Fulham thoughts

Just seen the Port vale highlights.
Guerra & Macheda looked very useful together.
Ralls looked like he ran midfield.
John created one goal but looks like he allowed the PV player to turn inside the area to net their 2nd.
Dikajcoi looks very strong, and won't give the ball away.

My team? Got to be looking not retain possession more and create; need width. OGS could probably pick 25 different starting elevens but I'd go:

Marshall
Fabio, Connelly, Morrison, Brayford
Pilkington, Ralls, Dikajcoi, Daehli,
Macheda, Guerra

subs Moore, Hudson, John, Le Fondre, Whittingham, Jones, Eikrem.

He won't drop Whittingham or Le Fondre though. He'll probably start Jones & Le Fondre up top.

 

whoops - I take your point about Daehli and it's a valid one. He is not the most physical (understatement) player we have, and in all honesty am glad he wasn't pitched in against Jackett's very big and physical Wolves side, the "slight injury" claimed by Ole or not.

I made the point in the OP - Fulham are a completely different proposition. In the main they're a ball playing set of young lads that Magath has exposed to the rigours of the Championship and it hasn't come off yet.

Daehli would be tailor made against them. For all their latent ability, I doubt Fulham have a player amongst them with the skill levels of Daehli. In the right position he could run the show and provide the catalyst for our front men.

I hope Ole picks him AND plays him in the right position this time.

 

While Adeyemi might have been poor at Wolves, was anyone actually good?

I would have him in my team tomorrow. With Dikgacoi as holding mf, Adeyemi has more scope to roam and also to get in amongst their midfield with his physicality.

For me Daehli to bench, Ralls to left mf and Adeyemi in the middle.

Daehli remains to easily dispossessed and does not have any real pace after the first 5 yards.

 

Daehli was on the ground in pain several times in the last match he played, he had some kind of niggle i think. If he was fit presumably would have been in the squad against port vale.
Agree that he might struggle with physicality being small and slight but completely disagree he is easily dispossessed on the contrary. Adeyemi was the worst of a bunch of bad midfielders against Wolves. He lost the ball constantly, was running around a lot but never managed to get into the game. You can't fault his engine but we need more than that in central midfield. We need someone who can distribute as well.

 

I agree about Adeyami v Wolves but it's early days.

Lots of people 'dropping' Witts. He made our best chance for KWJ with a delightful ball and should/could have had a pen with a shot that was only just tipped from the bottom corner after the deflection off an arm.
I'm not a huge fan but he is definitely our most likely source of an assist. Until someone else starts producing those moments and adds workrate/overall contribution Witts must start imo.

I actually think a muscular performance across the park rather than trying to out football the young talented footballers could be the answer. I do agree the game could suit Daehli though due to Fulhams lack of physical prowess (and complete lack of defensive organisation based on the Derby showing).

I'd play Daehli of KWJ and play Witts left if I was trying to get them both in the side.

 

For someone else to produce those moments they need to be given a chance. They sure as hell won't produce them stuck on the bench.

Whitts is being picked for what he can do, and not for what he is actually doing. Good moments can be picked out, but overall his contribution has been limited so far and he certainly cost us 2 points at Blackburn through his casual approach.

Daehli/Ralls are options open to Ole though I'm not advocating chopping and changing - he does enough of that already without our advice.

 

Big fan of Whitts, historically our best player and most likely source of assists.
But it must be said. Daehli has a couple of assist already even though he has not been at good as he was in the Premier League, against huddersfield when in the hole he was the brains in attack so that sort of potential to run the game is apparently there, maybe its time to give him a run of games in that position? Ralls has been very good in the two cup games and should at the very least get the chance to come of the bench. At some point i like too see this pairing, i think thats our future ball playing midfield, two skilful players are in any case more likely to be on the same wavelength than some of these other players that haven't got the same ability or vision. Often with someone like Daehli and Whitts i have felt they need better than the likes of Gunnar around.

I see where you are coming from with the idea of out muscling Fulham but its also important to find a way to play our own game. It appears to me Ole keeps changing the line up depending on the opposition and we don't really settle in with this supposed playing style he wants. Fulham should be one of those games where we do not need to do that. I don't really like this idea in general as i believe we have one of the best squads in the league and we should aim to perfect our style. If you want muscle in there i think Dikgacoi is your man, he is a more experienced player than Adeyemi and he keeps his passing simple and efficient, similar to Medel. And Kenwyne Jones will easily bully their defence.

 

While Sparkey has made some valid points I believe that we should aim for a settled side and not adjust our team according to the opposition. We have a strong enough squad for the opposition to worry about us. I would much rather OGS aim for a consistent team - minus Daehli for the reasons I described earlier - than constantly chop and change personnel. While Daehli is clearly a talent I believe he needs to toughen up in order to make an effective contribution in the Championship. That will come but he is not yet ready in my book.

