Team v Spurs

[Bandit]

Not the best of games but such a valuable three points which surely now confirm we will be in the PL next season.

Riether has seriously proven to be one of the best purchases of the season, up there with the likes of Michu/Benteke/Berbatov, two assists and a goal in three games would be good for even the best attacking midfielder's, but for a right back? Quality. Riether/Dejagah/Berbatov down the right has been fantastic in the past few games but we are seriously lacking down our left hand side. The best thing about today though? The fact that both Dempsey and Dembele were utterly ineffective, not to mention Riether having Bale in his back pocket all game!

 

[Super Brian McBride]

One thing I noticed we were very disciplined in defense and didn't give any silly free kicks away near the area.
But then again we didn't get any free kicks near their area either.

 

[FFC_Madness]

Well done to to team.

Thought it was a good performance considering an away game and that we have been idling for 2 weeks. That can be a drawback some times.

We can breathe a bit of fresh air now and wait for the next game.

Come on Fulham

 

[2whitestripes]

Brilliant result yesterday

We are improving game by game and as proof the Premier League site is showing us as in 4th position on current form!

Extract below and link to the web site beneath that.

View Table
POS LP CLUB LAST 6 MATCHES PTS
1 (1) Man Utd W W W W W W 18
2 (2) Arsenal D W W W L W 13
3 (3) Tottenham W W W W L L 12
4 (4) Fulham W L D W D W 11
5 (5) Aston Villa D W L L W W 10
6 (6) Everton W D L L W W 10

http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/matchday/form-guide.html

Happy days!

 

[Cottager58]

Was out yesterday where there was no radio or PC, so decided to do a “Likely Lads” until MOTD2. Dodging the Spurs fans on the tube home was the easy part and resisting a peak at the results was fairly easy but my gosh watching the highlights and not knowing the outcome was sheer hell.

Boy was it worth the agony and the ecstasy though. I could even forgive the ‘Bollock’ for his inane Berbatov observation - and fair play to him for showing that lovely little piece of set play. In fact this summed up the impression I had of an altogether (indeed an all together) good team performance.

And that run of Riether’s for the goal - sublime, quality, brilliant, awareness, commitment ….etc. etc.

Just felt so proud of the team.

For the record here is a link to extended highlights of the game -


http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/march/18/spurs-highlights

 

[No Kane No Gain]

Not the best of games but such a valuable three points which surely now confirm we will be in the PL next season.

Riether has seriously proven to be one of the best purchases of the season, up there with the likes of Michu/Benteke/Berbatov, two assists and a goal in three games would be good for even the best attacking midfielder's, but for a right back? Quality. Riether/Dejagah/Berbatov down the right has been fantastic in the past few games but we are seriously lacking down our left hand side. The best thing about today though? The fact that both Dempsey and Dembele were utterly ineffective, not to mention Riether having Bale in his back pocket all game!

Bale didn't play anywhere near Riether all game. He has been great this season and had another great game yesterday though.

Would it have killed you to let us win though? We let you guys have Berbatov and gave you £6mill for Dempsey instead which means you owe us

Well played though, thought you defended and countered well all game and took full advantage of our poor display. We've beaten plenty of teams playing not at our best this season so it's to your credit that you held on.

 

[Bandit]

Bale didn't play anywhere near Riether all game. He has been great this season and had another great game yesterday though.

Would it have killed you to let us win though? We let you guys have Berbatov and gave you £6mill for Dempsey instead which means you owe us

Well played though, thought you defended and countered well all game and took full advantage of our poor display. We've beaten plenty of teams playing not at our best this season so it's to your credit that you held on.

I know your post may have been meant in good humour but 'let' us have Berbatov? If he'd have wanted to rejoin you he would have. I'm guessing from the fans reaction to him yesterday he thinks he made the right choice in staying away from you.

Dempsey was also worth far more than the £6 million you paid. He has been badly used by AVB and has scored some vital goals for you so the criticism is unwarranted. AVB never plays with more than one up front, so that means either Defoe or Adebayor will start, leaving Dempsey out, and he won't get a game on the wings either due to the form of Lennon/Bale. He is still a top player.

Final note, £15m for Dembele was a steal and by AVB nabbing both of them so late on in the transfer window, you almost derailed our season, which is probably why beating you guys away from home meant so much to Jol.

