Fulham @ Citeh in the FA Cup

For which side?

I am also curious to see how Parker approaches this match - especially with seven(!) matches on the calendar in February.

 

Given the injury situation, fixture congestion and opponent I doubt we’ll see anything close to a full strength side.

 

Citeh has a 2nd leg Leg Cup semi final vs ManUre on Wed, so would expect them to prioritize that, and roll out a combo of kids/deep first teamers (not that they won’t be uber talented).

 

I think the most interesting thing to watch for, from our perspective, is whether or not Marcus Bettinelli gets a start. He was certainly expecting to against Villa, then, when he didn't, he apparently voiced some displeasure, and was subsequently replaced on the bench by Magnus Norman for the next league match against Hull City. He was back on the bench for the win vs. Middlesbrough and the draw at Charlton, so he may fancy his chances to have a go at Citeh. Parker may think otherwise, of course, but the man deserves a farewell performance, since it looks like he's on his way out. That's the only reason they would sign somebody like Jordan Archer. Betts deserves as much credit as anybody for our '17-'18 season, and I for one would hate to see him go without another appearance between the sticks for Fulham. Would prefer it be at the Cottage, but it should occur.
And, I agree with Don, no injuries.

 

You may need to revise that score prediction Don.

 

When I saw we were playing man city I knew we would lose.

When I watched our first possession off of kick off I knew it would be bad.

When Ream was sent off I knew this was going to get ugly.

Is it too early for a beer?

 

It always cracks me up when players that commit egregious fouls act shocked to learn that they’ve been whistled for it.

 

Well, as Robert Groves wrote, "Goodbye to All That"

 

10 minutes of groan inducing highlights:


I hope someone in Fulham is paying attention, because if promotion is earned the defense must be upgraded. The club's biggest error in 2018-19 was going into the Premier League with a worse defense than what they had in the Championship, so the need for upgrades should be obvious, but this is one more example of what would happen if they didn't make improvements. And for goodness-sake can Fulham please make better choices about when and how to play from the back?! Ok, ranting done, on to Huddersfield.

 

I lost count of how many times the announcer commented on Fulham playing out of the back saying something along the lines of "they may be able to get away with this in the Championship, but not against a team like Manchester City". I'm pretty sure it was obvious to everyone. I wonder if Parker kept at it with the thought that it would be good practice for the team.

 

He didn't come out and say specifically that it would be good practice. Instead he went straight Jokanovic by saying,

“It would have been easy to come here and surrender possession like a lot of teams do. We could have come here and booted the ball away and kept men on the edge of the box but we didn’t do that.

We lacked some men in the final third which meant we lacked penetration but we showed how we play which pleased me."​

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2020/january/26/scott-parker-man-city-reaction