Fulham v Birmingham

Discussion in 'Fulham FC News and Notes' started by SoCalJoe, Jul 2, 2020.

  1. SoCalJoe

    SoCalJoe Well-Known Member

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    With the next 3 fixtures against Forest (ahead of us on GD), 2nd place West Brom, and 6th place Cardiff it’s vital to grab all 3 points vs 17th place Birmingham.
     
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  2. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

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    It saddens me that if Fulham had won all three games on the restart they would be in first place right now. The top of the table faltered enough to give other teams a shot. Brentford has taken the initiative while Fulham dithered. Automatic promotion is still an outside possibility, but what I'm mostly looking for now is some sign that this team is ready to compete in the playoffs. Despite enjoying the win against QPR and getting enough points to make the playoffs a near certainty, it still wasn't a good enough performance for a team that wants to win the playoffs. Fortunately there is still time to get better.

    Birmingham is a bit hard to figure out. They haven't won in 4 1/2 months (the pause in games makes it fun to stay stuff like that) with 6 draws and 2 losses. However one of those draws was at West Brom after the restart who were at the top of the table. But then they lost at home to lowly Huddersfield 3-0. Birmingham is also one of those weird teams who have a better record on the road.

    Regardless of the final score, what I'm hoping for is a Fulham that doesn't look so fragile on counter attacks and has attacking players working in sync.
     
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  3. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

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    This has got calamity written all over it.
    We’ve lost seven league matches at home this season. We beat ‘em at St. Andrews in November, but, Lawd, that seems like centuries ago. Definitely danger zone time. Would really, really like to see us take care of business at home in a semi-dominating manner.
     
    #3
  4. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    at home against a sub-par opponent -- number of shots taken in the first half -- ZERO

    jeez louise
     
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  5. astroevan

    astroevan Well-Known Member

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    Typical half Fulham vs a lower side. 79% possession, 0 (that’s zero) shots on target. Meanwhile Birmingham has generated 5 shots with two on target. Ugh. Hopefully the stats aren’t showing the full picture.
     
    #5
  6. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

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    I was only able to catch the second half (and from the stats, maybe that was a good thing!). In the second half Fulham totally controlled the match, but had difficulty generating quality shots on target. Most of the shots that did get to the keeper were not very threatening. I thought Fulham was doing a good job of trying to build up attacks, but they couldn't make great shooting opportunities. Some credit does need to go to the Birmingham defense which cut down on high percentage shots and was happy to let Knockeart shoot from outside the box and sling shots over the bar.

    By the time they got to injury time I felt that a draw was the likely outcome despite Fulham's superior play. And I was okay with that because it still felt like an improvement over prior matches. Then finally Fulham got the goal they deserved. Unlike the QPR goals that seemed to come out of nothing, this one came from some great build-up play between De Cordova-Reid and Reed to Onomah who had gotten around the Birmingham defender just enough to slot it in.

    Fulham clearly misses having an striker up front but thankfully they are still finding ways to win. Hopefully when Mitro gets back he'll have is shooting boots on.

    EDIT: Here are the highlights from Fulham:


    Kind of funny how almost everything happened at the Hammersmith end.
     
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    Last edited: Jul 4, 2020
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  7. astroevan

    astroevan Well-Known Member

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    Three points. I’ll take it.

    Since you were able to watch the match @MicahMan , is there any concern to Cairney limping around during and after the goal?
     
    #7
  8. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

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    I don't think it was anything. There might have been a challenge on him shortly before the shot. I had to watch it with the audio off (don't tell the person I was on the phone with that I was multi tasking! ;)) so I didn't get to hear any of the commentary that might have indicated something of greater concern. Parker didn't say anything about Cairney in the post game press-conference, so hopefully it wasn't serious: http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2020/july/04/head-coach-presser-birmingham
     
    #8
  9. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

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    I'm happy that Fulham is posting videos to their YouTube channel again, but I'd really appreciate it if they posted longer clips with GJ. Other teams do it, like Birmingham who provided 7 minutes of highlights:


    As the Birmingham commentator said, Michael Hector had a horrible first half from the looks of it. I had felt like he hadn't been up to his prior form since the restart and this just was a further sign of that. He wasn't called on in the second half to do as much since Fulham controlled the ball so much.

    I didn't realize until seeing these highlights that the Birmingham keeper made a great save on De Cordova-Reid's shot from inside the box. I thought he had sent it wide like Knockaert. Reid just can't seem to catch a break.

    And there was no challenge on Cairney prior to the final shot. He just appeared to pull up and grab his hamstring.
     
    #9
  10. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

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    3BB4C94D-363F-478B-BB7E-FD139B7ACCF2.gif Well, we won.
     
    #10
  11. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

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    So, did I miss something about Kamara? He’s out, obviously, but injured or COVID? Anybody know?
     
    #11
  12. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    According to Wikipedia, he's still on the Fulham payroll. No idea what he's doing -- injured, on loan etc.
     
    #12
  13. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

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    Scott Parker said in his Forest match preview that Kamara is the only player with a health issue. Parker described Kamara as "just a little bit off." So, unlikely to play this week again due to this mystery aliment.
     
    #13
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