Craven Cottage Newsround

No game ’til Monday, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do the music. Brian lost his 100% streak with the Blackburn draw, so I’ll take over again here.

Bit of a slow burner, and nobody will probably like it, but hey. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Salvation.

Catherine Wheel, Crank, 90s guitar cathedralism. (youtube have taken this down now)

And finally a live version of Swervedriver’s “Duel”. This is a really cool song, very interesting dynamics, sort of unusual structure. Well worth a listen.

There. Three songs. That’ll give us something for Monday, surely?

In the news, there’s a snip in the paper about how Lawrie’s expecting to shop overseas in the window, something in the Independent about us being interested in young ‘keeper (Burnley?) and, finally, Fultime has arrived. It’s a cracking read and well done the club for producing something that’s interesting in its own right, e.g. not just Fulham propaganda. There’s a really good interview with Les Reed, among other things.

Finally, just as Wayne Rooney is going to be fit to face us, Michael Owen has recovered faster than expected too. So he’ll play against us as well. Balls, eh?

Right, curry.

… here’s a really good, sensible interview.  Good stuff.

It has been noted that our manager has been getting a bit tetchy in interviews. In his defence, people are always asking him about this blasted last 10 minutes hoodoo, and I’m not quite sure what they expect him to say back. He comes up with a different angle on the phenomenon most weeks, but I wanted to know if the pressure is telling in other ways.

So here’s the interview after the Arsenal game.

And here’s the interview after the Blackburn game.

He might have been a little more composed at the start of the season, but it’s nothing major. One thing I would point out is that there are a lot of excuses in both, missed penalty decisions, reasons why we should have won but didn’t, some of which were down to the refereeing. (more…)

Although there’s lots and lots of football news in the world I’d like to share with you, I try to suppress my urges and keep to Fulham business since this is a Fulham blog. But I received an email from my state soccer association yesterday with a link to the new poster that was released this week for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. I really like this design and wanted to share it with you. I love the African colors and the way they used the child’s head as the continent as if he’s heading the ball. Really nice design.

Let me know what you think.

This is the third part of a post I started a week or so ago called, Analyzing the Game - Part 1. An introduction to the subject.

As you would expect, the second part was called, Analyzing the Game - Part 2. You can find a quick glance chart to download and print if you are interested in trying to watch the game from a more analytical eye.

Today I will give you some links that I have found interesting and pretty fun. In fact the first link will certainly have your employers unhappy with me because it’s addictive and I expect you will find yourself going back to it throughout the day. It’s actually a series of quizzes put out by the National Soccer Coaches Association. The test is called Tactical Soccer Situations Test. It took me a bit of time to understand what I was looking at to begin with but after a while I did catch on. There are 16 sets of tests, all of them timed.

Another great source is UEFA’s web site. They used to have a technical area and then much to the disappointment of many of my coaching comrades, they removed it from the site. But it did return after a couple of years absence. I’m happy to say it’s back far better than it used to be. It’s called The Training Ground, and it’s full of stories, technical reports, skills and drills. But my favorite is the tab called, Team Tactics. Within that tab there are three pull downs. Positions, Formations and Tactical Dilemmas. Of course, formations and tactical dilemmas are my favorite. Most of this is presented in video form which is really a lot easier to understand. A chalk talk, really.

One last link is to a site called, World Class Coaching. Maybe a bit more geared toward the trainer but still good stuff in there along with a discussion board which is always interesting for me to visit from time to time. A lot of people will post tactical dilemma questions and everyone gets to add their two cents worth. Good stuff.

Do you have a good site regarding tactics and analyzing the game? Please share the link with us by adding to the comments below.

The Reserves beat Portsmouth Reserves 3-0 last night.

Team: Batista; Volz (Briggs 61), Omozusi, Leijer, Ashton (Anderson 87); Hudson-Odoi, Smertin (Goncalves 67), Milsom, Brown; Seol, Ehui

Nice to see Volzy back - that’s a pretty good back line, isn’t it?   Here’s a piece from the Official site about his injuries.   It sounds like he’s had a pretty rough time of things, which is a shame for him and for us.    Also, Smertin is alive, and Seol got some live game action.

