Fulham v Man U (again)

I had a good feeling about this match all along. After watching Fulham have a great 20 min against ManU the last time out I knew they had something to go on. I also kept thinking about the American football stat that it is difficult for a team to beat the same team 3 times in a season (ie. team in your division you beat 2 times in the regular season that you face in the playoffs) and figured the same thing could follow in the EPL. When Scholes got sent off so early I knew if Murphy capitalized on that PK it would put us in the drivers seat. I did get a little nervous in the second half when ManU upped the pressure. I thought that Kamara might be the first sub after what he did for us last time and figured Woy would be trying to get him more playing time. When Gera contorted himself to get that shot away and the ball was in the net I went nuts.

Over all I would say we have played much better then we would have thought against the Big 4 at the beginning of the season. With earlier draws against both Liverpool and Chelsea we could definitely take 2 or more points from those matches.

 

Frank really summed it up but I want to add to it:

1) The Manchester United fans were silent throughout that first half outside of a few frustrated yells. the West Ham fans clearly made their presence more felt (and joined in some COYW chants I futilely tried) I was amazed how awful their passing was in the first half. Nearly every ball went right to a Fulham player. I know FFC's defense is stout and strong, but to be in position for every single pass? Man U definitely helped us out there.

2) Fulham's long balls/longer passes were on point in the first half. If it weren't for Van Der Sar, Fulham leaves the half with a 2-0 or 3-0 lead. I'd go as far as to say that was the finest Fulham looked in a half all season.

3) The Man U fans made noise when Rooney came out. And again when Tevez was coming on. And again when a City fan was found among the crowd. But the most notable noise came when Schwarzer ROBBED Manchester of an equalizer.

4) I was impressed how Fulham didn't panic and actually built up some pressure after Schwarzer's saves. Roy made smart subs today - Kamara came on at the right time and started running at the defense. Dacourt spelled Murphy when necessary. We moaned when Gera came out but he did work hard and got a BRILLIANT goal.

5) The faces on the Man U fans by us (almost all around us) just became despondent when Gera scored! They never made a peep from then on! At the end, I just yelled "HOW COME WE'RE THE ONLY ONES MAKING SOME NOISE!" Talk about only singing when you're winning!

6) Today was a great, great game by Fulham. No one really had a bad or a mediocre game. I had expectations of this one going bad and I am very glad I was wrong!

CONTINUE ON, YOU WHITES!

 

A wonderful day at the Cottage

Ok....feeling a bit better. Actually just got back from a rugby game here in Reading (London Irish v Northampton) where I had a couple of Guinness to right the ship so to speak.

Game Day. Started my day in Henley on the train to London around 9:30 got to Paddington around 10:30 and had breakfast. Jumped off the tube at Putney Bridge around 11:20 and headed over to the Lion to start things off. Couple of pints and a smoke then off to the Cottage Pub. Ran into Corky and I actually sat with a couple of decent Man Utd fans (did I just say that?) as I was flying solo. The weather was absolutely great. I am a Texan so the winter here was really getting to me but Saturday was very nice. Not a cloud in the sky and around 60 degrees. Took off for the game around 2:30.

My seat was 2nd row just to the right of the goal in the Hammersmith stands. I was a bit apprehensive about the game and a bit pessimistic. Game starts and we are creating much more chances than Man Utd. Then Scholes decides to be goal keeper, gets the boot, and Murphy converts easily. A little difficult to see given where I was sitting. We were playing very well despite the penalty but the mood in the Cottage changed dramatically.

We continued to play very well (they did have 10 men) and control the run of play. Half time I headed down for a pie and a pint and everybody was smiles and I am thinking we could take this.

The second half is much of the same with us holding the ball and completely dismantling any offensive threats they posed. Then Rooney comes on and there is a significant amount of pressure applied by Utd for about 10 minutes. The big Aussie makes some tremendous saves to preserve the lead and slow down the onslaught.

Getting late in the game we all start some serious clock watching and then Gera does his thing. If there was not a net, the ball would have rolled to my feet. The Cottage goes mental. I make sure the Utd fans in front of me know the score and they promptly leave. See ya. Far to used to dishing it out and not taking it I guess.

Met up with the guy who got me the ticket at a pub on the south side of the river and we are absolutely giddy. 3 pints later out overlooking the river with the Cottage in the background and I am on the train making my way back to Henley happy as a lark. Hit my local for a nite cap (or 3) and pass out at home a very happy man.

I have posted my snap shots from the game on Snapfish. Most are mediocre but there are a few good ones especially the one where Van der Sar is walking back to pull the ball out of the net, head down, and you can see in the background our boys celebrating. I snapped a bunch (some goofy ones, you'll see, kind of like a blog without words). I think the self portrait is the best personally You'll figure it out. Hope you enjoy them.

http://www1.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailsha ... snapfishuk

A very great day indeed. Has to rank in the top 3 of all the sporting events I've ever been to. Off to Rome next week then back to Houston for a couple of weeks so I will miss the Liverpool game. What a way to gain safety!

