Archive for the ‘Postgame’ Category

Fulham 0-1 Arsenal: Fantastically Wasteful

Posted: April 20, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Postgame
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Steve Sidwell’s tackle in the 12th minute earned him another straight red and doomed the squad despite a valiant effort a man down.

Following a harsh decision but also a baffling challenge by Steve Sidwell in the 12th minute, Fulham were immediately handcuffed for most of the match, and doomed to failure off the bat against a top-4 side in Arsenal.  Instead of laying down and dying, the lads put in a fantastic effort, and deserved much more than a 1-0 loss.

However, when put in a disadvantageous position such as this, a team ABSOLUTELY MUST take advantage of the few chances they are given, and Fulham failed to do that today, applying the dark mark to the match.  Dimitar Berbatov was a sulk-machine up front while wasting the few chances he had, and it rubbished a wonderful wing performance by both men on the touchline.

The red card decision was a bit harsh in my opinion.  It’s definitely a yellow, but for Sidwell to be sent off that early for a challenge that didn’t come up high and hardly caused any damage is a bit questionable.  That being said, for Sidders to give the referee the opportunity to make that call by going in two-footed, spikes-up late is utterly stupid, and having just come off his suspension for the previous red, lasting 12 minutes is condemnable.  Martin Jol agreed:

“I can’t defend him because it would probably sound ridiculous. It was the first foul and it spoilt the game a bit. Sometimes you hope the referee will book you because it wasn’t intentional, but if you are consistent it is a red card.”

The disadvantage showed early and often, and was evident in the stat book following the match.  Arsenal attempted 768 passes compared to Fulham’s 285.  Arsenal grabbed over 71% of the possession. Of the 27 highest passing combinations in the match, Fulham had one of those.

The good:

Urby Emanuelson – After putting in multiple poor performances with the club, a lack of midfielders/wingers forced him into the squad, and he gave back a fantastic effort.  Someone once told me they thought Emanuelson fit much much better in Serie A than in the Premier League because he’ll get the space to use his pace and runs much more effectively.  He isn’t a precise passer, and his strength lies in speed, dribbling, and creating openings on the ball rather than cutting edge passing or runs off the ball.  Today, thanks to Sidder’s red, it gave him an opportunity to show off his skills, and he thrived on the counter with the space to produce on-ball chances.  I don’t think he’ll ever make it big in the Premier League for this reason, and I don’t think he’ll get a chance in a match this season to put in another performance like this, but it’s nice to see him succeed, and the effort he gave was second to none.  Every time he lost the ball he threw himself into it to get the ball back.

Alex Kacaniklic – Given a start so soon after being recalled from Burnley, he used the same opportunity Emanuelson had with space to create chances, although Kacaniklic is a different player in the sense that he’s less about pace and more about finding seams and making big passes into the box.  The two of them used different strengths and different styles to be incredibly effective on the outside of the pitch, and Arsenal were scratching their heads to figure out what to do about it.  I’d love to see him get more opportunities, because his style applies to the Premier League much more than Urby’s, and he’s definitely a big part of the future of Fulham.  With Dejagah out for the remainder of the season, Alex may find himself with plenty of minutes down the stretch.

Eyong Enoh – Put in a really tough position with his central midfield partner sent off so soon, Enoh took control of the middle of the pitch and performed admirably on his own.  With Fulham playing mostly on the break, there wasn’t much bossing to do, but he still did plenty of his part.  He was 30/34 passing, received all 19 of the passes sent to him, made 2 of 3 tackles in the attacking third, and best of all stepped in front of 6 passes. Enoh’s physical presence was felt but he didn’t overdo it, committing 4 fouls but avoiding the referee’s book.  Someone on Twitter aptly compared him to Mahamadou Diarra (thankfully much younger).  With an entirely new midfield not out of the question for next season, Martin Jol would do well to heavily consider exercising Enoh’s buy clause on the loan.

Honorable mention: Stanislav Manolev – Manolev filled in for the injured Riether well.  He played almost exactly the same role, and it was hard to notice a difference.  Manolev was busy, receiving 44 of Fulham’s 219 completed passes in the match (20%).  He was involved in 79 of Fulham’s passes (36%) (44 received, 35 passed).  He sent 7 crosses into the box, completing 3 of them.  He was fantastic on the defensive end as well, succeeding on both his tackles and intercepting 5 passes, and blocked a cross as well.  It was like Riether never left the squad.

