Fulham at Derby

Fulham takes on Derby in a Friday night match that kicks off at 3pm EDT on ESPN+. On Friday there is a full slate of matches throughout the day on ESPN+ including big games between Luton and Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield and QPR, and Bournemouth and Middlesbrough. Sadly, I'll be at the zoo and miss it all! Those pandas better be worth it!

Derby is near the bottom of the table and given Reading's recent results they are now almost certainly headed for relegation, although overcoming the points deduction was always going to be a huge task. If not for the deductions, Derby would be in 17th place, just in front of Cardiff due to goal differential. In order to avoid relegation they needed to be more like a playoff team than a mid-table team. Derby has been tough to beat at home. They have fewer losses at home than Fulham this season and haven't lost to any team in the top six at home. Derby gave it their all to season to stay up, but it appears they will fall a few points short. Despite that, I still expect them to put up a fight for Fulham in front of the Derby fans.

If Fulham wants to avoid a little nervousness heading into the final five matches they need to get three points out of this one. Time to finish off this season and secure promotion. Just six more points are needed.

 

Forest fell! If Fulham does the job today, we're up!

 

Did not do the job. That was frustrating. It's almost like the team is playing with too much fear, they're holding themselves back.

 

Did not see that coming after getting a lead.

 

Should have been a W. Come on Fulham!

 

Think they're sorta stuck in a strange limbo: promotion is all but clinched (and should have been, ugh...) and they're well in the lead to win the title. However, its close, but not imminent. Some of it is mental at this point.

Additionally, this team looks exhausted. They've played 41 league games with some over 38 caps--thats more than entire Prem season, a league that is known for being too long compared to the continent. Silva hasn't really rotated players outside of CM pairings. They've scored 5 goals in their last 5 games.

 

At least I didn't pass on the trip to see the pandas to watch that. I've got to stop watching matches on replay because they always seem to disappoint which feels worse after waiting so long. The highlights:


I guess this is the Fulhamish way of getting automatic promotion. Start playing your worst football of the year and get your fans thinking about another Premier League relegation before this season is even finished. I don't know what the reason is - tiredness as Timmy suggested, lack of the fire-in-the-belly, change in tactics - but Fulham just isn't playing the same way they did earlier in the season. Fulham was so good before at getting the ball to the outside edges of the box then cutting back into the spot for a great opportunity on goal. I remember seeing that attempted once in this match. Then on the other end Fulham has had two own goals in two matches. Granted, the cross put Tosin in an incredibly difficult position, but these things weren't happening before. The passing up from the back line fell to pieces in the final 15 minutes severely hampering the attempt at a comeback. I also don't understand why DeCordova-Reid was kept in the entire match. His assist on the goal was great, but it stood out as one of the few times he didn't hesitate too long with the ball.

The other results today mean that Fulham doesn't have to worry too much about promotion, but they sure are taking the joy out of it.

 

What the eff lads? Suddenly the clean sheets have disappeared and the goals have dried up. It may not matter in the long run, but it’s disappointing to see. Don’t know what the solution(s) are, but we need to try something different. The last two outings have been poor. Perhaps a bit of fire and brimstone from the gaffer? Sit a few guys next time out to send a message? I don’t know. I guess if you’re gonna have a slump, now’s the best time. But, man, it sucks.

 

We need to go with the lineup that’s produced the best results. For my money that’s Rodak, Ream, Tosin, Jedi, Tete, Reed, Seri, Neeskens, Carvalho, Wilson & Mitro. The wild card there is Tete. He had that long injury spell between mid-August and mid-October, but I think he adds a lot and makes us better when he starts at right back. His availability and use by Marco seems to have been hit and miss since he returned, due to spells of good form by Joe Bryan and then Neco Williams. Neco seems to have cooled after a hot start. To me, Tete just seems the best option there for us.