The morning after…

On Saturday I was in the best of moods. I wandered over to Fulham in plenty of time for the start, listening to excellent music on a fine winter’s day. The atmosphere during the approach seemed about right, and I was almost certain of a win. I wanted a win badly too, after the disappointment of Man City. But it all unravelled. Reading played well, we lost Pearce, and as a spectator I didn’t feel right. I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t get involved, I shifted around on my seat, and when it was all over I felt terrible. Such high hopes, completely dashed. I got drunk and passed out early.

Yesterday I missed my train home from work, then got on the wrong one to meet my girlfriend who was kindly picking me up. I got home at a reasonable time, but the bus from Tooting took an eternity to arrive, was crowded, and struggled with the traffic. I got off before my stop and walked, in a foul mood, tense, negative and irritable. And in front of me were a load of Arsenal fans, which reminded me that we were in for a right stuffing too. Great.

And then the world turned and Brian McBride scored and when all was said and done about five of the players deserved a 10/10. The crowd was rocking, there were good people around me in the stands, and the whole experience was exhilerating. Afterwards I ran all the way to Putney Bridge where said girlfriend (she’s a saint) was waiting for me again, completely ecstatic. It just doesn’t get any better.

This is something I don’t think a Chelsea fan can feel. To go from the pre-Reading sense of giddy-expectation to the post-Reading low of uber-doom, then to the angry frustration of pre-Arsenal dread and back up to the post-Arsenal euphoria… I mean, how can you feel that if you expect to win every single game? How can you rejoice in the soap opera that is Luis Boa Morte, 2006 vintage? How can you be astounded by the mysterious Phillippe Christenval, who returned from a long layoff to play (as Tony Gilroy put it) like the reincarnation of Bobby Moore? And the heroics of ageless Brian McBride, always working, rarely rewarded. Or Moritz Volz, played out of position all year, then thrown into the deep end against his former club. Then he played just about perfectly. It was all a bit special.

Amazing: Fulham 2-1 Arsenal

Just back in so the following is a little rushed and excited!

Magnificent. Every man was magnificent. Fulham won 2-1, but it could have been more.

The goals: first, Claus hits a corner, from my seat (just behind him) it looks like he’s underhit it, but McBride gets to the ball first, flicks it back with his head and the ball dances over Lehmann, gently into the net. It’s 1-0!

Boa Morte, possessed by the spirit of Johan Cruyff and the ghost of Boa Morte past, jinks his way through the Arsenal defence and bends a ball into Radzinski’s path. Buried for 2-0! What? This isn’t happening. That reminds me of one of Lineker’s goals against Poland in Mexico ‘86!

A free-kick to Arsenal, some way out and in good left-footer territory. Van Persie smashes the ball past Niemi as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Stuart Pearce would’ve been proud of that. 2-1. Here we go…

But no. Boa could’ve made it 3-0 when put through, Radzinski miscontrolled a good chance, and Claus misses with a free-kick that looked like it wasn’t far off. Lehmann didn’t move. He didn’t move for Boa’s free-kick in the second half either, this one dropping down off the crossbar like an apple from a tree. Various half-chances come and go, but miraculously the scoreboard sticks on 2-1 for the rest of the game.

It was amazing. The ground was absolutely rocking tonight, and the players seemed to have had their pre-match meal laced with amphetamines. Let’s go through them:

Niemi – did his bit, including a valuable flick onto the post when the game was in the balance

Volz – magnificent, superb, awesome. He didn’t give an inch all game, getting physical when needed, attacking when he could. Perfect

Rosenior – ditto. Liam built on his recent good form and put in a display for the ages, particularly impressive given that he was on the wrong flank. We destroyed them down our left in the first half, and Liam did his bit to make that happen

Christenval – pillar. He was faultless all night. Quick when he had to be, good in the air, good on the deck, reading the game well, I couldn’t have been more impressed

Knight – sometimes seemed to be hanging on by the skin of his teeth, but Zat held the defence together tonight, with another fine performance. His tackle when Gilberto sped through in the second half was as perfectly timed as it was important

Radzinski – seemed to have new batteries tonight. Injured while scoring, but certainly did his bit

Brown – picked up an early yellow, which worried me, but he harried the Arsenal midfield to distraction, throwing himself around, jockeying possession and forcing Arsenal’s attacks to change their shape. Superb

Bouba Diop – see Brown. Got about and did well, a welcome return to some kind of form

Jensen – free role, and how! He was all over the pitch, pulling strings as you’d want a player in his position to. Masterful tonight, he beat his man countless times and was at the heart of everything good we did, which was a lot

Boa – hurray! Welcome back, sir. You were superb

McBride – effort galore, got the valuable early goal, and led the line with skill and guts

Substitute – Routledge (on for Radz h/t) didn’t get into the game at first, but grew with the second half. One moment when he won the ball on the edge of our box (I’ve been telling everyone he tracks back well!) then scooted up the other end and drew a foul 70 yards later in a dangerous position. Could’ve scored from half-way in the last minute with Lehmann up the pitch

So there we have it. Magnificent, it really was. It really doesn’t get much better does it?

