Fulham at Huddersfield

Fulham makes their first road trip of the season to Huddersfield. They'll face the Terriers Saturday at 10am EDT. The match will only be available on FFCTV.

Huddersfield has not done well since exiting the Premier League with Fulham. Last season they finished just 5 points outside the relegation zone with only Derby safe below them. This was an even worse finish than the year prior. When they faced struggling Derby last week they managed a 1-1 draw. A sign that not much may have improved in Huddersfield.

Meanwhile Fulham comes in after their own disappointing 1-1 draw. It will be interesting to see if Silva makes any changes to the team that did okay last week. Will he give the starters another chance to improve or has he seen enough to make changes already? Reading and listening to some of the fans who were at the Middlesbrough match, they seemed to come away with a much more positive reaction to Fulham than those of us watching from here in the States. Initially I thought maybe they'd had a better view of the play than we did, maybe Mitrovic wasn't as lead footed as he seemed, maybe Robinson wasn't as terrible as we thought. However, I then read an article at HammyEnd.com that said the fans may be too optimistic just because of the excitement of being at the Cottage again and getting a few pints before things started.

I wouldn't mind seeing the same starting XI as last week. I still think Mitrovic and Robinson were sub par, but that's exactly why I'd be willing to give them another shot to at least be on par. Some changes won't be possible because of injuries. Cairney's situation is looking pretty grim since he pulled out of team practices again. It is unclear when we'll see him play again. Reed is looking better and practicing, but he still seems doubtful for this match. On the plus side, LeMarchand is unavailable too.

Lastly, the HammyEnd also shared some flashbacks to past visits to Huddersfield. The one from March 2015 was an away match that stands out for me. Fulham allowed two PK's, got a red card, had only 10 men for the last 30 minutes, watched Huddersfield send a couple shots off the woodwork, and generally played in a panic. Yet somehow Fulham won the match 2-0 after Kacaniklic (one of my favorite players of that era) put a corner straight into the net and Fofana broke away for a second toward the end. Later that year I met a Huddersfield fan on a cruise who had been at that match and we both agreed we had never seen a team less deserving of a win than Fulham on that day. I expect Fulham to fully deserve, and get, the win this time around.

 

With regards to lineup changes, and whether or not he starts this weekend, Silva will have to do some shuffling soon. Huddersfield is the first of five matches between now and the end of the month. One of the matches is for the Carabao Cup so that one could definitely see a new lineup, but there has to be some rotation through them all.

I enjoyed the quick attacks that we saw last week and look forward to more. All the slow buildup from the last couple of years numbed me so it was a nice shot in the arm to see the players turn and attack fairly often.

 

Shelled out 10 pounds and it was worth it. A very good performance from us. But I was reminded of how atrocious the refereeing in the Championship could be. I hope the Wilson red can be appealed.

The Good Mitro showed up today. Perhaps it's as simple as an extra week of building fitness. He was full of desire, and most importantly of running. Even got into a few footraces. This kind of Mitro is one of the best players in the league. On the goal, the ball bounced off his knee as he was falling, but he'll insist he meant it.

Speaking of best players, Carvalho might already be that in the Championship. What an incredible talent. He can be the #10 for a top team in Europe one day. I so hope we can tie him up with an extension so that we could at least get something out of it when he goes to some assholes like Chelsea, or something. Better yet, he sticks around and plays for us at the top level next season.

Tim Ream has discovered a fountain of youth somewhere--he's playing better than he did two years ago--and it may be that having Tosin for a partner is a foil for his lack of speed. They make a great central team.

Where was this finishing from Cav last year? Matter of confidence?

The weakest player on the field for us was Seri, which is saying something, because he wasn't bad, and was quite effective on the defensive side. His passing accuracy was poor, but he's likely extremely rusty. When Reed is fully fit, that spot belongs to him.

It's nice to win by 4 away, even if it's not the Prem. The three matches I've seen have made me a Silva convert.

 

As the great ArticBob used to say in the chat room and things were going well….

Kill Kill Kill!!!!!!!!!

 

Some short highlights here from Fulham, but we should get a longer set from Huddersfield's channel tomorrow.


What a ridiculous collection of goals! I wish I had the foresight to drop my £10 on this match!

It is great to get the kind of result you'd expect Fulham to get if they truly are going to compete for automatic promotion, but I don't think anyone saw it happening THAT way. Now Fulham gets at least a few days sitting at the top of the table. They control their own destiny now with just 44 matches to go!

 

Holy moly. When is the last time Fulham went down a player and scored *two* goals? It is so, so refreshing to see goals come from deep midfield runs.

 

Spent the morning taking my grandson for donuts and to the playground and then found out Fulham scored 5, won by 4, and sat at the top of the table. Great Saturday morning!