Posts Tagged ‘Brede Hangeland’

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.

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.

Martin Jol will be looking for reinforcements in January – or so we hope.

“If we can do something in the market, we will try to that. But it’s not easy. You know as well as I do that clubs will wait and wait until you have to pay the maximum price and we will not do that.”

Martin Jol, always trying to play up the current squad and downplay the transfer window. But if he truly thinks this, we’re screwed.

Current situation: The club sits in 14th place with 20 points, 3 points clear of the drop and 5 points below 10th.  The club is old.  40 year old Mark Schwarzer has shown his age, and the middle of the defense is starting to as well.  A youthful injection at home against Swansea showed much promise, and it will be interesting to see how much Martin Jol decides to ride that energy.  Still, like any club with a high average age, they struggle with injuries.  Bryan Ruiz just returned after a 6-match layoff, Mahamadou Diarra needs another week or so, Damien Duff is out injured, and Mladen Petric is working to return to fitness.  Martin Jol made a point all the way back when he was hired to say he wanted to get the team younger, and he hasn’t.  So we’ll see if he makes an attempt at it in this window.  But remember, it’s also the middle of the season, and quick fixes to save the season are going to be more valuable at this juncture than planning for the long-term future.  So if he buys a few older players, that’s most likely the thinking.

Normally before pointing out individual players who could possibly be targeted, we’d go through what positions need strengthening.  However, the defense is porous, the midfield is way too thin, and the goal-production has dried up.  So therefore, simple logic tells you the following: we need everything. So let’s go through position by position and see what’s out there.

The defense:

Alexander Madlung

The central defense has been a mess.  The 3 central defenders in the squad are 33, 31, and 27.  Brede Hangeland is on the decline but it was obvious during the 3 games he was suspended that he’s our best central defender at the moment.  Aaron Hughes, while still a fan favorite, is beginning to lose his pitch awareness as well, and while he still can defend well one-on-one, he is often caught horribly out of position (see: Swansea’s first goal). Philippe Senderos, as I said, has been downright dreadful.  This is a position that not only needs fixing now, but will need fixing for the long-term as well.

Alexander Madlung – It’s been heavily reported that Fulham are close to reaching a deal with Wolfsburg for the 30 year old on a free transfer.  Madlung wouldn’t cost anything since he’s out of contract at the end of the season and Wolfsburg are desperately looking to reduce their wage bill as soon as possible.  You may remember Madlung scored at Craven Cottage in the first leg of their matchup in the Europa League a few years ago.  While this could be a decent option, he’s also out of favor with Wolfsburg for a reason, and that may be a bit foreboding.

Jolean Lescott – Another 30 year old, Lescott has been put out in the transfer market by Manchester City brass after struggling with a back injury and Roberto Mancini preferring Matija Natastic.  The biggest roadblock here could be Lescott’s wages, which sit at £90,000 a week, something Fulham almost certainly wouldn’t be willing to match, and he’s been priced at £8 million for a full sale.  It could prove difficult with those prices in mind.

Vegard Forren – The 24 year old Norwegian with Molde has a few suitors in the Premier League, including Everton and maybe even Manchester United.  But Fulham have an ace up their sleeve in this battle: Brede Hangeland.  A fellow Norwegian, Hangeland could help Jol make a play for Forren, but that also may hinge on Hangeland himself signing a new contract at Craven Cottage and ensure he’ll be around to be a companion for the youngster should he come to Fulham.

Douglas – Fulham made a major play for the Twente defender in the summer, almost securing his services before his home club pulled the plug at the very end.  The chances now of signing him are a lot smaller after all that happened in the summer, but I suppose there’s still a chance simply because there was prior interest.  I don’t think anyone knows what the status of the situation is, as evident by this article, which tells us absolutely nothing.

I’ve heard fans calling for Leighton Baines. Y0u can forget about that one.  He’ll be either at Everton or move up, which Fulham unfortunately is not.

The midfield:

Jordan Henderson

The midfield at Craven Cottage is frighteningly thin, and going forward is in dire need of reinforcements.   Steve Sidwell has been very solid reinventing himself as a defensive midfielder, but picks up yellow cards often and can probably be a lock to miss a few more matches, even if he stays healthy.  Chris Baird is always in and out of the lineup for whatever reason.  Mahamadou Diarra has also played very well but is going to be either injured or in Africa for much of the 2nd half of the season.  Giorgos Karagounis, who had a very good match last time out against Swansea, is 35 and can only go a full 90 every so often.  Yikes.

