Fulham away to Blackburn

Midweek trip to 7th place Blackburn. The Rovers are no pushovers w/currently the 4th best GD in the league (+7). Anytime I think of Fulham at Ewood Park it’s Jimmy Bullard’s wink before his free kick that earned a draw and a vital point in the Great Escape season. Obviously a win is the goal, but a draw wouldn’t be a poor result.



At the 1:20 mark Jimmy nets the winner against Villa, then The Wink follows.

 

We have most of the team healthy (knock on wood), and Tosin's suspension is the only personnel problem. We should go into this match with confidence. Has anyone heard if he ended up getting the standard 3 matches or if he's at risk of missing more? Part of me hopes the league has some mercy during this time of Covid and is satisfied with just one game, but that's unlikely.

 

I've been looking, but haven't heard anything either. Fulhamish thought it would be three matches, but there wasn't any official confirmation.

This match will be on ESPN+ Wednesday with the kickoff at 3:45pm EDT. Please take note of that time! We are in that confusing period when England is on Standard Time while we are still on Daylight Savings Time so the difference is one hour less than usual.

Blackburn has gotten off to a fairly good start and are coming off of back-to-back wins for the first time this season. They have done very well against the teams in the bottom half of the table with six wins and one draw. They have not done well against teams in the top half of the table with zero wins, four draws, and four losses - although only one of those losses came at Blackpool. All of Blackpool's loses have only been by one goal so they have managed to keep it close.

I expect this to be a close match that comes down to how well the Fulham back line performs without Tosin. The one league match where Tosin didn't play was the disaster against Coventry. That certainly wasn't the only issue Fulham had that day, but it was an important one. Silva has to get this right or it could be a long evening for Fulham.

 

Fulham confirmed today it is a three match suspension. (Blackburn, Peterborough, Barnsley)

 

Yes, 3 matches for Tosin. It just now hit me that he may be the hardest player--other than Mitro--to replace in our starting 11. I can't think of anyone else who doesn't have something close to a like-for-like replacement. We do have a bunch of CBs who can do well next to Tosin, but he's unique with his intelligence, athleticism, and skill. I hope one of the guys proves me wrong today. Or, I won't be surprised if we play with 3 CBs in a 3-4-3. (If I get this lineup right, each of you owes me a dollar, or a pound, a mark, or a yen: Rodak--Mawson, Ream, Hector--Robinson, Reed, Seri, Tete--Reid, Mitro, Wilson.)

 

Remember when I said Blackburn was a solid +7 in GD?? Lol, not anymore. Jump if you would do the honors…

PS. Preston wins at Bournemouth!!!

 

Not bad. We should have scored 9, but 7 will do. And getting to within 2 points of Bournemouth is awesome. But what I enjoyed the most was the image after the game ended of Mitro and Muniz walking off the field behaving like the best of friends -- no jealousy or threatened reaction on Mitro's part. If the locker room stays this unified, we are going up.

 

Wow. Gonna turn up Lesley Gore again right about now.
COYW

 

Can we get seven bananas for that?

Mitro looked like he was asking about Muniz’s first goal and the way he hit it with the outside of his foot.

How many goals have Fulham conceded since Rodak was inserted between the posts?

 

Really glad to see Neeskens get a couple in this onslaught. I’ve always liked the kid’s game, he busts his butt and he’s quite adept at direct free kicks. Personally, I wish he were taking all of them.

 

Some said it wasn't possible to get 7 goals in under 3 minutes of highlights, but they did - and they even worked in one shot from Blackburn:


I felt something today that I've never felt before: I was slightly embarrassed that Fulham scored so many goals! This embarrassment was much better than the kind I felt against Coventry.

There was so much to like about tonight. I think my favorite goal was Wilson's first because I loved the assist from Mitrovic so much - what a pass! But I was also happy to see Kebano score the winning goal just six minutes in and I was happy to see Rodrigo score that beautiful header at the end. When there wasn't scoring going on Hector also served as a good substitute for Tosin. A couple of questionable passes, but overall a good night from him.

The loneliest number: 1

I've got another one: How many goals have Fulham scored in the four games since Cavaleiro last played: 16 (average goals per match with Cavaleiro is 2.3, without is 4.0)

This team looks so good right now and they STILL don't have the best 11 players out there.

 

I don't know if anyone has picked up on this, but we're kinda good.

What a performance.

 

I REALLY want me piece of Bournemouth right now…like RIGHT NOW.

 

I love re-watching these highlights. What a difference a few months makes ... for Mitro. He is no longer that lumbering giant. He is faster and nimbler than I have ever seen him. He sprints now, and even wins an occasional footrace. I wouldn't be surprised if he is in the best shape of his life. Whatever he started doing, he needs to keep doing it.