Posts Tagged ‘Hugo Rodallega’

Breaking Down The Fulham Harlem Shake

Posted: February 28, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Uncategorized
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I decided this conglomeration of awesomeness needed to be on my site in some manner, so I figured why not go all out and break down this madness. I’m having a hard time figuring out who’s who in the video, so feel free to leave a comment if you can figure them out. We have a few clues from this picture tweeted by Mladen Petric.

Pre-shake breakdown:

1) Bryan Ruiz and Steve Sidwell both suck at pool. UPDATE: apparently this is snooker, not pool? Or maybe not? I’m American, I don’t even know what snooker is. Carry on.

1a) An astute twitter follower pointed out Ruiz shoots pool right handed. Or maybe he just doesn’t shoot pool (or snooker) at all.

2) Apparently something top-secret is written on the lounge whiteboard because Billy the Badger walks by and his head gets blurred out for a moment.  What’s written on there that’s so important? We’ll never know.

3) Ashkan Dejagah (I think?) has some nice spin on his ping-pong shot, but Riise drops a nasty shot on him towards the end.

4) We need to enter Billy into a serious dancing competition. Wow.

5) Everyone not playing a sport or dancing looks like there’s a serious midterm exam coming up in an hour. Stay in school, kids!

Shake Shenanigans:

6) I just saw way, way too much of Sascha Riether in the bathing suit on the left.  That face he makes is horrifying.

7) Whoever’s behind the Iron Man mask also has boxing gloves on and wrote “I Am Single” on their chest.  I like to think this is a Strong Bad reference.

8) Nobody’s having more fun than Emmanuel Frimpong. Nobody. Also, his lower body is blurred out for a bit. Don’t want to know why.

9) Damien Duff is in the middle of the pack in a duck hat, and plays a mean pink air guitar.

10) Hugo Rodallega is sporting the monkey costume.  I was really hoping he would jump on the banana.  Alas, he was too busy twerking.

11) Most messed up costume definitely goes to the guy in the yellow construction worker vest, pink afro, and panda mask behind the banana.  Congrats on your blue ribbon, it’ll fit right in.

11a) A close second goes to the guy in the bottom right wearing a Borat swimsuit, a Lucha Libre mask, and a Fulham foam finger riding what appears to be an inflatable zebra.  Someone please fire the costume designer right now.

12) I really hope Martin Jol is in here somewhere.

13) Yes Berbatov is a boss. Yes he forgot a word on his shirt. Yes it reads “Keep Calm and Do The Harlem.” Yes he’s still a boss.

That’s all. Please add anything you notice in the comments, we need a full breakdown of this hilarity. Have a good day everyone. Sunderland on Saturday! I’m now entirely confident we’re going to win because if the football gods can’t smile on this I don’t know if there’s any hope.

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!

Fulham 2-1 Newcastle: First Win Since October Provides Hope

Posted: December 10, 2012 by Kyle Bonn in Postgame
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Steve Sidwell gets appreciation from his teammates after netting his first-half goal to put Fulham up 1-0.

A much-needed win at the fortress of Craven Cottage provides 3 points for Fulham to take on the “road” across town to QPR.  Meanwhile, Newcastle’s form continues to dip, with 1 win in their last 10 matches, including staying winless on the road this year.

A very exciting end-to-end match featured tons of chances, and while many went wasted by both sides, two moments of brilliance were enough to put Martin Jol’s side through for the win.

You have to look back to October 20th to find Fulham’s last win, and their 2 scores snapped a goalless streak that hit 317 minutes (3 matches plus some) before Steve Sidwell banged in his 4th goal of the season.

The midfield was strong, the attack was bright and creative despite the absence of Bryan Ruiz (which is promising given he’ll be out until January), and the defense was its usual porous but didn’t break save but once on a stunner from Hatem Ben Arfa that probably took a slight deflection as well.