Less good news:  Wayne Rooney will be fit to return against Fulham on Monday.   How annoying.

“We are looking at him making his comeback against Fulham.”

Said Sir Alex.

Finally, it looks like some of our rivals are sorting themselves out.  Derby, despite a very harsh firing of Billy Davies (something happening behind the scenes, it would seem, as the man turned the club around in short order very recently), are about to bring in Paul Jewell.  Jewell seems to be firmly in management’s middle class, in that he’s not going to do anything too amazing, but won’t ruin things either.  So probably as good a signing as Derby could have hoped for.

Brum have Alex McLeish on the way, and this could be a good thing for them.  The club seems to be in a mess, and I’m not sure that they have all that much quality, but McLeish seems to have a bit about him.

The thing to note here is that this is where we are too, really.  If someone decides that Lawrie’s not making things happen then we can expect a manager of this kind of standing.  Jewell might be more useful or might not, and isn’t McLeish just the same sort of appointment, a youngish manager with an impressive track record in international football?    

We have a new squad that has shown some ability.  It’s rough around the edges, but it needs time, it really does.   There are positive signs all over the place, if only we want to see them.

I just wanted to take a few seconds of your time to thank you all so much for all the great comments Rich and I receive from our readers. YOU are what makes Craven Cottage Newsround. Not Rich and certainly not me. We would have a fine blog with no one reading if it wasn’t for all of you who read daily or weekly and particularly those who contribute regularly.

Rich and I have grown very fond of our readers. You not only contribute regularly, you contribute with really useful and thoughtful comments. If there is one thing that Rich asked me to do when he invited me to write with him for Craven Cottage Newsround, it was to be thoughtful in my writing. Well, this seems to be exactly what you our readers do.

Now please don’t be intimidated by that. We truly love hearing from everyone no matter what your comments. So even if you drop us a quick note we are appreciative. But we especially like the informative discussions we have about football and our favorite team Fulham Football Club. So if you’re Joe Schmoe from Timbuktu, or Lawrie Sanchez, who secretly reads this blog but feels he doesn’t dare leave a comment, (We know you read it, Lawrie) we appreciate your readership. But more so we love your comments. So come-on you readers and come-on you Whites. Keep talking to us. Leave your comments. We love to hear them.

Brian Q.

Diomansy Kamara in Premiership team of the week.

Fulham striker Diomansy Kamara was back on the goal-trail at the weekend and was rewarded with a place in the Actim Index team of the week, the official player ratings system of the Barclays Premier League.

Kamara netted his second league goal of the season in the 2-2 draw with Blackburn on Sunday and was rewarded for his display with 35 points, his best individual match score of the campaign so far.

The return saw Kamara climb 79 places to 181st position overall with an Actim Index of 83 points.

The Whites have three other players in the Actim top 100, Simon Davies (33rd), Clint Dempsey (54th) and David Healy (74th).

What to make of Diomansy Kamara? The club’s big off-season signing won a penalty, scored a goal, but also missed when one-on-one with Brad Friedel early on, ran up blind alleys all game, and lost possession at the beginning of the move from which Blackburn equalised. A mixed day indeed.

And so it was for the rest of the team. The back four looked good, terrific at times, but also managed to concede two soft goals that denied us a win. The midfield had another porous time of it, but did construct a genuinely beautiful goal (Kamara’s). The forwards? Clint put in his usual good shift, incorporating a good mixture of flair and effort, and we’ve mentioned the maddening Kamara already.

Antti Niemi was terrific though, which perhaps tells a story. Yes we played quite well, and yes we scored twice, but Friedel in the Blackburn goal had relatively little to do, and Niemi made several saves that made us gasp. He has extraordinary reflexes. So perhaps 2-2 flattered us. Is it good that we took a point from a fine side, or bad that we were again unable to convert a winning position? Such is the mystery of this year’s team. We will only really understand when the season is complete.

Back to the game. The first half was memorable for only two events: first, Benni McCarthy, one of Blackburn’s fine attacking players, was injured following a Stefanovic challenge in what must have been the first minute. When we resumed Dempsey cut the Blackburn defence in half with a perfectly weighted through ball, but Kamara hesitated and pushed the ball weakly at Friedel. That was it.

