Fulham v Tottenham

Not cashing in on some opportunities of turning 1 into 3 points starts to rear its ugly head the next 3 matches starting w/Spurs. Yes, we drew with them and looked good doing it last time, but the way they destroyed Burnley 4-0 Sunday makes a draw seem like a near impossible task, why? Because Gareth Bale looked like...GARETH BALE in his prime. Bale, Son, and Kane tore Burnley into shreds and it could’ve been worse then 4. Expecting to lose 0-2, 0-3 to be honest, but Fulhamish happens.

 

Since Fulham drew with Tottenham, the Spurs earned only 9 points to Fulham's 11. Their 9 points came from wins against three lower-tier teams Sheffield United, West Brom, and Burnley. They won those matches comfortably, but lost vs. everyone else. Their recent struggles had me somewhat hopeful about Fulham's chances - until the three-headed monster known as Bale-Son-Kane (which does sound like something that would eat Vikings alongside Grendel) annihilated what had been considered a fairly sturdy Burnley defense.

Their quick counter attacking abilities will certainly be a threat, but I'm also worried that Tosin is finally going to get his pocket picked. He's made a number of passes along the back line that were very close to being intercepted. A more lively front like like Tottenham's could take advantage of a poorly placed pass.

Fulham's defense has great since settling on the central pairing of Andersen and Tosin along with the support of Aina, Robinson, Tete, DeCordova-Reid, and Reed. They will need to be at their best if the Bale-Son-Kane monster shows up on Thursday. The match starts at 1pm EST and will be shown on Peacock.

 

I get that this is a tough task but let's not forget, this team beat Liecester and Everton, drew Liverpool and Spurs, lost by only a goal to United and Chelsea(convinced that was 3 points without the red). This Fulham team can play with anyone in the league, apart from perhaps City.

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I feel good about this one. We win 2 - 1. Mark my words.

 

I'm hoping Mourinho's "patience" with Bale keeps him off the pitch on Thursday. Bale or no Bale, Spurs are quality but Fulham have shown great fight and defensive fortitude since the close of the first transfer window. The final 1/3 will make the difference and unfortunately that's where Spurs hold all the Aces (I'm warming up for a career in banal punditry). Come on you Whites and convert a chance or two!!!! COYW!!!!!

https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...us-about-unleashing-gareth-bale-for-tottenham

 

We just need to win now. Doesn't matter who we're playing, or who's in our out of the opponent's lineup. Our defense has been keeping us in games (who'd have thought we'd say THAT at the beginning of the season?). I'd like to see us get Maja some more chances. Since his brace against Everton on his debut, he's turned up on milk cartons.

 

I'm fuming. What the fuck is Lemina supposed to do there? Seriously what the fuck is he supposed to do?

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I was working so I had one eye on the game and another on the computer, so I'm not the best source, but I felt we deserved a point and maybe more.

 

A really frustrating lost point due to stupid hand-ball rules. The highlights:


The officials correctly called it as a hand-ball, but the rule is dumb. The only way for Lemina to have NOT hand-balled it was to have had his arm in an unnatural position away from his body since it the ball slammed into his body.

Fulham had a lot of the ball in the first half, but didn't generate a lot of opportunities. My pre-match worries about Tosin came true. He lost the ball - not deep in his own half but deep in the Tottenham half. Tottenham's quick counter left him well behind the play as it developed. No one got between Dele Alli and the ball because that was where Tosin would have been. Sadly he did get back in time to bounce the ball into the net to be awarded an own-goal although I'm pretty sure it was going in without that deflection. Tottenham had some other great opportunities that they just didn't convert, so I felt Fulham was fortunate to just be down by one.

In the second half Fulham look better and had more chances. Lemina was hard done by the hand-ball call, but otherwise he played poorly. His touch was really bad and when he had a great chance for a shot he sent it on the roof. Parker tried to go for the points with some brave calls on subs, but I don't think they worked. I would have sent Anguissa in for Lemina and not RLC (who other than not being able to shoot, did pretty well). I also would have put in Bobby DeCordova-Reid rather than Mitrovic. I thought putting in Bryan was a bold move that I appreciated, but he was a nightmare on defense and probably shouldn't be called on again unless it is an emergency.

Fulham can't win them all, but they've shown they can be competitive with anyone. It would just be nice to convert on that promise a little more often.

 

Just want to vomit at the stupidity of that call/rule. First, Spurs attempt to clear it, Lemina has no time to react other then to brace himself. He does what he’s taught to do and leaves his arm at his side (not even a fraction of an inch outside his body). Here is the lunacy, if he lifted his arms into a ‘handball’ position and the ball hits his hip it’s a goal....WTF

 

So from what I've seen and heard - next time you get a free kick just outside the 18, drill the ball at the midsection of one of the players in the wall. So when the ball hits the player's arm or hand (which he has positioned to cover his tender bits), you will be awarded a penalty. That's the rule, right?

 

We saw this earlier in the season in the Liverpool game. The rule states that if it directly leada to a goal then it's disallowed even if it's by accident. I would argue 2 things though, the "handball" doesn't "lead to an immediate goal" Maja still has to take a beautiful touch, drag the ball back, and THEN fire it home. The second thing I would argue is that the "handball" didn't lead to the goal because if his arm wasn't there, the same result happens. I think it's a bad rule but I also think it's a bad interpretation of the rule. If nothing else it's a "spirit of the law vs the letter of the law"

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ANNNNNDDD the rule has been changed. When Newcastle score a similar goal this weekend and Fulham go down by 1 point, this is one tims we can look back to.

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That would be a VERY Fulhamish resolution to this. However, it looks like they won't implement the rule change in England until next season. None of this changes the fact that Fulham still lost yesterday.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56291850

 

Ahhh, go ahead and ignore my earlier post. I didn't realize that a clause regarding the immediate and subsequent goal was the issue. I'll simply go ahead and agree with everyone else about how stupid the rule is and wonder who in their right mind decided to approve that part of the rule. Don't you think that you'd want to improve scoring? Maybe that's the American ideology ingrained in me (you know - the one that says sport cannot be entertaining unless points are scored at impossible rates), but penalizing a team for accidental infractions that maybe influence a goal seems a bit too strict. Also, the micro-analyzing and super slo-mo replaying is far too involved. Let the refs play!

 

Not a handball. If it is, then EVERY ball that strikes a players upper appendage in any shape, fashion or form, is a handball.