 

[Bidley]

I see some Spurs fans are bemoaning lack of squad depth on their board... How the other half live! They may not have many striking options but to have a midfield of Bale, Lennon, Dembele, Parker, Sandro, Dempsey, Sigurdsson and Holtby, before promising youth players like Livermore and Carroll would be dreamland for us. Defence is solid too, and they even have two class keepers!

Mind you, at least AVB actually uses all those players. Harry's Spurs was infuriating for me, buying players like Pienaar and Kranjcar for no reason, then benching them for 18 months!

 

[Cravingawin]

I thought it was a good game. We soaked up some pressure and countered brilliantly. 2 players for me were excellent, Reither and Schwarzer. The point blank save from Defoe was outstanding and Reither is the best right back in the prem. Brilliant 3 points and Big Mart enjoyed the win, his reaction at the end said it all.

 

[No Kane No Gain]

Agreed, full credit to Fulham for the win. If we're going to drop points I'd rather they went to Jol, it just couldn't have come at a worse time for us

I know your post may have been meant in good humour but 'let' us have Berbatov? If he'd have wanted to rejoin you he would have. I'm guessing from the fans reaction to him yesterday he thinks he made the right choice in staying away from you.

Dempsey was also worth far more than the £6 million you paid. He has been badly used by AVB and has scored some vital goals for you so the criticism is unwarranted. AVB never plays with more than one up front, so that means either Defoe or Adebayor will start, leaving Dempsey out, and he won't get a game on the wings either due to the form of Lennon/Bale. He is still a top player.

Final note, £15m for Dembele was a steal and by AVB nabbing both of them so late on in the transfer window, you almost derailed our season, which is probably why beating you guys away from home meant so much to Jol.

It was tongue in cheek, I know we didn't let you have him. I was pleased he didn't celebrate against us but he brought the hostility on himself, unlike Dempsey he properly went on strike and then went to United's training complex to meet Fergie on deadline day without our permission(mostly United's fault to be honest). I'm not so bothered about it as it was years ago now but I can understand why others still aren't happy.

As for Dempsey, again it was tongue in cheek but he's been mostly poor for us since joining.

I see some Spurs fans are bemoaning lack of squad depth on their board... How the other half live! They may not have many striking options but to have a midfield of Bale, Lennon, Dembele, Parker, Sandro, Dempsey, Sigurdsson and Holtby, before promising youth players like Livermore and Carroll would be dreamland for us. Defence is solid too, and they even have two class keepers!

Mind you, at least AVB actually uses all those players. Harry's Spurs was infuriating for me, buying players like Pienaar and Kranjcar for no reason, then benching them for 18 months!

It's not depth with our strikers, we have 2 fit options for the one position at the moment, the trouble is that neither scores. The wings is probably what they were talking about, it was the same last year, when Bale or Lennon's injured we have no proper wingers to replace them and with Bale being moved to the middle and Lennon out our width had to come from the fullbacks all the time which left us vulnerable to the counter.

Kranjcar actually enjoyed a really good first season with us and was a regular but 'Arry ended up playing him less and less after that. We had the same problem with Crouch, Bassong, Palacios and Keane who he signed but within 18 months(usually a fair bit less) decided they weren't needed and left them on the fringes of the squad. Pienaar just never got going for us, he never seems to get injured at Everton but picked up injury after injury with us and when he was fit 'Arry couldn't seem to work out where he should play. Good player, wrong club I think and Dempsey might be heading that way too.

 

[Bidley]

It's not depth with our strikers, we have 2 fit options for the one position at the moment, the trouble is that neither scores. The wings is probably what they were talking about, it was the same last year, when Bale or Lennon's injured we have no proper wingers to replace them and with Bale being moved to the middle and Lennon out our width had to come from the fullbacks all the time which left us vulnerable to the counter.

Kranjcar actually enjoyed a really good first season with us and was a regular but 'Arry ended up playing him less and less after that. We had the same problem with Crouch, Bassong, Palacios and Keane who he signed but within 18 months(usually a fair bit less) decided they weren't needed and left them on the fringes of the squad. Pienaar just never got going for us, he never seems to get injured at Everton but picked up injury after injury with us and when he was fit 'Arry couldn't seem to work out where he should play. Good player, wrong club I think and Dempsey might be heading that way too.

