Well, there are the obvious casualties; Hangeland suspended, Richardson won't train till next week, Kaca and Ruiz the week after. Petric is 50/50. The good news is that Diarra is training this week but I suspect Jol will hold him back for the Chelsea game next Wednesday. And I think that then answers the question whether Senderos or Baird should partner Hughes. So, subject to Petric, the starting line up I'd go for is - .............Schwartzer......... ..Riether...Hughes..Senderos...Riise ............Baird....Sidwell.... ..Dejagah.....................Hugo.. .............Berbatov... ................Petric............. EDIT: It looks as though Kerim Frei will be recalled from Cardiff tomorrow (the earliest date it could happen) so I would expect him to be on the bench on Saturday. Like Diarra, I think Jol will save him for Chelsea. But who knows, he may start ahead of Hugo.
I'd much prefer to see Dejagah and Duff partnered on the wings, but Jol seems reluctant to do so, so I fear Hugo may be brought in. Would also like to see Karagounis partnering Baird in CM, don't think Sidwell has done nearly enough to justify inclusion, although to be fair, if everyone was fit, I doubt he would be anywhere near the first team. Apart from that the team looks solid.
I think Hugo's height and strength makes him a better choice than Frei against Stoke, even if Frei is available. Similarly, Senderos ahead of Baird even if we don't need Bairdinho in midfield. I'd be tempted to fight fire with fire and put Sidwell in midfield if Diarra isn't going to be risked.
In his in-house interview Jol has confirmed pretty much what I posted; Diarra is (kind of) okay and Frei is back but won't start on Saturday. Senderos and Baird are definitely playing. He did throw in that he has options up front and that there may be a surprise in midfield. Do you think he's going to play Kara, Baird and Sidwell in the middle ? Here is the video of his interview - http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2012/november/22/manager-video
Agree with the Captain, and I would also like Duff and Dejagah on the pitch at the same time but it seems putting either on the left is a no-no for Jol. Frei would get murdered out there, bless him! I think we can safely say Sidders wouldn't be near the first team if Jol had the replacements he wanted. He wasn't a regular last season. I think we'll only have to put up with him for a little while longer. He's a bit like Etuhu, he's limited in creating plays (he seems to score enough though!) and is great to bring on to close games out and add a bit of steel. I think Kara may start!
I too think that duffers and dejagah should start, with Duff on the left. Really hope Petric can play, I thought his movement in the Sunderland game was excellent, even when he could not run. Not sure I would start Kara, Charlie Adam will need marshalling and Sidders will do a better job than Kara at that. Whilst I think this is a game we can get something from, I fear that Crouch may do a job on us. Senderos has not had much game time and Crouch could cause him a lot of problems.
Just had second thoughts. Jol said in the interview "an option in midfield, but I'd rather not talk about which midfielder" - presumably to keep Pulis thinking. But, I'm now thinking - and you guys could be correct - Dejagah on the right and Duff on the left.
If you play Duff we will struggle to handle his pace and direct play - especially with Berbatov floating around! We will most likely line up: --------------------------Begovic----------- ------Cameron-----Shawx-----Huth------Shotton------- Walters-------Whelan-------Nzonzi----------Kightly -------------------Adam-------------------------------- -----------------------------------Jones----------------- It might vary slightly because of Crouch being a doubt - I don't think we have played a Prem game without him so it's a bit of an unknown quantity? On our Match thread I have gone for a Fulham win!
He's been a gem of a signing for us, breaks up play, holds the ball and distributes well. The only problem is that he is played so deep that he is often ineffective! We will sit deep in a 4-5-1 and wait for you to break us down and try and try and counter. You will miss Hangeland and in relation to pace, anything quicker than a waltz will have us scrambling!
Well Lawro has us down as losing. The Fulham Chickens who are good deal more intelligent, useful and attractive than Lawo has it as a draw and they are never wrong. I didn't realise until I saw Smithers post that Crouch is a doubt which can only be good for us. Like everyone else I would love to see Duff and Dejagah play on the wings together and really hope that happens. I can see Sidwell and Bairdinho in midfield (with Diarra saved for Chelsea) and Berba and Petric up front together. I think it will be a tough game and one of the may unfortunate results of the Sunderland match is that I feel we need to get something out of Stoke or we'll start to slip down the table, especially with Chelsea and Spurs coming up.
We've got a result before http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbWzhPh6tcs - I think it will be a draw, reckon we'll pick up some more injuries there- Pulis will have them right into us (more so than usual) and try physically dominate. 0-0 wouldn't surprise me- although it wouldn't be in line with our goals for and against so far this season.
It might be that for just the game against Stoke Jol might ask Berbatov to do the Ruiz role behind Petric or Rodallega. Then for Chelsea put Berbatov back up front against Luiz and Cahill with Dejagah and Duff feeding him. I don't think the partnership of Hughes and Senderos works that well, but if Crouch does play I can't see a Hughes Baird partnership having the height to coup, so Senderos it is I think. And I'd like to see Baird play in midfield because Stoke might just be a lucky team of his to score against after his double. Against Stoke I'd go with .............Schwarzer......... ..Riether...Hughes..Senderos...Riise ...Duff....Karagounis.....Baird....Sidwell.... .............Berbatov.......... ................Petric.............
Duff on bench... Team: Schwarzer, Riether, Hughes, Senderos, Riise, Baird, Sidwell, Karagounis, Dejagah, Berbatov, Petric. Subs: Etheridge, Kelly, Kasami, Duff, Diarra, Rodallega, Banya
