Just got up and watched the Match Choice replay on TV this morning. Great result, obviously. But more interesting, I think, for Fulham observers is the new qualities that seem to be emerging in the team. This is definitely Jol's team now; I think even a year ago you could still see vestiges of Roy Hodgeson's safe, conservative, defense-first style of play. But aside from the few of Hodgeson's signings that are left, I no longer see any of Sir Roy's fingerprints on the team. And I'm happy about that. Old Fulham were hard to beat, but they were hardly exciting to watch. Great to see Baird play - I thought he looked very solid in the midfield. Kaca was a terror and Sidwell helped me forget, for a moment, that we've lost Murphy. And what a great signing Reiter has been. He tortured WBA all day long from the right. Berbatov will get the headlines, but I thought it was a well-orchestrated team effort that won the day.
Yep, we've looked like a team in all our games this season, for better or for worse. One massive difference from last season is how our wide play has improved, or should I say appeared out of nowhere. Last season we looked so narrow, with everything coming through the middle. This season the partnerships of Duff and Reither and Kaca and Riise work those wings so effectively. It's important to remember that although Berbs was instrumental, the first two goals came from Kaca - he's becoming more important with every game he plays. Reither is looking a very solid signing. He's rarely put a foot wrong and he's slotted into the team perfectly. I hope he signs permanently! Anyone who was worried about Berbs' workrate had only to look at yesterday - he was desperate for his third and worked hard to bring his teammates into play. He even ended up in a left back position making tackles! He won't be like that every week but he's a real asset.
Berbatov even managed to give away a free kick just outside our penalty area. Lord knows what he was doing tracking back that far! Reither looks good going forward and seems to connect with Duff in a way Kelly doesn't. Honestly if he continues to play at a similar level for the next few months, we'd be fools not to sign him up. Yesterday, Duff looked like the player Chelsea paid £17m for and I think it's a combination of linking well with Reither and having a player of Berbatov's quality inside which allowed him to play that way. Both of the points made thus far are very good. We are Jol's team now, we play a different way to the team of Sir Roy. We move the ball quickly and effectively (at home, anyway) and look dangerous all over the pitch. Our wing play is definitely improving, and is a good example of why I said losing Dempsey was a lose-win scenario; obviously we didn't want to lose a player of his quality, but it has allowed us to play the way Jol wanted to play and Kaca shows strong signs of improving. With Frei and Mesca (and Kasami, possibly) to come through and with Richardson, Ruiz and Dejagah adding veteran competition I am optimistic that we will see good width to our play this year. Of course, that comes with the problem of putting greater pressure on our CM and I don't think Sidwell/Baird would have a great chance against the bigger teams in the league. That said, Diarra and Karagounis provide good veteran leadership there and for the first time yesterday, Sidwell looked like he was beginning to understand Jol's system. Plenty of reasons for optimism and one point to note: we've won both our home games with some style this year. It's a pleasure to see a team play the way we have played at home this season.
As other people have said Jol had to change the system because of the injuries and Baird and Sidwell played their roles really well. It was a tough game to get going before the first goal, but the sending off allowed Fulham to use both their passing game and using the width to stretch play. Thought Kacaniklic had a good first half, and Duff had a really good go in the second half. They both did well tracking back to help out the full backs, who in turn gave them good support when going forward. Let's hope Berbatov keeps this level of performance, cause he surprised me in a good way, with his commitment. But the stats of 23 shots 10 on target shows chances were being created, as opposed to the poor showing against West Ham. So now the away form needs to pick up to near that level. A couple of things that need attention, Schwarzer's kicking this season has been poor, a lot of the time no accuracy. Hugo at the moment can't buy a goal, let's hope he rectifies that at Wigan next week.
I could not go to The Cottage yesterday, so also watched Match Choice. Berbatov will gets all the paudits of course, but this was another team performance. Sidwell/Baird filled their roles well; the width no provided by Kacaniklic (gaining the confidence to take people on)/Riise and Duff/Riether. Schwarzer stopped as necessary, although Foster was much the busier. And in his few minutes, Alex Smith was skilfull and confident. And all playing the Martin Jol way, as we saw against Norwich, and this was despite having an injury-changed team yesterday. 8 goals and clean sheets. Points for improvement - Berbatov should not come back if he exposes our defence (although his pivotal role outweighs); Hugo needs to up his game (or will lose out). Glass definately [over] half-full!!!!!! C O Y W
Schwarzer's kicking has always been pretty poor. It was the thing that struck me most about Stockdale two years ago; Stockdale is far better with his clearance kicks, both in terms of distance and accuracy. However, it's a relatively small blot on a keeper who commands his area and can still pull off most of the saves he used to.
Well I have to admit to being pleasantly suprised yesterday. I was quite worried going into the match. The international break meant little training could be done with the team that did so badly against West Ham and with Diarra, Ruiz and Petric out, I thought we would struggle. Fair play to Sidewell, Baird, Riether, well the whole team - it was a great team performance. I just love the skill and workrate of Duff. To me he has been our best player this season. I hope Gera could hear - he got a good reception from the crowd as he did a warm up in the 1st half "Gera, Gera" I was pleased. I think despite being gifted the win after the sending off I think we still would have won comfortably. We seemed to have another gear to step up to if necesary in the 2nd half. Great WBA fans also - friendly, vocal and a credit to their club.
For me clearly player if the game was Baird. His name was the one we were singing leaving the ground. His passing absolutely great. He could see space and distribute the ball accurately. In all fairness the whole team played well. Berbatov did a couple of sprints and tackles. Would be nice to see him against his old club when they visit the Cottage...
Very noticeable was how we played as a team and that, at least in part, has to be down to Jol selecting the correct 'shape'. How balanced we were is seen from our attacking stats - 37% down the right; 36% down the left; 27% down the middle http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/614157/MatchReport That shape is underlined when you look at another set of stats - in possession our top four passers were : Riether 89 passes, 93% accurate; Baird 88, 93% accurate; Sidwell 86, 91% accurate; Riise 75, 88% accurate. However, as always there is a downside. In fact it's in an area where we've been pretty woeful for a couple of seasons - crossing. In this particular game : Duff 11, 3 accurate; Reither 10, 3 accurate; Riise 7, 0 accurate; Kacaniklic 3, 1 accurate. That said, this still adds up up to a lot of attacking play and especially shows how well Riether and Duff worked together.
Berbatov being lazy is more of a myth than anything, it's just the way he carries himself that makes him look lazy. In some games when they track ground covered, he actually covers more ground than most midfielders. I'm on my phone now, but I'll find a video of one of Berbs goals for United where he wins the ball back on the 18 and starts a passing move that he finishes at the other end of the pitch.
The Club have put up a different set of stats (OPTA). While they don't reflect, like the ones above, how consistent and balanced our play was they do confirm our control of the game - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/september/18/opta-evaluation
He moves at a leisurely pace, which could I suppose be seen as 'laziness'. Take AJ for example, busts a gut running absolutely everywhere but never being in the right place to get the ball. I'd much prefer Berbatov's approach of conserving energy to ensure that he is in-fact in the right place at the right time. If Berbatov gets double figures this season, which I believe he will do, then I don't care if he crawls over the pitch to score the goals.
Berbatov is so technically skilled, he plays with a calm grace and smoothness that some people ascribe as a lack of effort. At his best, Berbatov can approach the genius of Bergkamp, I think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFba3m8v8Fk
