Regarding the backline, I’ve seen a number of references to Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal, a 20 year old center back with Rennes. Apparently he is willing to move but Rennes did not like Fulham’s initial offer. I like the idea considering none of the current defenders are less than 26 years old.
If we pay more than 20 million for a 20-yo CB, that means Arbeloa doesn't think de Fougerolles can hack it in the Prem. And if he cannot, then we'd better get someone who can. Andersen is getting even slower and more error-prone. Can Cuenca play on the right side?
I paid the $10 to watch the Malaga - Fulham game on Fulham TV.
It felt just like watching any of last season's games. Too slow and predictable in possession. Too prone to a dumb mistake in defense.
Bright spots, mostly from the first half:
Gonzalo. He got no service, but one could see the quality was there.
Sess. Excellent.
Bobb. Some good moments, though he faded.
My attention waned in the second half.
That is a bit of a bummer to hear that Fulham still have some of the same weak spots that were around last season. Thanks for sharing @Daddude7 . Can we count Castagne as a bright spot too with two assists?
I should have mentioned Castagne. He did well going forward. Im probably guilty of some bias here, as I tend to worry about him on the defensive side.
I just saw the highlights. Gentleman Jim was fairly subdued. They managed two goals - something they failed to do in 25 of their Premier League matches last year. So it wasn’t all bad.
I think the funniest thing is the dispute over whether they should’ve had a penalty shootout or not. Apparently Fulham didn’t think so and left the field. Malaga then took a penalty into the empty net and claimed the Costa del Sol trophy.
Gentleman Jim was fairly subdued.
He's been very quiet in all the matches he's called so far this season. Saving himself up I imagine for "The Other Team from Fulham" in week 1. Jaime called today's match against Stuttgart and was much more animated - I think that was just personal preference, but maybe it was the quality of play?
From the highlights Fulham did have some good moves going forward. I especially like what I've seen from Palacios and I'm thinking he may have more value for Fulham that what I first suspected.
Fulham played without Andersen as they will need to a week from Monday. I think Arbeloa will probably put out the same starting XI when Fulham kicks off and he made minimal use of subs with only Charles getting more than 10 minutes off the bench. This was a pretty good way to close out the pre-season - a clean sheet, a win, no injuries, and an all-around solid performance from the looks of it.
Less than a week to go...
I think some defensive help should be brought in. We need another Diop - someone who can fill in well in sparse opportunities. De Fougerolles still needs regular playing time to develop, so I don't want to see him wasting away on the bench every week.