BFTG - Fulham Home

[Winston Smith]

back in false 3rd

[paultheroyal]

Decent workmanlike performance and a top effort to reverse a five nil stuffing a few weeks before. This team has character.

Particular mentions to van den Berg who despite stick leading up to match had an excellent game and Kelly is just a magical player and exciting to watch who will only get better.

Swift off the pace for me but will come and I loved Stam's invention with the team and line up. Mccleary pace up top was a far better outlet for me than Kermorgant.

Sets up Saturday nicely.

[George_]

Big win from a team with even bigger character. Everyone dug in second half. That penalty save could be season defining.

AAH - 10 (Just for the penalty save)

Gunter - 6

McShane - 7

Moore - 7

Joey VDB - 8

Blackett - 5

Kelly - 9 Superb AGAIN.

Williams - 7

Swift - 7

Beerens - 7

McCleary - 8

[LoyalRoyal22]

Sounds like we used the same system that we used at Derby 3-5-2, with Beerens playing upfront with McCleary.

Stam gave an interview a few days before the Derby game, saying how the team had a meeting to talk about `what we want to do, and how we want to go forward` .. I get the feeling this might have been about a formation switch to 3-5-2 which we have only seen in patches this season

I was at the Derby game & the shape was really good, we looked really fluid going forward and had the security of five defenders on the pitch

Good how Beerens has proven to be a viable option upfront

[LoyalRoyal22]

Also, Jaap Stam really isn't getting enough praise. He has re-vitalized this club

[Hound]

absolutely. Out of the shambles of last season we now have a young exciting team playing decent football. Considering the lack of funds its a fantastic achievement

[muirinho]

Big win from a team with even bigger character. Everyone dug in second half. That penalty save could be season defining.

AAH - 10 (Just for the penalty save)

Gunter - 6

McShane - 7

Moore - 7

Joey VDB - 8

Blackett - 5

Kelly - 9 Superb AGAIN.

Williams - 7

Swift - 7

Beerens - 7

McCleary - 8

Pretty much mine, although a 6 for Gunter is generous, he was barely average last night - think he could do with a break, but it looks like Stam doesn't trust Watson, which is a pity. Obvious sub for Blackett last night would have been for Gunter to swap sides, and Watson to come on, rather than playing Ilori out of position

Williams was good and frustrating in equal measures - why doesn't he pass more often?

But otherwise, was generally impressed

[oh_ROAR]

I thought Williams was excellent last night but in a more defensive role than usual. Seemed to win the ball and harry the opposition constantly.
As for Kelly he was exceptional yet again, technically his brilliant but has that coupled with being a workhorse so even when he does make the odd mistake he's straight back making up for it. very unlucky not to have an assist when he laid it off to Swift.

I thought some of our attacking play last night was exceptional

[PieEater]

Not sure what you call good attacking play, but our finishing in the final third was woeful. Beerens shanked a cross that would have been a tap in for either of 2 players, GMac dithered with his passing and was constantly getting caught offside and we failed to capitalise on any breakaways or 2 v 2 situations. Any other team with a striker would of had a hatfull.

I think Samuel would be better than Beerens in that formation as he'd hold the ball better, make better runs, and be more clinical with his finishing.

Although Tiago looked ok, I thought it was a bit unfair of Stam to play him out of position against a full back that he'd struggle with - on his home debut.

[Top Flight]

That was a great game of football last night. Very entertaining, edge of your seat stuff. We rode our luck throughout the evening and managed to edge the game. We gave as good as we got though and Fulham also had to ride their luck. If we played that game 100 times, probably we'd have won 53 and Fulham would have won 47.

Chris Martin had an off day missing an absolute sitter and also missing his penalty.
McCleary also missed a sitter in front of goal but was very unlucky when a stunning effort crashed back down off the crossbar.

Stam went with a 5-3-2 formation. Which could change into a 3-5-2. I was expecting Van den Berg to push forward when we had possession and slot into the midfield and then back in to the defence when Fulham had the ball. But Joey stayed disciplined and remained in a back 5.

I think on this occasion Stam was right to change tactics and move away from the 4-3-3. Fulham had certainly sussed us out in the 4-3-3. They knew how to play against us so a change of tact was certainly a wise move. At the Cottage, Fulham blew us away and 3 weeks ago in the fog, they certainly looked on top in terms of possession and looked as though they would outplay us and secure the win. I think they had dominated us this season (On Betfair they were 2.38 favourites to win the match. we were priced at 3.3) until last night. Last night was a very even game of football that could have gone either way, but we just had that little bit more luck and edged them out.