Dempseyboaarsenal

The signing of America’s Clint Dempsey grows nearer to reality, with sources reporting that it’s an all but done deal.  The hiccup will be a work permit – Dempsey has played just under the required proportion of games for his country this year – but I would guess that these things will be resolved.  He scored in the World Cup, which ought to be enough to convince the FA committee people that his presence in the Premiership wouldn’t embarrass our fine nation.

The BBC’s rumours roundup says that the People says that he’ll choose Charlton instead, but I think that’s made up.  Charlton have spent lots of money already and can hardly be the most attractive option at the moment.  Add to that the existing presence of Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra in the Fulham squad, and we’re surely front runners. 

This would certainly be a good thing.  I alluded to this yesterday and promptly forgot to load up the youtube clip demonstrating it, but I think he’d be a fine addition and absolutely addressing the team’s key needs.

If Boa Morte can find a new club in January Dempsey will be even more welcome.  Coleman is engaging in manager-speak for ‘he’s here if you want him’, talking in barely concealed code about how ‘in these days you never know, and if someone came in with a big bid we would have to consider it’.  So he’s a goner if someone will take him.  You have to think that someone will, even if it is Galatasaray (all disgruntled tempramental footballers go to Galatasaray).   Players should be judged on what they can contribute to the team, and there’s no space for a designated scarecrow.  Other players can wave their arms around and look upset if he’s not here, after all.

Right.  And so to tonight, in which we are lead to believe Liam will be a left back and Phillippe Christenval will return to the centre of defence.  The press is full of Coleman’s lamentable record against Arsenal, our manager pointing out that whatever he’s tried against the Gunners has generally failed miserably.  Perhaps then it’s best just to pick a team and tell them to concentrate on their own game, and see what happens.  Sometimes we overcomplicate football, and against a team like Arsenal, which is surely already drooling in anticipation of tonight’s feast, perhaps it’s best just to empty your head and get on with it.  Or not.  Who knows?  Anyway, here’s hoping for a miracle.

Tuesday’s entry

Arsenal come to the Cottage tomorrow and I have half a mind to put money on us beating them. 

The way this season is going it’s very likely.  We have a skeleton team that will feature a new back four for the first time in ages, one of whom may well be half fit (Christenval) and another playing a long way out of position (whoever is at left back – I’m assuming Volz or Rosenior).  This is not your ideal preparation for a team that plays with laser sharp precision, on the deck, and at great pace.  However, Arsenal on grass are not nearly as scary as Arsenal on paper, and while this game has more potential than most to end up with a 5-0 defeat, I’m optimistic.

Why?  I don’t know.  Chelsea seemed to inspire the lads to greater heights, but were that bit too physical and that bit too good in the end.  Suppose Arsenal provoke a similar reaction, but we bully them in midfield?  Well it could happen couldn’t it?    I’ll see what Ladbrokes will offer me and take it from there.

Elsewhere, Helgusson is on the Official site talking about goal targets for the year.  Good luck with that, Heidur.  Also, Coleman is alluding to having money available for January, which would be great because the team needs people, especially if these people can unlock defences and/or score a sackful of goals.   It’s been said before, but I’ll repeat it: this season it is worth spending more money than you’d want to if you think it’ll keep you up.  Staying in the top division this season will pay for whatever might be spent, so make it happen!

Indeed.  The hot rumours seem to be Clint Dempsey from American and Thomas Ufalujsi from Italy – neither would be cheap, but both would be great additions.  I’ll pull out a Youtube clip of Dempsey later on, but he appears to combine fancy dan trickery with McBride like bravery, which is a persuasive combination.   Ufalujsi (and I may be miles off with the spelling) is a top notch defender and Czech Republic regular.  I’ve never seen him but people who have are raving.  I don’t know that a centre-back is this team’s main requirement, but if he’s that good then why not?  Pearce isn’t getting any younger, after all.

So there we are.  The season is tantalisingly poised as we try to establish whether this is a mid-table team falling on hard times or a relegation candidate about to get into a mess.  Tomorrow won’t tell us much about this either way, but December’s games will. 

Dooooooooom

Let the doom and gloom begin.   What we’re seeing at the moment is the result of a football league that has 2-3 outstanding teams at any given time, and a hatful of others who sometimes play well and sometimes don’t.   Fulham, who a lot of people saw as relegation candidates before the season, are currently among the ‘not playing well’ group, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.   Is relegation a real possibility?  Of course it is; few teams can have any certainty about these things.  But I think we’ll survive.
 
So if not Fulham, who? 
 
Charlton started awfully, but they have a new manager and may yet turn things around.  Any team with Darren Bent up front should score some goals, after all.   Will they survive?  Maybe, it’ll be close.
 
Sheffield United are playing as well as they might have expected, but do seem to lack quality.  They seem to be an honest team and will scrape out the odd good result here and there, but I have to think that they’re a smidge out of their depth in the Premiership.  Chalk them up as one relegation team.
 
You could look at Watford and say the same thing.  Again, the lack of quality might tell in the end, but this is just the sort of team that might string together a series of results when it’s needed most.  That said, they’ve still only won one game and that is fairly damning.  I expect a spirited fight, but they’ll drop as well.
 
The league table then feeds us Newcastle, Blackburn, West Ham, Man City, Middlesbrough and Fulham.  There’s a points spread between these teams, but all have the same goal difference (-6), which is usually quite a good predictor of things to come.   From the above you’d have to assume that Newcastle will worm out of things, and that Blackburn and West Ham will find themselves a few wins in the coming weeks.  These are mid-table teams.  Man City and Middlesbrough aren’t going to set the world on fire, but look to have squads of similarish quality to ours. 
 
