Fulham at Blackpool

This may be a tricky one, despite Blackpool sitting on 2 points and in a relegation spot. Silva will have to solve a large number of selection problems due to injuries and international window fatigue. I'm uncertain if COVID quarantine applies to those returning from high-rate countries, or if testing is considered sufficient. Either way, it may be safer to play academy kids for a weekend than risk spreading this shit to the whole club. It's no joke. My coworker lost his father to it two weeks ago, and my niece, just 10, is fighting it right now.

It's possible, we will be without all of these players: Rodak, Tete, Kongolo, Ream, Christie, Robinson, Kebano, Wilson, Seri, Reid, Mitro.

Assuming all of these will sit out, I think we'll see a deserved start for Bryan, Mawson next to Tosin in the CB spots, and Odoi on the right. If Reed is healthy, he should start. Probably also Onomah, and one of Francois (I hope) or Chalobah (if match-fit). Carvalho may be moved to a wing, and Cavaleiro may get a shot at the other wing. I would like to see Stansfield lead the line from the start, but we'll probably see Muniz, and I'll have no big argument with that.

I think we win, but not as decisively as we might at full strength. Thoughts?

 

I share those thoughts. With so many players being called up for international duty Fulham is almost TOO good . The official team news did have a slightly shorter list of players who might not be ready to play, but it was still substantial - Wilson, Mitrovic, Ream, and Robinson - with Tete, Cairney, and Kongolo out for certain.

However, Blackpool is a team that even a less than 100% Fulham should beat with all the talk about how much of the "bench" could get a starting role on most other Championship teams. Blackpool has lost both matches at home so far, against Cardiff and Coventry, and have even failed to score in either of those matches. They have yet to win at all with just two points from draws at Bournemouth and Bristol City. Not a great return to the Championship after a 6 year absence. The last time Fulham and Blackpool played in the Championship was in April 2015 when Fulham got all three points after traveling to Blackpool who were already assured of relegation to League One.

Apparently the game had been scheduled for coverage on ESPN+, but a late change means it will no longer be shown. Video will be available through FFCTV, but without commentary from Gentleman Jim. I think the only one here who may not be dissapointed with this change is @HatterDon since now the Luton match will be shown instead.

 

Dang. I was looking forward to catching the replay in the afternoon.

 

A lot of guys who featured regularly on their international squads get a start today:

Gazzaniga
Odoi, Tosin, Ream, Robinson
Seri, Onomah
DeCordova-Reid, Quina, Cavaliero
Mitrovic

Subs: Rodak, Mawson, Bryan, Chalobah, Reed, Kebano, Muniz

I'll be interested to see how Quina does and I hope we get a look at Muniz and Chalobah too. I'm waiting to catch the FFCTV replay on this one so I'll be isolating myself from Fulham news for most of the day.

 

Didn't see the game. The first one I missed this season.

From the descriptions it sounds like we were really flat. Perhaps the players took too much for granted, given the opponent? Can't make that mistake against Birmingham on Wednesday.

 

So this is all YOUR fault!! You can't let this happen again - watch all the games!

Well I can't believe I waited over 24 hours to watch THAT. In the first part of the match Fulham looked over confident. They were trying tricky passes that didn't work out and failing in attempts to beat Blackpool players one-on-one when playing out of the back under pressure. Credit to Blackpool that they effectively kept the high press on through the entire match. It was especially problematic without Wilson or Carvalho (who GJ said missed the match due to a minor injury) to chase down balls sent over the top. Those two can do things that Cavaleiro and DeCordova-Reid simply are not capable of. That lack of an outlet combined with sloppy play meant Fulham were lucky to not be behind at the half.

Robinson had his worst game since the opening match with poor passing and questionable decision making. If you watch the build-up to the goal, Fulham stops playing defense and lets a Blackpool player pick up the ball near midfield and then run all the way into the box and shoot with almost no pressure except for Robinson and Seri deciding to run along with him in the box. Robinson needed to take on that player rather than letting him have a free run.

Quina was a mixed bag. He had a couple of good runs and dangerous passes, but clearly wasn't on the same page as other players - hopefully that will improve over time since he's barely even practiced with those who were on their international squads.

Muniz had a couple of half-chances, but didn't couldn't manage anything threatening. In fact, Fulham rarely seemed to create good chances - instead settling for flinging shots wide from outside the box. Meanwhile Blackpool had half as many shots and needed just the one on target.

On the plus side, I appreciated that Silva made changes relatively early. They ended up not making a difference, but it was a good decision. Also, the rest of the matches worked out favorably for Fulham with West Brom and QPR both drawing. It is still ridiculously early in the season, but nice to still be in an automatic promotion spot.

If anyone is still looking for highlights, here is Blackpool's link since they allow for embedding videos:

 

In recent past seasons, I welcomed international breaks. This season, I dreaded this one. This performance, unfortunately, verifies that feeling. I haven't seen any of the video, and I probably won't seek it out. Just gonna chalk it up as a one off anomaly, and hope we can offset it with an undeserved victory down the line somewhere. I don't know if that's even possible because, before this, WE were someone else's undeserved victory. I re-watched some of the Milwall match last night and noted how much Tete's presence in the lineup affected our high quality of play. I hope he regains fitness quickly, because he seemed to be a real difference maker upon further review. Bottom line, we're still the class of the league, and I expect a much better performance and different outcome Wednesday night at St. Andrews.