Jordan Henderson – This is an interesting proposition.  It’d be a fantastic catch if completed, but the chances are slim.  Henderson has fallen down in the order at Liverpool, but Brendan Rogers has said he’s accepted his role, at least for now, and Fulham was even offered Henderson in the summer (part of the Dempsey offer) and it didn’t come to pass.  Reports say it’s still in the cards, but I don’t see it happening.

McDonald Mariga – Mariga was widely reported to be involved with Fulham for the January window but Martin Jol recently ruled out this option, so we’ll have to look elsewhere.

Derek Boateng – Shocker, this name is back on the list.  Boateng’s been on Fulham’s shortlist for a while.  Dnipro rejected a few advances over the summer, but this could be the time the deal gets done.  There have been reports of Boateng suffering from racial abuse in Ukraine, so that could push a deal.  He could be exactly what Fulham need, rated at about £2 million.

Will Hughes – Martin Jol has mentioned this 17 year old as a potential transfer target.  It’s not often you see a 17 year old kid in the January rumors, but Martin Jol admitted he’ll have a ton of competition for the Derby youngster, saying, “there is probably 10 clubs in the Barclays Premier League having a look at him.”  In fact, in a BBC feature on Hughes, it begins saying Barcelona even compiled a dossier on the kid. Could be a longshot, but the fact Jol is praising him means it’s at least on his mind.

Momo Diame – The 25 year old with West Ham has an escape clause in his contract, which would allow him to leave here in January for a knockdown fee, and with his good form the first half of this season, depending on who comes calling, he could be convinced to activate that.  When asked about Diame possibly leaving, Sam Allardyce refused to say he wouldn’t go, so it’s certainly a possibility.

Also someone to keep an eye on: Lewis McGugan.  Reports are saying Jol is going to try and sign him to a pre-contract agreement.

Forwards:

Could Jol pull off the shock and get Mario Balotelli in White? Probably not, but he’s interested in trying.

Fulham were among the league leaders in goalscoring in the beginning of the year, but that has all dried up of late.  Much of it coincided with Bryan Ruiz’s injury, as he was left as the only creative option with Dempsey and Dembele leaving at the last minute of the summer window.  Mackintosh and Jol would do the club well to find another Bryan Ruiz, as Hugo Rodallega and Mladen Petric have both done a pretty good job finishing when they have chances.  But the chances for those 2 have been thin, as they have been for target man Dimitar Berbatov, so the creativity is what Martin Jol will be primarily looking for this winter.

Darren Bent – The most consistent name in Fulham January rumors, the Paul Lambert castoff would do himself well to leave Villa, who are set for even more of a relegation battle than we could see at Craven Cottage.  Other clubs such as QPR, Cardiff, or even Newcastle (if Ba moves up) could be in play for Bent, but Fulham seems to be the most likely destination, seeing as he played under Martin Jol before at Spurs. This seems like a very possible option.

Mario Balotelli – Ok, let me start by saying this is kind of silly, but then again, name me something Balotelli is involved in that isn’t silly? Martin Jol recently said he’d provide Balotelli a way out of Manchester City if the price was right (which it probably isn’t). Even Jol remarked he’d “probably cost more than the Mona Lisa” which is probably true. But who knows, if Balotelli wants out badly enough, could it be a match?

Chris David – The 19 year old was basically with Fulham in the summer, and only a paperwork error kept him from joining the club.  It’s been rumored since basically the beginning of the season that the move would be finished in January, but obviously a lot can happen in 6 months.  We’ll see if the deal now goes through, or if things have changed since then.

Leo Baptistao – The 20 year old Brazilian was charged the first half of the season with the task of replacing Michu at Rayo Vallecano, and he’s done a fantastic job.  6 goals so far along with 4 assists to his name, he’s caught the eye of other La Liga teams as well as eyes in the Premier League.  Apparently Real Madrid is in the race as well, but Fulham and Sunderland have been the most consistent clubs named in rumors.

Feel free to comment on anyone else you see Fulham jumping in on and possibly picking up!

A very intriguing matchup in the Premiership will be taking place in primetime on Monday.  One club mired in a horrible run of bad form faces another club which was mired in terrible form until a quality win last week.  A result in either direction could drastically alter each one’s season.  A win for Newcastle would signal their return to where they belong; consequently, a win for Fulham would provide a massively-needed boost to their goal of reaching the next transfer window unscathed.