So what it would appear to come down to is assuming Sheffield Utd and Watford will drop, then relying on Charlton’s inability to dig themselves out of the hole they’re in now.   I don’t rate Glenn Roeder, he’s had a good spell at West Ham then things (albeit with difficult circumstances) went into freefall.  The same thing seems to be happening here, and if Newcastle pull themselves together it’ll be because they’ve spent a lot more money than teams in comparable positions.   But I would make them next in line to drop, followed by one of Man City and ourselves.  City have done ok in recent weeks but there remains a suspicion that, nice as he is, Stuart Pearce hasn’t quite cracked this management lark.  And didn’t they go winless for a massive stretch at the end of last season?  The same thing this year would doom them.
 
And Fulham?  I expect some reinforcements in January, an improvement to the home form (it cannot get worse) and a few more good points on the road.  It should be enough, but we’ll have a few nervous times before all is said and done.

Scruffinruffinmuffin: Fulham 0-1 Reading

Yesterday afternoon shifted from a gentle optimism to a hopeless disappointment.

It was all in place:  as I strolled over Putney Bridge my uncertainty about the game started to fade.  I was listening to an old album I hadn’t heard for ages, and it really made me feel good.  Music can do that.  And the more I thought about the game the surer I got.   Reading were going well, but we had Michael Brown back and Coleman was sure to give Collins John a run out.   It would be a tough match, but we’d prevail.

The ground was buzzing.  Reading had travelled in numbers and were making themselves heard, but the Fulham faithful seemed in good spirits too.  The players strolled out and still I was sure of a win.   But things looked a bit wrong from the start.  Nothing serious, but most of the possession was with Reading, and most of the ball was in our half.  So much for charging out of the blocks; we were sleepwalking again.

Then disaster.  Kevin Doyle broke through and Pearce took him down with the goal in sight.  Straight red, and Pearcy made his half-time sprint back to the dressing room a little early.  He got a small ovation from the Johnny Haynes stand, this most honest of footballers is well liked and he looked somewhere between bemused and embarrassed as he jogged off.    Match of the Day replays showed that it was a clear penalty, and that Pearce had denied Doyle a goalscoring opportunity.   Fair enough then, but the one thing I’d add is that it looked like Rosenior had a better angle from which to challenge Doyle.

The penalty was firmly struck and Niemi went the wrong way, so Reading had a 1-0 lead.   Fulham’s response was muted as they attempted to reorganise.  For a time the whites went with three at the back, Knight taking responsibility for the middle of the park and Queudreu tucking inside slightly.  Boa Morte dropped back too, and failed to exploit space in front of him in so doing.   Then disaster again, as Franck injured an ankle.  I didn’t see what happened, but he was in the tunnel later in the game and on crutches, so the news may not be good.

Bocanegra came on and Boa became more of a standard left-back, a position that he performed reasonably well in, with predictable moments of clumsiness and bad-positioning.  But the team failed to recover from these two setbacks and Hahnemann in Reading’s goal only had a couple of nervous moments.  First, the excellent Rosenior broke down the right, his crossing flicking a defender’s head on its way to the far post.  Dipping viciously, McBride had to decide whether to head or volley, and in the end his diving header was saved.   Collins John wriggled into space soon after and poked the ball beyond Hahnemann, but a retreating defender forced the ball away.

From there we didn’t show enough.  The ten men battled well and had most of the play in the second half, but Reading were a big threat on the counter attack and might have scored more goals.  On another day it could’ve been two or three.

So what now?   Trouble has been brewing for a while, and this could be the start of an ugly run:  Arsenal at home will be fiendishly difficult, and it’s hard to see the team coming back from Blackburn and Liverpool with more than a point.  There are worse teams in the Premiership and relegation should still be comfortably avoided, but the team is really in a rut at the moment.  The only home performance of any merit this year was Chelsea, which we lost anyway.   We beat Sheffield Utd reasonably easily but without showing much, and a good half against Everton and another against Charlton are the only other periods that stand out.  Worse, it seems that we’re currently working with about one passing move a game.   The long balls were better yesterday with two players to aim at, but this is still not an approach that opposing defenders find hard to deal with.

Now we seem set to be without Queudreu (3 weeks to a month, Coleman says) and Pearce for an important series of games.  Christenval isn’t quite ready, so even with Bocanegra slipping into the back four, there’s still another hole to fill.  It’ll be interesting to see how that works out.

So doom and gloom then.  I really expected a win yesterday and I’m fairly sure that we would’ve got one if it had stayed 11v11.  Very disappointing.

On mozzarella and Michael Brown

Well we’ve nearly got through the week. I’ve had too much pizza and too little physical exertion (for about twelve years), England are already embarrassing themselves in Australia and I’m feeling a bit glum.

But another game is nearly upon us. Michael Brown returns, which is very important for the team. He’s becoming an unsung hero, a very British midfielder who uses up a lot of energy and never knows when he’s beaten.