The bad:

Dimitar Berbatov – Making a scene when a teammate doesn’t complete a pass you want or makes a run you disagree with is fine, when you back it up with results when they do give you the ball.  Instead, Berbatov whined and complained about his lack of touches, but did nothing with the chances he was given.  He drove directly at Fabianski from the right side of the box in the 20th minute when Kacaniklic found him in space.  That would be his best chance of the match, and it wouldn’t get any easier.  He was passed to 5 times in the box, and only found the ball once out of those 5.  He completed just 3 of his 7 forward passe, all in the attacking third.  He won just 2 of his 7 ariel duels.  It wasn’t a good day for the Bulgarian.

Bryan Ruiz – For the second straight match, Ruiz was obviously below par, although it was nowhere near to as bad as the Chelsea match.  He showed a little more strength and a little better possession, but it was hard to go anywhere but up from his performance Wednesday.  His passing was good (32/37), but only 18 of those 32 completed passes went forward.  For an attacker slotted just behind the striker on a team playing on the break, that’s a poor number.  His time to break out and show his worth was today with the space left by the red card, and while Urby and Kaca took advantage, Ruiz did not.

The corner game – Corners represented some of the best opportunities for Fulham today, often given after promising breaks that were defended at the last moment.  In a match where the club needed to take advantage of all their opportunities, Fulham failed miserably from all set pieces, but the corners were particularly bad.  Many were too short, and overall failed to produce any danger for Arsenal.  In fact, only one corner found a Fulham player, and it was a corner played short by Bryan Ruiz.  All 6 corners sent into the box produced nothing.

Funny note – I called Per Mertesacker scoring in my preview post, saying he’d be a good risk at 10/1 odds to score, and 55/1 odds for first goalscorer.  Good on you if you selected the latter, that’s a wonderful payout.  Hopefully someone took heed of my tip! I also hit on the fewer than 2.5 goals tip, but that was a significantly lower payout.

Man of the Match – Have to give it to Urby for his wonderful effort.

The squad gave it a vailant go overall.  Down to 10 men, it’s a mountain to climb for such a long time.  Great to see the effort, and with results not overly important right now, that’s the most important thing.  However, it still is quite disappointing not to come away with any points.  Thankfully all the bottom 3 teams lost again this week, so safety is even more assured at this point.  Headed to Merseyside, I can’t be very optimistic given our prior results there, but there are still a few opportunities to pick up points in the final 4 matches.  Here’s to the best finish possible, and a major overhaul in the summer, Martin!

Fulham 0-3 Chelsea: What Happened

Posted: April 18, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Postgame
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It’s David Luiz’s world and we’re all just living in it.

David Luiz deposited a 35-yard screamer and Mladen Petric cleared Philippe Senderos’s goalbound header off the Chelsea goal line.

What.

That was my reaction after this match. What did I just watch? Turns out that Luiz Zeus-bolt was a harbinger of things going to come, but I had a hard time wrapping my head around the entirety of it.

This was one of the weirder matches of the season. Fulham didn’t play poorly at all. The buildup play was creative – albeit sloppy – and the defending was relatively solid. In addition, Chelsea really didn’t play all that well. They were sluggish (so was Fulham) and they definitely didn’t have a top 5 cutting edge about them.

And yet, here we are, 3-0 losers at home.

Ultimately, Fulham made mistakes (a lot of them) and Chelsea made them pay, and that’s what good teams do. And Chelsea is a very good team.

The good:

Eyong Enoh – The best Fulham player on the pitch by a longshot, Enoh was physical, accurate, and looked like he was trying a whole hell of a lot harder than anyone else under Martin Jol’s command. Enoh finished 48/49 passing, 5-for-5 in tackle attempts, and drew 3 fouls while committing 2. The only blemish on his record was a “failed clearance” he somehow got in the attacking half of the pitch on the touchline. I like what I see from the Cameroonian, and I hope Fulham give him a few more chances to prove he’s worth exercising the option to buy on his loan deal.

