Fulham v Tottenham

Busy month starts off with Tottenham. Huge concerns for our back line are the red hot Defoe and Bale. Spurs are getting healthy with the return of Dembele and soon the return of their engine Scott Parker (glad he's not ready for Sat.). The atmosphere will be electric for a obvious reasons, and I can see both sides creating a ton of chances. PLEASE MJ with Berba playing deeper out of necessity I would love to see the classy Petric start. Spurs are capable of scoring in bunches and turning a 1-1 match into 3-1 in a flash. However, I have a gut feeling our lads will play an inspired match, head says 2-2, but I'll go with the heart and say 3-2 for the good guys! COYW!!!!

 

Ok, I'll address the pink elephant in the room: Dempsey and Dembele return. It's a divisive topic and I'll not sway one way or the other. Each served Fulham brilliantly, I don't care how they left, but they are gone. I have no remorse for either. I'll be happy to see them again at the Cottage, but I hope they lose.

 

Spurs are improving, and they've made some very good additions to their side, even if you exclude the obvious. I've been impressed with Lloris, and I don't like the karma heading into this one. They've put together a modest winning streak and we are stagnant. I hope I'm wrong, but 2-4, bad guys.

 

Soccernet's listed lineup: Mark, Riise, Senderos, Hughes, Riether, Sidders, Diarra, Frei, Dejagah, Berba, Petric

 

Once again, I provide the jinx. I enter the chat and no sooner does Spurs make it 2-0. I'm considering a self-imposed ban unless I enter at the start of a match or halftime.

I fear for the kittens of Atlanta, as they are in for a rough time today (hide from Terri, kittens, for the love of all that's holy, hide from Terri).

Fulham's form must improve. The squad is sliding down the table and cannot score these days. Sort it out, Jol. Hope Reither's injury isn't serious.

COYW

 

Creating chances with no finish echoing Teri. I like our build up just missing that final ball. 3 possible injuries added from today. Hopefully nothing serious going into the holiday stretch

 

We are playing like crap at both ends. 1 goal in 4 games has to be a worry when we usually score 2 or 3 a game. The worst part is that we're not creating a boatload of chances in these games. Sure, Petric could have scored in the first half, but that was the only clear cut chance we had. Riise could have scored against Chelsea, but that was it then. We clearly miss Kaca and Ruiz and need them back ASAP. i was half joking about relegation, but we have tough games coming up and our form could lead to even more losses. Have to sort this out before we end up around the bottom 3 going into the busiest stretch of games.

 

:confusion-helpsos: I know the Jan. window is not the best time to be looking for help budget wise, but really concerned about the mounting injuries. Counting on the fragile Ruiz to stay healthy for more than a couple of matches just adds to the tension.

Need to get a win over fellow poor form Newcastle next week...BADLY

Anyone else see the correlation between Senderos and Gooch? Both stars in the making at the start of their careers before devastating injuries curtailed their athleticism to the point where they look just clumsy when player run at them.

 

Let's be honest, Spurs are a better team with Clint and Mousa. Not impressed with their defense, but they're contenders based on firepower alone. Once Deuce figures things out (and it appears he's starting to), they're gonna climb the ladder. Lloris may be able to save them some goals on the other end, but defense is not their strong suit. Still enough to handle us. Speaking of us...

We've got issues right now, and it's hard to know where to start. Injuries, yes. Defensively, poor before Brede's red, now virtually non-existent. Jol says not time to panic, but clearly time for some changes, starting with recalling Stockdale from loan and putting him out there between the sticks, sink or swim. So far, Ruiz is an 11 million pound bust, simply because he can't stay healthy. We can't seem to afford adequate backups, so when we go to them, we suffer. And we haven't begun to replace Murphy, Dempsey and Dembele in midfield. Berbatov is beginning to look more frustrated every match, and I fear he will become disinterested if we don't find SOMEONE closer to his talent level up front to play with.

You can only tread water for so long before you start to sink.....and drown. Hoping we get well during this 8 day break and get some guys playing well before Newcastle comes calling, or it could get ugly. Fast.

COYW!

 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rlafp46-CM[/youtube]

 

I put this one on Schwarzer. We played good defense against Chelsea and for a half plus against Spurs. If Schwarzer had stopped that eminently stoppable long shot, I think the chances are good that the strong defense would have continued. Instead, we fell apart tactically and emotionally.

 

i think there was pleanty of blame to go around. While Schwarzer deservers his fair share I think it is a better statement to say that Tottenham proved they were the better quality squad across the board in the second half. Fulham just does not have enough depth to stand up to a quality squad with all of the injuries that have been incurred and having a paucity of central midfield quality to start the year.

 

For this time only:
:crying-yellow:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZZngTkp54I[/youtube] - poor quality, but what the hell were they wearing? And the video is absolutely bizarre - cocaine is a hell of a drug. Even for that time, seriously?

 

Thanks Nev...That was hilarious!

 

^Fact

 

I'd never seen that Nev, brilliant.