With the scores level at nil-nil and the Latics threatening to take control of the match, Brown, in typically committed fashion, raced out of the box to close down the threat of a long range shot. In successfully doing so, the midfielder’s ankle absorbed the full brunt of a powerful Kevin Kilbane effort. Brown continued gamely for a few minutes but was soon replaced. (from the official site)

Indeed. After that Wigan really went for the jugular (why always the jugular? What about the eye-sockets? That would not be nice) and won pulling away. It’s hard to say that the results at Portsmouth and Man City would’ve been better with Brown around, but there’s a nagging feeling that he really is needed for the Reading game, on which so much seems to ride.

The team needs three points to get back on track, but also because there’s a messy sequence of games following this from which little can be expected. Furthermore, as a promoted team, Reading are automatically in the ‘we should beat them at home’ pile. Anything else would make more than a few of us nervous, I suspect.

Brown himself was phlegmatic about the Manchester City result:

“It happens every now and then in football. It just happened to us when we were playing badly and we got punished with three goals.”

Which sounds obvious but is intelligently put. These things do happen in football.

So welcome back, Michael. Go get ‘em.

Christenval makes it through reserve game, Thomas Pynchon novel arrives, ashes start

What a day!

Phillippe Christenval has become something of a forgotten man this season, losing his first team shirt to Zat Knight through injury. But tonight he made it through the full 90 minutes of a reserve team win against Arsenal.   The defence has been a little more shaky of late, so it’s a good time for Phillippe to re-enter the fray. I was impressed with the way he played in the early going, this is good news.

In other good news, today I received my copy of Against The Day by Thomas Pynchon:

It’s over 1,000 pages long but I’m not afraid! Hurray!

And double hurray because The Ashes resume at midnight. I’m gutted that Chris Read has lost his place and am sure that the decision will come back to haunt us, but I’m the most pessimistic cricket follower in the world. But if he doesn’t play Panesar… the Bedfordian in me will be as angry as the cricket fan. Bedford doesn’t have a lot to shout about: the statue de John Bunyan came up frequently in French at school, BEDFORD was emblazoned across Luton’s shirt in the 80s and their trucks were around the place, but until Paula Radcliffe and Wigan’s Matt Jackson we hadn’t had a major sport person. Now in Panesar and the imported Alastair Cook we have two of the blighters in an Ashes test. How about that?

Celtic reaffirm Coleman’s belief in striving for jammy wins

Celtic and Man Utd served up a feast of football last night.  In 90 minutes we saw ample evidence of Fulham’s limitations, and ample reason why teams like Fulham can aspire to good things in the Premiership.

Celtic are a better team than Fulham, but you wouldn’t have known it after 45 minutes tonight.  United were as awesome as a team can be without scoring, bashing the ball along the floor with relentless precision and tormenting the Celtic defenders with mazy dribbles and bamboozling movement.  The Scots barely kept their heads above water, scrambling in the way of balls with cumbersome desperation, and giving away possession on the rare occasions United gave them a sniff.   It was one-way traffic, but Celtic did not break.

Hanging in there has been Chris Coleman’s mantra all year for our team, sending the side out in 4-5-1 formations that rely on an ability to absorb pressure and scramble something together at the other end.  We’ve been reasonably successful at it too, getting some good points from games that looked tricky, but there have been disappointments too, and some nervous boos have been heard from the Craven Cottage regulars.   The boos have not been entirely unwarranted: the team has been awful in the first half of pretty much every game this year, but the second half improvements have been real and important.   We have to wonder why this might be, and we have to hope that Coleman’s idea of taking the game to Reading on Saturday is not limited to the restoration of Radzinski to a wing.  

We need to take a deep breath and go for it this Saturday.  If it backfires and we lose, so be it, but I think the time has come to give someone a beating they won’t forget.  Let’s hope that Eastlands was a watershed moment for Fulham’s 06-07 team.  Maybe we might even get onto Match of the Day before half past eleven.

Oh come all ye faithful

January is nearly only a month away, so like love, transfer talk is all around us.

The word on the street is that Spurs are prepared to overlook his poor form and bid on Luis Boa Morte.  I can’t help thinking this is wishful thinking our end, but if they really think he’s lost interest rather than pace, perhaps Spurs will do this.  The word is £5 million plus Routledge, which is superb if it’s true; I’d probably deal them straight up given wages and contract commitments.

People are saying that Boa has lost interest at Fulham, but you’d hope that when the game starts he’d show some passion.  He makes a few tackles and runs around a fair bit, but seems to spend as much time whining with his arms held wide as playing football, and it’s not right.  So if Spurs want him, let him go and let’s move on.

This transfer window is as big a window as we’ll see I think.  Bigger than this:

Seriously.  With the money coming into the Premiership next season, the time is right to spend now and worry later.  This would be careless most years, but now is not the time to get relegated.   And if we think we’re safe now, consider how Geoffrey Boycott might frame things:  take six points off the total and where are you?  There’s no reason to do this, I made it up because it’s like his ‘take two wickets off’ mantra, but with Reading, Arsenal, Blackburn and Liverpool coming up things could get tricky before you can say ‘David Blaine’.

What this also means is that the clubs striving for promotion are unlikely to risk selling key players for anything less than top dollar.  So if we want David Nugent we’ll have to pay for him – Preston are joint top of the Championship and can already sniff the moolah.  Possibly.

