Arsenal v. Fulham

This was a tough game to watch, but I am optimistic about the season. I think Healy and Kamara need to be the strikers. I love Mcbride but he should be coming off the bench. I like the attacking that Dempsey adds in the midfield. I think this should be a good season. I don't know why every analyst seems to think we are going down this year.

 

Yes, and Colorado beat Houston after RSL did... which do you think has the best chance at playoffs?

Answer, neither one.

I'll take my lessons from the way the players played, not the results. The only one who will continue that is Reading.

 

valid point, but its just the adrenaline of the opening match. things start mattering after this weekend and continue until may. which is why fulham needs all 3 points versus bolton. it'll be tough as they got demolished and thus want rectification.

fulham can do it, but i expect a different lineup just because its only in three days. and then three days after that is boro.

COYW!!

 

Everyone seems to be taking quite a few positives from the match and on some level, I am as well. However, let me offer up an alternative viewpoint, just to play devil's advocate here:

In a way, this looks like the same old shit to me. You watch this match and clearly see that we are not in the same league as Arsenal. They out pace us, pass like a dream, come through our midfield uncontested and have a million great chances. If only they could finish, we'd have lost 4-1. Our defence still looks shaky and we did create some chances but most were not ever going to bother Lehman. All in all, this feels just like last year. A brief flash of hope dashed by yet another bout of not being able to hold on to a lead. We should take a cue from Reading on how to get a draw from the big 4.

I'm not sure I truly believe everything I wrote there but I just wanted to put out a pessimistic viewpoint for discussion's sake. I do feel like we have a better team than last year and if Zat can keep playing like that, our defence may shore up and be solid. It will take a while for us to get in stride though.

 

Whoever did the minute by minute on the official was having a laugh

84 mins: Tony Warner(Fulham) booked for persistent infringement.Papa Bouba Diop(Fulham) booked for persistent infringement.Mathieu Flamini(Arsenal) booked for persistent infringement.

 

I think there is some truth to this. Time will tell. I think last years team would have produced even fewer chances on goal though. If Dempsey were left footed maybe he would have scored that breakaway goal.

 

That's true. With last year's team, it would have been repeat of last year's opener at ManU I'm afraid.

I think what was hardest for me this match was the fact that we had a very real chance for points for a majority of the match. To lose in last few minutes like that was gut wrenching as hell.

 

Warner did everything he could have. I think at this point he deserves to be the backup.

I wasn't impressed by Baird. I hope someone else gets that spot next game.

Zat was a lot better than I'd have expected.

Boca was for the most part solid, but I don't know that I'd disagree with the penalty call - it looked to me like he threw the shoulder. The one Baird got away with was worse though.

Konchesky doesn't cross all that well but showed good recovery speed, even when he was matched with Walcott late.

Smertin was very good a lot of the time and I don't know why he came off. Diop needs to cut out that BS he pulled after the penalty.

Davis is going to turn out to be a very good pickup.

Davies was good enough.

Bouazza didn't impress me, but Dempsey didn't either.

Healy got into good spaces, as people said. Finished the best chance he had.

Kamara looked good in the counterattacking role.

McBride was winning some headers as usual, but I don't know that he had many chances to get turned and face goal.

As I said, I think I think the early non-call on Baird was worse than the penalty Boca conceded. No foul when Davis went down in the box, I think he tripped over his own feet.

We do need to hold the ball better, but I think we'll do a better job of that against weaker opposition than Arsenal. Even so we did have our chances for a second goal, and when we have those chances we NEED to take them.

Best line by the TV broadcaster was after Diop shanked a long shot way wide and high, to the effect that he should be careful because he could get a card for time wasting with a shot that far off. Also, I think I may have seen Mike in the background at one point.

*sigh*... got punch, as Tim said, but the result itself isn't surprising.

 

i have read through the match comments and let me say this on my fellow americans on show-dempsey is pedestrian at best and his wide eyes only reflect the fact that he is bewildered by the talent he sees around him in this division.he is simply not good enough.bocanegra is the drunken fool at a xmas party-sometimes splendid,often unhinged but overall not worth the price of admission.mcbride could have caught a movie this afternoon for all the influence he had.thankfully resources lie elsewhere but we would be better off unloading this barrow of talked up tripe and replacing it with cameroonian or senagalese fluency sooner rather than later.a good seasoin beckons but not because dempsey,mcbride or bocanegra are involved-hopefully the bench will be fully warmed by their behinds.

 

Arsenal

As someone once said a long time ago, its deja Vu all over again.

Same teams different faces, two goals in last ten minutes.

Fulham once gave its fans a brief moment of disbelief, then all was correct again in the World.

We were handed a golden goal, we were given a complete let off with a penalty call, that was as good a shout as you will see all year.

Our goalkeeper was having the game of his life, Zat Knight was immense, our midfield while not creating chance after chance, were competing at least while of course being totally outclassed. But then within a few minutes any longtime Fulham fan knew the writing was on the wall, first Davis missed, and then Dempsey, and you just knew.

