Fulham at Nottingham Forest

Fulham makes a Friday evening visit to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest. The match will be on Peacock with kickoff at 3pm EDT.

If Fulham wants to establish themselves as a mid-table team (or better!) then this is a match they should win - even on the road. Forest has been an incoherent mess with one of the worst defenses (14 goals allowed in 6 matches - although almost half were given up against City) and one of the worst offenses (4 goals scored). On 4 points they sit only above Leicester. Those points only came against fellow struggling squads Everton and West Ham. In their last match they blew a 2-0 halftime lead at home to lose to managerless Bournemouth.

Meanwhile Fulham has played only one team currently below the top eight, but they still earned 8 points and are in 10th place. If the start of the season is a legitimate reflection of what Fulham can do, then they should be the be the better team on Friday. One key factor will be the health of Robinson. After coming off against Tottenham I haven't heard anything on his status but since he was left off the USA roster for the September friendlies, I assume he is out for a while. If he can't play then at least new left back Kurzawa has had a few more days to get match fit and comfortable with the rest of the team.

I know it is still early in the season but this is a reality check on if we are all going to be sitting comfortably watching Fulham close out the season in April or anxiously praying for points.

 

A number of player updates came in this morning:

• Robinson will likely be a game-time decision. The good news is that it isn't a serious injury, but still something they are monitoring.
• Kurzawa will also be a close decision since he is still getting up to match fitness.
• Harry Wilson has been back in limited training with the team, but is still weeks away from a return.

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/september/15/team-news-late-call-on-jedi/

 

The irony of loaning out Joe (the move I supported and still do) is that he's doing well, is healthy, and scored today in European competition, while we're struggling to find a fit left back. Best-laid plans....

Idris Odutayo can play on the left, and while he's supposed to be on loan at Maidenhead, he just played for our U-21s and scored a deflected goal (https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/september/14/Fulham-U21-5-4-Hull-City-U21/). Perhaps he could at least get on the bench.

 

Forest is one of the only teams that I haven’t seen play a single minute. They do remind me of the first promoted Fulham team under Khan. We threw out over $100 mill figuring that would keep the team up. However, trying to bring along a brand new team (Forest brought in what 15-20 guys?) and blend it w/holdovers that were the heart and soul of a promotion side is very difficult. Hope we can get a result, not sure what to expect from the unexpected layoff.

 

Feeling a little less confident after seeing the lineup. Kurzawa isn't fit enough to even make the bench and Diop may be playing at LB. That is probably better than Mbabu, but still someone playing out of position. I'm a little worried about the potential story line of former Fulham player Neco Williams putting on a show against current Fulham players Wilian and Diop.

Here is the full lineup:
Leno
Tete, Tosin, Ream, Diop
Palhinha, Reed
DeCordova-Reid, Pereira, Wilian
Mitrovic

Subs: Rodak, Duffy, Kebano, Cairney, Chalobah, James, Mbabu, Vinicius, Harris (after just signing his professional contract)

 

Was only able to check the score on phone, previous seasons when you saw the other team score first, the sense of dread would set in. Not this year, this team is not deterred!!!! What a victory, great 3 pts, can’t wait to see the replay…and Harrison Reed scored!!!! COYW!!!

 

It was fun! We were great for about 10 minutes. For the rest we just outfought Forest. It's a sign of a good team that they find ways to win despite all the injuries, no left fullback options, a little dip in form, and not having Mitro on the scoresheet.

Tim Ream did well plugging the Robinson hole on the left, but that meant we had no attacking threat on that side. The one time Tim couldn't catch up to the play, Forest got the corner from which they scored. This is not something that we should try again against any teams that are not from Nottingham.

I'm not sure what to make of Diop. I thought he had some really good moments, but also his ball control and passing had me anxious about turnovers. He was a net positive, though, and maybe just needs more time with the rest of the guys.

MOTM = Harrison Reed. Palhinha was good, too, but the little man just bossed the midfield. He even won some headers. The only blemish on him and Palhinha was allowing the late runner to score the second goal for Forest.

I was sad for Mitro. It's his birthday, and he got no goal today. No fair, Universe.

https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/september/16/Forest-2-3-Fulham-/

 

The highlights if you haven't seen them:


Fully agree with the prior comments - still hoping to see a dancing banana!

Once I saw Ream line up on the left side I thought "Oh yeah, that makes a lot more sense than Diop at left back!" He did far better over there than I expected, but, yeah, let's not see that formation too much in the future! That corner Forest scored from would not have happened with a more settled back four. Earlier in the season if Robinson was beaten, Ream would slide over and Robinson would run to cover in the box. This time, Diop was slow to slide over, a gap opened, and only a last ditch effort from Tete blocked the shot.

Palhinha's shot was devastating - what a beauty! The only downside is he got his fifth yellow for celebrating with the fans and will now miss the Newcastle match.

I was thrilled that Reed finally got a goal. If you watched the behind-the-scenes videos that Fulham released at the end of last season, you'll know that he got endless ribbing from his teammates about how he was the only regular starter to not score - especially after Seri finally got his goal. He's finally gotten off the mark and with some style!

I do hope that they work with DeCordova-Reid on marking his man on corners. He totally lost his mark on Forest's first goal and then left Awoniyi wide open again later for what should have been another his second goal.

There were times during this match I forgot it wasn't in the Championship. Since it was a weekday match against Forest it felt like the clock was rolled back to last year. So nice to see Fulham sitting, for now, in sixth place of the Premier League table.

 

Very entertaining match! Happy for Reed to get his first Fulham goal. As has been said Palhinha’s from outside the box was a beauty.

Might sound a little crazy but, Ream was my man of the match for playing out of position and still having such a significant impact on the match. Hatter, you’re spot on wit the description of his passing.

 

Watching this game felt strange because I felt we've been in Forest's place so often in our last two EPL campaigns. Not getting swept aside, but simply not at the level. A toothless but nonetheless close match undone within a 6 minute span. Would really love to know what minor adjustments Fulham made at HT because it really was a case of boom, done, thanks for coming everyone.

 

It's a tardy observation, but Ream has been a wonderful surprise all season. My boy, jokingly, exclaimed "Fulham for the Europa League"....but I've seen it go down a decade ago!!! Early days, but it feels good to be in this position and, as stated above, not in Forest's position. COYW!!!!

 

Three points on the road in any league is good, but in this one it's like bonus points for a free replay. I echo the previous sentiments expressed, and would like to add another. Although he didn't score, the ball from Mitro down the left flank to Bobby that led to Reed's tally was SICK. I've said it before, I'll say it again...the big Serb has way above average passing skills. I feel it's the second strongest part of his game, after his aerial prowess in front of both goals.

 

Hope Mitro is okay. Had to limp out of the Serbia game today.