Without further ado, I present to you a very exciting match preview here on Fulham’s Finest:

State of Fulham:

One word best describes the current situation the Cottagers find themselves in: yuck. They’ve lost 3 of 4, and haven’t won since a boring 1-0 home victory over Aston Villa on October 20, a run of 7 matches without a win.  While that stretch does include relatively impressive draws against Everton, Arsenal, and Chelsea, those don’t do enough to cancel out horrible losses to Sunderland and Stoke at home, as well as their most recent result, an incredibly uninspiring loss against Dempsey- and Dembele-led Spurs.  This slide has seen the club drop from 6th to 13th, and almost more troubling, seen a club near the top of the league in scoring net just 2 goals in their last 4 matches.

Injuries have struck Fulham, although this season that’s nothing new.  Bryan Ruiz has had a major setback to his hamstring injury, something that will keep him out until January, an unfortunate turn of events given he was so close to returning.  Sascha Riether is also dealing with a knee injury he picked up last in the last match, and is a doubt. Thankfully, the club will be applauding the return of both Brede Hangeland from suspension and Alex Kacaniklic from his hamstring injury.

State of Newcastle:

The Magpies have also had a disasterous run of form both in the Premier League and the Europa League prior to last week’s 3-0 victory against a quality Wigan side.  They had been winless in 5 matches before that, and had just 1 win in their prior 9 matches.  Even with the win against Wigan, in all competitions, their previous 16 matches have seen just 4 wins (2 PL, 2 Europa League) as opposed to 7 losses and 5 draws. This isn’t the Newcastle we had imagined at the start of the season when Alan Pardew was signed to a silly long contract extension.

Newcastle are also dealing with injury shuffles of their own, although most of them are returning players.  Hatem Ben Arfa looks set to return, a big gain for the club, along with Jonas Gutierrez, Demba Ba, and Chiek Tiote, 3 other key figures.

888sport.com Lines of the Match:

I’m unveiling some very exciting new segments for Fulham’s Finest. From now on, I will be presenting you with prices from 888sport.com involving Fulham matches to help guide us through a match preview, and so it gives me another angle to discuss talking points.  They’ll be sending me their favorite lines, and I’ll pick 2-3 each match.  For more prices than what I have here, feel free to visit 888sport.com.  Let’s begin with Fulham/Newcastle!

Dimitar Berbatov to score anytime – 5/4
This line was a lot bigger (9/4) when it was sent to me, but has shrunk recently, and rightly so.  If Fulham can get Dimitar the ball (which is a big “if” without Ruiz) he’s shown plenty of times what he’s capable of doing.  It’s not much reward here, but there’s no safer bet than Berbatov to score.

Hatem Ben Arfa to score anytime – 4/1
A great price for a guy coming off injury, Ben Arfa has 7 goals in 38 matches for Newcastle and sill certainly be at the center or at least up front of the attack if he’s indeed able to come back. The only down side to this bet is Demba Ba is returning as well, and he’s been a Newcastle goal machine, so it may cause Alan Pardew to play Ben Arfa on the wing feeding Ba the ball.  Still, a decent risk/reward with how poorly the Fulham defense has looked recently.

Half with most goals: 2nd half – evens
This is going to tie into a statistic I have in my section below, so without further ado, I present to you…

EA Sports Stats of the Match

EA Sports was also kind enough to offer up a sponsorship for this section, and are kind enough to send me in-depth statistics.  The reason I like the 2nd half to have more goals, even at even money, is…

There have been 11 goals in the final 10 minutes of games involving Fulham this season.  They’ve all provided drama right until the end, and I don’t see this match as being anything out of the ordinary.

Steve Sidwell has completed the most successful tackles in the Premier League with 47.  Sidwell has been incredibly busy in the midfield, with the central midfielders teaming up in a Danny Murphy-esque role.  He’s transformed his career with the switch to a more traditional enforcing defensive midfielder, and it’s shown with quality matches in the recent going.  Look for him to continue this role alongside Mahamadou Diarra.

Dimitar Berbatov has contributed more defensive work than any other striker in the EA Sports Player Performance Index, including 12 clearances and 34 interceptions. Who says he’s lazy? Think again. Berbatov has meant even more to this club than people give him credit for, which is a lot!

Prediction: This match seems to me to have draw written all over it.  I think the goalscoring will continue in Fulham matches, with a 1-1 or 2-2 scoreline a fair assessment, but I’ll go with 2-2.  The key for Fulham will be finding creativity in the slot behind Berbatov or Petric without Bryan Ruiz.

