Fulham at Barnsley

The trip to Oakwell will feature a reunion with a former White near and dear to many hearts (well, at least, Don's), Cauley Woodrow. He featured in their final preseason loss to Sheffield United, 4-1, so I suspect we’ll see plenty of him Saturday. Woodrow scored 16 goals in 31 league appearances for them last season, helping them to promotion from League One. They also have another decent young striker in 26 year old Kieffer Moore, whose numbers were very similar to Cauley's last season. However, best I can tell, none of their defenders started more than 7 games for them last season. Many are brand new to the club. The GK corps also appears to be newcomers. Hmm.
What about Fulham, you ask? The only significant defensive change so far has been the return of Marcus
Bettinelli in goal. Le Marchand, Christie, Bryan and Mawson (until he got hurt) logged the most preseason minutes, along with Odoi. While many new offensive players have been brought in, the defense, which was the obvious issue last season, is pretty much the same. Why? And where is Tim Ream? Amazing that of all the new defenders brought in last season, the only one worth a darn, Calum Chambers, is back at Arsenal, at least for now. And even he turned out better at defensive midfield than the back line. I'm afraid we haven't done enough (yet) to shore up the most porous defense in all of English football last season. Still time to rectify that, but it's looking somewhat bleak. Unless people do a 180 from last season, we could be in the unenviable position of having to try and outscore our opponents. Even then, Barnsley are not highly rated and appear to be ill-equipped to deal with the rigors of the Championship. We should be able to beat them.
Will we? I have no idea. It depends upon a vast improvement from the West Ham performance. I think we can score, but will we be able to prevent them from scoring? I sure hope so.

 

I'm sure that Parker and his staff have most of the answers; they're just holding them close for now. Along those lines, I find it interesting that the official squad numbers haven't been announced yet. Shouldn't the team have to submit an official roster to the FA or something by now?

I'm trying to temper my hopes, but I can't help but have that big fish in a little pond feeling again. Most of the squad has been Championship tested and we finally have some consistency at manager with Parker who has been with the team since 2013 (though he's mostly untested at the manager position). Yes, the defense is unchanged but I have a feeling that they look (and perform) much better than they did versus the Premier League talent last year.

 

Add a proven defender or two and I very much like our chances this year.

 

Best I can tell, they'll be available on ESPN+ all season. At least, I hope so. I've canceled my NBCSN to reacquire it. The schedule INDICATES they'll be on Saturday at 9:55 a.m., Eastern. We'll see, I guess.

 

One of the things I've been thinking about heading into this first match is how more stable things feel this time around than in 2014. Just one player started in both the game against Stoke when Fulham was officially relegated in 2014 and also in the first match of the Championship vs. Ipswich. That player was current manager Scott Parker. Others were on the bench - the aforementioned Woodrow and Joronen. There was almost nothing of the old Fulham left and what was there was managed by a madman.

This time around Fulham could have as many as six players starting who started last season (as high as seven if Sessegnon doesn't exit). In places where we don't have players returning it doesn't feel like things have necessarily gone backwards. Both Knockaert and Cavaleiro are proven Championship players. Bettinelli could have been Fulham's starter over Rico if not for injury. Johansen and McDonald may not be Premier League quality, but they have proven their value in the Championship.

Yet, I share the concerns of Jump. I think about what a miserable defense Fulham had last year and almost all of the same pieces of that defense are returning. Granted, Fulham won't have to face the likes of Salah, Aguero, or Kane, but I'm still not confident they can provide the defense required to compete for promotion. I also wonder what the story is with Ream. I figured when he missed some early pre-season matches it was because of recovering from international duty. I'm not sure what to think now that he missed the last two matches and didn't even appear on the roster.

I'm going into this season with what I hope is clear-eyed realism, but I'm also really happy to get the things going again and see what Fulham can accomplish.

 

This is encouraging. Don’t know how this affects his availability for Barnsley, but at least he’s with the squad.
RREEEAAAMMM!!!

 

The squad is in. http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2019/july/31/squad-numbers

Of note (at least to me):

• Ryan Sessegnon has the 3 shirt for now
• Both young Americans, de la Torre (36) and Fossey (28), look to get some time in cup matches at a minimum
• Five keepers were given a number
• Marcelo Djalo (remember him?) was not given a number

 

Thanks for getting this started Jump. 100% looking forward to our start. I think it was twitter where I read that this is the perfect set up for a "fulhamish" season. Everyone has confidence and no reason they shouldn't be in the mix for the automatic promotion.

 

COYW!! May the yo-yo spin upward.

EDIT: Saw this in the Guardian today and thought "oh my." Still need to address that "soft touch in defence..." - upgrade to heavy petting, at least, this season.