Man of the Match:

Hugo Rodallega – I tweeted before the match that, while I recognized the fact that Rodallega has played more recently, I felt Mladen Petric up front would give us the best chance to win today.  I was obviously wrong.  It can’t be understated how important the relationship he has developed with Dimitar Berbatov is to the end product.  While I still think Petric is still a better ballhawk and finisher (what a blast from him today, missed the top corner by millimeters), Rodallega’s ability to cut and find space and strength in the air gave Newcastle all kinds of problems today.  Berbatov had a down day (more on that in a bit) and Hugo picked up the slack and more. Rodallega’s one mistake was somewhat obvious, he embarassingly dove after getting caught from behind in a 1-on-1 chance, but it doesn’t diminish how cutting he was today.

The good:

Sascha Riether – Riether continues to impress down the right-hand side, which is where the attack seemed to develop for the most part, especially early in the game.  Riether works incredibly hard, with the best example on a huge chance at the end of the first half when he streaked down the pitch untouched and took a touch from Duff before crossing to Berbatov in the box. He’s solid in defense as well, masterfully clearing off the line to deny Coloccini a powerful header in the top left corner.

Damien Duff – Duff’s been down the last few matches, being relegated to the bench at times, and often disappearing at others, with his usual pinpoint accuracy turning to limp, unstinging balls across the box.  Today, however, he was on point, picking up 2 assists and providing both long, dangerous crosses and short, cutting touches.  His free kick in the 2nd half found Rodallega’s head perfectly; it put Hugo in perfect position to redirect it into the back of the net.  Duffer’s going to need to continue this great form, as Fulham are quite thin both in the middle and on the edges.

Steve Sidwell – Ginger Iniesta’s reinvention of his game has given Fulham a MASSIVE boost, and given all the injuries and departures in the transfer window, an argument could certainly be made for midseason MVP of the club.  He’s turned from a conventional midfielder to something of a Danny Murphy clone.  He can score, but more importantly he provides power and strength in the midfield.  What a long way Sidwell has come from his dark days at Aston Villa.  While he’s not without his faults, it seems every time he gives the ball away he works his darndest to get it back, and his stamina is second to none.

The bad:

Alex Kacaniklic – The young Swede has shown so much promise so far at Craven Cottage, but recently he’s been very poor on the ball, and it’s starting to become a little troubling.  Martin Jol obviously has faith he’ll turn it around, as shown by the amount of runouts he’s getting, but his first touch especially hasn’t been anything to praise, and often results in giving the ball away.  He hasn’t found as much space recently either. I think he’ll turn it around, but it remains to be seen how much leeway he’ll get from Jol with Dejagah playing pretty well off the bench.

John Arne Riise – His defense was solid, but he was nonexistent in the attack with most of the cutting edge happening down the right edge.  That’s not entirely his fault and probably more a product of the gameplan, but I still think his goalless streak with Fulham is starting to get to his head.  He had one shot today, and it was clear over the bar from a long way out, and just the way his demeanor was before, during, and after, he seemed frustrated by his lack of scoring.  I hope it doesn’t continue to bother him.  He’s gotta just get back to doing what he does well, rather than trying to be something he’s not anymore.  Goals are nice from defenders, but as Sascha is proving, that’s not their top priority. Riether recently has outplayed Riise by a long ways recently.

Mark Schwarzer – Today was the day we’ve been waiting for for a long time.  Had it not been for the fantastic play of the defense (all 3 of Riether, Hughes, and Hangeland performed spectacularly at the back), this could have been a very bad finish.  Schwarzer has seemed to be losing a touch of his decision-making with every game, and today it was really bad. He also, for the first time, seems to be finally losing a bit of reaction time.  His range is still all there, but I think it’s getting very close to the time to make the permanent switch to David Stockdale.  Schwarzer has been a workhorse, and has given a ton of his career and life to Fulham, and it’s incredibly appreciated. But I think the best interest of the club is to move to the young English talent sooner rather than later.

Dimitar Berbatov – His ball movement and first touch was second to none as always, and a joy to watch.  But his finishing left a lot to be desired, and going forward Fulham are going to need him to finish chances.  Had Newcastle equalized, it would have been even more painful to see a replay of that 1-on-1 chance he blasted straight at Tim Krul (to be fair it was also a great save but he should have done better).  Putting him here was tough since even on an off day he’s one of the best players on the pitch, but he needs to convert those chances if Fulham are going to consistently get points in the future.

