Fulham away to Manchester United

The new season is only seven days away my friends. Can you believe it?

I’m getting excited!

 

I guess I'm taking the afternoon off.

 

I was just about to file my PTO request when I realized it is on USA so I can't watch it from home. So maybe I still file the PTO and go day drinking at the local Premier League bar with a bunch of Man-U fans.

I'm legitimately excited about this season! There was so much uncertainty hanging over the past two seasons, but now I'm really looking forward to seeing what Fulham can do. And that probably means certain disaster!

 

There is little doubt about the lineup. It kind of picks itself, except for RB and right wing. Based on today, looks like Tete and Traore have those starting spots going into the season.

 

Kickoff is almost here! Just like the 2022 opener against Liverpool, Fulham gets a big-time matchup with a big six team. Hopefully just like the 2022 opener, Fulham comes away with some points too. However, this time Fulham is unlikely to catch anyone by surprise. Fulham is no longer newly promoted, they've had two good seasons, and United will be eager to get payback after Fulham's last visit to Old Trafford when Iwobi shocked the home crowd with an injury time winner.

It will be interesting to see who gets the start for Fulham. Was the starting lineup from Hoffenheim a preview? That would mean Tete gets the nod over Castagne. Tete is no slouch, but Castagne was also terrific last season. It would also mean a start for super-sub Traore - the guy who cracked open Man. U.'s defense to get the winner against them last season. Then there would be Diop - someone I have a hard time trusting for a full 90 - at CB rather than Cuenca.

Fulham have had a really positive pre-season and I would love to see them continue that with a flying start with contributions from Iwobi, Muniz, and Smith Rowe as big confidence boosters.

It is disappointing that Fulham haven't signed anyone yet to replace Palhinha despite having a year to prepare for this inevitability. That, combined with a typical Diop error, I think will doom Fulham to a disappointing loss on Friday. After a great pre-season, I think reality will settle in a little.

I'd love to be wrong, but after so much misery at Old Trafford I think it is too much to ask for back to back successes there. Although, I did roll a Yatzee twice in a row this past week so anything is possible I suppose!

 

Departing work and heading to the Amsterdam tavern tomorrow. COYW!

 

I'm hoping for a repeat. 1:2. If we manage to stay on the front foot it may mask some fragility we have in defense (incl. DM).

 

Great first 15 and not much after. A few friendly faces at the tavern. Still 90% Man U as expected. Let's get a goal In the 2nd half.

 

How many times in recent years has Fulham dropped points in the last ten minutes of a match? Far too many for my liking. It’s so frustrating.

On the flip side, Fulham wasted pretty much every decent chance that they had. There were a handful of counters where the last pass just wasn’t right. Hopefully they can improve on those opportunities as the season progresses.

I copied this from the player ratings at 90min.com for which I had the same thought.
“Listen, if you were as talented and unique as Adama Traore, you too would try to dribble your way out of every situation. But sometimes you've got to pass the ball, you know?”

And lastly, what’s the point of making substitutions in the first minute of a four minute added time window? Especially when you’re down. Get that done earlier.

 

I’m not sure which is worse, wrangling a result we didn’t deserve or blowing a golden chance to get it anyway. Very easily could have, and should have if we’re being honest, been 4 or 5 nil. Some good things but not nearly enough to make up for the “meh” or bad things. I continue to wonder how we can be so ineffective at dealing with full pitch pressure season after season. It doesn’t seem to matter who the gaffer or the personnel are, we can’t seem to deal with it successfully. Still, a good, if technically unsound, effort. Hard to tell how this edition is going to fare over the season but there’s enough there from today to be optimistic about staying up. At the end of the day, however, that age old question for a club like ours is where are the goals gonna come from?
Good opening day effort, just need to refine the details. Onward to the home opener and an early reunion with Bobby. We should be able to handle the newly promoted Foxes.

 

On the plus side, I'd say that this was a better performance than the season opener against Everton last season. Fulham had some good breakaways, they just could not get that final pass. Everything that looked promising just sputtered out or bounced off of Maguire's stupid fat toe (a passage of play that the highlights decided to skip although it was arguably Fulham's best chance).

There was poor finishing on both sides, so I don't think it was that uneven of a matchup. If either side had put away their chances it could have been a lopsided result. There were plenty of errors made from a variety of Fulham players - except I can't remember an error from Diop, despite thinking he'd be the source of Fulham's troubles. Hopefully they can shake this off and screw their heads on straight going forward.

When a friend asked what I thought would happen with this match I said I was most confident that it would end with a heartbreaking finish for someone - because that's the way its gone with Manchester United and Fulham. Add one more to the list.

 

The play was sloppy and disjointed by both clubs. Professionals should do much better on those breakaways that Fulham managed to generate - that was garbage, whether the first match of the year or not. COYW

 

After a subdued Gentleman Jim in the pre-season, I'm glad he found his voice again for his totally balanced and unbiased calls of Fulham matches. (I really wish they had let us hear a little bit more about what he thinks of Maguire looking for a penalty call)


One other thought that came to mind after reflecting on this match is that Fulham's set pieces were all pretty bad against United. Last season Fulham was generally good at taking set pieces and very good at defending them. Friday felt like a step back in that regard.