Fulham (Away) Saturday 29th October

[dunlopp9987]

We are just not showing that same intensity and desire as last week. I expected this unfortunately, which is why I predicted a 0-0 draw

[badaids]

Fuck me DCL useless.

[Gwlad all over]

2 minutes ago, Btay said:

All I can see is Tarkowski’s horrible red boots 

Also Alex's.

[dunlopp9987]

Great work Myko, think he's played pretty well today

[badaids]

Hilarious that their defender felt the need to pull back Myko then, he’s four times as fast as him.

[dunlopp9987]

Patterson!!!

[Elston Gunnn]

Fulham look like scoring, we don’t.  Might get lucky and somehow nick one, but we’ll need luck, lacking finishing skill.

[badaids]

Hopefully Patterson will bring Gordon into the game more - he’s been lamentable today.

[dunlopp9987]

Feels like their goal is coming

[Elston Gunnn]

3 minutes ago, badaids said:

Hopefully Patterson will bring Gordon into the game more - he’s been lamentable today.

Lamentation is our lot.

[badaids]

Just now, dunlopp9987 said:

Feels like their goal is coming

It does - Gordon was so late to close the man down then. Lots of little lapses - it looks like we are still adapting to the subs.

[dunlopp9987]

Take Gordon off for McNeil

[Elston Gunnn]

We do love an offside.  I don’t know, maybe all strikers do.

[badaids]

Why couldn’t Silva get us passing the ball about like Fulham are today?

[Elston Gunnn]

Basic, basic passing.  Not our strength.

[badaids]

Looks like gray and Gordon have swapped sides - reckon McNeil will replace Gordon soon.

[Gwlad all over]

1 minute ago, Elston Gunnn said:

Basic, basic passing.  Not our strength.

Or set pieces.

[dunlopp9987]

Yep get Gordon off. Totally off it today

[Btay]

Gordon had to do better on the break there

[Elston Gunnn]

Gordon hustle, then blecchhh.

[dunlopp9987]

Disagree with this change. Should be Gordon

[badaids]

Gordon really stinking the place out now. Change.

[badaids]

What game has Frank been watching?

[Elston Gunnn]

Good to get the exhausted players off.  Maybe we can hold on for a draw, or a miracle.

[dunlopp9987]

Remarkable how much more Patterson offers going forward. 

Easy to do though since Coleman offers nothing

[Btay]

Gordon needs to come off. Seriously not at it at all here

[badaids]

Just now, Btay said:

Gordon needs to come off. Seriously not at it at all here

He looks knackered too.

[badaids]

We’re really hanging on by the skin of our teeth now.

[dunlopp9987]

We're playing for a draw

[Elston Gunnn]

1 minute ago, dunlopp9987 said:

We're playing for a draw

Maybe get Holgate on for Gordon.

[Elston Gunnn]

Get Holgate and Maupay on.  Go 5-4-1, save DCL.

[Palfy]

This is backs against the we wall are dead certs to do them on the break 

[dunlopp9987]

Thought that was gonna be the change, 442

[badaids]

So lucky that Mitrovic seem to have left his shooting boots stuffed up the top of his shirt today.

[Btay]

Throw in in their third ends up back to Pickford & 2 passes later they are attacking us. Piss poor.

[milesey05]

Like pulling teeth!!

[Elston Gunnn]

Tense match, discouraging draw.  Most discouraging thing is I’m disgustingly satisfied to take a draw.

[dunlopp9987]

Well we should be happy with a point. I'll take it

[Btay]

Well it’s a valuable point but any sort of attacking intent we could have taken 3.

Need another winger in the window.

[badaids]

This is probably a good point away against a decent team. If Mitro or DCL take one of those chances that they should have buried it’s a different result.

Pickford MOTM for those early saves, Iwobi at the heart of everything again. Nice to see Myko and Gray not playing like strangers today. Clean sheet!

[KinL]

 . We should have been playing against 10.

[Tonsta]

Gaye, and Gordon midfield destroyers, sadly it was our midfield they destroyed.

Give them both a long rest, defensively we were excellent, and that is something to build on.

[badaids]

And Patterson showed that he’s going to make a big difference again, even in that little cameo. 
 

Id like to see Garner start instead of Gana in the next match.

[RPG]

Decent defensive performance but we were well below par up front. It also looks like DCL has forgotten the offside rule. He needs to time his runs much, much better. Gordon and Gray didn't produce much and we looked more threatening in the last 5 minutes with a 4-4-2 set up. Mykolenko was Man Of The Match for me. Iwobi and Pickford ran him close with Tarkowski and Coady also doing well.

At least we didn't lose but we need to start posing more of a threat up front.

