Collapse: Fulham 0-1 West Ham
Did somebody say something about dreams fading and dying?
A kick in the teeth, in more ways than one. Angled cross into the box, Luis Boa Morte in a position of no danger, but, unpredictable as ever, the old bugger chested the ball forwards towards the six yard box. Niemi was alert to the danger but Solano had seen possibilities too, the two collided and the ball trickled into the Fulham net.
Had Niemi claimed the ball before contact? Had Solano fouled him? Had Solano handled the ball into the net? These questions could not be resolved and the goal was awarded.
The game had been absorbing rather than entertaining. Chances were created, but not necessarily good ones. Perhaps the best fell to debutant Eddie Johnson, ghosting in at the far post, but his half volley flew high into the stand. Difficult chance, but in such moments are reputations made, seasons saved. Before that Dempsey had made half a dozen attempts to get past Robert Green, but had not found the power or the accuracy to do so. Bullard prodded and prompted throughout but also found that West Ham’s underrated defence was not in a generous mood. West Ham had little outright threat going forwards but showed considerable ability all over the pitch. In particular Fulham never fully shackled Mark Noble, and West Ham’s midfielder was influential in much of what his team did.
For Fulham, deprived of Simon Davies through suspension, much went according to plan. Hangeland, though unusually nervous on the ball, was again commanding, and Paul Stalteri showed the reliability that good full-backs are known for. Particularly impressive was Leon Andreasen. The young Dane had some terrible touches with the ball, but made a number of very important defensive contributions. He curbed his natural excitability after an early yellow and got on with playing spoiler. He also attacked when able, and surely has a good future ahead of him.
Sadly he chose to dispute the legitimacy of the winning goal and earned himself a second yellow card. This will bring a suspension for the Manchester United game, an absence we can ill afford. This team is showing some signs of promise but four or five players are not replaceable. Andreasen is one of them.
My walk back through Bishop’s Park was a miserable one. I pulled my hood up and sunk my chin into my chest. I closed my eyes, I tried not to think about what’s about to happen. But I know that it’s going to take a miracle to save this season now.
Gallery. Hade bought me a camera for my birthday, so here’s what we came up with today:
Leon Andreasen breaks, with Clint outside him
Mixed emotions: Johnson about to make his debut, while Dempsey realises he is to be sacrificed
The new man in action. He would switch flanks soon after. Why on the wings though? McBride accomplished little up the middle, I was surprised that Johnson was not given the centre-forward role.
Andreasen raiding again. He’s becoming one of my favourite players.
The end of the world. Late concession, Andreasen sent off.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7248337.stm
Roy on the beeb.
weltmeisterclaude
23 Feb 08 at 7:25 pm
Just got back from the match. What a very frustrating game to watch. Once again the final ball or finishing was no where to be seen. Brede playing a striker role that last 10mins was a bit odd.
allamerican74
23 Feb 08 at 8:02 pm
Just a terrible result, almost at a loss for words. So many things wrong with Solano’s goal besides the obvious foul/hand ball non-call. At the begining of the match, I was happy that Martin Tyler was announcing the game and that Howard Webb was the referee. Well, I guess that I was right in one regard.
I know it’s picky, but why does Niemi angle his body that way? I think he needed to have his body more across the goal with his feet towards the far post rather than the near post. That would have protected the goal more, but it’s so easy to write this while watching it on TV and seeing several replays.
Agree with you on Andreasen. He really can cover a lot of ground. We’re going to really miss him next week.
The worst part of the result is not so much the lost points (although we need any pts that we can get now), but it just reinforces the belief that we aren’t good enough and that we’ll continue to surrender late goals. Has to be very difficult for the team to get those doubts out of their heads.
George H.
23 Feb 08 at 8:12 pm
We looked good. Solid throughout. Kamara looked dangerous on the right even if he wasn’t flawless. Andreasen is growing into the role fast and will possibly start scoring pretty soon. There are plenty of holes, of course. Murphy isn’t a holding midfielder; I’d rather McBride start games on the bench with a more mobile forward in the middle (who know’s what’s happening with Cousin?); and I’m not overly convinced that we know where Dempsey should play (probably where Bullard does, but that’s not going to happen).
But all I could think while watching the game was that we’ve really turned a corner under Hodgson. The foundation is there — amazing that he’s built it so quickly — now we need to go on from there and build better communication and fluency between midfield and attack. Often today attacks ended because you could tell that the players still don’t know each other or the system well enough yet.
The problem is, we probably don’t have enough time left to build that. The upside is that — if we can keep the crux of the squad together and Hodgson — we will likely have a fairly low-pressure season destroying Championship defenses in which to gel.
rjbiii
23 Feb 08 at 10:12 pm
rjbiii, I agree with your assessment. The match today reaffirmed my belief that this is a completely different team than before. The team has developed into one that could stay up if they had had more points when RH took over. As it is, I don’t think they’re good enough to make the near-impossible climb out of the relegation zone this season. I just hope the attrition is not too great when we go down and that we can make a speedy return. I think Roy will get us going in the right direction again.
