West Brom @ Fulham

Fulham International call-ups for this week are Hughes, Baird, Hangeland, Riise, Kelly, Ruiz, Diarra, and Etheridge. Let's hope they all come back healthy.

So has Berbatov retired from International play?

 

I don't see Demps.... errr never mind. Too soon?

 

Had to double take that as well. Deep wounds for sure.

 

Without a doubt Bryan not be able to go for the Ticos is a cause for concern for Sat. Which begs the question, why in the hell did he get on a plane in the first place?? :think:

Hopefully MJ made the most of the break on the training ground, because the squad needs to regroup and move forward. As HD stated, the Baggies have a settled side and have hit the ground running by beating both the Merseyside teams (Pool, Everton) at home and drawing w/Spuds. The squad needs the veteran leaders to step up, and get some service into Berba. If they do that the ball will find the back of the net. 2-1 to the good guys.

 

As far as Berbatov in national team, he retired back in 2010. He has been keeping his form in Bulgaria clubs.
What time is the game.
I may find a link to watch it live, but not on American tv.

 

It was not a defeat but a draw. One of the players who scored for Bulgaria is Stanislav Manolev who is a midfielder. As far as my information he wants to leave his current club PSV Eindhoven.

 

I hope to make the chatroom after going to see North Mississippi Allstars Friday night, but not feeling so good about my chances. Also kinda feeling the same about FFC right now. I'm gonna say we can pull out a draw.

 

I should catch this match live and be in the chat room so I will try and provide some post match commentary in lieu of Hatter's most excellent "View". I am sure the scenery will not be as picturesque but I'll do what I can.

As far as the match goes I feel like I am driving blind. I am not sure I can offer you a real good guess at what Fulham's line-up is going to be at the moment much less give any kind of real insight into WBA. Like several others have mentioned I am concerned Ruiz will not be available for this weekend's match. For a working premise I am going to assume that Ruiz will not be available, Dejagah is still injured and everyone else comes back from the break healthy. If those are the circumstances Jol has to work with then I am guessing he will try and get as much fire power and creativity in up front as possible and settle for a sound midfield by dropping into a 4-4-2. I know that would be against Jol's nature but I believe Ruiz is the key man in the 4-2-3-1 that Jol prefers and I don't believe his creativity can be duplicated in the current Fulham roster outside of perhaps Berbatov. With that in mind I think we will either see something like this:

Schwarzer

Riether-Hughes-Hangeland-Riise

Duff-Diarra-Sidwell-Richardson

Berbatov-Petric

or this

Schwarzer

Riether-Hughes-Hangeland-Riise

Diarra-Richardson

Duff-Berbatov-Kacaniklic

Petric

 

I think Petric will play off of Berba (as I don't expect Glass Joe to be fit either). Otherwise, I like Barry's second lineup.

 

Agreed. We keep the ball and nothing can go wrong! .

 

Saw the Costa Rica lineup and Bryan didn't appear on the bench. So happy he flew half way around the world instead of receiving treatment in London. :angry-banghead:

 

Barry, I think your 2nd formation is likely what we'll see. The only potential changes I anticipate as an option to what you put up is Sidwell for Richardson and then Richardson for Kaca. The thing to keep in mind is we play a fairly fluid 4-5-1 so it will vary from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-1-1 to 4-2-2-2 to 4-5-1 and so on as circumstances in the match dictate. We do seem to play more rigid w/o a creative player (Ruiz, Dempsey) in the attack mid slots though and our offense stagnates when that happens. However, with Berbatov in the 10 spot, we'll have that creativity and be more fluid.

Prediction? I think the int'l break helps us b/c WBA were in great form. The break, and our lack of internationals, might have allowed us to iron out some of the wrinkles and further acclimate players to one another. W/o the break, I'd have said we lose 2-1. With it, I'll go with 2-2. Berbatov and Petric with the Fulham goals.

COYW!

 

I am going to be at the game on Saturday. A combination of luck and targeting a (very useful) training class the same week as Fulham are at home worked out for me. Looks like we are going to have splendid weather (ok now it will be chucking down). Not sure which Fulham side will show up but I think West Brom will bring their A game.

If anyone else is going, I will probably be at the Lion for a couple of pregame pops and I will likely be the only guy with a cigar hanging out of my grill. Come by, say hello.

Prediction is a 1 all draw.

 

COYW!

 

A few Fulham - West Brom Previews

From Premierleague.com

No Fulham team news posted as of this morning.

From Yahoo.com

From Goal.com - Yeah I know it's goal.com

From the Sportsmole

 

No prob Hatter. I believe the Leon is owned by some chelskites. However, its easy to go there and, unless things have changed, is full of fulham fans on match day.

I've been to another pub on the way from the Hammersmith and City line that was pretty nice and filled with fulham fans. Think it used to be the crabtree or something like that. Nice deck out on the side of it, close to the walkway to the grounds along the Thames.

Also have an extra ticket that I would give away for the price of a pint of Guinness.