In other news, Chris Coleman says that we will be going at Reading from the off this Saturday.  He’ll also be rethinking his team selection, which probably means 4-4-2 and a recall for hattrick hero Collins John.  The defence will presumably remain as is (although I might rest Pearce before too long), so that means a four man midfield of Brown, Diop, Boa and I hope Routledge.  This would give two defensive midfielders and two wingers, who would be expected to serve the forwards with passes that are somewhat lower in trajectory than the ones Brian McBride has been craning his neck at all season.  We can but hope.  That team lacks a Jensen, which I’m not sure about, but it’s what I’d do.  We shall see, but in some ways it’s a pivotal game for this team, which has got some points on the board, but done so somewhat unconvincingly.

Liam cuts his hair with disasterous consequences: Man City 3-1 Fulham

Portsmouth attacked a lot but Niemi performed like Superman and kept them at bay.  Man City attacked a bit, stuck three past last week’s hero, and waltzed to an easy 3-1 win.

Coleman went with Operation 0-0 again, using McBride to watch the high balls and 5 midfielders to contest possession.  But it didn’t work.   Lady luck took the easy option and helped the home team, but this Fulham side has been walking a tightrope for some time, and it was hard to get aggrieved about the bad result.

City’s first goal came when Corradi, who looks like a cross between Monty Don and Rivaldo, beat our offside trap to volley past Niemi.   Might have saved it last week, but the ball nestled in the bottom corner after 11 mins.  Plan in tatters, Fulham were caught again when Carlos Bocanegra (anglicised as Charlie Blackmouth my friend tells me) was half-fouled and half-tackled in midfield.  City broke and Corradi again found himself clean through, and Niemi was easily beaten high over his left shoulder.   And in attempting to recover Fulham left nobody back from a free-kick, and Joey Barton slid home a third on the counter.

Rubbish! we all thought, hoping that something would happen at half time.  What we got was Helguson and John, the latter scored with a lashed left foot volley straight away.  Sadly he had handled from an offside position in the buildup, so it didn’t count.  His next goal was disallowed for offside, but it was touch and go and a sympathetic linesman might have let him go.   He completed his hat-trick with a neat lob, and at 3-1 with a bit of momentum a draw suddenly seemed possible.  But no, there was a lack of progress from there, and the game fizzled out into a routine 3-1 defeat.

So what went wrong?  Partly the team selection: 4-5-1 is fine when it works, but when we were one down things needed shaking up, as this team is not one that can attack.  Claus Jensen, on whom so much depends, was anonymous, even when we attacked in the second half.   Boa Morte got about, Bouba Diop looked injured, and Volz and Bocanegra still look like well-meaning defenders being asked to do too much.   Pearce’s less than optimal form continued, and while Zat and Franck played quite well, Liam struggled.  This in a week when his manager had discussed his future international prospects too.

The second half was better, and surely Coleman must play two forwards next week.  Reading are more than capable of pulling a Wigan against us, and we need to take the game to them.  I hope Brown will be back, and I hope Collins John gets a run; he looked very sharp today, give him a game.

When all’s said and done, away defeats will happen and there’s no point in getting too worked up about it, but inspiring it wasn’t, and there will be more than a few disappointed supporters if we see 4-5-1 at home next week.

Man Friday! Man City tomorrow.

Interesting Coleman column on the official site.

Brown still isn’t fit, and the hints are that Radzinski will not play.  This is fair, I think, for he was poor against Portsmouth.  If this gives Routledge another chance I’ll be happy.   Coleman can just use the international fatigue as a (very reasonable) excuse and keep everyone happy.

Coleman also discusses Liam Rosenior’s international prospects, which is interesting.  I’d have thought that these discussions might be more relevant in a couple of years, but if Coleman thinks this is a carrot with which to tempt his young right-back into pushing himself more, well, good luck to them both. 

He also mentions John and Helguson, and notes that neither are moving on, despite recent press stories.  I’d take this with a pinch of salt, if he gets a good offer for either I’m sure he’ll listen.  It’s one of those formulaic answers managers give to deflect a dangerous story, but that really means nothing.   We don’t know how well regarded John and Helguson are at the moment, but both have lacked minutes on the pitch this season.  Heidar started against Charlton (unless I’m mis-remembering) but the game changed completely when he came off (Claus was en fuego from the moment he hit the pitch), and I don’t know that we’ve seen him since (sub against Everton? too lazy to check).  Collins got a few moments against Portsmouth (I nearly wrote Portugal there) but is also short of match play.  This will change, McBride is bound to break down soon, but I wonder if either is what Coleman feels he needs given the new approach?  

And so to the game.  City haven’t conceded at home this year, but are an average side with a capital A.  Fulham are more than capable of keeping them quiet, and I think this has 0-0 written all over it.  So sure am I that I shall be taking advantage of a tasty looking 8-1 that Coral are offering on this scoreline.   If I’m wrong, and I usually am, I can see us giving away sloppy goals from corners (Richard Dunne to score) and losing embarrassingly.   I am a pessimist so an alternative positive solution does not come easily to me, but perhaps an Aston Villa style game is not beyond the realms of possibility.  Either that or Claus will really catch fire and we’ll bury them 4-0.  See, anything could happen in a match like this.  I still think it’ll be 0-0 though.