In the meantime, once again, we concede late, and to make matters worse, the goal should not have counted as it came off Solano’s hand.
Sound like our season in a nutshell.
BC
23 Feb 08 at 10:28 pm
Andreason has been my favorite new signing from the transfer period. I could see how he played and his end to end capabilities. A fantastic signing and definitely premier material.
I’m afraid that Rjbiii is correct. We now need to hold everyone together if possible and build for next year. But how many of the players have clauses in their contracts that allow them to transfer. Mc Bride will go back to MLS for one last year. Murphy will be gone which may not be such a bad thing. Some of the young players will get chances to show themselves. Players like EJ will get a chance to really learn English football. There are many positives.
The negatives are, we Americans will have a much more difficult time following the team. I don’t know the number for sure, but FSC has carried more Fulham games, as well as Setanta, then ever before. But I guess the other shoe hasn’t dropped quite yet.
bqfootball
23 Feb 08 at 10:38 pm
Oh, also, Demspey did not have a very good game today. I was quite impressed with Kamara’s work rate and his willingness to track back. A couple of times he sort of saved the day running half the field to put pressure on an attacker.
Why was Johnson not played up top with McBride. Before Johnson came in, I kept thinking that some of the flick-on’s from McBride that dribbled uselessly forward would have been dangerous balls for an on running Johnson. Then EJ gets in the game and he’s played wide where he also needs to defend. I didn’t understand that.
But the team did play some better football did they not?
bqfootball
23 Feb 08 at 10:47 pm
Good stuff - and I agree with rjbiii too.
I know the man’s a legend, but I don’t know that McBride can lead the line on his own. He can’t make things happen of his own volition so is always going to look slightly isolated when we play like that.
Funnily enough I was talking to someone on the bus from Tooting to the ground and mentioned that I thought Andreasen might get himself sent off before too long. He had a fantastic defensive game though and if we go down and if he stays I can see him really being a force next year (looks like he has goals in him too).
Ah, the league table is not as unhappy as we all are. There is still hope. Just a bit less than before.
weltmeisterclaude
23 Feb 08 at 11:33 pm
Some interesting comments on Kamara. I thought he was shocking today, improved a little as the second half wore on but generally very poor. Murphy faded dramatically (again) as well and with Andreasen missing next week I’m concerned about how we’ll cope.
Chopper
24 Feb 08 at 12:15 am
I will say I think Kamara has played better since he returned from the ACN. He still has room to improve but I think he’s done better. Agree with Andreasen. He’s been the tough midfielder we need.
Another positive, I think our defence is much improved. We’ve conceded fewer goals and have generally been tighter at the back.
I’m still down about the match but if we go down, I know Roy can get us back up.
BC
24 Feb 08 at 4:36 am
You know, goals like West Ham’s today make me want instant replay to make its way to the Premiership more and more. I think they should have a setup like the NHL where there is a “war room” that has feeds from all the matches that day. Every goal gets reviewed by the war room officials and if there is one that shouldn’t count, like West Ham’s today, they call the officials at the match and the goal is nullified. Surely that would help the game without undue delays, wouldn’t it?
BC
24 Feb 08 at 5:00 am
I think it’s funny how optimistic all the opinions were on how the season would go… then we lost a controversial game, one in which most of the people don’t necessarily think we played bad… and it’s suddenly ‘well, we’re fucked.’
It’s impossible to think the drop was coming after this result if you didn’t think it was before it.
El Steve
24 Feb 08 at 6:08 am
El Steve - such is the violent mood swing of the football fan. I can’t think many of us left the ground yesterday feeling positive. Choose your cliche, but it really did feel like a punch in the gut, or whatever.
And if we were too positive before and too negative now, well maybe. There is a little time left in the season and plenty of scope for winning 3 or 4 games, it’s just that yesterday’s was one of those that seemed winnable. And we didn’t.
The other thing is that losing was bad, but I think a lot of people would have been very upset with a 0-0 anyway.
weltmeisterclaude
24 Feb 08 at 9:54 am
the simple fact is we need all three points from every home game - with the exception, obviously, of Man Utd. a point would have been a bad result today. to get nothing is tantamount to suicide.
Rob
24 Feb 08 at 10:50 am
Gutted about yesterday’s game, given the nature of the goal and the fact that what was probably our best performance so far under Hodgson went unrewarded.
It was an even game against a decent team which means we played reasonably well. In the second half Kamara, Dempsey, Bullard and even Adreason all got forward to support McBride well. We made number of very good chances - Dempsey’s, Johnson’s, Kamara’s (which was handball by Ferdinand) and then Bullard’s right before their killer goal. That chance came via the best move of the match which I’d like to point out was started by the much-criticised Kamara using his pace to great effect (for once) - feinting a pass before sprinting past their midfielder and feeding McBride. IMO Kamara was much improved yesterday.