[Matt]

2 clean sheets on the bounce, point away from home despite a shit performance. Polar opposite approach-wise compared to the Palace game which is so disappointing. That's about as much effort as i can be bothered putting into a post and it was still more than Gordon and Gray did all game combined 

[dunlopp9987]

2 minutes ago, Matt said:

2 clean sheets on the bounce, point away from home despite a shit performance. Polar opposite approach-wise compared to the Palace game which is so disappointing. That's about as much effort as i can be bothered putting into a post and it was still more than Gordon and Gray did all game combined 

Gray was significantly more involved than Gordon. Not saying Gray played well by any means, but Gordon was nonexistent

[Wiggytop]

And we’re not making the sort of errors the Shiite are making

[Cornish Steve]

Very entertaining game. Mykolenko our MotM, with Gordon the weakest link.

[Cornish Steve]

19 minutes ago, Wiggytop said:

And we’re not making the sort of errors the Shiite are making

Haha. Leeds' goal was the easiest of the season.

[Matt]

35 minutes ago, dunlopp9987 said:

Gray was significantly more involved than Gordon. Not saying Gray played well by any means, but Gordon was nonexistent

I was more involved than Gordon. But we lost all our wide pressing again and that's purely because of the wingers fucking around. 

[msloan78]

Mitrovic should've walked and we probably should've conceded a penalty there aswell.

Not a good performance from us, particularly in the second half, but we kept a clean sheet and got a point from a game that last year we probably lose 2-0.

[Matt]

Just now, msloan78 said:

Mitrovic should've walked and we probably should've conceded a penalty there aswell.

Not a good performance from us, particularly in the second half, but we kept a clean sheet and got a point from a game that last year we probably lose 2-0.

Tarkowski put a similar challenge in last week, it wasn't malicious so he was never going to be a red. 

[Cornish Steve]

We deserved the point, and we continue to gain on Liverpool.

[Romey 1878]

I haven't bothered to read through this thread because I know people will be going way overboard with the negativity.

I thought we played well in the first half and caused Fulham plenty of problems. We could have easily been ahead at the break, there was plenty of things to feel positive about.

Second half I'm as disappointed as anyone that we didn't kick on. I'm sure Lampard is too because the game was there for us, it really was. I think (subconsciously maybe) that us not getting ahead in the game meant that we felt more inclined to to sit in and hold on to what we had, rather than to continue to play in a positive manner.

I don't think we necessarily played badly in the second half, we just played without any tempo and in too much of a negative way. But the positive to take from it is that when faced under that sort of pressure last season we fold and lose it. instead, tonight we showed solidity and took a point from the game.

We're on a journey from utter shite, it was never going to be a huge leap this season. Incremental steps is what it was going to be and I'm going to be patient because I can see the progress we're making.

[Btay]

17 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

I haven't bothered to read through this thread because I know people will be going way overboard with the negativity.

I thought we played well in the first half and caused Fulham plenty of problems. We could have easily been ahead at the break, there was plenty of things to feel positive about.

Second half I'm as disappointed as anyone that we didn't kick on. I'm sure Lampard is too because the game was there for us, it really was. I think (subconsciously maybe) that us not getting ahead in the game meant that we felt more inclined to to sit in and hold on to what we had, rather than to continue to play in a positive manner.

I don't think we necessarily played badly in the second half, we just played without any tempo and in too much of a negative way. But the positive to take from it is that when faced under that sort of pressure last season we fold and lose it. instead, tonight we showed solidity and took a point from the game.

We're on a journey from utter shite, it was never going to be a huge leap this season. Incremental steps is what it was going to be and I'm going to be patient because I can see the progress we're making.

We’ve got a solid foundation to build from now though, which is a massive positive. We just need to find or add that extra creative spark and we will have a very solid top 10 team in my opinion.

[Cornish Steve]

Some aspects of our strategy are becoming more clear with each game. Clearly, the emphasis has been on a strong defence, and we're behind only Arsenal, City, and Newcastle in this regard. (Note that we've allowed 12 goals in 13 games, whereas Liverpool have allowed 15 goals in 12.) It's taking time for our midfield to gel, and they're still three individuals rather than a unit with three members, but this will improve so long as we stick with the same starting line-up. Our struggle remains up-front. DC-L was quite anonymous yesterday, but that's because Gray and especially Gordon were poor. (Gray had plenty of the ball but didn't make much of it.)

For me, Mykolenko was top-notch yesterday; he's improving in leaps and bounds. As always, Tarkowski and Coady were like a stone wall. (Did you notice how all members of our defence congratulated each other? It's good to see.) They repelled attack after attack against a team that's scored in every previous game at home this season. We simply haven't had this level of reliability in recent years, and it's quite inspiring. When teams do break through, we have England's #1 to save us. (It's not impossible that these three could all be playing in the World Cup.) Someone wrote that Patterson was poor, but I didn't think so at all. The moment he entered the game, the more attacking we became on the right. I'm glad he's back.

