2020/21 Premier League Schedule

Fulham's 2020/21 Premier League fixtures have been released:
http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2020/august/20/premier-league-fixtures-announced

One thing to note is that the second-half of the season won't be until late January when Fulham faces Brighton since the season gets a late start. It will wrap up only a week later than typical if all goes well.

My biggest concern on the schedule are the two early matches against Leeds and Aston Villa. Those are two matches I'd like to see Fulham win, but given Fulham's recent history of slow starts I would have preferred to have faced them a little later.

 

Aaaaah, remember way back in 2019 when we could make travel plans!

 

Good news! Fulham's opener vs. Arsenal will be a featured game on TV and kick off the 2020/21 Premier League season!
Bad News! Fulham's opener vs. Arsenal now starts at 12:30 pm London Time, 7:30 am EDT, and 4:30 am PDT!

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2020/august/28/two-fulham-games-televised

Fulham's match against Aston Villa will also be televised.

 

It looks like Peacock Premium is $4.99 per month. Roughly $45 for the season. Much to my wife's chagrin, I'll likely sign up mid September.

 

Fulham played MK Dons to a draw at Motspur Park in a preseason friendly.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2020/august/29/fulham-2-2-mk-dons

Of note (at least to me):

• Mitrovic must still be attending to his injury as he was a no show
• Hector paired with Le Marchand and Ream paired with Mawson
• Sessegnon played in the midfield (unless they played five at the back or Bryan or Odoi played up the field)
• Robinson saw his first team action
• No Seri. No Anguissa. No Fabri.
• The squad wore last year's home kit sans sponsor.

 

Ditto

 

Because I've got two kids doing their college learning at home and I've been working at home since before everything went crazy, I finally upgraded from DSL to cable internet. I loathe Comcast (my wife said the day we put an antennae up and she got to cancel our cable was the happiest day of her life - when she said that I reflexively looked with sad eyes at a wedding photo on our wall and then at our two children, but I understand - she REALLY hates Comcast), but Xfinity was the only other option.

Happily, Xfinity internet now includes Peacock Premium so my hatred for Comcast has been replaced with some that feels like... satisfaction? This has truly been a crazy year.

Anyway, if you have Xfinity internet you may want to check and see if you can get Peacock without additional expense.

 

From the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ier-league-2020-21-season-preview-no-8-fulham

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 19th (NB: this is not necessarily Jacob Steinberg’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 4th in Championship

Odds to win the league (via Oddschecker): 1,000-1

Fulham earned the dubious honour of becoming a cautionary tale after winning promotion to the Premier League two seasons ago. Instead of making improvements in a calm and focused manner, they embarked on a disastrous £100m spend, wrecked their team spirit and ended up changing managers twice. Slavisa Jokanovic was the first to go, Claudio Ranieri did not last long after alienating several key players and the damage was already done by the time Scott Parker took caretaker charge in February 2019.

Parker inherited a shambles and he could not save Fulham from an embarrassing relegation. The former England midfielder was blameless, though. He could see where Fulham had gone wrong and he provided a welcome dose of reality, identifying a lack of nous and grit. A losing culture had developed.

Parker set about changing Fulham’s mentality. Last season was not perfect and missing out on automatic promotion was disappointing. There were doubts over Parker’s tactics at times and a feeling Fulham did not reach their full potential. When it came to the play-offs, however, they held their nerve. Fulham were underdogs when they faced Brentford at Wembley but they shaded the contest, played with more professionalism and edged a tense, ugly contest in extra-time, with Joe Bryan claiming two unlikely goals from left-back.

Fulham were back in the big time. But Parker wants a more level-headed approach. The 39-year-old is not seeking to make drastic changes. He does not want more disharmony. He has brought Tom Cairney, discarded by Ranieri, back into the fold. He has improved Bryan, who struggled in the Premier League last time. He has even revitalised Aboubakar Kamara, who looked to be on the way in 2019.

There will be chances for Jean Michaël Seri and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, two of those expensive flops from two summers ago, to prove their worth in midfield after returning from loan spells. Yet Parker cannot carry any passengers. He needs a team willing to dig in and work hard. Fulham are still capable of passing sweetly but they need to snarl as well.

A focus on clean sheets is key and it will be interesting to see whether Michael Hector, who has been a rock since joining from Chelsea, can shine at the highest level. Hector’s leadership in front of the goalkeeper Marek Rodak will be vital given Denis Odoi, Tim Ream and Maxime Le Marchand did not fare well two seasons ago.

There are obvious areas for Fulham to improve. They do not have to avoid spending simply because they made mistakes in the past. The trick is buying wisely, for the future. Antonee Robinson, signed for £1.9m from Wigan and intent on providing competition for Bryan at left-back, fits that template. Harrison Reed, who impressed on loan last season, will add bite in midfield after an £8m move from Southampton and Mario Lemina has joined on loan from the same club.

Fulham have some decent players, with Josh Onomah keen to impress in midfield after failing to make it at Tottenham. The worry remains that they lack the quality to stay up.

Cairney is a watchable No 10 but will not find as much space against better opponents. Bobby Reid scored five goals when Cardiff fell into the Championship last year, while Ivan Cavaleiro and Anthony Knockaert dropped down a division to join Fulham last summer. Knockaert, the former Brighton winger, has much to prove at this level after Fulham made his loan permanent for £10m.

As ever the pressure is likely to fall on Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has rarely let Fulham down since joining from Newcastle in 2018. The Serbian forward looks more mature than in the past. Yet the 25-year-old, who scored 11 goals when Fulham were relegated, will require good service.

Much depends on Mitrovic. More than anything, though, Fulham need to trust in the collective. They are not good enough to forget about the basics. They will go down if they are not willing to graft. Parker has restored their identity. Another disastrous season awaits if he is unable to keep it in place.