Fulham v Brentford

Doesn’t get much better for a home opener then versus the neighbors. Should be a cracking atmosphere. The only drawback is the Riverside Stand won’t be fully open till the 2024-2025 season. The Offal has news about it, but it didn’t really dive into details. There is an article that talks about the Anfield expansion being delayed (I’ll try to share the link) because it’s the same contractor doing the Riverside and that the company is going into administration.

https://www.thisisanfield.com/2023/...tration-after-delays-at-liverpool-and-fulham/

 

Brentford are a tough side to beat and a repeat performance from last week most likely won't net Fulham any points, let alone 3. Hoping Paulinha returns...and we get an oiled up Traore on the touchline!!
(Rocket science analysis in a jiffy)
COYW

 

Bad news kids, Mitrovic has an ankle injury (or maybe it's an offer from Al Hilal) and he won't be available for Brentford. Time for someone to step up!

There is good news though - Palhinha will be back in the squad! However, I suspect we may not see more than 15 minutes from him. Along with @nevzter I hope we get to see some of Traore too.

I'll have my eye on Ream too. He looked rusty out there against Everton. Hopefully his improved second half carries over into this match, but Bassey looked good enough in pre-season that if Ream still seems shaky I'd like to see a change.

Given Fulham's dismal track record against Brentford, I'd be happy to get a point. It should at least be entertaining.

This one is available on Peacock.

 

I’m no Mitrovic, but I rolled my ankle playing a couple years back. Like Mitro though, I finished the match but by the time I went to bed that night, my ankle was double its normal size. I didn’t play again for three weeks. In reality, I bet the sprain and Saudi offers are playing into his status.

We used to own Brentford in the Championship but they have vastly improved and like nevzter I’m not confident in a victory. Andreas is starting so that will help the midfield, but Palhinha is on the bench. Hopefully Raul can get his account started since I don’t expect another clean sheet.

 

Toothless today.

 

The equation is this simple: No Mitro=no goals.

 

This is scandalous. What is VAR for? In no world was Tim’s intervention a foul, and there was a clear offside in the buildup to their third goal. I haven’t seen refereeing this bad in the Prem in a very long time, if ever.

But I have to admit that Diop’s lapses can be scandalous, too.

We’re without Tim for Arsenal. Mitro will by then have taken the blood money. This will be a tough season if we don’t add another quality CB and a striker before the end of the window. And a RB.

 

But perhaps the Universe decided to balance itself. We committed a robbery last weekend. We got robbed today.

 

Exactly. I wish we didn't have it. I can forgive a blown call with things happening at speed live in a match, but to stare at something like that in replay and believe that Wissa's feet went up in the air for any reason other than that he put them there is ridiculous.

Despite my anger over that, a fair result still would have been a 0-1 loss after Diop's brain fart and Fulham's inability to get a shot on target. Fulham have got to find some way of creating chances. Raul has not shown any evidence that he can make things happen. They need to find a solution and quickly if Mitrovic goes out the door in the next two weeks.

One positive I got out of this is that Bassey will get a shot at starting without having to take down the beloved team captain. I'll be interested to see what he brings against Arsenal. Also, Palhinha looked healthy and picked up where he left off last season by quickly getting a yellow. Finally, I appreciated that Fulham was still game despite being a man down and two goals behind - good effort in that regard.

One final peeve - Thomas Frank is certainly a good manager, but the fawning over him and the way he coached the match was ridiculous. Brentford got all the breaks today - a gifted goal, a questionable penalty, and a man advantage. You'd have to be a terrible manager to be given those advantages and NOT win today.

Highlights if you enjoy reliving misery:

 

Mitro is officially gone. This will be a real test of Marco’s managerial mettle. How does he put the pieces together so that we’re both dangerous and solid in the back? Muniz is not Prem-quality. I don’t know if Jimenez is, either. If Vinicius gets enough run outs, he may be useful but won’t replace Mitro. Marco may need to figure out a way to play without a target striker.

But who knows. If TK gets us Balogun, we might suddenly become a better team than with Mitro. Hoping isn’t a crime.