It’s Thursday, like it or not

There was an England match last night, but it was a friendly so not really worth watching closely.   The bare facts are that McLaren played a 4-3-3, Wayne Rooney scored, then Holland scored late on.

The 4-3-3 seemed to open up more space for our exciting trio of midfielders.  Gerrard was everywhere, Carrick played some tidy passes, and according to team sheets, newspapers and the internet, Frank Lampard was also on the field.   You just wouldn’t necessarily have known by watching the game, but hey, you can’t drop someone who was playing really well two years ago can you?    They might turn good again any day now or something.   Form is temporary, class is permanent, they say.  But what if Frank Lampard just enjoyed two great years in which he played above himself?  What if that was the exception, and this is the norm?    When does he lose his place?   Not when he starts playing badly, clearly, because we’re well past that.

There’s been much discussion of Andy Johnson being stuck on the right wing, but this doesn’t interest me.  He’s no more an international forward than Fuzzy Bear is, in my view.   Being fast is one thing, occasionally scoring goals in the Premiership is fine, but he’s not a predator and he doesn’t make goals for others, and I think he’s out of his depth.   We wasted our genuinely good forward generation (Andy Cole had his critics, but the man is a born goalscorer, as we saw on Saturday; even Les Ferdinand would be an England regular at the moment; even Ian Wright might claim to have been hard done by on the cap front) and now we don’t know what to do with what we have.   Peter Crouch scores lots of goals, but is tall and makes people nervous because he’s different.  Darren Bent appears to have every attribute a forward could ever need, but clearly lacks something in the eyes of England managers.    Which leaves us with players like Johnson.  Where’s the class?  Where’s the natural poacher?   Where?   Is David Nugent the answer? 

What do I care?   Last night I had a vision.  In it Liam Rosenior was signed by Manchester Utd as Gary Neville’s replacement.   He becomes an England regular and we all scratch our heads and wonder what happened.

Wednesday’s worries

Both Rosenior and Routledge played for the U21s in Holland last night, which if nothing else should remind us that both are still young players with time to grow as footballers.   The Wayne Rooneys and Lionel Messis of the world lead us to believe that 21 is somehow an age at which a footballer should be established, but this is only true for an elite minority.  Most footballers take time to learn the game and these two are no exception.  

What both these players seem to have going for them is a natural athleticism.  In itself this is useless, but allayed to good coaching, a good attitude and a reasonable run of luck, both have the raw materials to be special players.    I (and others) give Liam a lot of stick for his passing, but that ought to improve with experience.  Wayne works hard for the team (he always tracks back when Liam has ‘bombed-on’), and at the moment seems to threaten more than he delivers, but I believe he’s caught in every footballer’s worst catch 22: he needs a regular run of games in the first team to find his rhythm and form, but he only has the odd start and a few substitute runouts to earn this regular place, so is finding it hard to make a convincing case for himself.     Rosenior has been allowed to play through his inconsistencies, and I’m hopeful will emerge as a better footballer; Routledge, who could be back at Spurs in January, really needs the same opportunity to show what he can do.   If he goes back to Spurs without that run in the team there’ll be a lot people wondering what might have been.    If we do have a £2million option on him, better to find out what he’s made of now.  

Then again, £2m could go a long way towards finding Brian McBride’s successor up front, especially given that both Collins John and Heidur Helguson have recently been linked with moves away from the club (both with Newcastle and Watford).  That would leave us with McBride (who isn’t going to keeping running around after lost causes all season) and the invisible Bjorn Runstrom, which isn’t enough, even if we are going to keep with one up for the rest of the season.   McBride is as tough as your favourite old boots, but even tough old boots break down if you push them too hard…. through a fire or something.   I’ve pushed the ‘old boot’ metaphor too far, but the point remains that McBride should not be expected to keep up his one-man forward line act all season.   It’s too much to ask of one man.  We shall see.  The team is working hard and doing what it has to at the moment, but the thought of adding another forward with goalscoring pedigree is an exciting one.   Coleman and co just have to find him.

Monday’s mumbles

So far so good I reckon.  Ian Dowie’s short stay at Charlton should show us how precarious this business is.  A manager who can reliably pick up points at the top level is not to be sniffed at, and upsetting the status quo can turn things nasty in a hurry.  Just ask Southampton fans, whose disappearance post Strachan shows that none of the Premiership’s middle class is safe.

So Coleman should be appreciated for what he’s doing.   Case in point, here’s my view of how the season could pessimistically have been expected to play out so far.   Only against Newcastle (win) and Wigan (lose) have completely wrongheaded results been seen.  The rest of the time we’re quietly in credit, picking up sharp points where possible.  I think we’re about 5 points ahead of where we might expect to be, and that’s down to Coleman.  The team isn’t going to excite many purists (who are these purists anyway?), but it’s ruggedly effective at the moment.  Long may it continue.

Here’s my ‘worst case vs now’ chart:

Man Utd A – expect: lose – actual: lose
Bolton H – expect: draw – actual: draw
Sheff Utd H – expect: win – actual: win
Newcastle A – expect: lose – actual: win (+3)
Spurs A – expect: lose – actual: draw (+4)
Chelsea H – expect: lose – actual: lose
Watford A – expect: draw – actual: draw
Charlton H – expect: win – actual: win
Villa A – expect: lose – actual: draw (+5)
Wigan H – expect: win – actual: lose (+2)
Everton H – expect: draw – actual: win (+4)
Portsmouth A – expect: lose: actual: draw (+5)

Rope-a-dope: Portsmouth 1-1 Fulham

Again, job done. Fulham nearly stole a win from Fratton Park today, but can be content with the draw.

