What you would you do?

Discussion in 'Fulham FC News and Notes' started by dcheather, Sep 1, 2013.

  1. dcheather

    dcheather Administrator

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2005
    If you're now the manager of Fulham and assuming we don't sign anymore players, who do you start for the majority of the games? I assume you would mix up depending on the opposition. And what would your instructions be for the team?
     
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  2. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    I'd do what Lambert did at Villa last season...go with the kids at the risk of relegation. And look at them now. Put somebody out there who's gonna at least hustle. And bring up some of those academy kids who've been so successful the past two seasons. Winning breeds success. And I'd start from scratch and say every position on the pitch is open. And I'd do a little soul searching and revisiting...to the video room to see what I did during my most successful tenure on the touchline at Hamburger and Ajax.
     
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  3. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
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  4. AggieMatt

    AggieMatt Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2008
    Location:
    Alamo City, Texas
    I think we're shipping most of our points at Motspur Park. You don't see a clear plan of attack, you see of lot of confusion and a lack of cohesion on offense, the inability to pass and move our way up field and the overall lack of movement are all problems that should be sorted in training. We're pretty ineffective from set pieces as well. This all has to be sorted before we ever step foot on the pitch for a match.

    Following that, I'd be more direct in attack and attack with more pace. Pace doesn't have to be footspeed. Effective passing and moving through wall passes or triangles can make up for any shortcoming in speed. If you attack w/o letting the defense set up shop first, you don't need near as much talent to break them down. We've played this way at times under Jol and we've really been quite successful doing it. Newcastle at the Cottage last year is one that springs to mind. In any sport, you want to minimize your errors and exploit those of your opponent. When we play slow, sideways and back, we don't punish teams for losing shape. I'm pressed for the words to explain how stupid I think this is. I don't like it with a team like Barca, I hate it for one with far less creative talent and skill. :angry-banghead: Still worse, we're doing it absent a creative passer at cm. :sad-roulette:

    Anyway, do the things above and I think the players and shape are far less important. I'd be tempted to go 4-3-3 quite a bit. It puts Ruiz back in the position he played at the height of his Dutch success and one that can afford him some space and time. Dejagah backs him up. Play Bent in the middle, Taarabt/Kaca on the left. In the middle, Boateng holds, Parker would be first choice to get forward but the Parker and whoever partners him could alternate going forward. I think this might be a better fit for Duff in mf as well or you could go with Sidwell, etc. Fullbacks provide the width. 1-2 cm's provide the cover. 4-3-3 has proven a very good foil to 4-2-3-1, which you see a lot of around the league these days. Against bigger sides and against equals on the road, I'd go back to something more conservative and defensive. In those matches, it would be about maintaining shape and trying to hit on the counter. I've left Berbatov out of the equation b/c imo, he's almost as much a part of the problem as Jol. If you can get him on board and playing like a proper teammate, then you have even more options. In my mind, no Jol = no Berbatov. I don't think that's a bad thing.

    Jump mentioned tape. I'd pull out 2-0 and 3-0 over Utd under Roy as well.
     
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