The bad:

Bryan Ruiz – Ruiz has been a focal point for discussion between Fulham fans this entire season. He cost a great deal, and hasn’t brought a whole lot of quality to the pitch. Many refuse to give up on him yet, but time is quickly running out on the “he needs to get used to the Premier League” excuse. To be fair, he has 6 assists, second most on the team. Everyone knows he’s ineffective on the wing and a little more effective stuck behind Berbatov. The Costa Rican hasn’t been awful….until last night. Ruiz’s passing was horribly inaccurate, and he displayed a quality his detractors have repeatedly pointed to – a lack of physicality. Ruiz was pushed off the ball numerous times, and other moments he had an opportunity to make a tackle but was simply brushed aside. I’ve made the argument in the past (and I know at least a few agree with me) that Ruiz’s biggest issue on Fulham this season is that he’s the exact same player as Berbatov. A player who uses technical ability and occasional bursts of pace to excel up front and slip into spaces most players wouldn’t dare take on. But with Berba up front already, and obviously not going anywhere, where is Ruiz to go? We’ll have to see what happens in the near future, but Bryan’s flirtations with fans patience is rapidly running out.

Mladen Petric – It was difficult to have a worse game than Ruiz had, but Petric managed to pull it off. It was exciting to see his name back in the lineup after months of being relegated to the bench. He’d shown a bit of an understanding with Berbatov both early in the season and in his few short substitute appearances. However, after an invisible first half, his world came crumbling apart in the second period. The most baffling moment was clearly when he attempted to redirect Philippe Senderos’s header off a corner into the net where he happened to be stationed at the far post. The problem was twofold. One, the header was already clearly goalbound. Two, Petric redirected the ball alright – out of the net and over the top. I must say, it’s quite impressive how Petric managed to get that ball over the top of the bar, but he figured out a way. That completely changed the course of the match. Fulham trailed 2-0 at the time, and a goal would certainly have put pressure on Chelsea that so far had eluded the home side. Instead, Chelsea went down and scored a third minutes later, sealing the match. Petric was off target, lacked any pace whatsoever, and had no connection with his teammates. A player who early on in the season showed the potential to be labeled a steal off the free transfer market now probably falls into the “you get what you pay for” category.

Sascha Riether – I hate to put the German in this category, because he’s had an outstanding season, and because of that certainly gets a pass for a few bad matches. He’s been one of the top 3 right backs in the Premier League. However, after an outstanding cross lifted into the box by Riether in about the third minute (which Ruiz managed to flub completely into a howling miss), the right-back proceeded to have possibly his worst match of the season. Riether had trouble handling passes, and had a poor time defending. He allowed John Terry – one of the best in the league with his head – 5 yards of space about 7 yards from the goal, and Terry made him pay for his first goal of the night to make it 2-0. Sascha picked a bad match to have a stinker too – the club relied heavily on his attacking play with Ruiz having such a tough time on the right wing. Riether’s 48 received passes is his most in a match since he had way too many (70 to be exact) against Manchester City back in January.

Man of the Match – (null) I guess I can give it to Enoh by default, but everyone else was poor/non-existent.

Other observations – So many players on this roster have never been more obviously replacable than they were at Craven Cottage last night. John Arne Riise is no longer the force he was on the left side and has become wildly mediocre. He had acres of space in the box in the closing minutes of the first half and managed a timid outside-of-the-foot “shot” from a player who used to be known as the Riise Rocket. Wasn’t much of a rocket. Urby Emanuelson has shown nothing of value beyond the fact he plays for AC Milan. His strengths don’t translate well to the Premier League, and he can head back to Italy sooner rather than later as far as I’m concerned.

Where to go from here – The hardest part about this match was the exposure of Fulham’s patchwork roster. It’s never been more evident how many holes this squad has. The striker situation is still a mess – Berbatov is the only reliable goalscorer and quite frankly only consistently solid play up front. The midfield outside of Steve Sidwell is a patchwork of loanees and old misfits. The wing is aging and injured. The defense is incredibly old spotty – embarrassing mistakes are rampant and outside of Riether they provide little pressure link-up play in the attack. The club will limp towards the finish-line just fine, but this summer will be unbelievably important to the club’s future. It’s funny because that’s exactly what we all said last summer, and we were stunned with the last-minute results. This summer, the shock departures are officially a thing of the past, and Martin Jol can begin his long-term plan for how to bring this club better results.

