Fulham at Wigan

Fulham travels to Wigan on Saturday to hopefully get back in winning form, which has been easier on the road than at home for us this year. Wigan sits very near the bottom of the table in 23rd place having lost 4 straight and only managing 4 points this season. All five of their losses have only been by one goal, so they certainly have the right to feel like they are better than where they are. They've actually scored more goals than us (10 vs. 8) but have let in twice as many (12 vs. 6). We know how it feels to start the season like that.

Thanks to Rotherham's shocking draw with Forest yesterday we still sit in the playoff zone - barely. Three points would be greatly appreciated to help keep the good times going.

Ayite will be out for a couple of weeks, so Kebano seems like his probable replacement. As mentioned before I'd like to see Bettinelli start again. Madl will be available after his suspension, but it wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't start and we see Kalas and Sigurdsson again.

 

Win at home and draw on the road is a recipe for playoff contention. Reverse the home and away results from the Burton match and it will be a good week. COYW!!

 

COYW

 

It seems that Joka is still figuring out all the new recruits. Even with six player additions since Aug 1, there has been little change to the lineup. Kebano is the only one (I believe) that has made more than one start in league play. Having little exposure to Piazon, Jozabed, Sigurdsson, etc. I don't know who to root for in the starting lineup or if to root for them at all. Maybe they are primarily there for League Cup matches.

I just want the team to start hitting the net a bit more while maintaining the respectable defense. I also don't see any reason to keep Sessegnon out of the lineup.

 

Agree 100% with Evan's assessment, especially about Sessegnon. Someone somewhere mentioned that the bloom is off the Odoi rose, and I would concur. Also think it's time to give Betts a shot in goal. Outside of his outstanding save on the first Burton penalty, Button has been trending downward. We'll see shortly! COYW!

 

Well Don, at least he made the bench.

 

Button still starts in goal. The rest of the lineup:
Odoi, Kalas, Sigurdsson, Sessegnon
McDonald, Parker (c)
Cairney, Kebano, Jozabed
Martin

Subs: Bettinelli, Woodrow, Smith, Malone, Madl, Tunnicliffe, Piazon

Martin needs to put the ball in the net this week! COYW!!

 

Again, lucky to get a point, although it really could've gone either way. Our early season every seems to have evaporated, and I don't know why. It almost seems like SJ is experimenting again, with personnel and formation. Sounded like Cairney was somewhat out of position today, by design. Whatever's going on, I hope we get our mojo back soon, because these opponents are not candidates for promotion.

 

Highlights have been posted: http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2016/september/18/match-action-wigan

Martin's header was just as horrible as it sounded from GJ. Smith also had a great opportunity to score that was created by Kebano and Tunnicliffe. We should have done better in those cases, but overall we didn't seem to create enough chances.

With Birmingham's win in the late game we are now sitting in 9th. Our first time out of the playoff spots this season I think.

 

A cursory glance at the highlights reveals a couple of things, at least to my untrained eye: 1) The defense has worsened since the season opening fixtures before the international break. WAY too much room allowed, especially in our final third. Lucky they didn't hit one of those wide open, yet angled, attempts.
2) The attack is less audacious, both in energy and execution. No obvious reasons, other than just a few changes in personnel and, maybe, formation? Again, to my untrained eye, something's gone awry since our bright start to this season, and we haven't looked to be getting it back. But...we still look a damn sight better than in any recent seasons, and this group of lads has some backbone. I'm still bullish on them and Joka. I just hope they figure things out soon.