I have to say, with Man Utd (h), Blackburn (a), and Everton (h) our next three games, and with us already four points off safety, it’s starting to look bleak. We’ll probably need to win at both Reading and Derby now, as well as beating Sunderland, Brum and someone else. It’d be a great escape.
That’s the trouble when you settle for draws (or even 1-0 losses) in some games and rely on getting your points in others - it’s a high-risk strategy which can all go wrong despite a good performance, as it did yesterday. I’m aware this is repeating a point, but - as far as I’m concerned Bolton and Boro should have been viewed as just as winnable as yesterday’s game. I can’t help but think a little more ambition then might have paid off.
JamieR
24 Feb 08 at 12:23 pm
We’re only 4 points off safety! It definatly can be done, football is a very odd game, especially when Fulham are playing! We should be going into the next 3 matches believing that we can get something out of all the games… I know Man Utd, Everton and Blackburn are tough sides, but anything can happen… It would be very ‘Fulhamish’ too! The main thing is to have belief, all the clubs who’ve gotten out of relegation trouble over the last couple of years all believed they can do it.
masry
24 Feb 08 at 1:03 pm
Yep I agree it can be done, but we can’t afford many slip-ups now. Assuming we need to get to 35 points (which I think would give us a chance but by no means guaruntee survival), we’d still need another 16, from eleven games left. That’s W5 D1 L5 or W4 D4 L3 or W3 D7 L0.
Tough going, when you consider we’ve only got five home games left, three of which are against top-5 teams (Man U, Everton, Liverpool). It’s do-able, but as I say we’re probably going to need to win away (not seemingly in our make-up) at Derby and Reading, and make sure we beat Sunderland and Birmingham at home (not easy as they’ll also be scrapping for their lives) to give ourselves a chance.
If we slip up in any of those four games against the teams around us (which by law of averages is likely), we’ll definitley need extra points from elsewhere. Where though - at home to Everton or Liverpool? At Newcastle? Pompey on the last day? There aren’t many games to play with - and all that is assuming 35 points will be enough!
I bloody hope we pull it off, because it’ll be incredibly exciting if we do. But in my mind it’s more hope than expectation now. I suppose one good thing is that Roy won’t be playing for draws anymore!
JamieR
24 Feb 08 at 2:10 pm
El Steve,
Part of my pessimism after yesterday’s result stems from the fact that by not getting any points yesterday, we put ourselves further behind the 8-ball.
Can we do it? Sure, but with each passing week without points, we eliminate any cushion that we may have and put ourselves in more must win situations. Not a good place to be with a side that has only won three league matches so far.
George H.
24 Feb 08 at 3:37 pm
regarding El Steve’s comment, our home loss to Newcastle in November first made me feel like we were going down. I couldn’t believe that we didn’t have the heart, the effort, the coherence to kick a mediocre team when they were down. When we signed Roy and that was followed by some seriously good player signings, I figured that the Newcastle match would be what we’d look back on as the bottom point of a season that — eventually — bounced us back above the zone.
However, after playing for goalless draws in three matches we could easiy have won with a more positive attacking posture — Bolton away, Middlesboro away, and West Ham at home — I don’t believe we have a chance. So, yes, the home loss yesterday wiped out what was, for me, more than a glimmer of hope. They were injury riddled, on a bad run of form, and fielded only three starters of consistent quality — Cole, Noble, Green — and we played for a 0-0 result, as if that would have helped us.
As some Liverpool striker who had just scored a hattrick remarked way back in my long ago, “you can’t win the raffle if you don’t buy a ticket.” If you don’t score, you can’t win. And you can’t score if you don’t play aggressive attacking football. We haven’t bought any tickets; how could we win the raffle?
HatterDon
24 Feb 08 at 3:43 pm
What did for us wasn`t the dodgy goal, it was the fact that we failed to score, despite creating a number of reasonable chances.
I`m afraid McBride is a spent force and certainly not up to playing the sole striker role. Kamara flitted in and out of the game. Bullard gave 110% but we now know he is not a striker. Dempsey should have been playing where Bullard was. Murphy was a peripheral figure, at best. I thought we missed Simon Davies. There was basically no-one on the wing on either flank, although Stalteri had a couple of good runs. Defence basically OK.
I was disappointed at the lack of what someone above calls “coherence” in our play, especially when trying to attack. The players have had 2 weeks off but seem to have gone backwards?
Wing Half
24 Feb 08 at 5:55 pm
. . . and why did Johnson play in midfield when he finally came on? The chance he had wasn`t easy but, hey, the man`s a striker and he should have got it a bit closer to the goal than that. (Did he think he was playing American football and was trying to score a field goal?!)
Wing Half
24 Feb 08 at 5:57 pm
I know, I was hoping Johnson would have done better with that chance. Imagine scoring such a goal in your first Premiership match! I can’t fault him too much, though, as it was a tough ball and he was probably a bit awed at his first experience with English football.
BC
25 Feb 08 at 4:27 am