Fulham v AS(S) Roma

I only have so much dry powder with the wife and this footy obsession...so I skipped the Hull match to go to this one.

Don't follow the the Serie A very much so I don't know a whole bunch about these guys. They are sitting dead square in the middle of the table, similar to us. With a Basel loss/draw and a Fulham win we could go up 3 points clear of the field.

I am hoping for the same result as yesterday...this one is tough to call given our short rest, basically two 1/2 days. Thank God it was Hull we were playing yesterday. Roma played and lost a tough match to AC Milan on Sunday.

It will be interesting to see who Roy runs out there on Thursday night. I am hoping to see a full strength squad and not the reserves team.

Any news on Murph's injury?

Prediction: Don't see a loss but put an equal chance on a draw or victory.

(Mike, any Hammersmith pub recommendations would be appreciated.)

 

I'd expect a different lineup than what we saw last night. Games on Mon--Thur--Sun are always tough, especially when two are against Roma and ManCity.

I'd like to see Smalling return to CB and Riise play some. Hopefully AJ and Etuhu recover from whatever the hell they had.

2-1 Fulham.

 

You Sir, are a smart man. Good choice. I hope we play full strength. This is an opportunity against a quality European opponent that should not be missed or chucked aside, especially now that we sit comfortably at 12th in the Prem.

 

The big question is what happens if the Captain can't go, and frankly with the way he was limping I would think he is out for this and probably unavailable for Citeh. Roy will probably use Greening, but I would love to see Clint in the middle drving the engine w/an in form Gera and Duff and Baird in the dm role. AJ must of picked up a knock in training, and if he is able to go, it will be interesting to see how he reacts w/Dio breathing down his neck.

 

I tend to agree with Joe. A Greening-Baird CM combo isn't going to scare anybody.

Also, this is just fine with me
http://www.goal.com/en/news/166/europa- ... opa-league

 

The only problem with Clint in cm for Fulham is that the cm doesn't attack. He directs the attack with passing and the wings do the attacking and tuck in behind the forwards. While Clint is probably more suited to a central role on the pitch, pulling him back and out of attack probably plays away from his strengths.

If we had a cam or cf behind the forwards, that would be ideal for him. But instead we do this thing where we morph from 4-4-2 to 4-2-2-2 to 4-3-1-2. The two wings are the ones that move and shift the formation based on how we want to attack. As such, that position seems to best fit his game given our options.

 

I think Clint in the middle could work, but it would require work from the wings to adjust their positioning as Clint moves. Clint would be far more free-flowing/free-thinking than Danny which would both create more chances and make it more difficult for us to retain our shape.

I see possibilities, but I'd rather experiment with a Stoke, Birmingham, or Burnley first.

 

To my understanding, that was Roy's beef with Bullard. Too much free flowing forward and losing the shape. If he didn't want JB to do it, I don't see him allowing it with Clint. Not that it doesn't have merit....just doesn't seem to fit into Roy's master plan.

 

You never like to be happy about players being injured, but yeah, Roma without this group is less imposing. Still a tough ask, but less imposing anyway.

As much as I like to see Roy try to rotate players and get match experience for guys who aren't getting much in the league (especially Smalling), I don't think this is the time for it. A win here and we're in great shape to advance (and I'm willing to take Roy's word for it that he actually wants to), especially if CSKA could manage a draw with Basel; a loss and we'd be looking at a severely uphill battle.

 

Throw everything at them. They're down 3 players and now's the chance to get a win. Honestly, I'd rather have a win against Roma than a win against City. A win against Roma and we're probably safely into the next round.

 

Yesssss and COYWs

 

3rd the above posts.

Go for the win here, Roy, it could prove to be an epic night in Fulham's history.

COYW!

 

I want both!

That said, hit 'em with both barrels Roy, Serie A bigwigs (such as it is) don't come to the Cottage every year. But sit Murphy.

 

I second that emotion.....

 

Drat.

The match will be shown live on GOLTV. May we be lucky enough to hear the best American broadcasting tandem in Hudson and Schoen? I sure hope so...

 

Glad to hear that it should be a full house. Have to agree w/everyone that this is the time to go all out for victory and the league game is the one to bring in some reserves. The 3 points on Monday evening relieves the pressure somewhat on the standings and now is the time to try and advance out of our group. A Cottage win over Roma is something fans would be talking about 20 years from now.

 

Legend.

http://hudsonia.blogspot.com/[/b]

 

Legend.

http://hudsonia.blogspot.com/