The only thing that you didnt know was the vehicle of our demise, my personal reason was taking off Smertin to replace him with a player who to be easy on him, for the past two years as been useless, and he once again proved me right, the lunge he made on the player who was cutting thru us like a hot knife thru butter, was so typical of his play, he was late and nowhere near the ball, he plays as though he is on the local grounds of the Watford Sunday league. We were then despatched as poor teams are by a good team, these teams always seem to find a way to beat us.

Having said all this, I will say if you use the premise that Arsenal are a top 4 side then we have not got much to fear from the lesser lights in the league, but LS will have to teach Baird a thing or two, as he was not only beaten far too many times, his positioning was terrible, and I can only think that Volz or liam would have had a much better game. Bouzza was also outclassed on the left, when he tried to beat players he was found wanting, but to be honest Dempseys only real contribution was to miss a very good chance. The rest of the team played ok except for warner and Knight who both had exceptional games.

But we still lack that innovative midfielder who can create something fom nothing, Bullard might fill that void, or davis might develop into it, but as for now we are just slightly better than last year, hope it improves.

 

I bet on Fulham to win and it was really depressing to hold winning slip for nearly whole match and then I had to stomach the disappointment...
anyway I agree with HatterDon about this wrong substitute of Smartin; he should have played the whole match
Diop was supposed to leave the club this summer and he didn't feel the game

 

They improved, but not that much. This was the same old play from Fulham. Arsenal carved their way through our defense and they could not finish their chances. Fulham could not take any of their chances to make the game safe and they deservedly get punished.


Dempsey has been crap since the end of last season. He was rubbish in the Gold Cup and now is not showing anything for Fulham. Take your red white and blue glasses off and you will see he has been nothing like we all thought he would be.

Baird is crap. I want to see him play in the center of defense as Hleb destroyed him.

Knight was heroic many times. He saved a shot off the line and played well. He was one of the players of the game.

Mcbride is past it and it is time to find a replacement.

Boca was decent. I thought that penalty could of gone either way really, but the ref was fair to call it as he gave us a lucky break with the Hleb penalty call.

Koncheskey was also decent. He got forward at times and defended alright.

Smertin was class. That move to take him out cost us 3 points.

Bouazza played like I thought he would. He is crap and was a waste of 3m which could of been spent elsewhere.

Healy was decent and should start the next game.

Kamara was class. He moved with the ball really well and with his pace he is going to be a top quality forward.

Warner was by far the player of the game. I think that even with Niemi fit warner should start until he screws up.

Davies was full of energy and had some quality touches. He really proved me wrong when we signed him from Everton.

Diop needs to leave.

Also whoever that idiot commentator is needs to shut up. I cannot tell you lot how much it pisses me off not only when we lose a lead, but to hear this guy talking crap about the team. Paul whatever his last name is so anti Fulham it is pathetic. When the other announcer talked about the PK call this idiot says "in what way" do they have an argument. No actual debate only like a fcuk you type response.

 

I want to cry right now. I really do. But I understood this was to be when choosing Fulham as my team.

I saw MANY positives though and am quite optimistic about this season.

Zat Knight really made me eat crow. Good on him for that. I liked what I saw from the new players overall.

I was not impressed with our midfield for the most part. Sure it made for an exciting match, but it was back and forth soccer - which is tough on my ticker.

Prediction for next match? Solid Win. I was even glad to finally hear the announcers start to admit that Fulham should get some respect for the way they played

Oh ... and I wish I had Warner on my fantasy team. He played absolutely FABULOUS! That is all.

 

Does anyone else think Smertin was bewildered by his having to come offf? I thought he looked a bit bewildered.

I don't think bringing in Bouba was necessarily a bad thing. I thought he would add a physical presence in the middle of the park and might be useful in a corner situation to put the game away.

I liked that Lawrie was active on the sidelines as well. Wenger just sits there and didn' get up I think until the 70 minute for so.

 

I kind of felt bad for Smertin. Made me think of a lost puppy dog.

 

One thing I noticed in the second half - on our few attacks, every time the ball made it to the center mids, they never looked for Dempsey. He was open in good position quite a few times, but they never passed it to him. Dempsey's only real interplay was with the Left Back; if he passed it to the center, he never saw the ball again.

 

He SHOULD have been bewildered. He was having a great game. I'm not saying I wouldn't have brought Diop on, because his size was something that was needed at that point, but Smertin wasn't the right guy to take off. I was figuring Davies or Davis or McBride.

Also, re. Lyle's comment about LS and Wenger, the friend I was watching with and I noticed that Wenger would get up and do this little frustrated spin move sometimes when he was upset with something that happened. One time he slipped and fell, which was funny.

 

We let one slip thru our fingers today, and it's a shame, the way that Warner played in goal today. You had to know, that late in the game with us still on top -
any close call in the box would going Arsenal's way.

Overall, I was pleased with our performance today and things can only get better as this team has time to gel. You know LS will keep tinkering with the line up until he finds the right role for everyone. Bring on the Wanderers