Fulham vs. Middlesbrough - FA Cup 3rd Round

Fulham face the #2 team in the Championship, Middlesbrough, in the FA Cup on Saturday. Kickoff is at 10am EST on ESPN+

Somewhat surprisingly, this is the first time these two teams have faced each other in the FA Cup. Fulham wants to put together a good cup run, but the squad is a little thin right now, so my hope is that Middlesbrough decides that they need to focus on staying in the automatic promotion place so they put out a lineup that isn't their best. Middlesbrough hasn't beaten Fulham since 2016 - back when Scott Parker was starting for Fulham and Dan Burn was still in a black and white kit without stripes.

For Fulham, Silva will not be on the touchline because of his accumulation of yellows. The available squad will be the same as against Chelsea, but there should be some rotation. I hope that he gives Kusi-Asare the start and lets Raul rest. I would like to see Kevin and Sessegnon start too - let them see if they can keep things going from Wednesday night.

 

And the Harry Wilson show keeps rolling along!

 

That was a bad first half. I don't think it means that the group of players that started the game isn't capable of playing together more effectively (except Traore); they just did not. We were too slow, too risk-averse, too slow, and too slow.

Traore killed any movement that came his way. He also got in the way of Castagne rather than overlapping with him. His feet are ten times faster than his brain. The step-overs and the pre-dribble pauses are a way for him to buy time as he processes and makes a decision, and by the time he does, it's usually too late. Hate to say it, but he's just not smart enough for this level of the game. The sooner he laves for West Ham, the better.

Kevin, on the other hand, gets better with every game and his decision-making is getting faster and sharper. He's an intelligent young man with top-notch technical skills, and he works his butt off on defense, too. In the second half and consequently for the whole match he was my MOTM. Harry came close, but he didn't play as much.

I'm hearing we're keeping Kusi-Asare for the second half of the season. He gets into some good positions but is still raw. I'd like to see one of our academy guys given a chance instead.

The match showed that we need quality new additions this month--striker, mid, and winger--but I'm not seeing any convincing progress from our brass.

Sorry for the negativity. We won. COYW!

 

I'm a bit disappointed that the starting lineup couldn't get a lead or even a goal, but Middlesbrough probably put out their strongest available lineup while Fulham did not. I've really wanted to give Kusi-Asare a chance, but he didn't do well with those chances to head the ball in.

The changes in the second half showed the difference in quality between Fulham and Middlesbrough, and Fulham's starting players and subs. I don't know what Middlesbrough was doing giving Wilson all that space! Have they seen him play at all just this month?! Wilson took the invitation and I felt pretty good at that point Fulham would progress although Middlesbrough did have some chances to make it interesting. Great touch from Smith-Rowe to get that second goal and I'm thrilled Kevin finally got his goal. It wasn't after a great move or a banger from outside the box like he'd probably prefer, but he was alert and quick and got the job done.

Side note on Palace's shocking upset to non-league, 6th tier, team I've never heard of before today, Macclesfield. I was a bit envious of their FA Cup win last year, but this puts a tarnish on it. Their title now always goes along with the caveat that they are title holders who suffered the biggest upset in English football.

 

Coming off The Scum match, no surprise we were a little flat in first half. Solid professional win, and fantastic for Kevin to tally