Berbatov and/or Bryan will not be sacrificed, so something has to be. We need to shore up the midfield (and I donât just mean bringing in Frimpong, assuming heâs fit), so the sacrifice has to be the wings. Iâm therefore going to agree with Madness in the âBerbatovâ thread and go for - â¦â¦â¦â¦.Schwarzerâ¦â¦. ..Rietherâ¦Hughes..Hangelandâ¦Richardson â¦â¦.Kacaâ¦..Frimpongâ¦.Sidwell⦠â¦â¦â¦â¦.Ruizâ¦.Berbatovâ¦. â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦Hugoâ¦.. If Richardson is not fit, Iâd play Briggs. JAR, on Saturday, put in a performance that only re-confirms why he was dropped. We need a front man and Berbatov is clearly not going to (or be willing to) do that job, so Iâve gone for Hugo but only because it appears that Petric is still not fit.
I have a feeling Jol will not budge on formation so will go for Schwarzer Riether Hangeland Hughes Richardson (if fit) Sidwell Karagounis Kacaniklic Duff Ruiz Berbatov What I'd like to see (standard 4-4-2) Schwarzer Riether Hangeland Hughes Richardson Karagounis Frimpong Ruiz (risky playing him on the wing, but as Petric isn't fit, he has to play somewhere) Duff Berbatov Rodallega (if Petric isn't fit)
………….Schwarzer……. ..Riether…Hughes..Hangeland…Richardson/Briggs …….Kara…..Frimpong….Sidwell… ………….Ruiz….Berbatov…. ………………Hugo….. Kara instead of Kaca only because he did not impress me either.
I'd go for â¦â¦â¦........â¦.Schwarzerâ¦â¦. ..Rietherâ¦Hughes..Hangelandâ¦Richardson/Riise Duffâ¦â¦.Karagounisâ¦..Frimpong/Sidwellâ¦...Briggs â¦â¦â¦.....â¦.Ruizâ¦....Hugoâ¦.. Why Briggs because neither Kacaniklic or Dejagah can defend and the left side of our defense is the vulnerable side. I'd play Ruiz in a more attacking role, don't want him dropping back deep to collect the ball, want him to worry their defense not ours. Why no Berbatov, if he can't be bothered to run into space and just stands still waiting for the ball instead of doing what he did at WBA for his goal, then he might as well sit on the bench and come on the last 10-20 minutes.
Richardson should be fit - "KIERAN Richardson is expected to return to the Fulham squad for Wednesday night's vital clash with West Ham. The 28-year-old, who started his career with the Hammers, missed Saturday's FA Cup mauling at Manchester United with a calf strain. However, the utility man is due to take part in full training at the club's Motspur Park base today ahead of the visit of Sam Allardyce's side. Mahamadou Diarra and Kerim Frei will miss out." Source: http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/fulham-fc/2013/01/28/fulham-star-eyes-west-ham-return-82029-32695320/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Rufus nailed it: "It all makes Wednesday night’s home game against West Ham United absolutely massive. The Hammers are two points above Fulham in the league so if the Whites can get back on track, we’d move ahead of them and suddenly you’re looking up rather than down. West Ham have tailed off a little bit of late, but they’re a good side and they can be very happy with their season so far. It’s going to be a hard game, we don’t have a great record against them, but under the floodlights at the Cottage, you’d hope we might just have enough. We really don’t want to be dragged into a relegation battle so it’s vitally important that the troops get together and battle for those points." No pressure lads... http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/january/29/the-rufus-brevett-column
Good news on Davies being back in training. May be he can show how to cross the ball and he is also used to dogfights. BBC reports that Richardson is out. I would go with Briggs. Riise was simply non-existent against Utd. "Emmanuel Frimpong is in line to make his Fulham debut in Wednesday's Premier League match against West Ham. The 21-year-old joined on loan from Arsenal on Friday and could now face the Hammers, while fellow midfielder Simon Davies is back in training after a sustained period on the sidelines. Kieran Richardson (calf), Mahamadou Diarra (knee) and Kerim Frei (pelvis) are all absent for the match."
http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/january/29/manager-video Jol is rounding the troops. Very good interview with a few points: 1. Wants to be in the club for a long time. And players want to be there too. 2. Understands that Berba, Ruiz and Petric/Hugo are not working well together. There is a kind of miss balance. 3. Wants the fans behind the team. 4. Something is cooking in terms of formation! 5. Another transfer might complete over the next 2 days although he preferred them at the beginning! Come on Fulham
Good summary Madness. It was good to hear as well that there had been a "meeting" to sort things out.
Starting XI: Schwarzer; Riether, Hangeland, Senderos, Riise; Duff, Karagounis, Sidwell, Rodallega; Ruiz, Berbatov Senderos in for Hughes (anyone know why?) and Rodallega on the wing. Not exactly filling me with confidence, I can only hope Big Mart has seen this work on the training pitch recently...
Substitutes: Etheridge, Baird, Petric, Frimpong, Hughes, Dejagah, Davies I can only assume Jol feels Senderos adds some aerial ability over Hughes, to deal with Chamakh/Carroll/Cole? Either that or Hughes is getting a rest.
From what I gather we're playing with a front three of Berbs, Bryan and Hugo? Am I right in thinking that?
Senderos has relaxed slightly after 2 dodgy errors in the first 5 minutes. But it's still heart in mouth stuff... I think it is still nominally 4-4-2, with Ruiz on the right, Duff on the left and Berba playing off Hugo. However, Ruiz is pushing up/cutting in alot and making us look a lot more like a front three. West Ham have had more of the ball but done nothing with it. We really should be more than 1 ahead.
Woah, what a few minutes, loving listening to Gentleman Jim, his scream for our second was brilliant! COYW!
2-1. Crazy 5 minutes, with terrible defending of a free kick for Nolan's goal. But finally someone gets on the end of a cross for a goal - good run, Hugo!
