Two silhouettes by the cash machine… or another quiet news day
So was it just me, or did Rooney and Crouch not look like a good partnership? There’s something very subtly wrong about the way they play together that makes me think that one or other might need to be sacrificed. Alternatively, we could do a Macedonia/Ardiles and just go balls to the floor attack, bring in Defoe and go 3-4-3. Over the last few years, since Hoddle I suppose, tactics have been scrutinised more and more in England, but really we either have 4-4-2 or that 3-5-2 formation that makes everyone so nervous. Sven went 4-5-1 and that made the BBC crew froth at the mouth. I haven’t really got a point, but some degree of flexibility, or picking a team to suit a plan/idea, would be nice to read about. Anyway, on to Fulham:
“I like playing with him. I like defenders who aren’t raving and shouting and look like they want to do everything on the pitch. He’s quite laid back and calm.
“He just does his job, he knows what he’s good at. He’s very strong in the air and his positional sense is really good.
“If you ask Pearcey himself, I’m sure he would say the same, he just doesn’t look like the same player as when I joined the Club last year. Physically he looks fitter; he’s got a six-pack and everything. Visibly he’s a different athlete.
“He’s one of those unsung heroes that every team needs, he’s a very likeable person and is a major player for us.”
It’s great to hear players talking up their teammates, and particularly talking up Ian Pearce who has indeed been outstanding this year. I like Pearce too, unfussy but quietly excellent. I’m reading Leo McKinstry’s excellent biography of Sir Alf Ramsey at the moment, and the same things could be said of the latter as a player.
Meanwhile, over at Football365 Chris Coleman explains that good young players are better off at Fulham than some of the bigger clubs:
“What I say to the good young players thinking about joining Chelsea or Manchester United is that they have a much better chance of playing for us,” he said.
“They may be getting the big financial hit to start with when they go there but that won’t last forever.
“You’ve got a much better chance of playing for Fulham, West Ham and clubs like us than they have of getting into Chelsea’s team.”
It’s hard to argue with this. If Shaun Wright-Phillips had moved to Craven Cottage he’d have played another season at the top level by now. Whether he’d have had the same opportunities to play top level Playstation tournaments we really can’t know.
If this means that Fulham are starting to turn towards a youth policy then I’m all for it. There must be a reason that teams like Ipswich have a conveyor belt of gifted youngsters while teams like Fulham fail to bring any significant players through the system. The division we’re in doesn’t help, but there ought to be more fish in the pool.