888sport.com Lines of the Week Recap:

This week I debuted the sponsored segment 888sport.com Lines of the Week.  So how’d I do if I was a betting man? (For the record I’m not, it’s a touch illegal here in the States).

Dimitar Berbatov to score anytime: 5/4
I lost here, but not for a lack of trying.  That 1v1 chance he blew would have made me furious had I put money on this.

Hatem Ben Arfa to score anytime: 4/1
Bang. Off the deflection.

Half with the most goals – 2nd: evens
2-for-3, I’ll take it to the bank. Thanks for playing!

What now?: This can’t end. The club can’t take its 1 win, put it in the bank, and start over.  There were some issues today, but overall a lot of positives to build on and bring to Loftus Road.  Anything but a win there is a bit of a disappointment, and it would certainly be painful to be QPR’s first win of the season. Good win today! Time to beat the ambitious ones.

Chelsea 0-0 Fulham: Frantic but Effective

Posted: November 28, 2012 by Kyle Bonn in Postgame
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Apparently every camera at Stamford Bridge was trained on either Rafa Benitez or Fernando Torres, so this is what I have for you. Somewhat funny to see the new man in charge so flabbergasted.

In one of the more tactically exciting 0-0 games (at least the second half, if not the first), Fulham were able to grab a point at Stamford Bridge against one of the better teams in the league.  The last 10 minutes were very back and forth, and Fulham did well to not let one fall in under very heavy pressure. I’ll take it.

In the last 6 matches, Fulham have gone DLLDDD. They haven’t won since the 1-0 win at home over Villa. They’ve won 1 match in their last 9. And yet, this one match on its own, it’s a good result.

The defense was frantic and required lots of last minute clears that weren’t incredibly effective, but did the job.  There were chances on the other end, including a volley that Riise completely flubbed, but I’m not mad we didn’t convert.  Getting any points at Stamford Bridge are a positive.

Remember, this is still “survive till January” mode and with all the injuries and depth issues, so it’s not the end of the world where we are.  The losses to Stoke and Sunderland were killer, but the situation isn’t unredeemable, even though Fulham have now dropped out of the top 10.

The good:

The center-back partnership – Aaron Hughes in particular was good, after a few matches where he’s been below par. He and Senderos were serviceable today, especially after the last match where the Swiss was an abomination.  The wing backs were good too; Riise piled up blocks and Riether was his usual rock solid self.  Good showing without Hangeland.

The senior squad – Karagounis and Diarra were excellent in the middle today, and despite giving way for the final quarter of the match after clearly being winded, they were excellent in slowing down the attacks and allowing the defense time to regroup after each assault.

Hugo Rodallega – I was very impressed with Rodallega’s defending.  It was obvious Jol told Hugo he would be needed in the back, and that he would be up on counter attacks.  His numbers shocked me (1/5 clearances), but I thought he looked solid helping out.  His ariel play was great, despite being 0/3 in ariel clearances, and 2/4 in ariel duels.  However, clearance numbers are misleading to me, because a successful clear will sometimes fall back to the attacking team, but it still helps at least delay the attack enough to stave off the pressure.

The bad:

The finishing – typical Fulham finishing.  They only had precious few chances in this match, which is to be expected, but they didn’t convert anything. Riise absolutely botched Fulham’s best chance of the game by almost whiffing on a volley and then losing the ball over the back line after.

The clearing – Fulham defended very well, and cleared very poorly. We could have had way more chances had the clearing been effective in alleviating pressure much quicker.  They’re a bit lucky to have not allowed a cheap goal on a failed clearance falling to a Chelsea striker in a good position.