 

Whatever else, the Championship in particular is a squad game. There are a diversity of teams that we'll face in this division that will demand a different approach - Wolves and Fulham probably represent the polar opposites that we'll experience.

Having said that, I totally agree Ole has to settle on the right formula - playing certain players out of their natural positions like we've seen with Le Fondre and Connolly must be a no no.

 

A Dave Jones-esque plan A, 442 would do nicely. Ole has the plans B to J if that doesn't work.

Totally agree with the square pegs in the square holes Sparkey. We have players that play one role out and out (KWJ, Le Fondre, Huds, John, etc) those that have preferred positions but can play out of position IN AN EMERGENCY (Connelly, Maynard, etc) then we have versatile players that can perform a number of roles as required (Fabio, Gunnar, Mason, etc).

Let's get a settled 15 or so players in preferred positions and use the others around the edges as needed.

 

I think Daehli would rip this division apart if we played him in the advanced midfield role behind a striker. Ole wants a 2 striker attack so that doesnt look like its going to happen.

However today Id still prefer him in the side to both Whitts and without any shadow of a doubt Gunnerson.

I think Ralls has done enough to come in though.

I dread seeing his line ups to be honest.

 

It makes the prediction league a nightmare. You pick your goal scorer only to find he's not in the team.

Might have to start picking Marshy as he's the only one who seems guaranteed a starting spot.

 

I've got to defend Ole on Connolly there though. Whilst I wouldn't have changed a cb partnership that had just kept a clean sheet Connolly was superb at right back against Wolves and looked like it was a very natural position to him. I'd have no issues picking him there again if circumstances mean we need to.

I take you point about someone else getting the chance to create for us. It's a bit of a chicken/egg situation. Someone like Daehli will need a run of games to settle into being our main creative force. He's the only player we have would might be able to match Witts creativity right now. When Noone is back, hopefully next game, then maybe we can risk dropping Witts as there is another dependable creative force in the side.
Noone and Pilks does have the potential to be very effective at this level, if we can keep them both fit, It's hard to see where wits would fit in if playing 2 strikers with them.

I agree with Tob's point about Daehli and Wits needing better than the likes of Gunnar sometimes. I always felt like Kim suffered the same issue as Daehli in particular often does. They work hard and show for the man in possession. They look up for options and everyone has gone into hiding. They appear to do too much and get tackled/lose the ball. We need more players with that attitude of being brave and taking the ball, if everyone does it you'll have options. Rodgers has always been very good at making his sides play like it, moving towards the man in possession and moving the ball quickly. You only need one or 2 in midfield who don't really seem to want the ball to make a possession passing game impossible. Those players have a quiet game whilst making the players who are brave in possession look poor in the process.

 

I mentioned the lack of movement and (apparent) desire for the ball about our midfield before on another thread. It was in relation to our throw ins at the time, but you could equally say that about open play.

Whits and Gunnar just look so one paced about the park. There is a lack of urgency about our midfield game that is costing us big time.

 

Neither would I, but there were no circumstances meaning we needed to.

 

One of my worries today is that he may bring in Eikrem, Burgstaller or both. I dont see either doing much more than Whitts. All look similar good on the ball but lack pace.

 

Getting the balance right is key. Pace frightens defenders but we need the balance.

Quite like the look of Burgstaller. He could be a player to unlock a defence. Has plenty of vision and can pick a pass. Now if we had someone with pace for him to pass to......

 

Pros and cons.
Eikrem might be slightly better defensively than Whitts but he offers more or less the same, his set pieces aren't as good. Burgstaller looks very slow on the other hand hes a good passer might make the team more fluid in possession.

Id like to see Dikgacoi from the start. We need someone with real authority in midfield. The creators need a midfield warrior next to them( especially young Daehli could use an old hand, no nonsense DCM next to him) and preferably one that can keep up with their passing. Gunnar is not gonna cut it and Adeyemi has some promise but his passing really worries me.

 

couple of streams hitting around for the match today aswell!

 

Funny thing is if we get a win today, Ole will probably have picked the right team according to us - either that or he was just lucky to get away with it.....

Not been impressed with Burgstaller nor Eikrem so far - hope we haven't got another two Bergets on our hands. Both are Ole's pick and they must justify his judgement or it'll damage it in the eyes of supporters and probably more importantly the owner. At least they don't appear to have cost the Earth from what we've been told, it's more of a question of his credibility in the market.

It's very early days for Burgstaller who does at least have that "look" of a player who can cause damage to opposition defences, but Eikrem looks like a squad filler at the moment. A bit of a anonymous replacement for Don Cowie without even the pace - he lacks any speed over the ground for me. Skills not up to Whitts level but almost as slow - not what we need right now.