If we’re going to get anything from this game Felix will need to forego his ‘philosophy’. Like Reading, Forest will hammer us on the flanks if we allow them the space - and I mean in midfield not just the wings. The hub of their team is the Reid/Cohen combination, who work very much like Murphy and Etuhu used to do for us. The bottom line is, we have to stop Reid’s distribution. How do we do that ? First the goalie. Kiraly was at fault for the second, crucial goal against Reading but made a number of okay saves. However his distribution was awful with only about 10% of his clearances going to a Fulham player. We just can’t afford to give the ball to the opposition so cheaply and being inevitably turning/running back/chasing play. So, Bettinelli. The ’Diamond’ system with our fullbacks providing the wing/wide attacks has left us terribly exposed with nobody properly covering the gaps left. We need two defensive midfielders. That position is of course a major weakness in the squad. In an attempt to control the midfield or at least to mitigate their midfield we’ll need three who can work together and, in this, game concentrate their efforts on winning the ball - as opposed to having ’individuals’ looking for or waiting for the telling pass. My line-up then is: …………………..Bettinelli………………… …Voser……Bodurov….Burn….Stafylidis… …………..Hoogland…….Parker…… ….Chihi…Hyndman..Williams (R).. ……………….McCormack……. PS Voser hasn’t really impressed, certainly defensively, and I was really tempted to suggest Zverotic. But reckon if he (Zverotic) is on the bench it gives better cover at both FB and DM - which might help Felix from making inappropriate substitutions. PPS I was even going to suggest Amorebietta to strengthen the back four but he’s disappeared.
Might as well keep the experimentation going. But Forest should be too strong for us. May be taking Parker out as he's caused more problems for us when trying to defend But I think Magath will keep him in to shadow Reid. I would hope the 3 experienced players up front would give the Forest back 4 something to worry about. But I'm not convinced we have the strength to hold off the Forest forwards, we have to keep their midfield pinned back helping their defense against the 3 up front. I think we need to try hit them on the break (no slow build up) and get as many freekicks in and around the box or corners for McCormack and Ruiz to take advantage. …………………..Bettinelli………………… …Hoogland……Bodurov….Burn….Stafylidis… …..Williams (R)…Hyndman……Eisfeld... …............…Ruiz.............. .........Rodallega......McCormack...... Interesting Anti-Social Text Messaging ad on the back of the Forest match ticket. You can text the number giving details of where the incident is during the game. Wonder how effective it has been or will be .
Did anyone get the email from Hyndman about this game, assuming (naively) that he actually wrote it - must be a strange feeling for a new player, being asked to exhort the fans to support the team. I suspect in reality it's a new comms strategy - we had a somewhat similar discussion at work once about the likelihood of a person opening an email from named individual rather than general organisation account. Let's give Ruiz a run out and see him get punted around the park for his 30 odd k.
Oh My!! Fotheringham !! And Stafyilidis on left wing!? The team: Kiraly; Bodurov, Hutchinson, Burn, Amorebieta; Hoogland, Parker, Fotheringham, Stafylidis; McCormack, Rodallega Subs: Bettinelli, Eisfeld, Roberts, G. Williams, Hyndman, David, Kavanagh Not at all sure what system he's playing but obviously feels that he must fall back on "experience".
If nothing else it's a very experienced team but I'm just not sure about how it's going to work. Looks like we have 3-4 players playing out of position and to top it off giving Fotheringham a start. I had my doubts about this match long before I had seen the team, after seeing the team I don't feel any better about things.
I believe the selection of Amorebieta brings the number of players used to 28. This looks beyond desperate. Are we parking the bus tonight?
I am lost for words! He is mentally unstable and I am sure two doctors can certify this to put him into a mental institution! I feel embarrassed and humiliated the least!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! Get in there boys, this is more like it. Showing a bit of fight and not just rolling over and taking defeat.