Yeah, fair enough YV, I was more talking from our perspective. In the grand scheme of things you're a striker or two shy of an immense squad, I think only Man Utd have a better squad in the PL.

Do you think you're suffering a hangover from 'Arry's reign? You don't seem to be making the signings you really need, but when 'Arry was there it seemed like you were signing every good player going!

 

[Fulham COYW]

Dempsey was almost invisible during the game. I can't remember him doing anything.

He left under a cloud but I have mixed emotions on him now. It's a shame to see his career go down hill but it was a risk and he wanted Champions League experience (hope we haven't blown that for him) I don't think the Spurs set up as suiting Dempsey. Our team was built round the attributes of Dempsey and Dembele, now Dempsey is just another squad player.

We've moved on now and it was good while it lasted. (I'd have Dembele back though !)

 

[No Kane No Gain]

Yeah, fair enough YV, I was more talking from our perspective. In the grand scheme of things you're a striker or two shy of an immense squad, I think only Man Utd have a better squad in the PL.

Do you think you're suffering a hangover from 'Arry's reign? You don't seem to be making the signings you really need, but when 'Arry was there it seemed like you were signing every good player going!

I don't think so no. I'll always appreciate what 'Arry did for us and had it not been for the cloud over his future that the England job will always have over his future at any club I'd have been more angry that we got rid of him. His transfers were mixed and I think Levy taking over more on that front helped us, although they balanced eachother out well with Levy looking to the long term whilst 'Arry sought bargains like Parker who could make an immediate impact but that Levy would have overlooked because of his age.

The main reason we're not spending as much is that ever since we got into the CL 3 seasons ago we've been paying £90mill a year in wages(up from about £65mill) which means that we can't afford to spend big. It's meant we've been able to keep all our best players on long contracts so that if one decides to down tools and force a move, like Modric, we can still dictate the fee whereas Arsenal have been forced to sell a number assets cheaper than they'd like. AVB really could've done with having some extra cash made available though, it was a big blow for us when the Moutinho deal fell through in the summer as AVB only agreed to sell VDV so that he could get him and instead he ended up with Dempsey.

Dempsey was almost invisible during the game. I can't remember him doing anything.

He left under a cloud but I have mixed emotions on him now. It's a shame to see his career go down hill but it was a risk and he wanted Champions League experience (hope we haven't blown that for him) I don't think the Spurs set up as suiting Dempsey. Our team was built round the attributes of Dempsey and Dembele, now Dempsey is just another squad player.

We've moved on now and it was good while it lasted. (I'd have Dembele back though !)

Dempsey's been like that a lot for us and when he does get on the ball he lacks the close control and quick passing to suit our style. That said he's scored some important goals for us this season and is a valuable impact player. If we get into the CL I hope we don't sell him as ultimately that's what he moved for but if we don't I think we should call it quits and move him on, he just doesn't suit the kind of football AVB wants us playing.

As for Dembele he's not been as good since the turn of the year but that's more because he was playing at such a high level before and he and Parker just haven't quite clicked as a partnership compared to how he and Sandro did. Still a quality signing and my first choice for us to sign once Modric left.


Anyway, enough boring you lot with Spurs talk, good luck with the rest of the season and do us a favour by beating Arsenal next month, please

 

[fulham traveller]

we will beat aesenal no danger there, and this blip will be forgotten by you, but the win will be remembered by us, it was a good time to play spurs

 

[Cottager58]

Brilliant result yesterday

We are improving game by game and as proof the Premier League site is showing us as in 4th position on current form!

Extract below and link to the web site beneath that.

View Table
POS LP CLUB LAST 6 MATCHES PTS
1 (1) Man Utd W W W W W W 18
2 (2) Arsenal D W W W L W 13
3 (3) Tottenham W W W W L L 12
4 (4) Fulham W L D W D W 11
5 (5) Aston Villa D W L L W W 10
6 (6) Everton W D L L W W 10

Happy days!

Thanks for this 2Whites. And it's time to also de-bunk that myth about our away form. This season we are currently 10th in the League for away games only.

And that's only on goal difference to 9th placed West Brom.

[And it's without all the 'what if's' and 'shouldn't haves' for at least 3 of the games we've drawn away from home ]