In a match with plenty of excitement and drama, the better side didn’t win today, and Fulham fans such as myself are left frustrated with 1 point for a second straight away match.  The draw at Southampton was acceptable, mainly because our away record has been poor, and just to have come back in that match and secure any points was good in and of itself.  But today, when Fulham held a lead on two separate occasions in the final 10 minutes, to end up with less than 3 points just won’t do, against a side that we were CLEARLY superior to.  The final two goals were insanely lucky for Reading, but that doesn’t excuse the fact they were allowed.

The good:

Dimitar Berbatov – Towards the end, he was visibly egging his teammates on, encouraging them to keep the ball on the ground and give him the final touch, a good strategy considering everyone else’s inability to keep the ball from ending up in Row Z.  But he was pacey, and despite much of the first half playing a touch back and in the midfield compared to what he’s used to, he was a major bright spot and he will be going forward.

Bryan Ruiz – Talk about a super sub.  Injected into the match around 60 minutes time, it was no looking back from there.  Both teams were pretty evenly matched until his arrival, at which point Fulham took control and never let up on the pedal.  I know, they ended up scoring twice from there on out, but it was obvious who was better and more quality from that point on.

Chris Baird – Unlike last match where he was quite invisible until he made his mark on the scoresheet towards the end, he was influential throughout the match.  Baird was quality on the defensive side as well as adding a bit of creativity on the front end of build ups.

The bad:

Brede Hangeland – Having a conversation on Twitter with one of my loyal followers, the consensus is this: we need to sell Brede Hangeland for whatever we can get before the world realizes he’s lost his top quality. It’s true, and while there may be backlash from those loyal fans who have an affection for the man who’s given so many important minutes to Fulham, he’s not the same. He’s not the same in the air, and he’s certainly not the same man who could be relied on to patrol the middle of the field with an imposing presence. He’s lost his ability to keep up with strikers, and it’s showing.  I think Martin Jol needs to realize this, and cash him in in January before he completely loses any market value.

Sascha Riether – I’m putting Riether on this list for one moment and only one moment. He was decent outside of this one moment. But the foul outside the box to put in a second set piece that led to Reading’s final goal was bad, and he NEEDS to not do that, as to not allow more pressure than necessary. Bad foul, and led to a big moment in the match.

The cutting edge at the back – Teams always talk about finishing.  It’s a major talking point in so many sports because the ability to finish sets apart the good teams from the great teams.  And on the road, Fulham is mediocre at best, for this reason completely. It’s hard to point to any one or two players and pin this problem on them, just like it’s tough to pin it solely on the manager or coaching staff.  Everyone is responsible, and everyone needs to look into the mirror around the 75 or 80 minute mark and ask of themselves “what do I have left in the tank to give to this club.” It comes down to accountability, and in the end, everyone is accountable

Man of the Match: I’ve got Bryan Ruiz. He made a massive difference in the match.

Stat Central: Possession wise, Fulham dominated. They ended up with 65.9% of possession, and passes were 519/612 for Fulham and 198/288 (a very poor 69% rate).  But the one that stands out the most to me is the foul count.  Reading committed 6 fouls to Fulham’s 17. That can’t happen.

I think conditioning is what this club needs to be able to finish out matches.  Hopefully Jol takes a hard look at his strategies at the back in the end of matches, because this happening once is a fluke you live with. Twice a row and it becomes a serious problem. This team should have 4 points they’ve dropped in these situations, and any more dropped points will definitely result in lost positions at the end of the season.

One more note about this match, it would have been very fun to watch from a neutral perspective, as 4 of the 6 goals in this match were excellent strikes.  The only first half goal was a fabulous strike, and both Berbatov’s and Ruiz’s goal sliced into the top corner.

Well, there it is! Not too much to write about, but what are your thoughts? In my opinion, I really like it.  Stripes can be very overpowering and distracting, but the pinstripes here are clearly not the case.  It’s designed in such a way that the stripes are NOT the dominating part of the jersey, the logo and sponsor still dominate.  They’re crisp and clean, and I like how they combined last year’s plain white look with the change of the pinstripes.  I know some still wish they stuck with last year’s, but that’s no fun!

Also, what’s gotten into Brede Hangeland and modeling? He’s rockin this home kit pretty well now. Guess he has a career after footballing is done!