Fulham @t Aston Villa [R]

Sorry jmh, I guess I did not have my specs on.

 

Not Papa nor Christanval will be availeble. Think theire is two possible formations that Cookie has in mind:

4-4-2:
Niemi
Rosie -- Pearce -- Knight -- Que

Wayne -- Brown -- Jensen -- Radz

Macca - Helguson

The bench: Lastuvka, Volz, Boca, John, Runström

4-5-1:
Niemi

Rosie -- Pearce -- Knight -- Que

Wayne -- Boca -- Brown -- Jensen -- Radz

Macca

The bench: Lastuvka, Volz, Zakuani, Helguson, John

Personally, i hope Cookie will choose 4-4-2. Im swede so i wanna se a swede

 

Well, Cookie went with the 4-4-2. Volz and Bocanegra are starting in the midfield. McBride is up top with Radzinski, but the backline is the same as your 4-4-2.

Wow, do I not like The English Cleveland Browns' sponsor. I'm proud Fulham has a real one that isn't all about gambling.

Anyway, it's 4 minutes or so in, no team has yet to take a clear advantage. Surface is pretty wet, though.

10 minute update: THAT WAS A HANDBALL, WHERE WAS THE PENALTY...ok the ref had no way of seeing it but still. Game looks even so far...

 

Something I Learned Today: Leaning on an opposing player who doesn't go down in the box is worth a penalty kick.

Aston Villa 1 - Fulham 0. Ugh.

 

EVERYONE SING!

I've been looking for an equalizer...I've been looking for a GOOOOOAL

MORITZ VOLZ scores his first goal in his 100th career game in the EPL! Radzinski makes a beautiful cross that Volz just hammers in! Extra time in the first half, now it's tied 1-1 and things are looking up for the Cottagers!

 

Come... on... you whites!!!!! So far FFC look better than they have in quite awhile! Keep it up Cottagers!

 

What a goal by Volzy! Wow... I admit I did a little "PUT IT IN! PUT IT IN! YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" screaming and jumping around in my living room. Ah, the merits of living alone...

I don't know any of the tunes, but I know when I hear "Fulham!" in a song, and I heard it after the goal--nice job, everyone who's there! It must be embarassing to be a Villa fan right now, what with getting outcheered on your home pitch and all. :banana:

 

That second half was pretty physical. Fulham displayed some good offensive pressure, but almost always without getting a shot on net. Jensen had a good opportunity literally at the end of the game, but it was not to be. Fulham played better in my opinion and the defense was great. Q and Rosy played very well, I think either one of them would be my pick for Man of the Match. I could see it going to Volz as well.

One point on the road against the last remaining undefeated EPL team is nice, but Fulham really should have pressed for 3 points. Personally, Helgeson should have been subbed in for McBride and not Collins John; but what can you do.

1-1.

NEXT UP: Hosting Wigan Athletic. I hope they do something crazy, I could use the excuse for Wigging Out puns. GO COTTAGERS!

 

The Fulham fans that made the trip up were class. I could hear them over the Villa fans for long stretches of time. It was great! I just hope Liverpool and Blackburn loose tomorrow so we can stay in 9th. Liverpool has Man U. and Blackburn has Bolton, so I could see this happening.

On a side note: Is Routledge hurt right now? I haven't kept up with the injury list lately...

 

We didn't have the numbers there that we should've but I don't think that matters much for the Fulham faithful.

I think I may write something later for the site but this season, this is a different Fulham. More heart, more fire and much, much more fight. A team that is missing their 3 best midfielders/players still gets on with it and plays the opposition to the death.

Liams 'penalty' was very unfortunate but I'm so very happy for Volzy, he's been wanting a goal and he finally got it! Heather made the trip and did us proud as well!! It was wet and cold but she got on with it as did the hundreds of Fulham fans that went. Very proud of the team, of the managers and of our fans for singing in the rain, as Don mentioned...I really hope you guys enjoyed it.

