Fulham at Manchester City

Fulham travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City on Saturday. The game kicks-off on Peacock at 10am EDT.

Four points from the first four matches would be a fine start, so Fulham needs nothing and should expect nothing from this match. That said, the big teams have all seemed weak at moments - including Manchester City. Lowly Sheffield United stood tall against Manchester City and nearly came away with a point last week. So is there a chance for Fulham? Sure, but realistically Fulham is not getting anything out of this.

Fulham will be without Lukic and probably Cairney, and possibly Willian. Fulham is also coming off of less rest since many of the likely starters played against Tottenham mid-week, so keep your eyes out for a second-half collapse as legs turn to jello.

I apologized to Fulham for doubting them against Tottenham, but for real this time, don't expect anything good. Let's just avoid any suspensions! Finishing the match with 11 players would be a positive change. Last season Fulham had luck go the other way and faced an inordinate number of teams who went down to 10 men, but things have a way of evening out sadly.

 

I truly don't understand VAR. I'd rather it just be gone.

 

I’m an angry Fulham supporter today. What’s the point of playing the game against oil-money-bought VAR?

I really do think the refereeing was better in the Championship.

 

I’m convinced every single referee is paid off…and it ain’t Fulham sliding the bags of cash the ref’s way. Even with video, decisions are consistently wrong …it doesn’t add up.

 

I agree with most the comments on VAR - what is the point of it? It hasn't improved officiating, just shifted how mistakes happen and made it far more frustrating when they do. Will Fulham receive ANOTHER apology from officials for a blown call? What good does that do if they keep making mistakes that require new apologies? I'm not sure why this happens, but I don't think there are actual payoffs - just favoritism for a variety of reasons. Incidents like the FA Cup match at Old Trafford likely put Fulham on the wrong end of that scale.

Manchester City were likely winners of this even if their second goal wasn't given, so in this case at least it probably didn't matter much except for goal differential. The most concerning thing I saw was another sloppy play from Diop that gave up the penalty. Diop's occasional mistakes have big consequences and I think if Tosin is sticking around he deserves a start instead.

There were a number of positives from the match. Fulham looked great in the first half and did a very good job of locking down City and attacking when opportunities came up. Raul, Pereira, and Wilson still seem to be figuring out how to work together, but there were some really great moments between them. Luke Harris played well too given the high pressure circumstances he was placed under. And Tim Ream scored! That's always a particularly good moment when it happens. The final score seemed almost irrelevant in this one. Fulham played really well until they were f'ed by the refs and I'll be happy with that knowledge.

Highlights if you need them:

 

Only caught the highlights post facto and I'm stunned Silva wasnt sent off after the 2nd goal stood. Said it before but I am totally okay with him and the club turning full heel.

Under no circumstances, with the current available technology, can this sport go back to pre-VAR life. But the issue is the current implementation of VAR in England needs to be completely scrapped in favor of how places like Germany and (freaking) Italy do it. Rarely are missed calls on the field reviewed. Rarely are calls on the field overturned. Rarely do officials want to be seen as undercutting other officials. It's an old boys network, after all.

Baseball went through this nonsense years ago when replay was first introduced. Thankfully, the league eventually acquiesced when it realized that overturning on-field calls and making the umps "look bad" wasnt damaging; it was doubling down on incorrect calls that was ultimately damaging. Holy crap the PGMOL needs this realization.

 

I watch a lot of MLS, and it’s mind-blowing to me how much better MLS refereeing and especially VAR are compared to the best league in the world. It’s not just this game, and not just us. I don’t get it.

 

...and the referees' mea culpa.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66724505