The first half was strange, Portsmouth missing chances that looked impossibly easy, getting into positions and then failing to find a free man, and generally doing all they could to throw away a position of dominance. Niemi helped here, producing a string of saves that had us all gasping. His effort from a free-kick, clawing the ball almost out of the top corner, was sensational. Too often goalkeepers make routine saves look hard; this was the real deal. He was immense. This was doubly pleasing as he had played a ‘mare for Southampton here in the past, and the Pompey fans gave him noise all game long. I give him 10/10.

We got to the ground a little early, naively expecting to be able to grab a pint inside. Bad tea and a Yorkie had to suffice. It’s not a pretty place, but unique at this level I guess.

The warmup was fun to see, Dave Beasant giving Niemi and Lastuvka a thorough workout. He got a bit eager at times, and even managed to make a hole in the back of the stand with one shot. Several innocent bystanders behind the goal also had close shaves. My girlfriend has never paid so much attention at a football match!

After a well-observed silence we were off, and Portsmouth were on the attack straight away. In the end they had 24 shots and 20 corners, which tells you all you need to know about the winning combination of good defending and good luck that Fulham had today. Rosenior had a good game, scampering around and rarely wasting the ball; Queudreu seemed really up for the battle, hurling himself into challenges all day long; Knight scored a goal that opened up the possibility of a famous theft, played erratically but came out in credit overall; Pearce… looks to have lost something in these last two games. Don’t get me wrong, he’s been good, but the command of earlier in the season seems to have slipped a little. For a time he was playing out of his skin, but he’s mortal again now.

The midfield was bypassed too easily I think. Bocanegra looks better with every game he plays, and was again a resourceful, thoughtful and challenging defensive midfielder. But Volzy, for all his efforts, badly needs to play in his natural position. I like him as a footballer but worry that he’s been asked to do things that are not natural to him. So yeah, he’s serviceable in midfield, and makes tackles and does his bit, but I think he’s wasted in his current role. It’s a shame, but good on him for doing his best so earnestly every week. Hard not to warm to the lad. Boa Morte has lost pace and lost direction. He was a jack of all midfield trades today, but master of none. There were a few tackles, a few runs and a few nice passes, but in this form he’s a complementary player, not someone you build around. I think Routledge is more deserving of a place. Ditto Radzinski, who had a poor match. He showed little going forwards and little tracking back. Did the atmosphere get to him? Again, Routledge looked more of a threat than him.

Finally, Claus and McBride worked well at their forward roles, Claus seeming likely to make anything good we might come up with, McBride doing the heavy lifting up front on his own, again unrewarded. It was never going to be much fun for either of them, but they kept at it. Claus got beaten a few times in the middle of the park, but a tackler he isn’t and he’s picked to do damage at the other end. He set up Knight’s header with a good corner, so can be fairly pleased with his day.

We could have been hammered today, so a point is very much a good thing. It underlines what a ruggedly solid team Coleman has put together, and again is a credit to the team’s newfound oomph. They’re genuinely hard to beat. The Portsmouth fans threw a wall of noise down the pitch at them, but they stood tall and gave their all. It was a good day.

Portsmouth preview

Friday is here, and there’s a game tomorrow.

I’d guess Coleman would be happy with a 0-0.  Portsmouth have a very strong defence and a lively set of forwards.  It’s going to be hard.

But maybe not.   What good is a four man defence if they only have Brian McBride to mark?  Maybe Claus and Boa will be able to hurt Portsmouth from deeper positions.  

And what to make of Benjani and Kanu?   Benjani is almost the complete forward, quick, strong, and will work for the team.  The problem is that he has zilcho composure in front of goal… if your centre-forward is to have a glaring weakness, this isn’t the one you’d choose.   Knight and Pearce gobbled up Darren Bent but Henri Kamara made them nervous.   Benjani isn’t as good as either, so ought to be containable.  But Kanu?  He’s a cross between Eric Cantona, Pele and a kangaroo.  How do you nullify that?   You don’t.  You just stay nearby, keep your wits about you and hope for the best.  And that is all anyone can ask.

I have a bad feeling about all this, but we’ll see.  I have been wrong most times before.   Check back here on Sunday for photos from Fratton Park, and check out Matt from TOOFIF’s preview here.  

Have a good Friday.

Sweet nothings

Yes, yes, this is a Fulham website.   Normal service will resume at the end of Eastwood Week.

There hasn’t been a great deal to talk about Fulham-wise, but this will change soon.  The Whites visit Jowelly Redknapp’s Portsmouth on Saturday, and CCN will be there in person to witness this momentous occasion.    I’m very excited.   Fratton Park is reputed to be a lively place, and Portsmouth have a lively team.   Should be a cracker, and it’ll be interesting to see where on the spectrum between 4-5-1 and 4-5-1 (but with attacking players) Coleman sees fit to sit this week.  Who knows?

Not me.   In other news, a fairly poor response to the Guardian’s Chris Coleman gallery.   They’re ok, but nothing special.

