Fulham at Cardiff City

The bottom line? That's two losses in a row.
Let's move on, shall we?
Cardiff, of course, were relegated along with us and Huddersfield Town last season.
The local scribes are still atwitter over Swansea's 6-nil thrashing of Cambridge United in their Carabao Cup match this week.
Yawn.
They've got three major players out with knocks, so we don't have to worry about them this go around: Marlon Pack, Matt Connolly and Danny Ward.
They, of course, lost to Don's Luton Town Hatters in the league cup 3-nil...AT HOME.
The Bluebirds are 2-1-2, a mixed start, with a -2 GD and major scoring issues. They've struggled to beat Luton, previous to this week's embarassment, and Huddersfield, who look to be favorites for the double relegation pools. But, we alwasy seem to have trouble at their place, so I doubt this trip will be an exception. The question for me is, will crazy Neil Warnock try to press us up high on the pitch with his available troops? It seems to be our Achilles heal, as Southampton did it, albeit to the 2nd string, to great effect, whilst Millwall, to my knowledge, did not. If he doesn't, I look for us to get lots of possession and plenty of scoring opportunities. We are due for some clinical finishing, and I think this team has the cahones to bounce back from stupid losses. I believe they'll do just that.

 

This is a good match for Fulham to get right before the break. Opposition will start a backup keeper. Reid won't be available, but other than that it looks like Parker mostly has his choice for a lineup. I think jumpkutz may have winkled Warnock's best bet which is to press and try to jumpstart his weak offense (<1 goal per match). I expect scoring from Mitro and Cavaleiro, and I hope for Cairney to get some shots off. COYW!

 

Frustrating match. Possession, shots, and chances all in Fulham's favor but the hard work was all undone by Harry Arter's lack of control. His yellow cards were unnecessary reactions to losing the ball (in the first case) and getting his first yellow (in the second case). Granted, the officiating missed a few offside calls for sure. A single point seems unsatisfactory but at least Mitro's goal was the result of great positioning, passing, and inspiration by Cairney, Cavaleiro, and Mitrovic.

A long break until West Brom on September 14th which will be on ESPN+ as well.

 

After the match Parker complained about the second yellow Arter got. That's unfortunate, because he totally deserved the yellow and I don't think Parker should be giving him a strong defense.

I think Arter has played well on defense (when he doesn't lose his head) but his passing isn't great and his shooting is worse. I'm interested to see who and how they play West Brom after the break since Arter will be on suspension.

 

What the hell was Arter doing out there? That dive was something else, but it kind of summed up his game today.

I think Steven Sessegnon shows promise, but if we are making a go at promotion this year, then he should be used sparingly.

On a positive note, Ream looks terrific out there and I can't say enough positive things about Cavaliero. Also Joe Bryan seems to be involved in the bulk of our quality offensive chances.

I still need to see a couple more games to get a realistic view if we can get promoted.

 

Always happy for an away point. COYW

And, try Route 66, HD.

 

You are correct on all counts. I like seeing Bryan and Cairney making deep runs while Cavaleiro and Mitro work for position. With consistent service we will probably be seeing more scoring in future matches. I think we would have seen a second goal yesterday if the squad had not been down a man for twenty-five minutes.

I want Fulham to earn promotion without going the playoff route, so I will pull out my lucky Mitro jersey for the West Brom matchup. If they win, I'll wear it every match until they lose again.

 

Short highlights via Cardiff:


When watching the match I kept thinking Mitrovic was going to go to ground in the build up to the goal. He had guys all over him and recently he seems to go down looking for a foul in those situations. I'd rather he stay on his feet like he did here. I remember when he first came to Fulham he bullied his way into the box taking all sorts of abuse to get goals and sometimes now I feel like he's looking for a call too often. This felt like the Mitro of old - but I really shouldn't be complaining, he's got 5 goals in 6 matches!