Fulham vs. Liverpool

Fulham faces Liverpool at Craven Cottage on Sunday with kickoff at 10am EST on USA Network.

I fear this match is coming too quickly for Fulham given the current state of the squad. Fulham is close to fielding a full XI of formerly starting plaers who are currently unavailable. The list is long: Bassey, Chukwueze, Iwobi, King, Muniz, Sessegnon, and Tete. Fulham got the better of Liverpool last season with four points, but I'll be shocked if Fulham gets anything from this match. The schedule and injuries have stretched Fulham to the limit, and to their credit the squad still managed to get points recently, but I just think this is too big of an ask.

 

Yeah, I'd love a couple more days for our short squad to rest or return.

 

I think the best we can hope for is that Liverpool underwhelms in attack again (as they did against Leeds) and the match finishes in a low scoring draw. Silva’s preferred lineup with both Lukic and Berge starting just doesn’t score.

^^Scratch that^^

The lineup just came out as I was typing. Silva is going with three on the back line - Diop, Johansen, and Cuenca - while dropping Berge. He is also replacing Kevin with Cairney in the attacking third. It will be interesting to see how much Robinson and Castagne get up and down the wings. But this is a more versatile setup allowing Fulham to sit with five at the back at times when necessary and shift more players forward when coordinating an attack.

 

Can’t wait for the every angle montage of the Reed goal!

 

I feel this one deserves a dancing banana! What a lightning bolt from #6!

 

That was an amazing goal from our Harrison Reed! Also, no matter how I look at Liverpool's first, I still can't see how it was onside, but a draw seems like a fair result. I was hoping for 3 points on my birthday, but will take the one.

In the absence of so many, the guys that are here are stepping up. Everyone put in really good work, and it's hard to single out a specific player. There was a time not so long ago that I though we would be worried about relegation for the rest of the season, but I think we now have a more realistic shot at European places than we did at this time last year, especially as we get the injured and AFCON players back. And if we can add a couple of key signings this month, we'll have a real chance of moving up the table. More importantly, the board's willingness to invest will likely determine whether Silva signs the new contract, and I think it's worth overpaying a few million pounds to make that happen.

 

To quote Tom Cairney... "What the fuck was that?!"

That Reed goal. Magical. Maybe even more than that. Reed famously doesn't score. And to put in that shot. I never ever saw that coming. And clearly neither did the Liverpool defenders who showed absolutely no concern when Reed had the ball at his feet. Well, he showed us. Reed will likely finish with one goal this season, but it will certainly be in contention for the best of the season.

Two games in a row with late point-saving goals from old-school players. Fulham is playing the classics!

Okay, the rest of the match..

When the lineup came out I had a similar reaction to @astroevan . I hadn't thought of a back five, but given the opposition and the available players it really made a lot of sense. I've been very critical of Silva's lineups recently, but he certainly got it right today.

What a season Harry Wilson is having. His shot was absolutely brilliant. A laser beam into the far corner from the opposite side of the box. And credit to Raul too since he's still being productive when I'm not even sure how he's able to stand upright with all the minutes he's been playing. The two of them really deserved another goal in that scramble that ended up bouncing off the crossbar.

I have generally accepted the offside reviews without question... until today. I'd like someone to go out there and measure the distance from the grass cut to the goal line, because based on the grass line Wirtz was offside. Of course maybe it is also a difference on when someone has judged the football to have left the foot of the other player. Either way, that did not look like on onside goal.

At halftime my son said "Things are looking pretty good for Fulham". I said, "Eh, the way things often go with these top teams, they will soon get even and then Liverpool will get a late winner to break our hearts." And then that is exactly what happened. As the game went into stoppage time I kept waiting for the killing blow, and as expected it came late. And also in a way that felt entirely avoidable. It seemed like there were numerous opportunities to prevent the goal that weren't taken. It all felt entirely predictable.

Then the absolutely unpredictable, mind-blowing, dancing banana worthy thing happened! Reed scores a banger! This was a well deserved draw and a complete performance that I did not anticipate. I need to give more credit to this team because they really have done well under some tough circumstances over the past few weeks.

 

@daddude7 Maybe not the 3 points, but Harrison Reed w/a great gift!! Happy Birthday!!

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1Bk7jeHr5o/?mibextid=wwXIfr

“This is erotic! Children should not be allowed to watch this goal!”
“That is nipple tingling!”

 

@MicahMan, Totally concur about Wirtz, because of the grain he was clearly off, but somehow they determine Wirtz was in mid-air on thru ball??

 

I was under the weather and didn't make it out for this one (also don't have USA), so I didn't see it live. That's going to haunt me for a while.

 

Here you go @astroevan - 9 minutes of magic!


I watched the goal about a dozen times yesterday and on about the 5th viewing I noticed there are people exiting the Hammy End when Keven has the ball. Okay, I get that things seemed grim. I did not see any possible outcome but a loss at that point, but I do not understand why you leave at that moment! It is those situations where the most amazing things happen! The "I was there" stories that you will tell for years happen when it seemed pretty terrible just a few seconds earlier. The same thing happened in the City/Chelsea match yesterday. Chelsea scored late to equalize and the City fans started pouring out of the stadium. Granted, that match stayed at 1-1, but with Haaland on team why would you leave early?! Look at what Fulham pulled off with Harrison Reed!

I think my favorite angle is the steady-cam view at about 3 minutes in. It gives the feature film treatment of the moment (I'm sure "The Harrison Reed Story" will win an Oscar). I love that both Berge and Frimprong have the same hands-on-head reaction.

 

And it turns out Fulham just got burned by crappy technology:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cvg173ldgnmo

SAOT stands for semi-automated offside technology. The key part being "semi" meaning you would expect some human involvement to overturn clearly erroneous conclusions by the technology.