And to complete the big match coverage…

here’s a video of Freddy Eastwood’s goal against Man Utd last night.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, YOU’RE ‘AVIN A LAUGH: Southend 1-0 Man Utd

As noted yesterday, Southend’s famous victory will not go unheeded on these pages.   Thus, I present a match report from our Southend supporting East of England correspondent.  Great stuff:

I generally get sick of people talking about the ‘magic of the cup’, David and Goliath, and the possibility of a ‘giant killing’.  It hardly ever happens, and when it looks like it might, it is generally cruelly snatched away.  In last seasons League cup Arsenal made heavy work of Doncaster Rovers, equalising with practically the last kick of 120 tense minutes to snatch an undeserved draw.  Just last month, Manchester United did the same – nabbing a winner they were scarcely worth as penalties beckoned against Crewe.  Both of the ‘minnows’ were subsequently patronised within an inch of their lives by the media, the usual comparisons of opposing team values (#70 million vs #100,000 and a set of tracksuits for the reserves) and honours (15 league titles vs a 4th division playoff win in 1991).  So I was unsurprised when the usual clichés were trotted out in the build up to my own team (Southend’s) match with Man Utd.  Showing their usual verve, SKY seized on every opportunity to belittle my club.  The small dressing room that visibly amused Ronaldo and Ferguson, the fact that Alans Parry and Smith had to shimmy up an unsteady ladder to reach the gantry (ITV beat you to that rib-tickler a fortnight ago SKY), and of course the value of our illustrious rivals (#50 million as Parry constantly reminded us).  It was with a due sense of dread that I waited for the gruesome proceedings to start.

In any case Ferguson at least showed some respect to the side occupying the bottom spot in the Championship.  Rooney and Smith in attack; Ronaldo, Richardson and Fletcher in midfield; Brown, Heinze and Silvestre in defence.  After the scare he got in Crewe, Ferguson was clearly not in the mood for another headache, and could safely assume that if Hull, Ipswich and Coventry could all score 3 at Roots Hall, Rooney, Ronaldo et al could surely cash in.  Southend had one well known player in their ranks, Mr Freddy Eastwood (recently the subject of a scouting report on these very pages), a few players you’ve probably not seen in a while in Spencer Prior, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, and Efe Sodje, and frankly not much else.

Southend started brightly. Campbell-Ryce, back from injury, looked sharp on the right and Eastwood seemed undaunted by the opposition.  Contrary to recent performances, Southend defended tidily – Prior and Sodje repelled almost all aerial attacks, Stephen Hammell didn’t leave Ronaldo’s side and Peter Clarke tidied up the loose balls in midfield.  Remarkably, 25 odd minutes in and it was still 0-0 when the biggest moment of the game arrived.  Southend were fortunate enough to win a free kick after Uriah Rennie overlooked a definite foul on Rooney a moment earlier.  The angle suggested that lefty Stephen Hammell would step up to take this one, yet it was Eastwood who curled his shot to perfection, scoring a goal that was more than fit to grace any match.  Alan Smith (the co-commentator not the Man U striker) seemed to think that Kuszczak might have done better which seemed unduly harsh.  David Seaman should have done better with Ronaldinho’s freekick in 2002, this was a brilliant strike and would have beaten better keepers than Kuszczack. 

Manchester United were almost level instantly.  The Southend defence, uncertain for the first time all evening, failed to clear, and the ball fell nicely for David Jones who beat Flahavan to strike the far post.  Ronaldo tested Flahavan from distance, and a cross on the stroke of half time almost opened the Shrimpers up, yet they hung on, deservedly leading at the break.

The second half was never going to be anything other than constant pressure from the visitors, and again Southend defended well.  It was not always elegant, but it was generally effective, and as the minutes ticked away Southend edged ever closer to an unlikely win, prompting Sir Alex to act.  While he had shown great respect in picking a first XI that you’d not have been surprised to see in the Premiership, Fergie’s bench belied an overconfidence that his internationals would get the job done and contained mainly youngsters (most of the starting line up from the Crewe game infact), the apparent intention to bring on a few kids with the game safe.  Such was the paucity of options open to him, Ferguson’s first switch saw Patrice Evra replace Alan Smith.  Decent player though Evra is, he is hardly a player you’d instinctively choose to rescue you in the event of a crisis.  Kieran Lee and Ryan Shawcross followed as Manchester desperately tried to push the game in to extra time.  Flahavan was a victim of the most ridiculous yellow card of the season when Uriah Rennie realised he’d not done anything to warrant a close up for 10 minutes, and Ronaldo continued to shoot from distance, but the clear chance just wouldn’t come.  The bodies poured forward.  The Southend penalty box became congested to such an extent that Rennie (who it must be said had a stinker) unaccountably missed Sodje’s forearm smash on Rooney that should have bought Man Utd a penalty.  “I don’t think the Southend fans are too worried about him missing that one” ventured one of the Alans.  Quite.

And then it was over.  Somehow Manchester United have contrived to lose to Southend United.  The inevitable equaliser has failed to materialize and David has beaten Goliath once more.  It has of course yet to sink in.  Being drawn away to Wycombe in the quarter finals should bring us Shrimpers down with a bump, yet right now my belief in ‘the magic of the cup’ is restored! Well done lads – now hows about we transfer some of that to the league.