Where from here?:

December is SO VITALLY important coming up.  There are a ton of winnable fixtures that Fulham must take advantage of.  They weren’t able to do this against Sunderland and Stoke, they couldn’t finish against Reading, they couldn’t finish against Southampton.  They’ve shown today they can hang with a team like Chelsea, so it’s time to get a point at home to a surging Spurs, and then pick up 3 points against a reeling Newcastle club, QPR, and Southampton and Swansea at home. They’ve dropped points in the last 2 months, and it’s time to man up. Every club, even the champions, have stretches where they don’t play their best.  Top 10 teams learn from their mistakes and in the end use that to beat the teams they should.  That’s this time for Fulham. Jol knows it too. More reaction below, but here’s the quote that struck me from his reaction, and it pertains to what I was just talking about:

“I am a little frustrated. The team is well organised and created chances against a team that works hard, so you can see us going forward, but still we have to improve…We have the players who can change the game and we need to link with them and do it quicker, but overall I think we are watching things that are positive. We have to play with a higher tempo for the players that we have up front.”

Jol’s reaction to Chelsea:

On Riise’s miss:

“Our shape was good, they had a lot of pressure but we have three or four good chances – nine times out of ten we would have broken them. John Arne Riise’s miss was disappointing. I told him that he should have shot across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner. He covered 80 or 90 yards and not to score was disappointing.”

On players returning:

“We had a lot of players coming back; Mahamadou Diarra was playing his first game, Giorgos Karagounis was lacking a bit of rhythm, and we leave here thinking we could have nicked it.”

Fulham to Receive Lineup Boost as Injured Players Return

Posted: October 19, 2012 by Kyle Bonn in Injury
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I’m alive, I promise! Sorry it’s been a little bit, life’s been getting the better of me recently. But no longer! We here at Fulham’s Finest will persevere.

But I digress.

In Martin Jol’s weekly video previewing matches, he was clearly happy to see many players returning from injury for this weekend’s clash with Aston Villa at home.  The international break couldn’t have come at a better time for Fulham, who had grinded out some important points on the road, but after Southampton before the break couldn’t help but feel disappointed after letting a late lead slip to a draw.

Jol mentioned the following players during his interview:

-Jol said Berbatov is back from injury, fit, and ready to start.  He’s the obvious start in this bunch, and will be ready to lead the attack.

-The manager will have many options on the left, and it will be interesting to see who he picks to play.  He mentioned obviously Kacaniklic has been playing well, but Kerim Frei has finally returned from injury after having been missing since the opening of the season, and will play into the mix.  He also said Kieran Richardson has been playing well and will be considered, but I disagree that he’s been playing well and I think it’s just Martin Jol playing up his squad.  Expect Kacaniklic to start with Frei possibly making it to the bench and maybe a late run out.

-Ashkan Dejagah is set to finally make his Fulham debut, as he is back from a knee injury he picked up just before transferring to Fulham at the end of the window.  With the international break having given Damien Duff on the right some time off, expect Duff to start this weekend.  However, don’t be surprised to see Dejegah get some chances every few weeks on the right with Duff reaching higher and higher on the age chart, giving the Duffer some time off.

-Jol talked at length about who he wants to play beside Berbatov up front.  Mladen Petric has also returned from injury, but because of his knock’s timing, he hasn’t gotten to show what he can do next to the Serbian.  If I’m extrapolating from what Jol said, I’d expect to see Petric start this weekend because he wants to see Mladen and Berbatov play together, and he talked much higher of the Yugoslavian than he did Rodallega.  Hugo will no doubt make the bench though.

-In a shock announcement, Jol said Mahamadou Diarra is a possibility for this match, although I would highly doubt it.  However, just the fact that Diarra is in the mix at this stage is, as Jol put it, “a medical miracle.” Just coming off knee surgery, they even showed video of Diarra training with the squad.  When it was announced he would be out, it said 3-4 weeks, possibly the season with knee ligament damage and surgery.  Obviously that’s vague, as it could mean anything from an MCL sprain to an ACL tear and everything in between.  If I had to venture a guess, having some experience with knee injuries over the years, I would say he probably had a meniscus and/or MCL tear that required surgery and it was unknown if there was more damage.  Those usually take 6-8 weeks to recover from, which is why Jol described it as such. Great to have him back in the near future! But don’t expect Diarra to play this weekend.

-Finally, the one bit of downer news, Bryan Ruiz is also a doubt for this match, but it doesn’t at all sound serious, and Jol did leave the possibility on the table that he could play.

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