Fulham @ West Brom

In the short time that Magath has had I don't know what he will have been able to install in terms of tactics but I do think we are likely to see all of the players familiar with his style of play and those that regularly bust their behinds starting. My best guess at a starting eleven is Stekelenberg, Reither, Heitenga, Burn, Riise, Dejagah, Kvist, Sidwell, Richardson, Holtby and Mitroglu (if healthy and fit).

I am curious about but have no idea what the arrival of Magath means for guys like Parker and Hangeland.

 

3 points would be a just what the doctor ordered, but a draw is the minimum requirement and a point I'd take right now if offered. WBA screwed up by sacking Clarke, and have been a yo-yo team (up and soon after relegated) since most of us started following the Prem. A result by the good guys and the Baggies might just start to get that feeling of impending doom. COYW!!

 

Home or away, this is a team we HAVE to take 3 points off of to stay up. We were lucky to get a point at Old Trafford, and unlucky not to get a point at home against Liverpool, but West Brom? We have to beat teams like this, or we go down. It's that simple.

 

I watched them play Chelsea and Liverpool, both at the Hawthorns. They'll likely line up in some variation of 4-5-1 and they look like they're trying to play like a poor man's Southampton. They're good at clogging passing lanes and keeping their shape at the back. When they're going well, they try to press higher up the pitch with the front 5. Against Chelsea and Liverpool they did a good job of mucking up the game and making themselves hard to beat. Offensively, they struggled to create quality chances but they didn't get outshot by much.

Looking at the stats, it appears they went with a more open approach against Villa and Palace (both on the road) and lost 4-3 and 3-1. Their possession numbers were much more Saints-like in those matches but they gave up a pen in each match. Hopefully that's the approach they'll take against us as it would seem they're more prone to leaving the barn door open the more they try to push up and sustain attack.

Obviously this is a big game for us. It'll be interesting to see how much impact Magath can have in such a short amount of time and if there's any "new manager bounce". The biggest thing is getting the confidence and attitude sorted. Can't wait for Saturday to see what happens.

 

While Fulham has gone through upheaval, West Brom practiced in Spain for a week. Would expect the Baggies to come out flying around. However, WBA hasn't exactly made the Hawthorns a fortress. Since the first day of December, they've only won one home match (losing 3 and drawing 4). COYW!!!

 

I like your lineup Barry, although I'd want to see Parker in there instead of Kvist; he hasn't done much to impress me yet, whereas every time Parker's out on the pitch you know he'll contribute. If we're really going after it, then you drop Richardson back into Riise's spot and put Kasami out there.

 

I'm finding it hard to say I know exactly what we have player-wise until we see them deployed properly. For me, if we're talking as a holding mid, Kvist is better than Parker from what we've seen. Parker will certainly give the effort and he'll throw himself in front of shots. But he's not very effective going forward and he's been terrible covering for other players who have gone forward. Kvist has been better at the latter. But then a lot of that could be down to the tactics and instructions they received from Jol and Rene.

I tend to agree with Barry's lineup as well. I'm not sold Hangeland is done and that it wasn't a coaching issue and I haven't been that impressed with Heitinga. But I would go with Burn over Brede. So if you are of the belief that Brede struggles on the right, then he has to sit rather than playing him on the left and sitting Burn. I wouldn't mind seeing us try Burn on the right. He's more mobile and agile and he may be up for it. The one case for Heitinga from what Rene said, was that he's a good communicator on the pitch. Burn appears to be as well, while Brede does not.

Looks like Yacob is out for WBA. His absence could give us some more space, but he's often a yellow waiting to happen and good for a few free kicks.

 

I've just emerged from a multiple week sojourn under a rock to be named later and see a new manager, new staff and hopefully, a new winning attitude installed...and also, actual wins. I'm behind the 8-ball on info and need to catch up but I'll be watching on Saturday morning.

The third time's a charm...

COYW

 

This was mildly interesting. Most of it is "well, duh" stuff. I still don't know why they continue to harp on Burn's inexperience. He's young. So what? That means he'll make mistakes. But the talent and, most importantly THIS season, the effort is there. And that's enough for me to keep him out there.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/20/fulham-felix-magath-five-things-save-from-relegation

 

Great turnout in the chat. Watching that final 30 minutes when we just invited them in was frustrating, and as great as Stek was (Man of the Match for me), there was a feeling of impending doom around the 75 minute mark. I know our new signing 'Metroglue' is going to get killed for his less than impressive :roll: 30 minutes, but let's give the guy a chance before burying him completely. Hopefully Palace and Norwich lose and then the black cloud of the draw will have the silver lining of getting a little bit closer to the teams above us.

 

I saw a Fulham squad that was gassed in the last 20 minutes. And after having no match last weekend, that's fairly inexcusable. As SCJ stated, Fulham invited WBA to attack but I think that wasn't intentional, it was because Fulham couldn't run any longer. Thanks for the top fitness levels, MJSF and Rene. Another late goal conceded and no attacking impetus towards the end of the match.

And who replaces a CB pairing that had pitched a shutout thus far? Curious move by Felix the Cat.

Still, a point is better than none but after a fairly good performance (by this season's standards), I remain nonplussed.

Also, Mitro's hair was perfect.

COYW

 

oh fer crying out loud the fella played barely 30 minutes with zero support in a uber-defensive shape and teammates that were clearly not on the same page with just yet. Does anyone know what "sample size" means?

considering the usual suspects are all gone guess we now have the team's bogeyman on such short notice! good job everyone