Fulham vs. Elton John’s team

Watford visit the Cottage in the EARLY match on Saturday. For me, this one boils down to one simple issue: don’t let Troy Deeney beat you. I’d really like to see the defense sorted out. No more excuses. Let’s get Marcus some help back there. A clean sheet would be nice, too. Don’t know if Ream is fit enough to be named, much less start, but I gotta believe we’ll be much better when he returns to the pitch. From what I’ve seen so far, his dribbling and passing skills are far superior to the new lads we’ve been running out, and he certainly knows what Slav wants, so the sooner, the better. Still, you don’t want to rush a back problem. As the right honorable gentleman from Warrick mentioned elsewhere, they can be very tricky, and frustrating. Setbacks usually last much longer than a leg or shoulder, so extra caution is required.

 

While Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters call for victory, this is a very tough match at home for Fulham - hope we don't all leave the match saying goodbye to the yellowbrick road of the Cottage singing God is dead and the war's begun...Slava better bring the family down to the riverside ready to play from the get go.

Preview from a reputable fish wrap: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/7294...bounce-back-from-first-premier-league-defeat/

 

Just be glad we didn't go with dirty yellow road unis this season.

 

Watford ARE in good form at the moment. 5th in the table, they've won 4 of the first 5 out of the gate, losing only to ManUre just before the break, beating Brighton, Burnley, Palace and Spurs, with a cup victory over Reading sandwiched in. There aren't any easy outs in this league anymore. The Blackpools and Wigans are long gone. Bad days aren't allowed. You'll get embarrassed.

 

Their Fulham starting lineup has only 10 players. Doubt that Slav will forget to name a full 11.

 

A few things to note:

• This one starts early, so don't be caught snoozin'. Kickoff at 7:30 EDT/4:30 PDT
• It will be on NBCSN
  
• Ream and Cairney are still not ready
• This will be Fulham's 500th 1st division match. They are the 15th English team to reach that milestone
• This is Jokanovic's first time facing Watford since they decided not to retain his services as manager after earning promotion in 2015

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45530714
Confession time: I came to the Fulham party kind of late so I've actually been a fan of Troy Deeney for longer than I've been a fan of Fulham. I became a Deeney fan after he scored in the best finish to any football match I've ever seen. I know I've posted this before, but I always find it fun to watch:

 

Almost game time. Here's the lineup:

Bettinelli
Fosu-Mensah, Chambers, Mawson, Sessegnon
McDonald, Johansen, Seri
Vietto, Mitrovic, Schurrle

Subs: Rico, Christie, Odoi, LeMarchand, Anguissa, Ayite, Kamara

Only the right side of defense changes with Odoi and Christie on the bench. My only complaint is that I'd always prefer to see Sessegnon up top but Joe Bryan isn't even on the bench.

 

Managed to wake up 5 minutes in...DOH!! I can see why Watford are 4th in the table. There’s a cutting edge about them. Pretty fortunate Fosu-Mensah avoided a red card (he was poor throughout the first half). Hoping for a better 45 coming up.

 

Very bright 2nd half (Fosu & Vietto much better). I would’ve taken a point at HT, but a little bummed we didn’t take all 3.

**And it was great to see Deuce & his wife back at The Cottage.

 

Back to eat crow. I’ve been down on Viettto all season, but he showed real quality. Was arguably the best player on the field in the second half.

But it’s sad that Odoi seems to be our best center back right now. Praying for Tim Ream to get fit ASAP.

 

Tale of two halves. Pretty disappointing in the first and pleased in the second. Need to play the full 90 like the second. Caveat: still need improvement on the backline which played better in the second but still a bit shaky on multiple occasions. A point was fair. We had some close calls to score the winner and they could have capitalized on a couple boneheaded defensive mistakes IMO (plus I think Bettinelli had some quality saves). Agree, we need Ream back to stabilize the back line.

 

Saw a good chunk of the first half live, just finishing up watching the 2nd half on the replay.
First things first. It was great to see Deuce back at the Cottage. He'll always be my favorite Fulham player. His number 23 should be retired and they should build a statue of him outside the Hammersmith End of the Haynes Stand on Stevenage Road.
Right now, I'd take the starting 11 from the Wembley match against Villa in May over any of the new guys. I expecting growing pains from so many new players, but this is a bit much. The defense is all over the place. We need Ream back, yes, but right now, Bryan, Christie and Fosu-Mensah haven't begun to fill the shoes of Matt Targett and Ryan Fredericks. And Chambers, Mawson and Le Marchand haven't proven better than Odoi and Ream, or even Kalas and Ream. We need some steady, experienced hands to right the ship, and if we take our lumps from the Big Six with them in there, so be it. But we need to start beating some of the teams we're supposed to beat, or it could get ugly. Vietto was better, but he needs to follow that up with some consistency. And I don't care who else we've got for left back, we've GOT to get Sessegnon back upfield closer to the goal. That's where his future is, and that's where we need him to be the difference maker he is.

 

Watford has 16 minutes of highlights available on their website: https://www.watfordfc.com/matches/highlights/highlights-fulham-1-1-watford I'm a broken record: why can't you do the same Fulham!

Shorter embedible highlights:

 

Because that would adversely affect the club's revenue stream (typed with a straight face and fingers dripping with sarcasm).