The second half was little better at first, but attention was regained as Dempsey skinned Ooijer on the left wing. His low cross caused a collision between Kamara and his marker, and a penalty was awarded. Danny Murphy expertly stroked the ball into the unguarded half of Friedel’s net. An unlikely lead.

Which was lost quickly. Kamara got stuck in traffic again and from there Blackburn countered at pace. Warnock, their rampaging left-back, whacked a cross into the box, where Jason Roberts leapt vertically and flicked on for Brett Emerton, who buried his chance. Roberts was offside but the goal was deserved.

Fulham raced back, and Dempsey, back to goal on the edge of the box, passed back to Murphy. Murphy pinged a throughball straight back into the area and found Simon Davies gathering speed. Davies hit *his* pass along the six yard box, and Kamara did the rest.

But no lead is safe in these parts. Kuqi might have made it three when he was put through by a defensive mishap, but the angle was tight and Friedel got back. It was a half-chance, but we need half-chances to be taken if we’re to start winning games. Sure enough Blackburn equalised again, Roberts slalomed through the defence as if they were traffic cones on the training ground, squared the ball across the goal, and celebrated as that man Warnock stole in unnoticed to tap home.

First the breaking news-

Most news sources are reporting this morning that Billy Davies, manager for Derby County has been axed.  It’s been rumored for a while now that the Chairman Adam Pearson, was not happy with Davies even though he was responsible for bringing the club up to the Premiership this season.  Davies had recently said that his team just wasn’t good enough and needed at least six new players in the coming transfer window.  Adam Pearson was having nothing of it and told Davies he needed to manage the players he had.  Then recently Davies told the press he was concerned because he had not talked to the chairman in three weeks.  It will be interesting to see who Derby are able to acquire as their new manager.

The old news-

Fulham pull another draw. I suppose as Rich says, a draw against Blackburn is respectable but at home is disappointing for most. I think the thing that frustrated me the most was that Blackburn possessed the ball 65% of the match.

Three things that frustrated me yesterday.

#1) We give up possession in games like that far too easily.  As shown in the amazing team-effort goal we scored, Fulham can posses the ball and have the quality to make those sorts of plays happen from time to time.  Perhaps not the full game. But for periods of time far greater then they did yesterday.  Fulham, at times, seems to be a team lacking in belief in their ability to pass the ball out of the back and for that matter the center of the field.  Most of the balls are rushed and often lost in the process.  I harken back to what I have written earlier this season: the best defense is a good offense.  Possess the ball and you give the opposition less chances to score.   Fulham need to stop dumping the ball in to low probability areas and wait until targets arrive and or make runs.  If they don’t present themselves than shuffle the ball around until they do.

#2) Many of Fulham players’ first touch when under pressure, particularly when in and around the box, was awful. Karmara, Dempsey, Davis and Bouazza all had some appalling first touches which prevented them from shooting or passing to someone who was in a good place to get a shot off.  It’s not like we didn’t get a chance here and there during the game.  A better first touch under pressure may have made a big difference yesterday.

#3) Diomansy Kamara.  STOP trying to dribble through three players when you have options left and right of you.  Also, stop putting your hand up to your ear on goal celebrations to tell your old team that they were crazy for selling you.  You certainly haven’t set the league on fire.  Hell, you haven’t even set Fulham on fire.  By the way, the goal you scored was a sitter that I could have put in, even with my wobbly knees and ankles.  Instead you may have wanted to thank your teammates for their “team-effort” goal that allowed you to score. Am I being to harsh here?

Full writeup this evening, I genuinely haven’t had a second to spare.

On balance a decent result.  Blackburn are a good team with a good away record; I’m happy with the draw.  

Some music to get you pumped up for this weekends match as requested by Rich. He says last time I picked the Friday evening music video we beat Reading. Huhhhh? How-bout that. Well, this song has nothing to do with Fulham but it is one of my favorite songs for getting me cranked up and if I was playing for Fulham this would be on my I-pod and played before I stepped out on the turf each and every game.

