Glad we won but doesn't bode that well does it? Struggling to beat Burton Albion. Perhaps this will persuade the owner to open his wallet a bit?
How lucky was Ruiz there ! That's going to be shown a few times in the future. He's lacking confidence and if that had not gone in then all hell would have broken loose ! I didn't see the match but listened on LBC radio. I am not sure what to say really after all that. We seemed to be comfortable in the first 70 minutes and then Burton started playing. Tonight, with an almost first team squad, to me was about giving time for the team to gel and get used to playing together - and for some match fitness. In the end in turned into a nightmare. There's much work to do for sure and apart from the performance against Arsenal I haven't been too impressed by our play in pre-season and against Sunderland, We have certainly strengthened the squad but it's not a team yet. Without seeing for my own eyes tonight I can't comment further but I'm up at Newcastle at the weekend so I'll update you all what I make of that. Potentially that's a winner if we can sort ourselves out.
BBC report says we were murdering them for three quarters of the match then they scored and we lost the plot. Looking at the stats on the Fulham website it shows we had plenty of shots, plenty of shots on target, forced a lot of corners and won a lot of tackles. It looks like we were playing well so perhaps the extended game time tonight will have helped team understanding.
I'm really angry and disappointed not to mention embarrassed of FFC tonight but don't want to rant too much as I will be told off. We have a team of great individuals, it's up to the manager to get them to play together (they are his signings after all). Is Jol doing that at the moment? Got lucky against Sunderland, ripped apart by Arsenal and got shown up by a League 2 team tonight. If there were a manager out there I thought could get us playing ASAP I'd be firmly in the JOL OUT club, but there isn't and because there's only a week left until the window closes, we have to carry on until Christmas at least.
From the match reports I've read it sounds like we were dominating for most of the game, but failing to add to our lead. Once they equalised, they looked the better team but until then it was all going our way. Those of you who were there, does that tally with what you saw? If the above is what happened, it fits the pattern of a team trying to assimilate a number of new players in the attacking positions. I think with the relatively late arrivals of Bent, Parker and Taarabt we shouldn't expect everything to click overnight. We should do better against lower division opposition, but the stats suggest that with better finishing we could have won comfortably. This is undoubtedly Jol's side, as Bandit says, but it's also a newly assembled side and we should give them and him time to bed in before we turn on him. As for other managers, I honestly think Jol is the best manager to get this group of players playing. Don't forget that three key attackers - Berbatov, Bent and Taarabt - have played for him before and have said that he was a major factor in their decision to come to Fulham rather than elsewhere. Well, Berba and Bent said that; I'm assuming it was a factor for Taarabt, who was signed by Jol for Spurs has been described by him as 'a genius' before now. The argument for keeping Jol isn't that there's no one available at the moment, it's that he's the man most likely to make our collection of flamboyant mavericks play the kind of football that we'll be talking about for years to come. I hope you don't feel that's a telling off, Bandit - it's not meant as one!
You say it will take time for these players to bed in, but the majority of them have played in the PL for the majority of their career? These aren't aliens learning to play football, players like Bent, Taraabt and Parker should be slotting straight into the team and performing. This is a moot point for me as I think all three have done OK since coming in. The problem for me is Ruiz. Woeful showing from him last night and incredibly lucky with the penalty.
Bandit, I'm not saying that they need time to adapt to the pace of English football or anything like that, I'm saying they need to learn to read one another's runs, anticipate the way they play, etc. It's about building partnerships and combinations. Sometimes that happens instantly with players, but more often it takes a little while. For my money most if not all performed well as individuals on Saturday, and it sounds like there were some good individual performances last night. What takes time is to turn individual performances into a cohesive team.
I followed it through radio and website... We should have won comfortably and put it to bed in the first half. But that's the theory. Sunderland and Liverpool had similar scares. The bottom line is that we are still at the beginning of the season. As others said Jol needs to sort it out. 2-3 players added to the squad from last year should not make a huge difference and these games should be won easily.... But hey we are missing Dempsey!
Just got back after staying over in Burton, few nice brews. Our possession football is beginning to drive me mad, we controlled the first 70 minutes, passing with very little end product. Then when they got the goal their confidence grew and I thought they had got their second just before the final whistle, and only found out today that is was disallowed for handball. It was a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing that kept us from winning in normal time, but the teams were even during extra-time as their confidence had grown. On the penalties, they were taken at the Fulham end, because there was a camera at the back of the stand, behind the goal. Each Fulham player had his name chanted as he went up to take his penalty to give him a gee-up, although I don't think they chanted Mummy's Boy as Riise came up to take his , his first goal for Fulham ? Must say the Ref A.Madley (a League Ref?) was very good and gave very few poor decision for each side, and let the game flow.
Like others I didnât see the game, only listened to it on LBC. However I went down to the Cottage today to get tickets for the Chelsea match and bumped into a couple of guys who had been at the Burton game. Their reaction in summary: * we were in control for the first 70 or so minutes but it was all ânegative possessionâ - Taarabt excepted nobody prepared to push forward and Bent hardly got a pass. * Taarabt was excellent but heâs all self and doesnât look to bring others in enough. * Riise went AWOL for their two goals * Bryan tried hard but seemed really jittery; lost possession loads of times and didnât seem capable of making 5 yard passes. * Hugo was a breath of fresh air and his goal was a cracker. While their reaction was mostly on the minus side, it was said more in a âwe can do betterâ manner than a âweâre doomedâ one. And it canât be all bad since they were getting ready to fork out another dod of cash for the Chelsea game. I did ask more about Bryan and my feeling is that he just doesnât know (or maybe that should be, understand) his role. Given that this is his third season that does beg some serious questions. Last season Jol admitted he didnât himself know the correct Bryan/Berba/Hugo combination. Last night it appears to be similar except it was Bryan/Tarby/Bent. It doesnât take an Einstein to spot the lowest common denominator.
Just seen brief highlights so not in great position to comment on the performance- both goals well taken, Roda did well to slam it home. Ruiz's penalty very lucky- maybe it will give him some confidence but I suspect it could go the other way and he will get worse. I don't see him as a starter for the next game and that will put him down more. Maybe Jol will bring him in, if he does then it will be a huge game for him- his position is very uncertain with Taarabt looking to be his equal in technical ability whilst having physical attributes better suited to the league. EDIT: Having watched the slightly longer highlights on BBC I didn't think Ruiz looked too bad although I know his downsides don't come through on the highlights, looked like he put some decent passes through.
A bit late as I got back from Burton at 3 am and worked the next day day but all the above is pretty much correct we passed it about really nicely without really cutting them open a few good saves from half chances and were cruising at 1-0 but obviously Fulham can't do it easily. * Scott Parker looks good and very comfortable on the ball * Ruiz had a shocker first 45 much better second half needs confidence which won't happen on the bench * Riise got forward and cut inside the fullback beating numerous times but then can't use his right foot * well done to Burton but would have been injustice had we not won * For me Dejagah solid squad player not a starter tidy but can't beat the full back * Hughes comfortable but lost 20 out of 20 headers wold like to see Amorebieta If everyone was 100% fit only five of that team would start for me Reither/Hangeland/Parker/Bent and one of Ruiz/Tarabatt
