Fulham Alumni Report

Club Brugge have earned three straight wins in their opening Champions League matches against Porto, Leverkusen, and Atletico. Not only that, but they have not conceded a single goal. A remarkable accomplishment that is even more remarkable when you realize Denis Odoi has played all 270 minutes at right back for Brugge.

 

Technically this doesn’t belong here since Jay Stansfield is only out on loan, but HD loved this thread and most certainly would’ve loved this amazing game winner from the 20 year old in his home debut for Birmingham. Forward to approx 6:15 mark. Great first touch and then a cracker.

 

Historic Europa Final, and Ademola Lookman scores a hat trick and Atalanta deals Bayern Leverkusen their first loss of the entire season. Lookman bounced around England Charlton, Everton, Fulham, and Leicester amongst others, but has found a home in Italy, and will forever be a club legend.

 

Except for his embarrassing PK attempt, I have fond memories of Lookman. Although it would have been fun to have seen Leverkusen go undefeated, I was really happy that Lookman put in a legendary performance. Just stunning that they hadn't let a team score three goals all season and then he manages a hat trick.

 

I'm off for the MLK Holiday. While flipping channels I came across some Saudi football. I had no idea anyone was broadcasting it. Rodak and Dembele are in the lineup.

 

Dan Burn achieved "Legendary" status among Newcastle players today. His header at the end of the first half gave Newcastle the lead against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final. Then he was awarded Player of the Match for leading is home team to their first domestic cup title in 70 years. This may have been the best week of his life since he also got his first call-up to the England squad too. Despite being a bit of a gangly oddball, I was disappointed he didn't stick with Fulham after relegation in 2014, but he's shown he can play with the best and I'm glad he's become a hero for the Toon Army.

 

The Championship kicked off this season and some former Fulham players made notable contributions.

Stansfield was Johnny-on-the-spot and scored the first goal in the Championship this season:


Meanwhile Benda's poor distribution gave Josh Sargent the opportunity to score with his butt:


Millwall still won despite the butt goal.

 

So Palhinha - described by The Athletic’s Tim Spiers as “the best hairy-arsed tackler in the Premier League” - has been loaned to Spurs. I guess he couldn’t replicate his Premier League success in the Bundesliga. He’ll probably still get some European exposure with Spurs but I’m curious to see if he returns to his Fulham form or not.

 

REEEEEAAAAAAMMMMMMM!

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/65...c_newsletter&campaign=14519270&userId=7534015

 

That was a great article, but they missed one aspect of Ream's game that I really appreciated when he was in his prime. He would know when to take the space given to him if the opposition dropped off and then as they moved to close him down he would send a ball forward to a midfielder who was now unmarked. Bassey shows moments of that awareness, but often holds the ball too long and tries to do more on his own. Ream could do just enough to knock the opposing defense off balance and unlock things for the Fulham offense.

 

@astroevan, thanks for posting ^^. What an interesting inside look at Ream’s thought process during plays. Didn’t think he had a snowball’s chance to be on next year’s WC squad the second he came back home. I’d say it’s better than 50/50 now.

 

Indeed. You always hear about partnerships on teams (esp related to center backs) but I’ve never delved into it before. It’s really interesting to see that some decisions are not made with regard to the ball carrier, but solely based on the positioning and actions of teammates.

 

Cameron Burgess (from Fulham's Magath era that we don't talk about) had a very special night for Swansea against Forest in the Carabao Cup:

 

What a strike.

 

Haha. Put some cheese on it!

 

Palhinha saves the day for Spurs and breaks Wolverhampton hearts with an injury time goal to get a draw. Unlike most Palhinha goals this was not smashed, but expertly placed into the corner. I wish he was still playing for Fulham, but I'm glad he's been finding success at Tottenham.

 

Brian McBride is taking on a new challenge. This certainly gives me more reason to track the USL and its proposed evolution to more divisions and promotion/relegation.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/67...c_newsletter&campaign=15361657&userId=7534015

(Here's the article. In case you can't read the Athletic)
Brooklyn FC tabs USMNT great Brian McBride as first GM
Tom Bogert
Brooklyn FC has named former U.S. national team great Brian McBride as its first general manager, ahead of its inaugural season in USL Championship next year.

McBride will also oversee the club’s women’s side, which is currently in its second season competing in the Gainbridge Super League, also a USL property.

It’ll mark McBride’s return to a front-office role after having previously been GM of the USMNT from 2020 through the 2022 World Cup.

“It was unique,” McBride told The Athletic of why he joined Brooklyn FC. “Their vision, what they’re thinking – the amount of impact I can have, not just on the sporting side, but on the organization really drew me to it.

“The vision is to build something the community will be proud of. Not just the soccer side. Having something where Brooklyn can go and call their own.”

With McBride leading the group, Brooklyn will now focus on hiring a head coach and filling the club’s inaugural roster ahead of its first match in March 2026. McBride says he expects the coaching search to go quickly and will work with that person to help build the first team squad.

The current USL Championship regular season is wrapping up this weekend before the playoffs kick off. The future of the league is exciting, with owners voting earlier this year to implement promotion and relegation in the future. In doing so, USL will be the first professional soccer league in America to take that leap.

“It’s a great situation for clubs – not great for owners, of course,” McBride said with a laugh. “It makes every game meaningful. MLS has their way and they’re doing great, but USL is committed to doing it (their way). It benefits the players. I experienced it in England and Germany. I think it’s a positive in the end.”

The league is still a ways from that happening and details still need to be finalized. The plan is for USL to implement pro-rel in 2028 when it launches a new first division.

Along the way, Brooklyn plans to get the club off and running to be ready for the next evolution of USL. McBride said the organization is working to secure pre-existing training facilities for the near-term before hopefully building its own in the future. It also aims to have a functioning academy in the future.

For McBride, an all-time great USMNT forward who enjoyed a successful club career largely at Fulham, the Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire, Brooklyn is his first job working for a team since acting as GM of the USMNT through the last World Cup cycle. He feels his experience there will suit him well as he builds Brooklyn from the ground up. One of the players under his watch with the U.S., Tim Weah, was named part of Brooklyn FC’s ownership group back in May 2024.

“Those experiences were very beneficial,” McBride said of his time as USMNT GM. “I wanted to build something that felt like a family. Families argue at times, they have great times together, but everybody has the same goal. That’s my philosophy. That was the case during my time with the national team.”