New Orleans is Sinking by The Tragically Hip

A Canadian group that has been around for a while now and put out some very fine music. One of those groups that’s never really gotten it’s due that it should have. The thing that really drew me to this song is the great guitar riffs which you can’t hear very well in this version. But if you go here, there’s a longer compilation which accentuates the guitar far more, as it should be in this song.

All right! COYW!

Blackburn, Sunday.

It’s Portsmouth-like isn’t it?

We’ll do okay, but need to take our chances.

I’m in a rush, off to Tunbridge Wells.  I have a wonderful girlfriend who helps with selling the Fulham Review and all sorts of other things like that.   But it does mean that I must reciprocate on occasion.   In the here and now this means going to Kent to join in with lots of people who like running.  And dressing up as a cat.   It’s fancy dress tomorrow night.  Hady is Dick Whittington. Slyly, thinking it would be a soft option, I said I’d be the cat, if only she could find a mask.   She found a mask.  I will be a cat.  I have packed some brown clothes to go with the mask.  We’ll see how it goes.

Brian will do some pre-match Friday night music tonight.   Last time he did it we beat Reading.  Give us some magic, Brian!

Back Sunday for the game.  COYW!

This is the second part of a post I started several days ago called, Analyzing the Game - Part 1.

As promised we will delve into some of the how-to’s of reading and analyzing a game. Again, lets look at this quote from the book, “Soccer: Guide to Training and Coaching”, by Allen Wade.

Reading the game is the ability to understand what is happening and as a consequence, to anticipate immediate or future developments. Some players appear to have a natural capacity for it while sometimes, even experienced player have only a shallow grasp of it, probably because, in their formative years, they were merely told what to do and not why is should be done. Until a player can read a game he cannot play an authoritative part, in the widest sense, in directing it’s course. All players should, therefore, strive to develop their ability to read the game. An analysis of a game must be methodical to be accurate.

So how can we start this methodical check list to see the game differently and start making more astute observations.  In my coaching license classes we were given a check list and watched games both live and on video to start practicing.  In a sense, it’s the only way to really start to put into practice what we were learning.  In some ways I liken it to meditation or even good study habits.  Keeping the concentration up for a duration of time is tough.  But the more you do it the better you get at sustaining a watchful eye on the whole game and not just the play.

For instance, when I’m in a analyzing mode, the play may be a counter flank attack but instead of getting caught up in the moment and watching the outside mid making an exciting run up the outside of the field, I may be also watching the shape of the rest of the team.  I may be asking myself: how is the outside back on the same side supporting the surging player from the rear?  Did he also make a run to support?  How organized were the back line if that outside defender did make a run up the field to support?   Did the midfielder who was responsible for cover (in the case of defenders making runs up the field) drop back - if he needed to?  If he wasn’t able to did the other central midfielder (or anyone  else for that matter), drop back to cover?  These are questions that might be running through my head on just one quick play up the field.  So you can imagine everything you must be taking in over the course of the  whole game.

Many times I used to take about 2 or 3 minutes just before the half, look at my game notes and ask myself, (if I hadn’t already figured it out), what sort of adjustments we needed to make at half and who I needed to talk to to  make those adjustments.  I also needed to figure out what to talk to the team about. I had to be mindful that, while I might have a lot to say, you can’t feed  players too much information  or it just goes in one ear and out the other.  As a coach you needed to be concise and prioritize your top 3 or 4 points.

So to start you off with a beginning checklist I again refer back to the aforementioned book.  From that book I made my own shortened version of a checklist and laid it out in a manner that was easy to refer to.  I’ve included this check list below.  Of course there are many more questions you can be asking yourself, but this is a good start.  I’ve also made a PDF of the same chart that I created in case you are interested in printing a few out and trying it out. Just right click on this link to download. Analyzing The Game.pdf

I’ll have one more follow up to this article where I will discuss some other sources and ideas for understanding the game a bit more clearly.  Good luck and let me know if you get the chance to try this out.

“A lot of those Croatians do not play in top leagues. They will want to put themselves in the shop window.”

Peter Crouch, patronising, before the game

“I read in your papers that no Croatian would start in the England team - that’s ridiculous, wake up. There is no non-Englishman who loves your guys more than I do but there are good players in small countries as well.”

