Fulham vs. Spurs at Wembley

After going nearly a half a century (and two stadia) between Wembley appearances, our heroes return to arguably the scene of our finest hour some 55 days ago, when 3 left footed kicks of the soccer ball from Stefan Johansen, Ryan Sessegnon and Tom Cairney gave us the only goal required to rejoin the top flight. 55 days, but, seemingly, a lifetime ago. Only four of the eleven from that glorious day started on opening day, and it remains to be seen if that number will increase or not. Whether or not it does, new faces will still form the majority of Fulham players to march out onto the most famous pitch on the planet.
Spurs?
They're still very, very good, despite not signing any new players during the summer. And did they really need to? You could make a good argument that they should have, but you can make an equally strong one that they didn't. The main argument for would be to strengthen the defense. Despite having a superb keeper in Hugo Lloris, the back line is still suspect. And even Hugo will make mistakes from time to time, mostly with his feet (see Croatia's final WC goal by Mandzukic), and coming off his line. Most of the pundits seem to think we won't be able to play possession game against them, but I think otherwise. And our new guys will have a full week of practice together. Throw in the extra incentive of playing at Wembley, and you've got a recipe for an upset. I say we get it done. I think they'll be flat and we'll be amped up. And hopefully ready to play some football, unlike last weekend at the Cottage. I just feel they're ripe for the picking.

 

I hope Betts gets a chance to start. At least make the game-day team. Ream in for Le Marchand (bench) so Tim can marshal the defense. I'd make no other changes. Keep the team largely the same and get them to gel. Put one of the youngsters on the bench (one of S. Sess, Fossey, de la Torre) so he can take in the atmosphere.

 

When looking at who started from the squad last year I think it is important to look at it position by position, because it doesn't seem as harsh that way.

First, the players that returned from last year to start against Crystal Palace:
Striker: Mitrovic
Left Wing: Sessegnon
Midfield: Cairney
Midfield: McDonald

All of those starters made sense to me. Now for the new guys:

Right Wing: Shurrle - We had a hard time finding consistency in this slot last season. Kamara came into his own late into the season, and also played admirably as a sub in week one, but I have a hard time arguing that Shurrle didn't deserve a shot at starting there.

Midfield: Seri - He looked great in week one. Although I like Johansen, Seri appears to be a step above.

Left Back: Bryan - While I would have liked to have seen Targett get the start, he isn't on the team so that was impossible.

Center Back: Le Marchand - I'd like to see Ream here, but he was injured so that was impossible too.

Center Back: Chambers - I wasn't hot on Odoi or Kalas, but neither could play so it was impossible for either of them to start too

Right Back: Christie - He was on the roster last year, but didn't start much behind Fredericks. Of course Fredericks isn't with the team anymore so it is impossible for him to start too.

Keeper: Fabri - This one clearly rankled most of us. We wanted to see Bettinelli in goal.

So with all of that there were really on three cases where a starter from last year was benched in favor of a new guy (Kamara, Johansen, Bettinelli) and only one of those was questionable (Bettinelli)

On to this week's match. It seems through the pre-season that Fulham has been vulnerable to teams running onto balls dropped down the middle over our back line. We seem slow in the middle so I wouldn't mind trying some other options at center back (Fosu-Mensah?) and defensive midfield (Anguissa?) to see if they help provide better coverage. If healthy, I'd like to see Ream back in. Anyone but Fabri in goal. Everyone else I'd keep the same.

This match will be on NBCSN, which is great news for most of you, but bad news for cord cutters like me. Looks like I'll be giving GJ one last listen before my FFCTV subscription expires.

 

Update from Jokanovic: Still limited options at the back with Ream and Mawson unavailable and Odoi with one more game to go in his suspension. Good news is that Bryan should be available.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/august/16/team-news

 

With unfamiliar CB's in front of him, I don't think it matters whether or not Betts starts. The bottom line is that we'll still have an all new back line again. I'd like to see him get the opportunity he's earned, but not under these conditions. I know, I know, he's a professional and last season's team is last season.
But paying transfer fees for Fabri and Rico doesn't automatically mean they're better or must be named because of the investment. I still think we'll play better, and I hope Spuds lay an egg.

 

A couple changes that I agree with, but not the one I wanted most in the starting XI:

Fabri
Fosu-Mensah, Chambers, Le Marchand, Bryan
Cairney, Anguissa, Seri
Kamara, Mitrovic, Sessegnon

Subs: Rico, Christie, McDonald, Johansen, Kebano, Shurrle, Vietto

 

It was awesome to watch the Whites on TV this morning, the result not so much. Brief moments of quality from Fulham. Could have been worse. Onward and upwards....

 

Or we could have been QPR getting beat 7-1 by West Brom

 

The result could have easily been much worse. The opening of the game was quite bad. The defense was in shambles. felt like we grew into the game as the first half went on though. Until the goal that is.

The start of the second half was beautiful and I think in time we can play like that for longer stretches as the boys get use to playing together.

Dembele changed the game when he came on. Towards the end, Fulham were gassed, and spurs were able to capitalize.

All in all there were definitely some positives, I just hope it doesn't take toooo long for this team to gel.


Ps, fabri looked much better than the first game to me.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

I agree.

 

Yeah yeah yeah ... 0 points after 2 matches?

A header? From his knees?

Methinks this is going to be a VERY interesting season. They just need a little more time to get some people back and, in general, get their **** together. The roller coaster car will have reached the top of the first hill in a couple of weeks. Then ...

 

I guess the plan is to keep running the new guys out there, sink or swim, with Cairney, Sess and Mitro. It’s easy to see their collective talent, and we can afford to patient right now.
But....
For how long?
When you bring in a bunch of guys who have never played in England before, much less the top tier, there is a learning curve. The question becomes, can these guys, however talented, shorten that curve before losing becomes a habit.

 

What's wrong with this picture? This is Fabri's fault. You don't let your shortest player line up in the wall. Fabri may have good fundamentals, but he doesn't communicate, and that hurts the entire defense. This is just one example.

 

I have to say that Tripier just had a sweetly struck shot that got over Mitrovic and Kamara (who didn't jump). I do agree that Fabri doesn't communicate as well as he should, but the wall choice is not an example of that IMHO.

I'm more disappointed with Anguissa (or does he go by Zambo?). He was the one who too easily turned over the ball that gave Tottenham the chance to counter and then in his frustration he gave up the foul that lead to the free kick - two mistakes that directly led to the scoring chance. After that goal he gave up the ball easily again and that lead to the breakaway for the third goal. None of that is shown in the highlights, you'll just have to take my word for it. There is plenty of time for Anguissa to justify his signing, but this wasn't the start we all hoped for.

 

I think the sooner we all accept the first month is going to be a wash the better. I'm not sure what else we can expect with practically a brand new squad in a new league for a manager that has always started slowly.

There we certainly some positives to be taken from this match, but Spurs were ultimately just a class above.

 

Yep. Back to the old “win the ones we should and hope for a result from the rest”.

I’m not sure what Mensah’s instructions were but he played it completely different than Christie. I can’t think of a single time that he got forward and attempted a cross. He seemed pretty solid defensively though.

Kamara frustrates me. He has great energy and pace and loves to run at people. However, he really lacks finesse and the final touch. I’m hoping that he’ll continue to improve with age and experience.

On to Burnley!

 

Wouldn’t Palace at home qualify as one we should win?