Fulham at Stoke

Fulham kickoff at Stoke at 10am EST on Saturday. The match will only be on FFCTV.

When Fulham beat Stoke 3-0 back in August it seemed like we all started to feel like this was a special team - then Fulham promptly followed that match with their first loss against Blackpool! Despite that hiccup after Stoke, Fulham has proven this is a special team. In their first meeting this season, Stoke and Fulham were tied on points and the win felt like it sent a message about Fulham's quality. Now there are 16 points that separate Stoke and Fulham and everyone is waiting to see if the Fulham steamroller continues against another opponent. Stoke has a good defense having only given up two more goals than Fulham on the season, so getting another 6 or 7 is unlikely. However, the 3-0 loss for Stoke (that would have been 4-0 had Mitrovic converted an injury-time PK) still stands as their worst loss of the season and the only time they lost by more than one goal. Stoke will be looking to avenge that loss and position themselves to take a playoff spot, so I expect them to go for all three points against Fulham despite the risks.

Seri will still be out since Ivory Coast won their group in the Africa Cup of Nations. The usual squad should still be available and they'll get a full week to rest after this match - although I'm not sure if that is a good thing with they way they've been playing! As the Beastie Boys and others in this forum have said before Fulham needs to "keep it going, keep it going full speed!" but "full speed" has never quite looked like THIS before! This is ludicrous speed! Maybe Fulham might even go to plaid.

 

I look forward to this one. A little afraid of the international break and the potential injuries. Will Silva go with the same team again or rotate guys a bit? I think he'll keep the same 11 if everyone is healthy, but he could surprise me. I'm part of the Joe Bryan Admiration Society--just a good, decent guy--and hope he can get some more minutes during the tail end of the season so he can enjoy it. If we get promoted, he's not likely to play in the Prem and will probably leave (though I'd love to see him take a coaching role in the Fulham Academy, if not now, then a few years down the road).

 

What’s that old saying about Messi? Could he do it on a cold, rainy, winter Tuesday night at Stoke? That sentiment was supposedly suggested by former Sky Sports pundit Andy Gray during a 2010 match between Man City and Everton with partner Richard Keys. Messi was in his prime with the Pep Guardiola era Barcelona, and he and CR7 had just been nominated for the Ballon d’Or for 2009. Messi won his first, flipping the script on Ronaldo from the previous year. Stoke City were a couple of seasons into what’s turned out to be one of the club’s most successful recent runs. Upon promotion to the Premiership in ‘08, they proceeded to turn the decade old Britannia Stadium into a fortress, primarily on the strength of strong, physical defending. That and the slightly higher elevation resulting in colder winter temps and rabid supporters made it a hell hole for visiting PL teams for ten years. Here’s the problem: Ryan Shawcross isn’t walking through that door, Potter’s fans. Robert Huth isn’t walking through that door. Rory Delap isn’t walking through that door. And Stoke has barely dodged relegation to League One at least twice since 2018, their last in the top flight. This season, however, they’re currently a respectable 8th. They’ve only played 3 matches this month, and one of those was an FA Cup match, a 2-nil win at home against Leyton Orient. I think this one will be a character building nail biter that we win 1-nil or 2-1.

 

Come from behind road win without Mitro, I’ll take it any day and twice on Sunday. BDCR with tha’ WINNA’!

 

Someone send Hull City some flowers because they followed up their win against Blackburn with a win against Bournemouth!! Fulham is eight points in front now with the top three even on 27 matches. QPR is in fourth with 47 points on 26 matches.

 

Flowers? Let’s send ‘em a bloody ale lorry!

 

The highlights:


My computer needed to install some updates that slowed me down when I tried logging in for the match. I missed the first two minutes and logged in just in time to see Muniz celebrating his goal and I was then stunned to see it was already the second goal of the match! WHAT?!

Fulham was a different team without Mitrovic and Wilson in the lineup (apparently for COVID concerns), but Muniz and DeCordova-Reid did just enough to get the three points - which is fine with me. There were a number of balls sent long that Bobby couldn't get on to that I think would have been chased down by Wilson. Muniz also isn't the playmaker or nemesis on the high press that Mitrovic is. Yet Muniz's goal was one of the finest all season from Fulham (other angles not shown in the highlights did a better job of revealing how perfectly placed his shot was) and DeCordova-Reid found the winner when it seemed Stoke would be the dominant team in the second half.

We can celebrate the win, but it was unfortunate to give up to give up another two goals that seemed too easy. Fulham was also lucky not to have given up more goals from defensive errors. Robinson, who had a great match mid-week, played poorly today. He was out of position and made poor passes throughout the match. Tosin also played below par today, but the squad made it through with another three points and that is what matters most.

One surprising positive was the play of Knockaert as a late sub. I couldn't understand why they brought him in, but he played excellently to kill off time in the final few minutes. More than any other player for Fulham at that moment, he understood the most important thing to do was to keep the ball. He did a great job of holding onto the ball and when he didn't have it he did an equally good job of getting it back. His work probably won't be recognized, but I really think he saved Fulham from giving up a tying goal. I didn't have confidence they would get a win until I saw him take control of the match.

 

This post from Fulham shows the angle that illustrates how well placed Muniz's shot was:


Spot on Jump!

Loved this line from the BBC recap:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/60005547