2022 Summer Transfer Window

Ha! Well, this was taken from southwest of Craven Cottage, so just to make sure we are all looking at the same "Waldo" - Craven Cottage is the white, backwards "C" shaped object sitting on the upper banks of the Thames in the middle of the photo. Hyde Park is at the top of the photo while Putney Heath is at the bottom and Wimbledon is just out of frame in the lower right corner.

 

Dang! Of course. But, keeping with the motto of better lucky than smart, I did find the right stadium!

 

An optimistic take: We only have to be better than 3 other teams.

Yes, Benfica beat us 5-1. But Everton just lost by 4 goals to Minnesota. They look like they won't improve much versus last season, if at all. We just need two more.

 

This is a fair take. Fulham needs a professional manager who focuses solely on the club.
https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2...milarity-between-tony-khan-and-vince-mcmahon/

 

Daddy’s not gonna sack his son….unless he and Mama aren’t gettin’ along. I don’t know anything about Pakistani family heritage or culture, but some dynamics are…universal.

 

Fulham is now two weeks out from the opener against Liverpool. They wrapped up their last Portugal pre-season match with a 3-1 win over GD Estoril Praia (finished 9th in Portugal's top flight). With three out of four pre-season matches complete Fulham might feel confident of being a mid-table team in Portugal or France (Nice finished 5th in Ligue 1), but against tougher squads the result against Benfica made it clear Fulham is facing a huge gap in quality.

I'm stunned that Fulham still doesn't have a new CB. It doesn't mean Fulham can't get a good CB , but even if they do there will be no time to develop with the rest of the squad before the season kicks off. With Williams playing for Forest, Fulham could enter the match against Liverpool with a backline that isn't as good as the one that finished out the Championship season. That's appalling if it happens. Fulham went into the 2018-19 Premier League season with a worse back line than they had in the prior Championship season and that produced one of the leakiest defenses ever seen. In 2020-21 Fulham had five losses and one draw until the seventh match when Andersen finally got his first start as CB and Fulham got three points. With that history I thought Fulham would have secured at least one solid CB at this point, but the wait continues. There are a number of other needs to address, but that is the one that has replaced feelings of excitement with feelings of dread as the clock ticks down to the start of the season.

 

100%. I do think we will get a CB before the season starts, but am afraid it's a panic buy late in that week. I look at someone like Chris Richards (10 million pounds) who's just passed his medical at Crystal Palace, and I wonder how come we haven't moved for him. Or Moussa Niakhaté, who went to Forest. And a few more I could come up with that went to teams we will be fighting directly with to stay up.

On the other hand, we do have one of the best academies around, and we've helped strengthen numerous teams across the world, except for our own. When we do, it's rare,. An exception like Fab or R. Sessegnon. Why not pair up Idris Odutayo with Tosin against Villareal, and see what they can do? Or Connor McAvoy. Or both, one in each half. They're both raw, but can move with the speed of play, unlike poor Tim Ream. Tim could be a fantastic mentor for these young guys.

 

Highlights of the GD Estoril Praia match:


Palhinha and Pereira were fun to watch. In the second half there were sightings of Stansfield, Francois (although he did have a mistake that almost lead to a goal), and Luke Harris, but not Odutayo or McAvoy although they were both on the bench. The back line remained unchanged through the match.

 

I was checking out the shirt sponsorship article and found this …

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/july/25/solomon-deal-agreed/

not that this is a surprise to anyone.

 

Rumors are Fulham made an offer for Chris Richards that matched Crystal Palace's offer but Richards choose Crystal Palace.

 

It’s good to see the Solomon deal get across the line. We’ve been linked for him so long I thought he might be a mirage. Good persistence by the front office to stick with it and make it happen. We seem to whiff on these kinds of deals in the past: not this time….we got our man. Now let’s hope he stays fit and helps keep us up this season.

 

Solomon finally announced. A good day, even if it's a Monday. Nbabu should be announced soon, and rumors are there have been breakthroughs with Leno and Diop.

If those work out, AND we get another quality CB and a striker to compete with Mitro, I will swing all the way from despair to unreasonable excitement about this season.

Still want to see what Odutayo and McAvoy can do against better competition.

I haven't heard any outgoing rumors about Knockaert, Cavaleiro, Kongolo, and Onomah. Anyone hear anything?

 

The deal for Mbabu is finally done:

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/july/27/fulham-sign-mbabu/

I find it interesting that the Fulham article describes him as "an attacking right-back". From what I've seen he's more defensive than Fulham has typically played at right-back. He had 3 goals and 3 assists over 66 matches for Wolfsburg with the latest coming back in December of 2020. In comparison Neco Williams, who I would consider an attacking right-back, had two goals and two assists in just 16 matches for Fulham. Maybe Silva expects to use him in different ways?

Glad to have another signing. Where are the CB's?

 

The week is off to a good start. Let's get three more by the start of next week. I'd say, while being a bit short on preparation time, we'd have pretty much a full squad then.

 

Yes, if all that happens, + another CB or two, we'll be close. We can register 25 senior players, and use an unlimited number of U21s. I'm very curious who will be included in the 25, and what will happen with the few guys who weren't involved in the preseason friendlies.

 

Supposedly the Leno talks have progressed. I’m curious about this section of https://www.sportbible.com/afcstuff/arsenal-transfer-news-bernd-leno-fulham-20220727.amp.html

“
Bernd Leno has been a victim of circumstance, rather than there being a drastic decline in his capabilities as a shot-stopper.

Once Arteta joined the club, the team's goalkeeper became much more than a shot-stopper.

The goalkeeper became an individual fundamentally linked to building up play, creating chances from the back.

Unfortunately for the German, this distribution is simply not a facet of his game, a deficiency amplified when compared to Ramsdale’s distributive excellence.
“

I know some have questioned Rodak’s distribution. Maybe this will just be a thing among Fulham’s keepers.

 

https://theathletic.com/3465056/202...R4QKOnac6laZ3YhNq59shd5PIInOqM6hMjo6cs6VBQRbs

It’s official

 

At least Leno is a proven commodity at this level, even if he did get beat out at gooners by Ramsdale. Should make for an interesting keeper competition this season.

 

It's official official.

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/august/02/leno-joins-fulham/