Yorkie, yes they had a lot of possesion, but in my opinion didnt really do anything with it for large parts of the game. Certainly we had the lion's share of the better chances. Whether this meant we were happy to concede possession I don't know. Probably not, because one of the reasons they had so much is because we gave up possession of the ball very cheaply. We did struggle to keep hold of the ball and, particularly in the second half, gave them the ball time and time again. Sometimes it was because we were panicking, sometimes because we were sloppy. I'm prepared to accept that, at this stage of the season, we are not going to play attractive possession football and that it is results that matter. Also, I'm not convinced anymore that possesion is such an important stat. Look at the Chelsea game at the weekend, Spurs had 60% possession at the point that Cheslea scored their second goal. Its not what you have, its what you do with it. Not saying we looked comfortable conceding the majority of possession last night or that it is a deliberate game plan, but I believe that the possession stat from last night's game gives a slightly misleading impression of the game. Overall, I think the result was the right one, albeit only just.
I enjoyed this one...a game in which both sides played attractive football at times and indulged in long balls and misplaced passes at others. Fulham were better than some of our recent visitors to the Vic and would have made life very difficult for us if their strikers had shown a bit more composure. The fact that we took all three points is a real positive. There were some panicky moments towards the end, and we ended up lying very deep and returning the ball back to them, but we did hang on. Motta looks a good acquisition, not perfect but a better bet than Paredes in that position. I thought Watson was excellent all through, breaking things up in front of the back four and generally using the ball well. Deeney took his goal well and never stopped working, an example Vydra and Ighalo might learn from. Angella had his best game for a while and Giedoura (too idle to check the spelling!) kept in the game making the midfield more balanced than it's sometimes looked. Hoban played well in the first half, but looked less sure once he was playing wider. I don't agree about the red card possibility, even though you can argue about the letter of the law. Vydra had gone down too easily several times already and his push on the defender was unnecessary. The defender's reaction was stupid but frankly if a push like that makes you collapse to the ground as if you've been shot you need to get back in the gym! Besides, I hate 11v10...it always becomes an excuse for one side or the other and a win against 11 players is always more satisfying.
Totally off topic, but I'm currently watching the ACL clash between Urawa Red Diamonds and Brisbane. Brisbane are showing exactly how to hold on to a one goal lead with possession football and pressing when they lose the ball. Meanwhile the Japanese fans are showing how to support their team in non-stop fashion... 5 minutes to go...
Simply if the referee has not mentioned Vydra in his report and the FA decide that what he did was violent conduct then then Vydra would get a three match ban for the straight red... which is what Richards should have got in the first place. My point being that we are laid open to losing a key player for no good reason at all, however remote the likelihood of it happening. It's the FA... who knows? How that muppet of a referee ever got any further than the park on a Sunday morning is utterly beyond me on last nights evidence.
The people I usually sit near in the LGT are pretty quiet - even they were effing and jeffing at both the referee and Mr McCormack last night!
A comment I read elsewhere that made me smile. When Fulham bought on the huge striker late in the game, Motta went over to mark him, stood his ground as he was backed in to, then gave the guy a big shove in the chest followed by a long stare - as if to say 'don't even try it'. I like.
