2022 Summer Transfer Window

There is a bone or two I'd pick with the author, but worth skimming nonetheless.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...er-survival-plan-for-new-premier-league-teams

 

Dang. How did Forest manage to get Neco?

 

They were willing to pay 16 million pounds. Is Neco worth it? I think he is, but I'm probably in a minority among the Fulham fandom. Also, we may need to be mindful of the money we spend due to FFP, but I don't have the numbers to show either way. Perhaps someone else here has those.

 

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/july/11/andreas-pereira-joins-fulham/

Andreas Pereira signing is official.

 

We were lined with Pedro a while ago. Here’s a feature about him: https://www.espn.com/soccer/brazil-...riker-pedro-could-be-brazils-world-cup-bolter.

“Slow.” Not sure his skill set would translate to England, particularly to the Premier League.

 

Where’s the fun in that?

 

At least we’re signing players, instead of waiting to see what low hanging fruit is left after the big boys get who they want. That’s encouraging, especially since both appear to be defensive midfielders. Still need help for the back four but, encouraging.

 

Pereira is more offensive. Shahid Khan said in the interview on the club website that there are two announcements pending "formalities." I assume one is Solomon. The other?

@BarryWhite We all know that any and all calamities are the sole fault of Tony Khan. I won't be convinced otherwise.

 

I've seen links that say Fulham are pretty close to signing Kevin Mbabu. Though I also just saw that Leno was left off Arsenal's USA tour. Who knows though.

And I have said before that regardless of the timing, I thought Fulham ended up with a pretty solid list of signings.... I mean loanees last time in the Premier League. It is better that these deals are getting done earlier and they are permanent (so far), but yes, it is all Tony Kahn's fault nevertheless.

 

Leno was included. https://www.arsenal.com/news/squad-named-us-tour

Mbabu would be nice. Solid player. As for CBs, Chancel Mbemba is a free agent, most recently played for FC Porto so Marco is aware of him, has Prem experience, and is good friends with Kebano. I'm surprised I haven't seen his name mentioned as someone we're interested in.

Bonus: an interesting article about Neeskens Kebano - https://www.the-sun.com/sport/3424618/kebano-fulham-championship-table/.

 

Tyrese Francois has signed a new contract with Fulham that has him at the club until 2024. I wonder what they are planning to do with him. He barely played for the senior squad last season in the Championship and I can't imagine him breaking into Fulham's midfield in the Premier League.

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/july/16/new-deal-for-francois/

 

If he is not in the current season plans hopefully they have a loan lined up for him. He needs 1st team matches every week.

 

A good thing there wasn't a Fulham - Benfica match thread here. Nothing to say about it that hasn't been said in general. We're playing Liverpool in 20 days.

 

If yesterday’s match wasn’t a obvious indication that the back line needs reinforcing, then I don’t know what is. Clearly the team isn’t even ready for Portugal’s top flight, let alone England’s.

 

I agree Don, but he probably walked away with a longer list of things to work on than he was hoping for.

 

The loss is not the issue. It's the nature of the loss that is so concerning. I watched the match and spent almost all of it telling the tv to give me something to cheer for or at least feel good about. Mitro's goal was the only action that provided that for me.

I realize that it was the first match for most of the team and there were two new players in the midfield, but Fulham were lagging in every aspect of the game. They had control issues, fitness issues and, most of all, defensive issues. Nearly every Benfica goal was a tap in due to the back line being too slow and/or out of position and the midfield not tracking back enough. All this was accomplished with Fulham's current starting 11 (more or less). I'm not sure about the team put forth by Benfica, but after winning the first half, they switched out most (if not all) of their players - then went on to win the second half as well.

 

Yes. Also, Benfica is also in preseason. Their season starts the same weekend ours does.

I thought Wilson did as well as possible, given the circumstances. Bryan was ok in the first half before a collapse in the second (fitness). Cairney was our best player in the first half before completely disappearing in the second (fitness). Mitro still knows where the goal is, but huffed and puffed (fitness). Palhinha and Pereira will need time to adjust to the system, but I am optimistic about them. As it was, the spacing in the midfield was all over the place, and no one was tracking the late runners. This will improve. Pereira has a nasty side, and I love that, as long as he doesn't get stupid red cards. Palhinha isn't really an upgrade on Reed, but the competition will do them both good. Bobby is an honest player and worked as hard as he could. Kebano offers more trickery, and I think is the better option until we see what Solomon can do. We didn't play our best keeper; had Rodak played, he might have saved some more shots, and perhaps helped the defense organize.

That was on the glass half-full side. But then:

We have only one marginally Prem-ready CB (Tosin) (baring an academy phenom stepping up--not entirely impossible; I liked what I saw in the Nice highlights), and not a lot of time to waste. Ream...has a great personality to go along with his complete lack of speed. Tete's performance was also concerning for me. He definitely does have the quality to play in the Prem, but will need to find the form in the next 18 days. Gazzaniga doesn't save anything unless it's hit straight at him. The only defensive player, other than the first-half Bryan, who came out looking ok-ish was Robinson, but he didn't get many minutes. Guys faded early in the second half and let Benfica's B team walk all over them; if Benfica's bench had finished as well as their starters, the score would have been more lopsided.

But I don't think any of the latter is any surprise to anyone. The team will gel more and the players will be fitter by the time of the Liverpool game, including Palhinha, Pereira, and Solomon. If we get other new bodies in this week, that may be enough time to assimilate them, too (praying for a CB). I'm not counting on getting a result from the Liverpool game, but I want us to put up a real fight. After Liverpool, we get two games we need to take some points from, or it will be a very long fall again. After these first three games, we get Arsenal, Brighton, Tottenham, and Chelsea. If we don't build confidence against Wolves and Brentford, we could find ourselves bottom of the table and pointless seven matches in (we lost the first six the last time up, and we remember what happened).

I love being a Fulham fan. It is never boring.

 

I was out of the country and had thought about starting one, but vacationing got the better of me! Anyway, Fulham was nice enough to post fairly thorough highlights of both matches so far in the tournament in case you didn't watch the matches:





While I was on my way back from vacation I was able to snap this picture of Craven Cottage from 32,000 feet. I was surprised that the old stands were still the most noticeable feature despite the larger new stand. The new one just blended in with the background. It was a very Fulham moment because as I took this picture my wife was watching the only episode of House Hunters International that our United flight offered - it was the one where a couple looked for a house in Fulham!

 

@MicahMan Until I figured out that was taken from the north, I had a few where-is-Waldo minutes. Great pic!