Fulham vs Ipswich

Fulham hosts Ipswich on Sunday with kickoff at 9am EST on USA. This is a great chance for Fulham to show what kind of team they will be in the second half of the season. If Fulham wants to move up the table then they must win at home against teams in the relegation zone. Ipswich will have a lot of confidence after getting two wins in December including last week's inspirational first home win against Chelsea, so I don't expect this to be easy.

Unfortunately, Fulham will still be without Berge who I had hoped might be available again. Nelson, Tete, and Reed continue their long term absences although Reed is back in training. I wonder if Fulham will keep playing the back five - or is it a back three with wing backs? Either way, the formation with three CBs! I thought at first that maybe they should return to a back four, since generally that would be considered a more attacking shape. But with the three CB formation Fulham scored two goals in both matches, above their 1.5 average for the season. They also gave up three goals over two matches, which is also above their 1.3 average of goals conceded. I know this is only a two match sample, but it hasn't produced the returns you would normally expect from that kind of formation. The back five was fun to watch - it was total football! I remember in the Chelsea match watching Andersen and Bassey working in tandem attacking up the left side! I won't mind if we see it again versus Ipswich. Whatever gets a win is fine with me.

 

Silva has surprised me before, so even if I expect him to name an unchanged starting 11, anything can happen. I feel like against Southampton we signaled not taking the opponent seriously enough by rotating, including starting King (who was the MOTM). Marco might rotate players again, and I would love to see some youth, at least on the bench, but if he does, the Southampton match will serve as a good teaching point.

The back 5 (or 3) has been fun. We played against two very strong teams and looked excellent against both, even if we were unlucky against Bournemouth. I wouldn't mid seeing what the formation does against theoretically weaker opposition. Theoretically, since we've done weirdly poorly against the the bottom feeders. On paper, we should win, but I'm apprehensive.

 

We are supposed to be snowed in tomorrow so I'm probably gonna add USA since I'll have plenty of free time tomorrow. Let's go boys.

 

So frustrating. We can't break down teams that sit back and counter. If Marco can crack this nut, hello Europe. If not, not. (Sidenote: a police report could be written about the quality of the officiating.)

 

I'm really glad I couldn't watch this match because just the highlights had me thrashing in exasperation for 10 solid minutes. This is only based on those highlights, but Fulham seemed all over the place. There were a series of unforced errors on that first goal. Smith Rowe seemed to have no idea where the goal was. Set plays continued to disappoint.

Then there were those calls. Thank goodness VAR got the call right on that clear foul on Wilson. But then it totally blew it on Ipswich's penalty. Maybe, MAYBE, Castagne's toe touched the players foot, but come on! It was certainly not enough to cause both legs to flip into the air.

I'm no longer satisfied with a point. This was a flat out disappointment, pretty much as bad as a loss.