Viva El Fulham

 

Great point for Fulham. I watched the match with my newest nephew, my brother, my wife and his wife. After the unfortunate penalty call on Liam, I was a bit worried, but the boys hung in there and I was happy to see Volzy grab a goal. He is definitely deserving.

This definitely seems to be a different team as Mike eluded to earlier. I hope the team can keep the positive momentum going next week against Wigan who thrashed Man City 4-0 today.

Excellent work yet again by Fulham. A real team effort I might add.

 

Not much more to say that hasn't been said already. I'm happy with the point as I thought Fulham would come out of this match empty handed. I don't know who to thank more...HatterDon for wearing his FUSA shirt, or DCHeather for being at the match (who no doubt inspired Volzy to get a goal). Go Fulham!

 

Great work by the fans who went; we could hear the singing loud and clear.

What pod person took over the Zat Knight I used to know?? Has he really matured that much so quickly?? Who's going to be my new scapegoat?

For some reason, I keep seeing Radzinski play well down the left flank. His cross, setting up the goal, was wonderful. He did try again and it could have worked. Is Volz ok after that head collision?

Oh, and the Rosenior "penalty" was OUTSIDE the box, so at most it should have been a kick in a dangerous area. Ugh.

I'll take the one point, without a problem.

 

Meanwhile there is much moaning at villatalk.com.. moaning about O'Neill even! To support their claims they post previous results against Fulham... obviously not taking into account that Fulham probably was looking past THEM in those years.

Sad to say, a financial reversal this week put my discretionary funds in the red.. and I'm gonna have to wait to get my ITVN. Thus I'm going to only respond in general.

It doesnt surprise me that Zat has evidently had an epiphany.. and I'm sure many of us have experienced the same. I always liked the way he played his position and the physical presence he brought. The only thing missing, evidently, was the quality of his snap judgements.
Great athletes and players will tell you they started to excel when they began to experience key plays in 'slow motion' ie; the game 'slows down' for them.

I bet that's what happened to Zat.

 

Very proud of the team playing in a cold, rainy, away game against a tough villa team and coming out with a point. Even more proud of the Fulham fans at the game...as I watched the game on tv and heard the singing and chanting i was getting so excited about the game.

Now on to the individual players. After reading everyones reviews of the game and players sometimes i feel like im watching a different game at some points...but i guess thats because im a typical highly critical new englander sports fan.

Niemi - Solid overall...looked shakey at times but overall very confident play

Knight and Pearce - I thought Knight looked alot better than Pearce but they played very well together.

Queudrue - Not sure how I feel about him yet...at times he looks solid and under control but for the most part he looks too slow and right wingers can just burn by him.

Rosenior - There is not one player on this team that pisses me off more than Liam. He continuously makes awful passes, looses the ball, and is overmatched on the field. I just want to smash the tv when he has the ball. I feel like that is the one position that we should look to fill with a transfer because I don't think Boca could step in either. Speaking of Boca...he looks really out of form.

Volz - As a player who is filling in for our injured midfield i think he does a pretty good job and looks to be trying to earn a full time starting position.

Brown - He kinda pisses me off at times as he tends to loose the ball a lot...but hes definetly got some balls and loves to get in players faces so I can respect his play.

Jensen - I really like this guy...he's got a cool head on the ball and can make some very creative things happen

Radzinski - Kinda the same as Volz but I like Volz a little bit more

McBride - What else can I say that everyone else hasn't...such a key player on this team

Helguson - I don't get overly excited about him but he is 10 times better than Collins John

Bouba Diop - Really does look out of form and if it has to do with international team not taking care of him then I have to agree with Coleman to not allow him to play for them anymore.

Overall assesment of the team...defense has definetly improved from last season but still has a few problem but I think if we had a midfield with Bullard, Boa, a fit Diop, and Jensen, this team would be hard to beat.

 

Well a point suits me fine. The road form is obviously much improved.

I thought we were kinda timid and cautious to be honest. Particularly in the beginning of the game. Every time the backline got the ball they'd bang it out. We lacked the edge going forward. Hate sound like a sour apple after a good result but I think it was more a product of good fortune then good play.

That said its a good result against a good team so really I have no reason to complain.