Fulham 3-2 QPR: 3 points at home, but NEVER DO THAT AGAIN

Posted: April 1, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Postgame
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Dimitar Berbatov finishes his brace to fend off a feisty QPR at the Cottage

I could use the old overused cliche “a tale of two halves” but that would be an understatement for the way this match went.  QPR made Fulham look like a Champions League side in the first 35 minutes.  The attack was organized, pacey, and overall exciting as Fulham peppered Julio Cesar and forced their London rivals to make mistake after mistake at the back.  The pressure was too much for QPR and it showed.

But mistakes struck Fulham again (and so did Lee Probert) and a goal before halftime by that man Adel Taarabt made it a bit more interesting at the break.  Just before that goal, Ashkan Dejagah picked up an injury on a foul on the touchline, and was substituted off just before the half for Urby Emmanuelson.  A small moment at the time but looking back that was the turning point of the match.  After Dejagah’s injury, it was all QPR the rest of the game, and Emmanuelson was an absolute travesty on the pitch.

The roles completely reversed in the second half, and if not for Mark Schwarzer’s penalty save (again) and another wonder save about 10 minutes later, this game would have ended with a completely different scoreline.

The good:

Dimitar Berbatov – Dimi’s touches were spectacular as always, but the most impressive thing to me about the Bulgarian was his consistency.  Sometimes only showing up for one half at a time, Berbatov was one of the few bright spots for Fulham in the second half, albeit he didn’t have many chances to show it thanks to the failure by most of the rest of the team.

Attack organization in the first half – It’s hard to pinpoint one player, but the overall structure of the attack in the first half was beautiful to watch.  Passes were sent with purpose, and every move was made with an end result in mind, something that I haven’t always seen from Fulham this year.

Emanuel Frimpong – More about this in a bit, but Frimpong certainly took advantage of his chance and has carved out a bit of a niche in this Fulham squad doing just what he was known for – being a physical presence in the midfield for special times when no-nonsense defense is required in the middle.

The bad:

Giorgos Karagounis – The Greek gave away a very silly foul in the corner of the penalty area, showing Kara had a bit of a lapse in pitch awareness, and gifted some passes back to QPR late in the second half when Fulham were trying to fend off the attack with possession.  He didn’t do a whole lot in the first half either, meaning his day was mostly a negative.  He was definitely fouled late in the game in the Rangers penalty area though, and Lee Probert decided not to give it. Speaking of which…

Lee Probert – I defended the referee on the Clint Hill yellow card.  I believe, while a vicious challenge that had legitimate shouts for a straight red, that yellow was ultimately the right decision on the challenge.  HOWEVER, that being said, if Hill’s was a yellow, then Probert’s decision to send off Steve Sidwell for a spikes-down challenge that got ball was a horrific decision, that thankfully didn’t have an impact on the scoreline, although it could have future impact on the lineup card for Fulham in the immediate future.  And, Probert’s decision to not give Fulham a penalty for the foul on Karagounis at the end of the match was a bad, bad miss as well.  Probert has given both of Fulham’s red cards this year, and while Hangeland’s was spikes up and was a little more legitimate, this one is never a red.

Urby Emmanuelson – Urby came to Fulham seeking more playing time than he’d been getting at AC Milan, with the idea that he’d return and be better for it.  Well, he hasn’t gotten the time, and you can only imagine he’d be getting frustrated.  He hasn’t said anything about it, which you have to give him credit for.  But football is a cutthroat business, and when you’re a player trying to make an impression, you have to take advantage of any precious minutes you receive.  Urby failed miserably to do that today, and was substituted back off when Sidwell received his yellow card.  He gave away possession, he failed to clear during dangerous moments, and he missed challenges when securing the midfield was needed.  You really hate to judge a player based on a few minutes of a substitute appearance, but when guys like Emanuel Frimpong take advantage of precious minutes given to them, when a guy like Urby doesn’t, it’s hard to see him getting many more opportunities.  You feel for the guy because he’s done nothing but be appreciative of his chance at Fulham, but he hasn’t made an impression enough to warrant too many more minutes at this stage.

