Fulham v Luton Town

What should’ve been a celebration for our man from San Antonio (Fulham v Luton in the top flight? Surely you jest..and don’t call me Shirley).

@HatterDon won’t be far from our thoughts this Sat. Would give just about anything to read his posts this week.

As for the 2 hours, hope our lads aren’t the ones to give them their first points. Disappointed that Horvath’s loan wasn’t purchased and he would be getting valuable Prem time for the Hatters.

 

Fulham really needs to get three points from this one to avoid feeling like they are headed for a relegation fight. Luton has played one fewer match than Fulham since their home game against Burnley was postponed for further improvements to their grounds. That meant their matches before the break were pretty tough - Brighton, Chelsea, and West Ham. Fulham can't look at their zero points and underestimate them.

Fulham comes into this match with a number of positives. Palhinha will be back and hopefully in a good state of mind. Raul had a good international break with a bunch of goals for Mexico. Fingers crossed everyone will be healthy if Cairney and Lukic have recovered. The biggest concern I have is Ream. Given his less than great performances both in the Premier League and internationally, I'd like to see Bassey get the start.

Luton will come out fighting, but Fulham needs to go out there, score early, and then control the match for a solid win.

 

Everybody needs to bring their shooting boots - the collective must pick up the load that Mitro carried.
COYW

 

I have seen Ream play this year, and I acknowledge that many people who know the game well have said he's declined, but I just haven't seen a significant drop-off. Especially in the league. The red card against Brentford mars his record, but it was bogus. The Man City game shall never be mentioned again--we were shafted, and Ream got a goal in it. He was one of the better players on the field against Tottenham in the cup. Against Everton, Leno helped out both him and Diop, but overall he didn't play poorly.

The Uzbekistan game was ugly for Tim, but it's one game, and it was ugly for everyone.

Signed: Ream Stan

 

As my Grandpa told me when I Iirst learned to play golf.. There aint no pictures on the scorecard. 3 points in the account.

 

Way too passive on offense. If you got points for number of completed passes going backwards on your opponent’s side of the field between the midfield line and the 18 yd line extended we’d have been in great shape. The Hatters played the match on their terms and had the better scoring chances, especially in the first half. A tepid effort for us. We were fortunate to get the lone goal and the three points. I’ll make this prediction: Vinicius and Iwobi will start against Palace at Selhurst Park next Saturday. A fortunate but welcome three points today. They don’t come with asterisks, so I’ll still be happy about that.

 

Marco Silva is the best manager Fulham has had in a long time, but I think he got out-coached today despite the win. As @SoCalJoe said, the Hatters played this match on their terms and were unlucky to not at least get a goal. Luton was very good at clogging up passing channels so I desperately wanted Fulham to do two things: 1) When Luton did get forward Fulham needed to counter attack immediately rather than taking time to get set up and thus allowing Luton to get back as well. 2) When attacking, run the ball to the byline and cut it back into the middle to help get corners and cause more chaos in the box. Thankfully they did start to do these things in the second half most notably when Willian took the ball to the byline and cut it back in for Vinicius's eventual goal. The game Fulham was playing in the first half would have been totally fine if Tete had scored on that early header, but when it was still 0-0 it was too plodding.

I was frustrated, but still really happy to get the win. Palhinha left no doubt about his dedication out there. He was fantastic and quickly had everyone chanting his name again. Iwobi was a bit bonkers - he caused both good and bad excitement by creating chances for both teams. I'd still like to see more of him. I also thought Castagne played well in his first start.

My thoughts were on @HatterDon during the match, especially when "his boy Cauley" came in as a sub. I think Don would have been happy with the Fulham win but also proud of how Luton played - and how well the Luton fans sang their displeasure with the refs.

Highlights if you need them:

 

I wouldnt go as far as to say he was out-coached, but the match definitely exposed a flaw in our offensive scheme and current personnel.

Things we knew heading into this match:

• Silva & Co dont have the fullbacks getting to the byline (sorta the anti-Slav)
• We always play with one up top, even post Mitro
  
• Our wingers like to drift in as if they are wide #10s, and rely on their pace to beat their man
• Set-pieces, and lesser so crosses, are important to our offense
  
• We have always struggled against a low block, even in the Championship when were light years ahead of 22 other teams.

Enter Luton and their 10-0-0 defensive shape and, well, a 1-0 is probably an expected result. Was it enjoyable in any way? No! We had two shots on target! Ok so did Luton, but all of their 7 total shots were inside the box, only garnering an xG of 1.1.

What wasnt expected, although in retrospect it makes sense, is Willian simply doesnt have that first step to get a yard or two of separation from his man that he magically had last season.