Fulham's 9 players plus Berba and Ruiz... Can't understand the selection some times. As Bidley says it was an opportunity for 3 points!
What do you mean Madness? If not for the injuries then it would've been the same team/system that played against Wet Sham and ManU, plus Berbs?
Not sure if Berba and Ruiz should be both playing together. That's my only concern. Against ManU we had an excellent performance. West Ham was good but not as much as against ManU. The ball was never getting up front but got stuck to Ruiz and Berba slowing down the attack... And most of the time Ruiz loosing the ball...
He came not to lose and he got that. Yes it was a pretty poor game but in fairness we had not only the mid-week Internationals to contend with but the bug that kept Riether and Baid out at the last minute. As Jol explains: “Our preparation was the same as it always is in international weeks,” Jol explained. “It was not fantastic as Bryan Ruiz joined yesterday in the hotel. “Sascha Riether had to leave our camp and [Stanislav] Manolev was not even in the squad, he was in London and had to come over in a cab. This morning Chrissy Baird had the same problem with a bug. Add to that Hangeland was playing with an injury and during the game we had Berba and Hugo off the field with injuries. Again Jol explained: “That is something that you get very irritated by,” he admitted. “When somebody kicks you and you have to go off [the pitch] for five minutes and then later Hugo [Rodallega] was kicked and he had to go off for a few minutes. “He [Berbatov] still looks handsome. He came to the byline and said he’s still handsome because it was only a little thing – I think he only had one stitch.” However, I’m with Bidley this is a game that we could have won and with the others in questioning Berba and Bryan both playing. Personally I would have preferred Urby to Bryan at the start and Dejagah on the right. That said Dench did okay (ish) and Manolev likewise - but boy did we miss the runs of Sascha. As I said at the beginning Jol came not to lose and a point plus our first clean sheet in 11 games is not to be sniffed at. With no game next week (FA Cup weekend) we’ve got two weeks now to do some real work on the training ground. The final word goes to our Captain, who despite carrying that injury, had one of his best games this year: [video=youtube;euKS-rGYwqc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=euKS-rGYwqc[/video]
In all fairness to Jol I did not know the background but as you say Cottager why not play Dejagah and give some speed. But happy with a point. Hangeland had a great game.
Diageo have identified their two prime candidates for the next Johnny Walker ad... Their names soon to be announced but look no further than Fulham!
Just for form and to get another look at how Norwich roughed us up, here are video highlights - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/february/11/norwich-highlights
I wouldn't normally do this but have to highlight the foul count of NCFC 10 FFC 16 Maybe you are referring to the boot of Brad Johnson in to Berbatovs face (wreckless for sure but intentional? I doubt it) and a loose arm on Frimpong from Snodgrass (unintentional) Unless you are watching a different clip I can't see what you are complaining about? On the other hand, we did rough up QPR, our foul count was a ridiculous 22
It was tongue in cheek Thai. What I would highlight is the point Jol made about players having to be off the pitch following 'knocks' - The Fulham boss was unhappy that his team should be disadvantaged for no fault of their own. "I get very irritated by that, when someone kicks you and you have to go off for five minutes," the Dutchman said. "Later, Hugo Rodallega was also kicked and he had to go off, and they played again 11 against 10". "We have got to change that because it is an awful rule. You should send their player away as well for five minutes and play 10 against 10." Obviously we're not the only team to be 'disadvantaged' but it's happened to us a number of times this season. Against Arsenal and Sunderland come to mind when on those occasions we conceded a goal. Thankfully that didn't happen on Saturday.
No worries, didn't realise it was TIC Up to a point I guess MY has a point but when it is accidental then it cannot be possible to reduce the "innocent party" just to even up the numbers. If it was intentional but not worthy of a red card, then maybe just maybe he could have a point but I would think he would remain a minority voice.
To be honest, the foul total has only a partial correlation to players being "roughed up". Playing a physical style doesn't mean an illegal style. We have become remarkably lightweight this season and many teams are just more physical than us. We need to retain the ball better and tire out those more physical opponents. Before any Norwich fan chips in, I am basing this far more on the literal manhandling of our forwards against Manchester United than on the Norwich game.
I don't think you will find many Norwich fans defending the way we currently play to be honest. We are a physical side and that cannot be denied and sometimes a bit too physical but as you say it is not illegal (not yet anyway ). We wish we would get the ball on the floor and pass it around like Spain then the flying tackles from our lot would be reduced but we just ain't anywhere near good enough to do that. Why we have become more physical I am not certain, it's not the "traditional Norwich way" but again to be honest I am pleased in some respects we have, although it's ugly to watch, as we get bullied far less these days, which is the concern of your current side.
Complete side note here, and I'm not directing any sort of criticism at you or Norwich, but there does seem to be a lot of clubs who say physicality isn't their "traditional way". Are there any clubs' supporters who happily say their traditional way is long balls and niggling fouls? Seems like every team's tradition is to pass it around like Barca