 

RE: A wonderful day at the Cottage

I'm back in ATL...and it was a great game. The reason I was late - I was waiting on a friend to get into town and when he took too long I had to take a cab from the Upper West Side to Nevada's (it took longer than I thought) to catch the 2nd half. I told Terri to text me updates...and that's when I told me friend to f'n hurry so I left him.

Pissed to pay $20 for a cab ride, but plenty pleased at 2-0 victory and to meet some more Whites in NYC...and just because I'm a HS teacher does not mean I can't say some swear words here and there.

-Chris

 

RE: A wonderful day at the Cottage

Great to read all of your posts and feel the JOY! Must admit, never thought it could happen after the FA debacle. Just so happy!!
COYW!

 

RE: A wonderful day at the Cottage

Wow.

Schwarzer, Hughes and Mr. Hodgson in TOTW:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/st ... nd&cc=5901

COYW

 

Take Your Medicine.... BITCH!!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... D=54451246

 

RE: Take Your Medicine.... BITCH!!

Very nice! Thank you kind sir.

 

Wow yeah, that's a red card even if you're Manchester United. Thanks for posting the highlights!

Edit to add: And WOW what a goal by Gera. He'd been just a little bit off on a bunch of chances but it's great to see him get back into the goals column in emphatic fashion.

 

Gotta Love the Fulham!

 

Re: Take Your Medicine.... BITCH!!

Thanks loads for the extended highlights!!

I'm gonna open mysef up for abuse here -- watching Scholes reaction after his handball made me feel sorry for him. I've stated my admiration for him several times on this site, and seeing him hang his head and walk off, knowing that he knew he effed up royally, well... too bad it was him. If it was Cristina the Ballerina or Ferdinand, it would be cause for much laughter, but too bad for Scholes.

 

Wow, wow, wow - I was literally shaking at half time with excitement. Watching the highlights yesterday gave me goosebumps and made me even more giddy to watch the "stars" of Man U run around crying like a kid getting a shot. It even looked like the great Sir Alex was a little pouty on the sidelines.

Ok, lets build, we have a spark, can we make Europe? I just think we might be able to....

More proud than ever!
COWY
-Brad

 

FULHAMISH-there is no other word to discribe the feeling,I'm walking 10 feet tall and have been since the game
as I said after the game,It's GREAT being us!

 

Re: Take Your Medicine.... BITCH!!

I understand where you're coming from here. It's easy to dislike the Pouting Brothers (Rooney and Ronaldo) but at the same time it's tough not to admire their veteran players like Scholes and Giggs - they're certainly more likable than, say, Frank Lampard and John Terry.

 

RE: Re: Take Your Medicine.... BITCH!!

That was an awesome game. I watched at Tigin in downtown St. Louis. Only a handful of Man U supporters were there and it was nice to watch them leave disappointed for a change. I let out quite a yell when Gera scored that amazing goal. Even my girlfriend cheered quite loudly (truth be told, I think she only came because I promised her breakfast). It was also special because there were a bunch of people in town for the NCAA Wrestling championships. A lot of the people in the bar cheered when Man U went down. I guess everybody loves the underdog.

 

Wow. Where was that team for the FA Cup?

 

It was nice to see Fulham get the nod on Super Sunday + as well. Roy's tactics were the subject of the Super 8 Spotlight and Gera's goal was goal of the week.

 

Great shot!

But what I'd love to see now is Hammy going mental about 1/2 second later.

BTW, coverage in the UK press has been overwhelmingly positive - can't think of a piece that didn't read like an FUSA post. Just one example, we were the lead paragraph under "The Best" on Bobby McMahon's blog at

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/BobbyMcMahon :

You can read that one for yourself but please let me quote directly from another item lower down on that page, under "Best Forgotten":

". "A second consecutive loss, two red cards and a petulant display from Ronaldo made it a day to forget for Manchester United. Ronaldo is a favourite target for opposition supporters but I thought the Fulham supporters took it a bit far in blaming him for the current global finance crisis. A chorus of "Banker, Banker, Banker" was unleashed whenever the World Player of the Year touched the ball…….well I think that is what they were shouting!"

Perfect.

 

THANKS WhitesBhoy for posting the link to the highlights, one bit that made me laugh out loud, was two minutes into the highlights and the game still 0-0 the camera focused in on the Manure Bench with AF chewing on the cud like he likes to do the commentator said" I would love to have been a fly on the wall after last weeks lose to Liverpool" I thought I would rather be a fly on the wall after this weeks defeat....LOL

It's a real shame that Ronaldo being such a great player has to lower himself to the mentatlity of the others at Manure with he's sulking and refusing to obey the referee's commands

I loved watching Roy's face smile so brightly making he's points known with the interview after the game.

COYW'S

 

FYI - The Gera goal was #2 on Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays Today!