Man of the Match: Mark Schwarzer, again.  His penalty save, plus the crazy stretch he made about 10 minutes later, sealed the match in retrospect.  It’s obvious Mark does his homework, and he knew Remy was going to the Aussie’s left even before the ball was struck.  Then he went full stretch and full dive to deny his old teammate Bobby Zamora of what would have been a well-storied equalizer.  Schwarzer has saved 5 points this season with just penalty saves – Arsenal saved a point on the draw, and both Stoke and QPR secured 2 points for sure and maybe even 3 both times.  He’s absolutely deserved another year, despite showing his age at times earlier on in the season.

Where from here? A tough but important 3 points now sees Fulham just one point clear of Swansea in 9th with a game in hand. How about that? Not long ago at all it was a 9-point gap.  However West Ham is just 3 points behind, and also are only on 30 matches completed instead of 31, like the Whites. Now Fulham have 5 more fixtures in the month of April.  Despite having the next two away, Aston Villa and Newcastle are both chances to pick up 3 points, if not at least 1.  Then it’ll be a dogfight at the Cottage against Chelsea and Arsenal, both teams with momentum.  It’s not going to be an easy finish, but with the win today, Fulham are safe from the drop (even though Martin keeps insisting they’re not) and can worry about their finishing position.

Spurs 0-1 Fulham: On A Roll

Posted: March 17, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Postgame
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Dimitar Berbatov scored his 11th goal of the season and subdued his celebration, showing class for both sides today.

The stars aligned for the Whites to grab an upset at White Hart Lane today, and they pounced.

Dimitar Berbatov’s tap-in on the counter provided all Fulham needed, and the defense stepped up and did the rest to grab an enormous 3 points that will provide a much-needed boost in the table.

It was mistake-free football that allowed Fulham to take all the points, along with a few last-ditch saves by Mark Schwarzer which have come at a time when the Australian is playing at top form.  Not only that, but they got a little help as well.  Spurs exerted all they had for 2 hours against Inter in the Europa League, pulling it out and advancing on away goals, but using up all their energy in the process just 2 days ago.  Today, it was obvious that had an effect, even if AVB refused to admit it. Then Jan Vertoghen pulled up lame in the first few minutes.  Then Gareth Bale injured his ankle without contact. Neither was substituted out, but neither contributed (until Bale’s superb cross on the should-have-been equalizer).  But it doesn’t diminish what the defense and right wing accomplished today.

The good:

Sascha Riether – I don’t ever want to stop putting him in this section. Ever. He was fantastic again on the right side, which as a whole is shaping up to be extremely dangerous, especially on the counter (which is where we scored).  His run down the right side was instrumental in the goal, and fed Berbatov perfectly (that’s surprisingly easy to mess up) for his 5th assist of the season.  And, more importantly, he kept Gareth Bale in his back pocket.  The only time he lost Bale, Schwarzer saved the day.  Granted, Bale obviously wasn’t 100%, but he stayed in so obviously Villas Boas thought his star was healthy enough to make a difference, and to that Riether deserves all the credit.

Philippe Senderos – I’ve been incredibly critical of Senderos, and one game won’t sway my overall opinion of him, but I have to give credit where it’s due.  Senderos didn’t make his quota of one massive mistake a game, and instead played rock-solid in the middle. He was particularly great on crosses, which actually isn’t anything new.  He’s not the tallest or most imposing of center backs like his partner the captain, but he does enough in the air to put off attackers, as shown on a header by Adebayor off a corner in the second half.  The striker beat him handily in the air to the ball, but the header was way off thanks to Senderos being glued to his hip.

Brede Hangeland – Hangeland has shown his age on more than one occasion this season, but today was also superb next to Senderos.  His only mistake was on the offensive end, when he had a wide open header off a cross that took a deflection straight to him, but he put it just wide.  At the back, Hangeland was a cog in a fantastic defensive performance, adding 4 more interceptions to his pregame total of 122 on the season.

The bad:

-1st half Berbatov: I was afraid in the first half that Dimitar was going to have one of THOSE games where he just stood there and sulked that he wasn’t getting the ball.  Thankfully he turned it around and not only was active on the break, he was good in possession and actually helped out on the defensive end as well.

What this means:

Fulham now move back into 10th, and have a game in hand on the 4 teams above them as well as the 2 teams below them.  The win also means they cut the monster gap between 10th and 9th down to just 4 points.  The schedule doesn’t get any easier with April consisting of an improved QPR side, Arsenal, Everton, and a fixture with Chelsea still to be rescheduled, but that makes these 3 points even more important to possibly brace for a difficult stretch.