Another recent aspect of our game is confident passing - especially long-ball passing. We don't panic but instead pick out meaningful passes. Yes, sometimes yesterday we slowed down the game with passes among midfield and defence. Mostly, though, our passes mean something and move us up the field. What a contrast to previous seasons when we appeared to pass quite aimlessly. Also, how many times did our players dummy/pirouette, changing direction anywhere from 90 to 180 degrees, and do so with obvious confidence. Nine times out of ten, it worked, and was just as powerful as a well-placed pass. We must be working on this on the training field.

When we started the game, I noticed the names on our bench. Not a bad list, is it? Garner and McNeil will find themselves playing in most games. Holgate and Keane are solid backups. Doucoure and Davies, too, are solid backups, while Begovic is an able keeper. Maupay is also great to have. We have more depth than before, and this is before we even consider Godfrey, Mina, and Townsend who remain injured. We really need an upgrade to Gray and Gordon, though, and competition to DC-L. That would make a world of difference.

We remain a work in progress, not unlike Arsenal from two seasons ago. Let's hope our owners have the patience needed to see this project through.

[RPG]

On 31/10/2022 at 04:25, Cornish Steve said:

Some aspects of our strategy are becoming more clear with each game. Clearly, the emphasis has been on a strong defence, and we're behind only Arsenal, City, and Newcastle in this regard. (Note that we've allowed 12 goals in 13 games, whereas Liverpool have allowed 15 goals in 12.) It's taking time for our midfield to gel, and they're still three individuals rather than a unit with three members, but this will improve so long as we stick with the same starting line-up. Our struggle remains up-front. DC-L was quite anonymous yesterday, but that's because Gray and especially Gordon were poor. (Gray had plenty of the ball but didn't make much of it.)

For me, Mykolenko was top-notch yesterday; he's improving in leaps and bounds. As always, Tarkowski and Coady were like a stone wall. (Did you notice how all members of our defence congratulated each other? It's good to see.) They repelled attack after attack against a team that's scored in every previous game at home this season. We simply haven't had this level of reliability in recent years, and it's quite inspiring. When teams do break through, we have England's #1 to save us. (It's not impossible that these three could all be playing in the World Cup.) Someone wrote that Patterson was poor, but I didn't think so at all. The moment he entered the game, the more attacking we became on the right. I'm glad he's back.

Another recent aspect of our game is confident passing - especially long-ball passing. We don't panic but instead pick out meaningful passes. Yes, sometimes yesterday we slowed down the game with passes among midfield and defence. Mostly, though, our passes mean something and move us up the field. What a contrast to previous seasons when we appeared to pass quite aimlessly. Also, how many times did our players dummy/pirouette, changing direction anywhere from 90 to 180 degrees, and do so with obvious confidence. Nine times out of ten, it worked, and was just as powerful as a well-placed pass. We must be working on this on the training field.

When we started the game, I noticed the names on our bench. Not a bad list, is it? Garner and McNeil will find themselves playing in most games. Holgate and Keane are solid backups. Doucoure and Davies, too, are solid backups, while Begovic is an able keeper. Maupay is also great to have. We have more depth than before, and this is before we even consider Godfrey, Mina, and Townsend who remain injured. We really need an upgrade to Gray and Gordon, though, and competition to DC-L. That would make a world of difference.

We remain a work in progress, not unlike Arsenal from two seasons ago. Let's hope our owners have the patience needed to see this project through.

Agree with all of that. We do look solid at the back and our midfield will come good, I think. Garner will play more and more of a role and I haven't given up hope of getting Kudus in either January or August which would strengthen us tremendously.

However, it is now becoming more and more obvious that our problems are up front. DCL may have just come back from injury but he was far less effective against Fulham than he was against Palace. Much, not all, of that can be put down to poor support from Gordon and Gray I think. I feel we need to ask ourselves what we want from our wide players. Are they, first and foremost, attackers who are expected not just to create chances but also to press and help the defence and midfield, or are they wide attacking midfielders (a la Trevor Steven and Kevin Sheedy) who can contribute in the engine room whilst still posing a real threat up front? Both Gray and Gordon are really out and out attackers imho and that is fine but they do need to contribute a bit more (especially away from home) in the engine room. This would allow our regular midfield three to play a little more compactly and give us a better base to build from when in possession and make us harder to play through when not in possession. With both Gray and Gordon playing like this, it would also utilise their speed on the break. But looking further ahead, I think we are going to need to replace both Gordon and Gray and also find some better competition for DCL - to the extent that 4-4-2 becomes an option, just as we played for the last 5 minutes or so at Fulham.

Kudus could actually replace Gordon if he goes to CM and Iwobi then goes out on the wing.

I am pleased to see the improvements we have undoubtedly made but we need to keep evolving. I am confident that Lampard and Thelwell are aware of this and have already mapped out the next steps.