This new shape certainly gets us playing more attractive exciting football. It accommodates both Kelly and Swift. I thought we really missed Evans against QPR and Derby and against Fulham we were vulnerable and should have conceded at least 2 goals. But, at the end of the day we are here to be entertained and our new shape is more exciting when we're on the attack and we also look more likely to concede goals as well. Let's just go with it. To hell with promotion, I want more matches like last night.

To be honest, I prefer away trips to QPR, Fulham and Brentford than to Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham anyway. Let's play exciting attacking football that leaves us vulnerable at the back and will cost us quite a few points and let's see where we end up.

[UpperWestGuy]

That's the football we've been crying out for for years isn't it? Fast attractive football, with plenty of thought and creativity.

Liam Kelly was MOTM by a country mile. The maturity he shows for such a young lad is great to see. Screams out Paul Scholes esq for me. He will go on to be a top Premier League footballer.

Personally felt Tyler Blackett coped really well with Fredericks who will cause many a team problems.

No one really stuck out having a bad gamee, and second half we just clicked. Would have been daylight robbery had Fulham got anything out of that game.

Lets hope we have the same mindset against Cardiff Saturday.

[Top Flight]

We don't seem to have a player that can deal with Fredriks. Blackett got skinned by him every time. Stam then tried out Thiago and he couldn't live with him either. I wonder how Obita would have fared against Fulham's speedy wingman?

[oh_ROAR]

Not sure what you call good attacking play, but our finishing in the final third was woeful. Beerens shanked a cross that would have been a tap in for either of 2 players, GMac dithered with his passing and was constantly getting caught offside and we failed to capitalise on any breakaways or 2 v 2 situations. Any other team with a striker would of had a hatfull.

I think Samuel would be better than Beerens in that formation as he'd hold the ball better, make better runs, and be more clinical with his finishing. .

I agree that the finishing left some to be desired however I thought Some of the interplay, particularly between Kelly and Swift as well as Beerens and McClearly. I think this would have been a good formation for Meite as well given his pace

[Top Flight]

Not sure what you call good attacking play, but our finishing in the final third was woeful. Beerens shanked a cross that would have been a tap in for either of 2 players, GMac dithered with his passing and was constantly getting caught offside and we failed to capitalise on any breakaways or 2 v 2 situations. Any other team with a striker would of had a hatfull.

I think Samuel would be better than Beerens in that formation as he'd hold the ball better, make better runs, and be more clinical with his finishing. .

I agree that the finishing left some to be desired however I thought Some of the interplay, particularly between Kelly and Swift as well as Beerens and McClearly. I think this would have been a good formation for Meite as well given his pace

I totally agree with you Oh Roar. Our interplay was great and enjoyable to watch. We didn't dominate the game by any stretch. It was very even and end to end stuff. That's partly probably due to the fact that Fulham play in an open manner themselves with a high press. They had a cavalier attitude. Cardiff will likely approach the game very differently on Saturday.

You're right, I think Meite would be well suited to this set-up. I'd like to see him have a run out on Saturday instead of Beerens. Let's give Roy a rest for a game and see what Yakou can do!

[LWJ]

Obvious sub for Blackett last night would have been for Gunter to swap sides, and Watson to come on, rather than playing Ilori out of position

Obvious..

I think he does trust Watson, he's not been involved much in previous systems but has come in and been the obvious 2nd choice fullback. Every time he has played he has oozed class, and looks to be a real prospect. I would imagine Stam is trying to nurture him and not just throw him in the deep end.

[CountryRoyal]

First game Fulham haven't scored a goal for 3 months.

[Ian Royal]

Good reads. Interesting to see praise for Williams, who Dellor and Gooding described as out of sorts and off his game.

[Top Flight]

Also Gunter is the best right back in the championship ( Ian Royal). He's the most capped Welsh international. Watson is a fantastic prospect but we have Wales number one right back in the side. It won't be easy to dislodge a top international performer. Watson will have to bide his time and remain patient.

[LWJ]

I think Samuel would be better than Beerens in that formation as he'd hold the ball better, make better runs, and be more clinical with his finishing.

Samuel has shown enough in his cameos this year to prove Stam's choice in not playing him is correct. His touch is woeful, his decision making is that of a greedy Sunday league player, and his finishing leaves a lot to be desired. FTR I'm including all games I've seen Samuel in this year, not just league.

Oh and he can't win a header even though he's 6ft 2!

[bobby1413]

Did anyone else take the A329M home towards Bracknell last night?

I did my usual:

Drive from Whitley -> Wokingham Road -> Winnersh Triangle
Onto the A329M

I then started to see lane closed signs and assumed it was on the slip road or temporary. Turns out it was the whole way up to the M4 exists which forced me back onto the M4 back to Junction 11

So I then had to almost repeat the journey, exact this time go up through Wokingham and onto Bracknell.

I saw on Twitter 2-3 people had done the same as me - anyone here?