Portsmouth v. Fulham

great line-up. If Murphy plays defensive mid stopper like he did against Arse, we can hold up against most any team. And with Murphy behind him, CD would have more freedom to do his thing with his passing ability and vision. It would also allow him to join the front 2, to attack all those crosses coming in from PK and Davies...........too bad, the alarm clock just went off.....I know it's a dream that will never happen under Woy, but we sure need some GRIT, and a CHANGE in the middle of the park. Bully playing wide is something I've been thinking we've needed for a while now. Playing out wide would be perfect for him.

 

Back to the scene of the crime.... :wink:

As mentioned in earlier posts, I would really like to see a shake-up in our current central-midfield pairing.

I feel that the game plan used in recent past matches will not be good enough for a win. A draw? Possibly.

I agree with Don. Pompey is a big team and the long ball game will not be successful.

Solid passing through the center of the midfield would play better to Fulham's strengths.

I don't know why, but this match feels too pivotal for being so early in the campaign....

 

You can't be one-dimensional, the way we've been all season, and win football matches. We must have a varied attack plan to keep the defense guessing. The goal we scored on them last year was off a cross to "little" Danny Murphy. I'll bet if you tallied up all the goals this year in the Prem a good percentage would have originated from the area between the side of the 18-yard box and the touchline. Through balls will work, but so will crosses. The KEY is taking advantage of the opportunities we get, and having someone at the right place at the right time!

 

What I'd like to see:

Goals. Well, that and break up the Murphy/Bullard pairing in the middle and/or put Dempsey in for Gera.

 

Dempsey for Bullard for me. In current form, I think Dempsey can be a better Bullard than Bullard. Plus, Dempsey defends, so he might free up Murphy for more through balls to F5.

That's my one-dimensional plan that won't work.

 

The bad news is that I don't think Roy is ready to tinker with the starting eleven so I believe we will see no changes. I hope we can produce a flowing game of football and capitalize on some of the chances we have been wasting. However, if we stay with the Bullard/Murphy midfield I expect Pompey to physically push us around and have their way until they bang a couple home. The good news is every time I start feeling that way about a match Fulham seems to do something to restore my hopes.

I have no lotto numbers, no stock tips and no score predictions as all three are too volatile to attempt to prognosticate.

 

in his pre-match thoughts posted on the offal Roy says he sees no reason to tinker with the lineup so I assume we'll see the same. Roy says F5 and BZam need more time together as they've only had 2 full matches together. Roy also said he likes what he'd seen from the squad thus far. I'm sure he's be a lot happier if we put more shots on frame.

 

I don't think Roy is willing to tinker with the starting eleven either, but if we were to posit that he might be, here's what I'd like to see:

Schwarzer
Paintsil - Hughes - Hangman - Konch
Andreasen
Davies - Murphy - Bullard
Dempsey - F5

I agree with Don that we need to keep the ball on the deck in this match, and to me that means:

A) Zamora's aerial ability takes a seat in favor of Deuce's dribbling;
B) Gera's lack of a left foot isn't as big of an issue, but his lack of finishing on his runs into the box is;
C) The midfield, as it is, will get pushed around without adding a sturdy guy like Andreasen to the mix. Moreover, having a true ball-winner lets Murphy and Bullard try to make killer passes without worrying too much about giving the ball away.

 

The Gray story seems interesting...maybe he'll see a bit of playing time instead of Gera? A long shot but atleast he is left footed....

Agree with FulhamAg...we need goals! Goals, goals, goals...for us!

 

******BREAKING NEWS********
Hary's left Pompy and gone to Spurs!!!!!!
Just been on the radio in the UK
Bit of luck for Fulham???

 

Not sure how Pompey will react, but I do know the level of our play needs to be a helluva lot better than the last time we hit the road.

 

I think getting out of Portsmouth with a point is a long shot. After watching Fulham get man handled by Sunderland at home last week coupled with the fact no team struggles more away from their home park, coming away with even one point is a bit of a stretch. Not trying to focus on the negative, but after last week what is their to build on? If you can't put the ball in the net you don't win. Fulham's set pieces looked horrible, they missed easy chances (Gera!!!), and they are trying to do too much fancy ball movement on offense.
Put the ball on net and things happen. Maybe this is the American soccer player in me speaking, but shoot the ball!!!

 

we need to play as a team and not Jimmy B and 10 others......
still fingers crossed

COME ON FULHAM!

 

Let's hope Bully gets to see the game from the bench today. Won't happen but I think it would be good for his ego.

Miss you all in the chatroom today, off to Church.

 

1-1 on the road at Pompey? I'll take that with a

Woy needs to sit Gera and start Dempsey -- he's got to have shown he should be in the starting lineup, and Gera has been off the mark for at least three games now. GJ went on a long soliloquy about how highly he rates Nevland also -- he's got to find a spot in the lineup as well. I can't figure out why he was dropped.

Congrats to the Deuce for his first goal in forever, may he bang in some more this week.