and Diarra are also better passes than Sidwell, and I don't think Karagounis is up to the pace of the Premier yet, although he seems to have good passing ability but not the pace to go pass players. Is Frei match fit for a game like this ? but he did well against Chelsea last year, but if not put Petric in the role behind Berbatov. Petric might be injured so I'd prefer Dejagah with his speed to Rodallega who tends to labour up front against strong defenders. And Berbatov to play up front because I can see him giving their center-backs problems, roaming all over the place. Just a shame we don't have Ruiz or Hangeland available as I think we'd give them more problems.
I don't normally believe in coincidence but while pottering around I came across something strange. It was about a game that we played in late November 2008 and involving three individuals; Mark Lawrenson (writing us off), Rafa Benitez (making unpredictable team selections), and Fernando Torres (not 'hacking it' on the day). The actual game was Liverpool 0 Fulham 0, played on 22nd November 2008, and these are extracts from articles that I read - by Mark ‘The Bollock’ Lawrenson - from Sky Sports - With the fates against us in our last two league games, and I may just be clutching at straws, but could the omens be that it will be third game lucky ?
Dear oh dear. You could and probably will win the match but your current form and problems off the field do not warrant arrogance.
It will be an interesting encounter. I wonder if any of Chelski's players is remotely interested about the team, manager, owner, fans, etc. They know that Benitez is there to take the blame for anything they do. As for the thread, I believe we should go for an all attack scheme with Petric and Berba both starting. ................Schwarzer....... ..Riether...Hughes...Baird...Riise.. ........Kara.........Diarra...... ..Dejagah.......Berbatov.....Frei.. ............Petric.......
Would be nicely ironic, Fred. Anthony Taylor, who was the ref in our match against West Ham, is the man in the middle. please log in to view this image As I mentioned in other posts, we could do with a fair crack from the ref for once but Mr Talor can be a bit tetchy so I'm not holding my breath. For what it's worth, this is Graham Poll's assessment -
I like SBM's lineup - playing Frei behind Berbs could work really well. Whenever he's on the wing he likes to cut inside anyway.
Well, in his internal interviewJol has said that Frei will definitely be involved but he may have to juggle the team because there is the game at the weekend to think about. No mention at all about the back four however and a lot of "hopefully" - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/november/27/manager-video Surprised to hear that Duff was injured.
I think this is a pivotal game for us. We lose and it's 3 on the bounce. We win and this could catapult confidence to a level where we may even treat away games as home games. If you get my meaning. If we get it up 'em with some pace (not Rodellaga as he's pony!) we could do well. I don't want to lose this one, come on boys! Do it for me!
Agree Craving and would add 'shoot' - in the last couple of games there has been a tendancy to take that extra pass and/or (dare I say it) look for Berba rather than have a go. Well the Cttage Chickens may offer some hope. They've gone for another DRAW - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/november/28/chicks-predict-chelsea
