Spuds-FFC: The final nail!

If Mr Al Fayed watches and knows anything about football, this match settled it.
I think he had already made his mind up but there could be no doubt, now.

A poor MLS side could have beaten Fulham this day.

And I am sick and tired of hearing the players take the heat. In every loss i've watched, there has been no form in the mid, and that IS NOT due to the talent of the players.... how could it be THAT bad even if Fulham were a Champs side?

I'm sure Cookie is a great guy, and fun to hit the pub on a given night but this is serious business.

"These men are all professionals" and clapping up the fans wont get it!

 

While Fulham did not create all that many chances offensively, I do not think they played as bad as you are saying. I have seen Fulham play on a number of occasions and while they did not get the result today, they played better than they did against Palace the first time, Blackburn, West Brom, the first Derby match, the first Watford match, etc. It was not their best effort, but it was also not their worst.

I was disappointed in the 4-5-1 as it does not create us any chances offensively. It does bother me that we always sit back and wait for things to happen. Coleman needs to realize that in order to score goals he needs to put the players in a position to be able to attack. I would love to see the 4-4-2 and I would love to see Coleman make some more timely substitutes. If it were me running the show I would have had McBride off the bench the second Spurs scored. I just do not agree with Coleman's tactics and substitution pattern. Unfortunately, I do not think he will change that at all. He seems pretty hard headed in his thinking.

Overall, the defense looked much better and looked to be on the same page which is something I can't say for many Fulham matches. I am not sure what happened on the free kick or the last goal, but I did not think we played terribly defensively.

 

Avoiding relegation really looks to be a battle now. Only 2 goals in the last 4 Prem matches while giving up 7. Terrible!!

The worst part is that the other team always seems to have the initiative while FFC struggles to put any passes together. It gets difficult to score if all you're doing is clearing the ball to midfield.

10 games left and only 1 looks like a sure win (Norwich at CC). The other 4 home games are Everton, Charlton, Portsmouth and Man City. You can write off Man U and Chelsea away. Middlesbrough and Bolton away should be tough. Only Blackburn away likes like it has any possibilities. But the Rovers have used the January transfer window to improve their team and now are showing some better form. In short, the Whites on present form look like 1 or 2 wins and maybe a couple of ties if lucky. That'll get them to 36 or 37 points and inthe thick of the relegation battle.

 

I watched the GAME, Tom!

It was only streaming but maybe that's a good thing.. keeps the eye off the detail and lets you focus on the form. How many passes strung, how many misdirected? How many late to run to the pass?

We were outplayed in the first half, and didnt come back the usual way in the second.

It comes down to the guys NOT being prepared in practice, no amount of inspiration can overcome the lethargy built up by a lackadaisical approach to the drill.

I REALLY do not believe this team is THAT poor a collection of talent. Not the best, but they are WAY underachieving.

 

I was not saying that you did not watch the match Petty. I was simply saying that comparitvelspeaking from other matches I have seen this was not the worst or even close to the worst.

The team does not create any chances offensively and Coleman just allows them to sit back and wait for a counter attack to happen. That is wishful thinking on Coleman's part. He needs to prepare this team in training and in the mental aspect of this game.

As I have said all along which you disagree with Petty is that we should be playing the 4-4-2. How is the 4-5-1 helping us at all? It makes us impotent offensively and makes for a rather boring game for the supporters.

I think it is time to turn the page on the 4-5-1 and Coleman needs to re-evaluate the team and figure out what formation will work best for this team. He seems to be so stubborn in his tactics and formations. It is rather frustrating watch us get beat like this.

And one last thing, our midfield is not as strong and stable as people think. When was the last time you saw Papa make an effective pass into the scoring area or even hold possesion for a bit of time? Boa Morte was non-existent today as well. It was nice to see Jensen in there as I thought he did some nice things for us.

Who knows. Next week against Charlton is a big match. Let's hope something can be worked out in between now and then.

 

As to the 4-4-2, I agree with you. What I've been saying about the 4-5-1 is that it's what the team knows best.
If they would put in serious practice on the 4-4-2, it would work better as long as there were a holding midfield to play off. Maybe Jensen or Clark.. but it needs serious effort to get timings right

Not only is he stubborn on tactics, but everything else having to do with the tween hgames practice from all accounts.

Look at Bonni's injury and slow recovery, circumstantial as is the rest but it all adds up to laissez-faire managing.

 

Petty, I agree that the complacency and negative attitude need to change. Unfortunately, I think this is something that starts all the way at the top with Al-Fayad. It feeds down from the directors to the coaches and to the players.

I was thinking about it today and it would be really nice to have some younger players pushing the likes of Boa Morte, Radzinski and others to work harder in practice and in games. I think that players like Boa, Radz and Boca seem quite content with their play at present time and frankly I think it is that kind of attitude that needs to change.

I know we do not have a deep squad, but somehow the complacency I see within this team has to change. And, unfortunately, Coleman needs to head this up. Talking bad on the fans and stuff like that is not gonna get it done. We should be playing like professionals and right now we are not.

It will definitely be interesting to see how Cookie does things over the last two months or so. If things stay as is, no way Cookie is back in 05-06.

 

Spurs game

Why do we persist talking about Mr Fayed, he as deserted us and CC, that was evident over the past 18 months, when he did not get what he wanted he sold our best player by far for the money, yes we got the Cottage back but at what cost. It would not matter what line up we played with this team we would still be mediocre at best and relagation material at worst, look at last summers signings, Andy Cole a proven goal scorer but as seen his best days, Jensen a average player at best, our midfield is woefully lacking innovative players, to class Boa Morte as a midfielder is ridiculous he is a goal scorer to waste him in the mid field trying to create chances for who, radz is ordinary was at everton and no better here, diop as potential but it is not going to happen playing with this team, and Clark is over the top at this level, he is a great motivator but that can only go so far, and from the results so far its not working anymore. The defenders are totally lost, what happened to Volz he was playing great last season, this year he as caught the same disease the whole back line as, Fayed and the boys at the top told CC and his crew this is what you got if you survive fine power to you, we will then look at next summer to see if we can strengthen the squad if you survive, but heres the rub nobody wants to come to a team with no ambition, and Fulham right now is just that, they are not exciting to watch they have no ambition and nowhere to go this season but down, and unless Mr Fayed changes his mind and remembers his promise of those halcyon days when he was going to make Fulham the Man u of the South we are going nowhere, and although i am Fulham thru and thru there is no way i am paying to watch rubbish dished up as entertaninment, I can go and watch kids play and get more fun out of it than watching this lot playing in the colors of my team for over 50 years. I will of course still watch for their results and hope they dont go down, but any sane Fulham fan right now must know bascially we suck from top to bottom, and avoiding relegation will only hide the bigger problems hiding underneath.