Last season Erik Nevland started a couple of games in early February. He got a minute or so in March, then, in the last month of the season was reintroduced to good effect. At the time I thought this was quite clever from Roy Hodgson: Nevland was allowed to find form in the reserves and was given games when his form merited it; he was put in a position to succeed. He scored two important goals and generally looked lively.
This year Nevland got a couple of injury time games, then had a long break, then has been used more regularly (but still hasn’t had many minutes until this Sunday, when he got on with 74 minutes played). I’m not going to get into the merits of Erik Nevland – we probably still haven’t seen enough either way to know (although Roy presumably has) – merely to suggest that Hodgson’s handling of Nevland has generally produced fair results from the player.
You might say the same about Clint Dempsey this year. If my memory of The Hound of the Baskervilles is correct, the hound in question was made vicious by starvation. When it ventured out it was sufficiently hungry and deranged to attack people. It was a survival instinct. Are we seeing this same thing from Clint Dempsey? Has Roy judged Dempsey’s mood and engaged in an extraordinary game of brinkmanship, pushing his player to the point where he is playing angry, with something to prove? Probably not, but I haven’t seen a Fulham player so “up” for a game as Dempsey has been in his brief appearances this season. There was a controlled fury about his performance on Sunday, a definite desire to make the most of his time on the pitch. Long may it continue.
On the other hand, some players benefit from stability. I would assume that replacing Bobby Zamora will not be particularly helpful at this point. It’s all well and good pointing to his goals tally (and yes, it’s beginning to be an issue), but I see a lot to like in Zamora’s play. He looks like a confidence player short of confidence, which doesn’t mean that he won’t be useful to the team. His link up play is generally fine (his chest control is impressive) and he holds the ball up well, makes decent runs, and is better in the air than he’s currently being given credit for. All that’s missing at the moment is an end product, be it crossing or finishing. But as we’ve seen already (think Celtic or Bolton), the talent’s there.
We have to be careful here. I was misled by Hameur Bouazza, who could do astonishing things with a football, but only once every 20 or so games. Those moments were special, but didn’t come nearly as often as they needed to. I’m wary of this with Zamora, but I don’t think I need worry: Zamora’s overall game is important to the team, goals or no. He and Johnson seem well suited to playing together as well. I am, as ever, optimistic.
Speaking of Johnson, I confess to having been a bit premature in criticising him. Yesterday’s goal was taken with authority, and his work for the penalty was quite impressive, Dempsey’s pass initially wrong-footing Johnson and Cacapa. That Johnson managed to get back into the danger area with the ball was a remarkable feat of nimbleness, and I can’t think of too many players who’d have turned a probing pass into a deadly throughball like that. He has a great attitude out there too. With Schwarzer, Hughes, Hangeland, Murphy and Johnson we have an intelligent and right-headed spine to the team now.
There’s no need to say anything more about the defence – I’ve done that often enough already – but I wonder how much of an impact Mark Schwarzer is having on the players in front of him. I find that goalkeepers are a bit like managers: you get the elite group, the good group, and everyone else is pretty much a muchness. If Schwarzer’s not in the elite class he’s certainly well in the good group, and that’s vital for a team like us.
Finally, Danny Murphy. A few of us on this site (me and commenters) have been big Murphy fans for a while. It’s been brilliant to see just how well he’s played this season. He’s making that nuisance role his own, and of course is a gifted passer to boot. That’s almost a prototype for the role. Claude Makalele never had to kick people, and watching Murphy float around sniffing out danger reminds me a bit of the way Makalele did his business. Nothing spectacular, but it’s all about reading the game, getting to where the opposition least wants you, slowing them down, nipping the ball out of harm’s way and starting a counter-attack. As a spectator it’s hard not to watch the ball at all times, but I really do recommend spending a bit of time letting your eyes follow Murphy around the pitch, particularly when we don’t have the ball. That slow, slow, quick, quick, slow thing that’s presumably from a dance of some description really applies here. Great stuff.
