Fulham away to Swansea

Swansea played in the FA Cup this weekend also, so coupled with the fact the youngsters played a huge role on Sunday, Fulham should be ready to go. These aren't the same Swans as last year that were absolutely fantastic. They are sitting in 15th place and out of 11 home league matches they have only won 2 (drawing 4, and losing 5 :shock: ). A point would certainly be welcomed and not a pipe dream by any means. 1-1 final with Berba scoring and stating he ain't going anywhere until the summer.

 

Need an away result - 1 or 3 points, doesn't matter as long as it isn't 0 points.

COYW

 

I know the cliche says we're supposed to take it "one game at a time," but as I look ahead at the schedule for the next few weeks, I think we need to get 4 points out of the next two league matches (away at Swansea and home v Southampton)

...or we will be in a heap of trouble. We need at least a point this weekend. COYW!!

 

Game is on Direct TV Channel 494 at 2:45pm ET. Trying to feel good about our chances. :?

At least after 13 continuous days of snow, there isnt any in the forecast for today. Just a high of 7 degrees F. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

 

I'm home sick, so I'll be watching this one on one laptop and chatting with you all on the other. Hooray technology, Boo hacking cough...
~Steve

 

If we could only trade a little of each other's weather. By this date we are supposed to have had about 7" of rain and have had less than a 1/2". The words of 'Super Drought" are already being thrown around on newscasts.

 

.......A performance worth forgetting. Let's just leave it that that.

 

We're toast. It's a formality at this point.

 

I'm not ready to put the nails in Fulham's coffin just yet, but I'll be damned if I don't have the pine box boards cut and measured.

Maybe the window will bring a pleasant surprise or two in the next couple of days.

COYW

 

Last 5 league games: 3GF 15GA. Opponents: Hull, WHU, Sunderland, Arsenal, Swansea. Sure, 3/5 were away but still.

I suppose there's still the Cup, but I'm struggling for reasons to follow this team/sport anymore. Better uses of time surely...

No, I'm not jumping ship just because we're losing and most likely to go down.

There's a lot about this game that has disillusioned me over the years and this team isn't really doing anything to rectify that. There are many other more constructive things I can do with my time than watch this dross that won't give us the time of day to explain what the hell is going on. And why, despite evidence of the failures for months if not years, nothing is changing.

Baseball season starts soon. Sure, the Orioles stink but at least that gets me outside (and to a beautiful stadium).

 

Ugh!

 

It's hard not to feel thoroughly defeated in every sense after that one. We need help. If we don't get it this week, we'll be lucky to survive. I'd like to say there was some sort of silver lining. There wasn't.

 

I missed the first 15 minutes, but I thought we played fairly well in the first half. We created a number of chances and were in the match. The second half started in a manner that you see in a lot of matches. The home side came out pushing for that go ahead goal, rallying the supporters in the process. Although I thought we sat back a little too deep and were a bit too panicked when we turned them over (hoofing clearances back to Swans rather than trying to maintain possession), we were weathering the storm. And then Meulensteen started making subs and pretty much sealed our fate. I see little coincidence to the fact that just 2 minutes after the first sub, they scored.

As best I can tell, the key to Meulensteen's setup is the player in the #10 spot. When we turn the opposition over, the player who recovers it looks to pass to that player and if it's a loose ball up top, it's up to that player to win it. For the first hour, that person was Dempsey and I thought he did an excellent job of that. Whether battling for headers or flicking on to another Fulham player, he gobbled up loose balls and turned them into possession, and subsequently, attacks. When other players won the ball and passed to him, he steadied it, and either launched the attack by turning and moving it forward or playing to the wings. When he did pass back, it was to Parker, Sidwell or one of the fullbacks and we launched our attack from there. I don't recall anything played back to Hangeland, Burn or Stek, which happens far too often when others have filled this role. Nor did we rush forward and turn the ball right back over.

Once Bent came on for Dejagah, Berbatov took over that role and our possession went to shit. That change also switched Kaca from the left, where he looks most comfortable, to the right and it put Clint on the left. Whether he's being instructed to or allowed to, Clint cuts in when he's setup on the left. If the fullback pushes forward, that's fine, we maintain width. When they don't (and we didn't), we become far too narrow, which further hampers our ability to generate an attack. I suspect that's why Duff was brought on 12 minutes later. The problem there is that Damien has very little to offer anymore. He hardly saw the ball on the left and when he did, he spit it back out and backwards as fast as he could.

It was a weird match. I look at the first half and try to draw optimism from that. We were able to generate pretty good chances. However we couldn't convert them. We don't generate many great chances though, and we haven't been converting those either when we do. Defensively we were solid. Or perhaps Swansea were just poor. They've been far more static on offense this season when I've seen them (when they've struggled, at any rate) than in the past. But then the 2nd half happens and the performance falls apart. We turn passive and retreat on defense. We start hoofing clearances out, right back to the opposition. We tire out. We stop doing anything that was successful in the first half. And then we make subs that make little sense and not only do nothing to improve the situation, but degrade it. Bent should have come on for Berbatov. Our attack was screaming out for a runner up top. But that's not what happened. As such, we went from a team that is rather fatally flawed as it is, but has some semblance of a chance, to a team that is inept, pathetic and worthy of everyone's contempt.

I'm empathetic to Timmy to a point except I still enjoy watching football. Teams like Liverpool, Everton, & Southampton have been very entertaining. I usually watch a couple of matches that impact my fantasy team for my enjoyment and then I watch Fulham out of some sense of obligation. I don't know if it's a byproduct of watching this gradual decline over the last several years, seeing it coming from miles away and hoping, praying and waiting for the next window for the club to finally start addressing the glaringly obvious issues, and repeatedly failing to do so, or what. But over the last 2 seasons, I've routinely questioned why I back this club. I've wondered if maybe it isn't the fit for my level of enjoyment that it once was. I hate fair-weather fans and have plenty of teams in other sports that have made me a long-suffering fan. When it gets too much, I just cut back my level of involvement. The O's would be a good example of this. I disagree with Tim about stinking. The last two years have been pennant worthy compared to the 15 prior. But I gradually stopped watching. I went to checking the standings and boxscores a couple of times a month and over time, I stopped watching baseball altogether for the most part. Because I do enjoy other matches, that won't happen with football. And I doubt I'll ever stop rooting for Fulham. Rooting for teams that impact my fantasy side has gotten me by this season, but I'm beginning to see the merits of having a second side. With this site and our being on tv most gameweeks, I haven't been able to bring myself to do that. If we get relegated, who knows. The whole mess is very frustrating.