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...p-2019-20-season-preview-fulham-leeds-cardiff

Title challengers
There may not be an overwhelming favourite for automatic promotion but certain teams appear streets ahead in the firepower stakes. None more so than Fulham, who will likely start with an attacking diamond of Aleksandar Mitrovic, a Premier League striker in all but name, Anthony Knockaert, Ivan Cavaleiro and Tom Cairney, a player capable of running games in this division. Fulham deservedly took flak for their lavish and directionless spending last summer but it is impossible to ignore their latest business. They were, though, a soft touch in defence last season, so Scott Parker still has plenty to address, and the expectation will prove a test of his credentials.

 

Thank you sir. Let's hope this season is scads better than the last.

 

Just under 24 hours out. Haven't seen much of the latest from Mostspur anywhere online as to any clues who might be starting, especially on defense. Just DM'ed Ryan O'Donovan, who recently left football.london to ask if he knew who his successor was. If he replies soon, I'll post it here. Even though he hasn't appeared in any preseason action, I've got to believe Ream is still a strong candidate for a start, given the options. Betts, Cairney, Mitro, Knockaert, Cavaleiro, StefJo, McDonald and Odoi are probably locks. After that, I'm not sure at all. Just hope we get really good shifts from the lads that do start. Our experience should carry the day. This ain't this group's first rodeo here.
Oh, and Middlesbrough and the Hatters of Luton Town kick things off this afternoon at 2:45 on ESPN+!
Here we go lads and lasses! Buckle up!

 

https://hammyend.com/index.php/2019/08/mawson-fit-to-face-barnsley/

Alfie is the best CB we have on the books (or he was before the knee issues), probably asking too much for him to stay healthy but it’s August, it’s and time for unbridled optimism

 

Let's get this party started!

Bettinelli
Bryan, Le Marchand, Mawson, Odoi
Cairney, McDonald, Johansen
Cavaliero, Mitrovic, Kamara

Subs: Rodak, Christie, De La Torre, Kebano, Ayite, Knockaert, Fonte

Hopefully the defense stays healthy in this one, because there isn't much to turn to on the bench.

 

Well that sucked. Barely tested the Barnsley keeper. We turned the ball over constantly. Le Marchand still sucks. Positives anybody????

 

I am positive that Barnsley looked like the team that was in the Premier League last season and Fulham were newly promoted. I am not trying to pile on Scott Parker early but did anyone see anything that remotely resembled tactics from Fulham?

I am also positive we were completely outplayed in the middle of the field.

 

Fulham continued their trend from last year of being very good at passing to teammates that are completely covered and padding the pass accuracy stats with lateral and back passes.

Fulham looked like a team that skipped the preseason. Barnsley was much more composed on the ball and were able to complete passes in tight spaces.

Cavaleiro didn’t impress, LeMarchand is still a liability (his horrible miscalculation directly led to the goal and his injury), and all the excitement of having the midfield three back together wasn’t rewarded in the slightest. Nobody in white had a consistent good first touch and I’m not sure they connected on a single headed pass.

Good thing it’s a long season.

 

The only positives I saw were the efforts of Knockaert and Ayite after they came on. Very disappointing opening performance. Barry is right: they looked like the club from the higher league and we looked like we just came up. And the guys who should've been dominating the game, Cairney, K-Mac and StefJo, got punched in the mouth early and often by their younger, inexperienced counterparts in red and offered little to no resistance. Our early first two shots should have at least been on frame, but were nowhere near. After that, we fell apart. The kamikaze defense that was so prevalent last season returned with a vengeance, just as many feared it would. With no significant changes in personnel, why wouldn't it? As for tactics, if there were any, Barnsley simply refused to let us employ them with their superior effort. They came after us high on the pitch, showed a lot more energy than we did, and got a deserved result.
I'm not gonna say Parker is not the man for the job yet, especially after only one match, but he's been in charge for 11 matches now and has only won 3. Except for the 3 straight clean sheets toward the end of last season, there's not much there to judge upon, other than the record. The most damning thing you can say about a head coach or manager is that their team wasn't ready to play today. That's what it certainly looked like at Oakwell.
Bottom line: still a lot of work to do

 

Highlights via Barnsley:

That was also the only positive I took from the match.

For two summer windows Fulham has desperately needed to upgrade its defense and so far they've failed. They better make some upgrades this week or we'll be calculating how many points to safety come April. I know it is only the first match, but there was nothing to provide any encouragement in the game. The only thing that I can hope for is that this is a wakeup call and that Barnsley is better than people think.

As a sign of how little is known going into the season - promotion favorite Cardiff opened with a loss at relegation favorite Wigan. Their new pie mascot must be bringing the magic. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/49206457

And on top of all this we have to deal with some bad fans apparently going after Christie's family at the match: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/49222159