The next 3 matches (QPR, Newcastle, Villa) are a big opportunity to jump further up the table now that the deficit from above has been reduced.

Fulham 0-1 Manchester United: It’s Not The Size Of The Dog In The Fight…

Posted: February 2, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Postgame
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Bryan Ruiz battles for a dribble

Just a week ago, this was 4-1. Just a week ago, it looked like it was 22-on-11, it looked like nobody cared, it looked like 11 players rather than 1 team.

Not anymore.

A week after the most boring 4-1 match in history, we had the most exciting 1-0 match in history. 5 posts hit in the first half.  32 shots overall.  49 crosses overall. 13 corners.  What a game.

The good:

The creativity – I put this here because no one single person stood out to me.  At any point, new players stepped up to make fantastic passes or runs.  Ashkan Dejagah was a joy to watch, although he needs to improve on his first touch.  Bryan Ruiz’s passing was poor in the first half, but he played so much better in the second and was a key player in the crazy charge in the final minutes.  Damien Duff also reappeared in the second half.  Hugo Rodallega ran things from the front, and made some fantastic cutting passes in the box and just outside it.  Sascha Riether played a key role on the right, especially after Rooney scored.  Urby Emanuelson came on in the 68th minute and showed his pinpoint long passing.  Nobody stood out to me, but everyone certainly contributed. Just ask Sir Alex Ferguson:

“I think it was really determined performance. It wasn’t easy because Fulham played their part”

Sascha Riether – Once again, the man stood out in defense.  Many are saying he’s our clear-cut player of the year, and I can’t disagree. A must-buy for Jol after the season.

Chris Baird – Also fantastic defensively in the midfield, with Sidders out Baird filled in admirably.  Happy he didn’t go to West Brom, yes? I know I am.

Mark Schwarzer – We’ve said here for a while that this may be Schwarzer’s last season as Fulham’s first choice keeper, and deservedly so.  But today, he matched David De Gea in quality, as both were fantastic between the sticks.  He made a ridiculous save inside the first 10 minutes, and kept up the performance the whole match.

The bad:

Philippe Senderos – I honestly don’t have much to put here, so I have to single out the man who made the mistake that led to the goal. Maybe I’ve been too harsh on Senderos this season, but he’s flat out not good.  He stayed too long under a header he had no chance of winning, and by the time he realized he’d been beaten, it was too late to recover, and Aaron Hughes was no match for Rooney that close to goal on his own.  Brede Hangeland left at halftime, and I hope he’s ok because I don’t know how much more of Senderos I can take. He’s good off corners, that’s about it.

The lights -

Some of the best jokes on Twitter included MAF forgetting to pay the electric bill despite pulling the club out of debt, Peter Odemwingie trying to tunnel into Loftus Road and hitting a main, and blaming David De Gea because everything’s his fault anyways.  Well done folks.

Man of the Match: This is tough for me, because like I said before, nobody really stood out to me.  I would have gone with Hangeland because he was doing excellent at the back before getting injured.  I’m going to go with Sascha Riether because he once again proves how valuable he is on the right, making tackle after tackle and providing lots on the attacking end as well.

What now?: This result was expected, just not in the way it happened. Of course it’s frustrating to not get anything from this match, but after last week, who honestly expected points here? It’s a great match to build from, and Martin Jol’s tactics were spot on.  With the added players from the transfer window into the ranks, it’s promising looking ahead.  We have Norwich away, Stoke home, Sunderland away in our next 3, and that’s a bit tougher of a stretch than it may sound off the bat given this team’s away record.  However, if we can manage at least 5 points from those 3 fixtures and not lose, it will be a successful period to me ahead of back-to-back games against Chelsea and Tottenham.

Remember: No points were earned from this match.  So the only way the valiant effort benefits us is if we build on it in the future.  If we take a step backwards in the next few games, this effort is all for nothing.  If we can build on this, it becomes a stepping stone and possibly a turning point in the season.  That all depends on what the club does going forward. COME ON YOU WHITES!

