Fulham v. the Undead

My biggest concern when we play top table teams is their nimble attackers twisting our larger, seemingly slower, defenders into pretzels. That said, we seem to have righted the ship from our recent three game malaise, so it would seem to be a matter of, as it has all season, which Fulham side shows up.

Here's to an Easter toddy that the good lads will appear yet again and the dog trackers get muzzled. 2-1, Cottagers!

 

Another match I'll avoiding until I can catch the recording tomorrow evening.

As Heather was saying, hoping Duff and Dempsey can recreate their magic from Saturday. Not quite as optimistic about a win this time but if the team can play like they did against Bolton then we've got a darn good shot!

 

The timing seems right, the stars are aligned, the recipe is at a boil, so I'm just gonna say it.....LET'S ROUT THESE BASTARDS!!!

COME ON YOU WHITES!!!!!!!!

 

Hoping to be back in time for kickoff and the chat (it'll be up to the Freeway Gods). Would love nothing better than to put a serious dent in the Scum's chance of making the CL. Of course the Spuds are falling apart (losing at home to Norwich 1-2 in the second half atm) and the blue poo might sneak in anyway. The Cottage will be rockin' and the MIGHTY WHITES WILL TAKE ALL 3 POINTS!!!

 

Fuck Clattenburg and McManaman(sp). I'm sorry, but I would punch both right now. Livid

 

Great comeback by the boys today. Still not sure if Chelsea deserved the pk but it is what it is. I can handle a point from this one. Especially knowing that we didn't lose to them at all this year.

 

Clattenburg - is an ass. He had a howler today going both ways - abominable job. That should've been a Fulham win.

Still, great showing by the lads - Frei was a handful, as was JAR.

Just watched Dempsey's shot that lead to an OG against Stoke - today's strike better not be an OG - I think it was originally on frame. I was angry today and Clattenburg didn't help that - the chatroom was sweet.

COYW

 

Really disappointed I had to miss this one and of course as I was scrambling to head to work today I forgot to record it!

Just watched the highlights and was extremely happy with how we looked. Frei looked dangerous which was great to see. The penalty against us was a bit harsh from what I saw.

Seems like everything Dempsey touches goes in the back of the net! OG or not, it was a great header. Pretty cool to see him running over to those US supporters too! I'm jealous!


Shame we couldnt grab all 3 but I'll gladly take the point! COYW! :banana-dance:

 

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news ... ham-s-best


High praise from the Captain about why Deuce is having this type of season (see the postmatch interview w/Danny and Clint).

 

Well that didn't last long. Less than 48 hrs later and I'm in agreement with most of this VFST...all the way down to Riise as MotM. But Jol as third? Why's that?

Good result, although not necessarily a great game. Short rest and weather conditions played into both defenses' hands. Our lack of forwards didn't help either. Despite that, we had moments where it felt like we could take the match. Unfortunately, it looked like we were playing cautious bringing the midfield forward. Had it not been for what's becoming an increasingly confusing penalty call, it may well have worked for all 3 pts. When we thought the penalty was on Murphy, I thought it a little soft, but given the yellow on Cahill I could see why the ref would call for it. But putting it on Kelly makes it even softer imo.

Good fight back by the boys to level and once again, Dempsey continues to amaze with this run of his, despite playing a large part of the match 1 v 3 with little to no support. I found it ironic that DiMatteo complained that it took us a set piece to score on his defense, yet it took a pk for his to score.

Hopefully we'll see some of our injured players return after the break and we can continue this late push up the table.

 

Just finished watching the match (I sneaked a peek at the score on my phone at work after about half an hour- but then managed to avoid it until I got to watch the DVR). I'm still not sure about the penalty, Danny went in kind of rough with two feet- but at the same time, he probably got as much of the ball as he did of Kolou. You could argue a soft penalty on Kelly. I wanted to be pissed at Clattenberg, but again the call could've gone either way- usually close calls go to the defending team, but whatever. I'm glad he wasn't afraid to card Chelsea players (even if it was for the wrong fouls- the one on Meireles was hilarious... but it served him right for his earlier challenges), since they seemed especially rough today (thought we were playing Stoke for a minute...).

Other random thoughts (most of which aren't original, but I thought I'd agree with what was already said and/or put my own spin on it):

- As basically everyone has already said, Dempsey missed help up front and we missed having a true forward- the service was there, but not the finishing- and Deuce didn't even get any particularly good chances to finish, anyway, because he was so overwhelmed by the Chelsea defense (I do have to credit Terry and Ivanovic for playing well). That said, there was a lot of great work in the middle of the park. Frei was almost as good today (or yesterday I suppose) as Duff was against Bolton. Captain Danny, Dembele, Duff and Diarra all had their moments of brilliance and this is the best I've seen JAR play for us. He was actually doing something significant at the end of runs.

-Yes, Matt is right that the lack of rest and poor weather helped the defenses a bit, but I still thought it was an entertaining match as both teams weren't afraid to go forward (besides any match where we get points from Chelsea is entertaining in my book).

-It was also nice to see Jol really going for the win rather than parking the bus at the end- maybe a nod to how much this match means to the club and its supporters.

-Watching Frei and Special K play is exciting- add the potential of Trotta and previous play of Briggs to that group and we have the most talented group of young players we've had since... I can't remember.

~ Steve

 

The boys were up for this one. The crowd was up for this one. Made for an entertaining match. Pretty much everything that needs to be said has been said already (and more eloquently than I could), but will just add that Frei thoroughly impressed me today.

 

Finally watched the match last night, even though I had already read all the reports. I understand the reasoning why the Prem doesn't have them do it, but there are times where the referee needs to either issue a statement or talk to a reporter about a decision. Was the call on Kelly or not? If it was on Kelly then it was a horrible call. If it is was on Danny then while disagreeing I could see why the call was made.

Steve McManaman...There are times when I enjoy his commentary, then there are times when... :angry-banghead:
At ManUre he defended the ref not giving the penalty 'It happened so fast, yada yada yada', then kind of admitted that it should of been given when Darke called him out. Then yesterday he said a handful of times that Clattenburg made 'the brave decision'. Then followed it up by saying he couldn't tell if Danny hit the ball?? How small is the monitor in the booth?? He finally set me off by asking Darke if he believed 'in the Big Clubs get the calls nonsense'. Um, what clubs did you play for Steve? Liverpool and Real Madrid?? Of course you would call it nonsense...you got the calls! Old Trafford is the place where refs and linesman go to pay homage to Sir Alex. Even Steve had to admit that it was a blatant offside and dive by Young v QPR. Wigan were hosed not once but twice at Chumpford Bridge on Saturday. Bad calls even themselves out for the majority of clubs, but it's "nonsense" not to admit that the big clubs don't end up in the black by season's end.

Frank Lampard is a complete and utter :angry-cussingblack: