Portsmouth v. Fulham [R]

1-0 FT

Rosienor, Diop, and Timilin got out aswell.

motm; Sol Campbell, this guy is not past it

ffc motm; Clint Dempsey, looked much better than at the Gold Cup, locals loved his moves, and he was our most effective player going forward

Knight is a wreck, how long must we endure this?? Dempsey, Konchesky, Baptista, Hughes, Davis, and McBride I thought were good. Overall we were in good shape, good movement, we just couldn't finish and our backline was at times messy and it cost us the game. Yeah its just preseason but it still sucks to lose.

 

I'm glad you guys watched it, I was tempted but thought, what's the point?

It's the way the team plays that counts and even that isnt cemented yet.

Somehow I still cant give up on Knight. I think the guy needs a sport-shrink; Eddie Johnson says he can recommend one. And so far it looks like it works for him.

Failing that... I'm glad CC isnt still there, I'd have to be saying 'Hands off the Crew CB's'.

 

Huh? You did watch EJ on the USMNT this summer, right? Personally, I think as MLS raises its level of intensity, EJ will be left behind.

 

His MNT performances were mixed, IMO.

Remember he wasnt doing anything in KC, last season, either. Guess i'm just an optimist.

 

hello! Fulham need to finish!

The boys looked pretty good today. I agree about Zat... he needs to be solid ALL the time. I liked the idea of Brian captaining the team! Dempsey looked great but his finishes were right at the keeper. He'll figure it out. Over all the team is much faster, has better passing and is much deeper. They looked good but they are still Fulham, they'll struggle as long as no one is a good finisher...One more thing, the passing from the midfield to the attack looked promising to me. Lets hope they find a way to start scoring, Dempsey could have had a hat trick!

 

Re: hello! Fulham need to finish!

I noticed that too...he did great getting chances, only to fire straight at D.James.

Overall, as already mentioned, same problems...lack of finishing and shakey defence at times.

 

RE: Re: hello! Fulham need to finish!

I was gonna come on and sing Dempseys praises, but the choir is already here! I think is is telling the Dempsy has featured prominantly in the pre-season games in various positions. I think LS is trying to work out where he fits best.

Worryingly, in the post match interview Sanchez seemed to give Zat a let off - so maybe he is hoping that he is not the donkey we all know he is.

I don't! The best skippers are people who can see the play unfold, preferably the captain of a team should be a central defender or defensive midfielder. One advantage of McB being skipper is that he shows the rest of the team what it is like being a professional.

 

RE: Re: hello! Fulham need to finish!

After the game I went back to bed and had a knightmare.

 

RE: Re: hello! Fulham need to finish!

Thank you much to all of those who posted on the match and kept us up to date. Glad the supporters and manager are getting behind Dempsey as he will pay dividends in the coming season. From what I gather, we haven't learned anything new about Zat that we didn't already know.

GBFC... IMO, it isn't a terrible idea to have McB as the captain. I understand the theory of seeing a play unfold and adjusting to play from the back. Makes sense. A captain leads by example and there is not better example of how I would like a Fulham player to carry himself than McB.

 

If Sanchez keeps Zat in the starting lineup for the season Fulham will battle relegation. Seriously this guy is a mistake waiting to happen in every game. He needs to be sold or at least put on the bench.

Batista is improving, but those horrible mistakes need to be solved. He has been doing this alot in every game I have watched and surely that can be worked on.

Dempsey played well and so did Kamara. Kamara will have a better touch at the beginning of the season and I really do think that he can play like a star in this league. Also John played well and deserves some more looks at the starting lineup.

 

I only got to see the second half but my overall feeling is that we did quite well considering its preseason, was 100 degrees and we are a NEW TEAM! We had our chances but we didn't put it away...funny how, if Dempsey and Kamara had put away their chances, Fulham fans as a whole would be singing the teams praises!

With that said, who saw Kamara's sweet touch when almost scored in the second half...it was QUALITY. Anywho, I agree with most of what was said so far...except about Zat Knight. He can't really be blamed for that goal, can he? Seemed a bit unlucky to me...

 

After seeing a clip of the goal, I agree with Mike. The marker (#14 is Diop's number according to the club website but it's clearly not him - Baird, maybe?) on the initial shooter (Kranjcar) is giving him way more space than he should be, especially bearing in mind the goal Kranjcar scored against us back in March (disclaimer: yes, I know it's only preseason and that sort of thing will righten up). This lets him get the shot away with some bite on it. Zat is on Benjani, yes, but it's not like he's lost him. He's got little time to react to Kranjcar's shot and try to put it out; it's just bad luck that it falls RIGHT to Benjani.

Wow, that's way more analysis than I thought I'd ever devote to a goal in a preseason friendly.

 

I think the team did well for the most part and in fact I think we were unlucky not to score in the first half. Davies made two great crosses to Dempsey but he was thwarted by David James both times.

I am not a fan of Zat Knight and I would like to see someone else in his place. The goal was a bit of bad luck, but it seems that when Knight is on the field, these kinds of things happen all too often and that is not good. We need another defender in the back.

Players that I thought looked good were Davies, Dempsey, Kamara, Smertin, Konchesky and Hughes. As Mike alluded to, it was 100 degrees in brutal humidity AND it was preseason.

Let's hope we can get a win on Friday morning against the Hong Kong side.

 

From the usual source off TFI:

Firstly the fee for Brown is 2.4 million with a further £250k based on appearances.

A little birdy has told me that we are having talks with Hypia while we are in Hong Kong.Benitez wants him to stay for 1 more year but Hypia wants regular football at his stage of his carrer. We are prepared to offer him a 2 year deal and match his wages if we get him on a free which is likely,fingers crossed on this!!!!

We had an interest in Bouazza at Watford but walked away when quoted 5 million so this very unlikely.

LS wants 2 more players in, deffo a CB and another utility player.

FQ may decide to stay and fight for his place as he cannot agree a deal with anyone (this was as of Monday night so things may have chaned on this point)?

maybe more later

BARRA
FTID
DSTM

I will be slightly sad to see Browny go as I love having a 'hard man' in the team but he doesn't have the creative skill to back it up.

I'll take Hyppia, thank you very much.

I think we still need a STRIKER! I'd hate to rely on kamara all season.

 

If the little birdy is correct about Hyppia than I will be overjoyed. Love his attitude, work rate and aerial abilities. He would also add loads of depth to the back line, which has been lacking in seasons past. Don't be stingy Rafa as Fulham needs him more than Liverpool...

 

The problem with Zat is that he is constantly unlucky. Napoleon said he would rather have lucky Generals than good ones, I feel the same way about our centre backs. Especially if you come from the school of thought that says you make your own luck!

Knight stuck out a foot at a shot the was either going wide, or going to drop into the hands of the keeper. When he stuck his foot out he neither used the speed already on the ball to deflect it nor put his foot through it and cleared it, hence it could have gone anywhere and did fall right at the feet of the opposition - the apprent bad luck.

If you say "He can't really be blamed for that goal,...", then I disagree. He was responsible because he made a bad decision, he should have swung the boot or left it, but not stuck a leg out without a plan to follow. If the ball had bounced slightly behind the attacking player he would still have been responsible for bad defending, just a better outcome.

Great defenders think quickly and act decisively, an instinct for making the right decision. Zat did not come to a decision and so hope that something good would happen, he was wrong and Fulham lost. Fortunatly it is only a pre-season friendly, but in a months time that same "wing and a prayer" attitude will start costing us points again. Sodapop league here he comes (I hope).

On a slightly different note, I am assuming the Rosinior was not playing from the beginning because he is a shoe in? Our best defender last year and someone who I expect to push on and become a contender for England this season.

 

We already have a defender who's old and slow and brings "experience". We don't need another.

 

If people want Hyypia then go watch the Arsenal games last season. Arsenal wiped the floor with Liverpool and Hyypia looked like the slowest defender in the Premier League. This would be a big waste of wages.