Martin Jol postgame:

“According to Jol, Brede Hangeland’s Achillies tightened up, nothing to play around with. Said it’s not serious, but may miss a few weeks”

UPDATE: Jol also said Brede Hangeland’s achillies tightened up, and although it’s not serious, he may miss a few weeks.  That’s a massive blow to a team with just 3 center backs on the roster, although Chris Baird can play back there in an emergency.

Fulham 3-1 West Ham: Winning the First “Must-Win”

Posted: January 30, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Postgame
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Hugo Rodallega provided the winner as Fulham grabbed a massive 3 points at home

Martin Jol said 5 or 6 wins are going to be needed to guarantee we stay away from the relegation zone, and the club are 1 win closer to securing not only safety but a respectable finish.

The birthday boy headed home the first goal of the night (he was offsides, shhhhhhh), and Hugo Rodallega, who’s got 3 massive goals this year, banged home the winner just after West Ham equalized.  It was a very exciting back-and-forth match, but showed the weakness in defense for both clubs.  Fulham are going to have to weather poor defense for the rest of the season, and it isn’t going to be fun against better clubs.

That being said, this win is massive in terms of confidence.  It got Berbatov back on track (on his birthday, no less), it slotted Fulham up to 12th in the table for the time being, and picked up some kind of points ahead of a challenging stretch of 6 games or so.

The good:

Hugo Rodallega – The offseason transfer has been a statistical nightmare this season, but Rodallega provided pace, cutting edge, and fantastic passing as he led the charge up front for Fulham.  He seemed to dictate terms with the West Ham defense, and made some excellent runs that the Fulham midfielders mostly were able to pick out.

Dimitar Berbatov – The birthday boy picked a great game to bounce back from a run of poor form.  He’d probably have been better had he not been hampered by a hamstring problem most of the match, and he pulled up lame at the end to cap it off.  Hopefully this gives him some more confidence as well. Confidence is going to be a huge thing for more than just Berbatov going forward.

Sascha Riether – By far Fulham’s most consistent defender this season, he’s making a big case to be made permanently a Fulham player at the end of the season.  His tackles are spot-on, and he provides pace down the wing.  Most importantly, though, he’s made so massive tackles this year, and that’s what Fulham are lacking at the back.  It’s hard to beat him one-on-one.  Fulham absolutely need to throw everything they’ve got at keeping him beyond this year.

The bad:

Bryan Ruiz – This one’s not on Ruiz.  It’s solely on Martin Jol.  Ruiz isn’t a winger, and clearly can’t perform well in that position.  Ruiz has played out of position since Dembele’s departure, stuck farther back in the midfield than is suited to him.  He was stuck out of position today even worse, as Jol tried to stick Berbatov in more of Ruiz’s spot.  Dejagah came on for Ruiz and played very well in his spot, so I wouldn’t expect to see the Costa Rican on the wing much more, if at all.

Philippe Senderos – He made a few good plays, but mostly he failed miserably at his job again, and even got away with a blatant handball towards the end of the match after Fulham’s third goal had been scored.  Aaron Hughes has slipped mightily, but he’s still a much better option than Senderos.  Then again, so is a cucumber.

Man of the Match: Damien Duff, without question.  His passes were incredible, crosses were on point (something Fulham’s been missing this season), and even took a few great strikes on goal, coming just wide/high on them.  Alex Kacaniklic, who was left out of the side altogether today, is going to have a real struggle to get back into it, with Duffer now at 7 assists in 19 matches, and Urby Emanuelson – who will most likely slide into either left back or left wing – heading to Craven Cottage imminently.

Last words: Fulham were lucky that West Ham were somewhat off target today and Andy Carroll only played 15 minutes, but they got the job done, and 3 points in the bank.  We’re now in 12th place and 8 points ahead of the drop, which by no means is safe, but it’s a good enough distance for a slip-up or two against the top teams, which is probably bound to happen, especially this Saturday.  West Ham, meanwhile, are in a real troubling position in 13th, just one point below Fulham but their defense looks extremely poor and attack not as good as advertised.  Getting Carroll back will be huge.

There’s also word now that not only has Tom Huddlestone’s name popped up again, but Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed Fulham have spoken with the midfielder and he’s at Craven Cottage to discuss a possible transfer.  We’ll see where that’s headed.  Happy 3 points everyone! COYW!

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