Fulham on FSC

Right now! Fulham at Chelsea, April 23, 2005. On Fox Soccer Channel.

 

Collins John just simply overpowered Carvalho on that goal. That was nice. 2nd half coming up.

 

Was this the game the refs stole from us, or am I thinking about some other game?

 

Probably some other game. The defense for Fulham was deplorable.

Nice shot by Joe Cole to start things off for Chelscum. But Volz got abused by Robben for his assist on the Blue Poo second goal. Finally, Zat was simply in la-la land when Gudjohnsen received the final goal's pass about 40 yards out. He just dribbled in and shot to his left. Zat could have at least taken him down in the box!

So, based on this one match a year and a half ago, I have made a few obviously dated perceptions:

1) Radzinski is busy when he is out there. He was easily the Charlie Hustle of this match. But he is small and can be muscled off the ball fairly easily.

2) Rosenior can play the wing. At least one very good crosses from the left into the middle.

3) Boa Morte is dangerous if for no other reason than he will take anyone down from behind.

4) Collins John can be a force. With the only goal for Fulham, and a literally strong goal at that, he looked like he can impose himself on defenders when he wants.

5) Volz gets beaten. Several times in this match, and they weren't pretty.

There were some obvious weaknesses in the middle, and Malbranque coming in did not change that. The defense was disorganized and out of position quite a bit.

So with Bullard, Boa Morte, Diop, and Rosenior(?) in the middle, I have to think we are much improved just with that. But also, with the addition of some stronger and faster defenders, we will be improved there also. The forwards will have to win the crosses they used to just hand away. Run B.Mc should help with that. Radz will be good off the bench, or in the middle. I'm optimistic, especially if we can pick up at least one more (two would be even better) established defenders.

 

Keira Knightley...yummy.

 

For those who can manage to stay up (or have TiVo), Fulham v. Man U. is on FSC at 1 a.m. Central.

(Wife and kid are out of town, and I actually think this would be fun to watch. Good gracious has my idea of a good time changed. Oh well.)

 

Well in the Eastern Time Zone it is 2am so the old VCR will be working late....

While I don't know the Fulham players "yet" very well, and the Defense/goalie play was poor/bad, the midfield and McBride did play with heart and seemed to try to play as a group. Hey I rooted for and still do the Cincinnati Bengals, so I understand the life of fan that roots on a team that breaks your heart from game to game. After watching the Man U game sometime tommorrow, I will see a different team.....

 

What is strange is that for the most part, Fulham plays up to their competition and unfortunately down to it as well. They my not always get results against the best teams, but they usually play well and look respectable. Unfortunately, the same effort is not shown against the some of the weaker teams in the league which can be really aggravating to watch.

 

Teams that play down/up to the level of the teams that they are playing against seems to me at least to be a problem with the coach. Coaches need to approach all games the same way whether they are playing the number 1 team in the league or the number 20. A win is a win, and the coach needs to get his players into the game, whomever they are playing......

 

Welcome to the team!

That was one of my first impressions of Cookie too. However, after many days to forget how pissed I (and Tom) was with the skipper last season, and a few acquisitions later, I am willing to give him another chance....at least for the first 3 matches.

 

As I have said, I am not the biggest fan of Coleman's, but I will hold off on criticizing him this season until at least the middle of September. I am convinced that he has guided the ship as far as he can take it, but perhaps this upcoming season will be a step in the right direction for Fulham.

If Cookie proves to be a great manager at Fulham, I will be the first to admit I was wrong in my assessment of him. Until then, I hope he proves me wrong by winning some matches and getting this team off to a much needed fast start in the league.

 

You all talk about Fulham being a team that wins the big game from time to time, but also losses the matches that they are suspose to win, but each time that they lose that lesser match, it makes that big win a draw. To get a head in any league you must win the matches you are suspose to win, and from time to time win that big match too.

Off the subject....

I will be going to the Everton match against the Crew on the 26th of this month. Who should I watch on the Everton team, and since it is a warm up match for them, is there anyone new coming up to watch closely also? BTW is anyone else going to the match?

 

If he manages the team to a win over Man-who?, I will provide two more weeks past the first three matches. That would be the way to start the season, away even.

 

OldGuy, check out Andy Johnson for Everton. He played for Crystal Palace the last few seasons and is a good striker. Also, not sure if he is with the team yet, but Tim Howard will likely be in goal for Everton.

 

BTW watched the 1st half of the Man (who) vs Fulham match this morning and the score was 3-2 at half.. McBride header was a thing of beauty, and something that I miss watching from going to see him at the Crew games. The young defender who made the crossing pass on the play did a real nice job of it.... The "D"? The first goal was a deflected one off of Carlos Bocanegra, and was just luck....Second goal, a fee kick, was a great shot by the young Portugal player Cristiano Ronaldo, and the third goal, never should have been as Man (who) was offside. The FFC Coach had every right to complain, and I don't blame him at all for getting kicked off the pitch.....

2nd half while Fulham didn't score again and Man (who) did, I came away very impressed with the good guys. They never gave up, nor stopped fighting. I do belive that if the third goal was called off which it should have.....the out come of the match just might have been different.....

Enjoyed the match very much, and looking forward to seeing more matches on FSC.....

 

I wish I could have stayed up to see it, but 1 a.m. was just too late, and I didn't have the VCR set up for the one television that gets FSC. I'll have to wait to check this game and others out from Tom's library.

 

Re: RE: Fulham on FSC

Tom already mentioned Andrew Johnson. Also look for defender Joleon Lescott who joined Everton from Wolves.

 

RE: Re: RE: Fulham on FSC

Im not going but Im watching Tim Howard and Andrew Johnson.

 

Re: RE: Fulham on FSC

MrsJux and I will be there. Section 109, Row 4, Seats 1-2. I don't know if we'll be doing our usual tailgating since it's after work.