Fulham at ManUre

If we were ever gonna get 'em, now would've been the time. We may yet still this time, but it will take a giant leap of progress and a particularly hideous effort from them to do it. It's not out of the question, but it's more probable than it was, say, even a month ago. We were so close to getting all 3 against Leicester, and the squad know they outplayed them, decisively, in the second half. Is this the breakthrough week? Probably too early. But I look for us to put in a good effort. Old Trafford is probably the second most famous pitch in England, and the young guys won't be quite so starry eyed like they were at Wembley against Spuds. Plus, we're starting to gel a bit. And, most importantly, defend. These guys are having trouble scoring for some reason, so let's hope we've improved enough to frustrate them even more. The Special One is off his meds or something, and if we can pull off a stunner, he may be gone. We're close to putting some decent team play together, it's just a question of when. Maybe Saturday? We can hope.

 

Ugh. The exact opposite of what I hoped would happen happened. If there were a stat for passes completed to your opponent, we'd lead that one too. The entire effort was reminiscent of our start this season under Joka. A definite step back for Ranieri. He doesn't have the luxury of trying to sort players and combinations out in matches anymore. Today, as it turned out, he had to cover for our most improved player of late, Chambers, but that doesn't begin to explain what happened on the pitch. Bottom line: the defense is still THE issue. And it appears no closer to to being resolved than it did the day they sacked Slav. Never really expected to win this match, but I thought we'd compete for a point.
We didn't compete, in any phase of the match.

 

Never have I been so happy to go to the DMV (wife misplaced her DL). Watched the opening 20 minutes and could tell it was going to be a whoopin. @HatterDon, sorry I couldn’t be there to commiserate, I’m sure there was plenty to laugh at. Give it to our supporters for the chant of the day at Mou (per the espnfc match report) ‘You’re not that special, we lose every week!’ Sigh, turn the page and get ready for the next one.

 

I couldn't watch the match so instead I was out with my 16 year-old as he drove our manual transmission car on his first extended trip. Sadly, watching Fulham was apparently more stomach churning than a teenager fighting with a stick shift. All I had to watch were these extended highlights:



Some thoughts based on the highlights:

• Rico had his worst match in quite a while (some others who watched the full match said he played well so maybe these highlights weren't representative). He had a chance at stopping the first goal, but instead he alligator-armed it. On the last goal he didn't take a step and instead acted like his feet were in a bucket of cement so that he couldn't close the gap. Then there was that horrible clearance straight to two United players that should have been converted into a goal.
• The officiating hurt Fulham in two ways - the second goal should have never happened because United was offside. Then there was Anguissa's second yellow. I think the official was convinced by the home crowd that he had made the wrong call on the PK, so he made amends by sending off Anguissa. Anguissa didn't do anything wrong. He got pulled over and rightly laid on the ground like a rag doll rather than kicking out or shoving Rashford. If he decides to appeal I think he has a good shot at avoiding a suspension.
• As for the penalty call, I think that was correct. The announcers thought it shouldn't have been given because they only focused on Kamara's left leg, but it was his right leg that he planted for the shot that was taken out before the ball was touched.
• Fulham looked ragged and disorganized on the back line. Putting in yet another lineup doesn't help the situation, so despite this performance I wouldn't mind giving this four another chance against West Ham. I also wonder if there was something that could have been done tactically to counter Manchester United's attack - maybe Ranieri thought Fulham matched up better after seeing United struggle the past few weeks, but that wasn't the case

Fulham needs to pick up a bunch of points in the four remaining December matches (three against teams currently in the lower half of the table). Things have gotten better under Ranieri, but the bottom end of the table is still starting to pull away after Cardiff and Burnley got wins this week. As bad as things have been Fulham hasn't been too far away from escaping relegation. A poor showing in December will be a severe dent in any hopes to stay up

 

Do y’all think Jose would start Pogba if he knew his kit could be bought in Louisville, Kentucky?