Slaven Bilic, victorious, after the game

Well what’s done is done.  Steve McLaren has carried the can for a disappointing qualifying campaign.   Having gone off course earlier on in the year, McLaren seemed to have corrected things by reverting to a 4-4-2 that featured an effective Gerrard and Barry partnership in the middle of the pitch.

This pairing played very well together and at last it seemed that the coach was grasping the importance of fielding a good *team*.   But all it took was a harsh defeat in Russia for him to lose his nerve.   In that game England had led well, but were undone by a late flood of Russian attacking.   Disappointing, but there was no shame in a defeat like that, particularly when a crucial penalty was incorrectly awarded.

Despite this England were given another chance when Russia slipped up in Israel.  All they had to do was draw against already qualified Croatia at Wembley.  

How would he proceed?   Some changes were required, as Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, and most of the defence was injured.   Paul Robinson, average throughout, was due a rest.    McLaren brought in Villa’s excellent young goalkeeper Scott Carson, paired Sol Campbell with Joleon Lescott in defence, and brought the underrated Wayne Bridge in at left-back.   The midfield turned into the football equivalent of five people sitting at a table designed for four, as McLaren found himself unable to resist the allure of famous player Frank Lampard.  Never mind if this disrupted the only good combination we’d seen in recent times, McLaren was going with a 4-5-1.  The “1″ was Peter Crouch, alone.

Things started badly when Scott Carson’s worst nightmares came true.  A heavily spinning Kranjcar twenty-five yarder kicked up from just in front of the goalkeeper, flicked his glove and hit the net.   He looked like a fast-bowler misfielding a glance on the  fine-leg boundary.

Worse came when Bridge played Olic onside, and Eduardo found his teammate with a clever pass.  Carson, exposed, could do nothing at the Croatian forward wandered past him and rolled home an unbelievable second.

England had no ideas.  Crouch was winning all his headers, but sending them harmlessly into spaces where no white shirt was running.  The midfield was in big trouble, misplacing passes, hitting free-kicks low and at Croatians, and, worse, failing to track their elusive opponents on the counter.

Half-time saw the introduction of Beckham for Wright-Phillips, and Defoe for Barry.  It made a difference.  Defoe won a soft penalty which Lampard, showing guts, slammed home. Then Beckham sliced a wonderful pass into Crouch’s stride and the big striker volleyed home emphatically.  2-2.  Hold on and we would qualify.

It was not to be.   England chased the game while Croatia showed more counter-attack nous.   Finally the threat was made real, as a left-footed shot from 20 yards skipped into the corner of England’s goal.  It should have been prevented and then should have been saved, but Carson’s desperate dive was inadequate and Croatia were ahead again.

England threw the kitchen sink at their opponents, but this laughably unsophisticated attacking was repelled comfortably.   A Croatian fourth seemed more likely.

Steve McLaren has been sacked but the players must also take a long look in the mirror.  Scott Carson will get blamed for this, but we should not confuse a bad outcome with a bad decision.  He is a good goalkeeper and should represent his country for years to come.   He made a mistake, a big one, but being a human being these things can happen.

More worrying was the defence in front of him.  Micah Richards looked more like a raw talent than the real deal, Sol Campbell struggled with the pace at which Croatia moved the ball around, and Joleon Lescott did not impose himself.  Wayne Bridge can rarely have played worse.

The five man midfield has already been discussed and was where McLaren really let himself down.   The Gerrard - Lampard issue has been discussed too much already.  That McLaren put himself in a position to have to discuss the issue again, despite having the team thrive in Lampard’s absence, was stupid, irrational, and cowardly.   It is the one decision that I, a paying supporter, cannot forgive him for.

The forwards were short of talent, short of service, and altogether underwhelming.  Owen is still a good player when fit, but not the world class forward he once was.  Rooney is similarly gifted, but has not blossomed into the superstar we had hoped for.  If that seems harsh, well I’m only judging them by their own high standards (reputations).  Peter Crouch alone comes out of this with credit, scoring again.   He may not be pretty, but Jan Koller has forged a similarly successful career for the Czech Republic.  Perhaps it is time to acknowledge Crouch’s ability to score goals rather than to concentrate on the other things he can’t do.   Football is about scoring, after all.

A new era begins.