I had the impression the holdup was MLS paperwork. Also I'd guess the Norwegian Houstonian's parents must be in the offshore oil industry. Something about those two locations make me think that!
Really, though if you watch it again, it wasn't very far from being down the middle but Carson didn't come close to saving it. I don't think Martin O'Neill is going to meet Liverpool's asking price and it's a shame Guzan's permit was denied.
What an exciting read this thread has been. I (and likely every YA fan here) knew that Fulham would improve once Bullard got back in. Great for Fulham. Now, if someone can figure out how to get Reading from sucking so hard... And, by the way, friggin Stalteri? Fulham could conceivably have 7 North American natives on the field in the near future? Awesome.
With Bullard,Dempsey,and Andreason this team has a midfield for the first time in recent memory. All they need to do is get rid of turnover machines Murphy and Baird and they have a chance. Does Murphy have a rep that far exceeds his play or what? Every game we get a commentator sayng "We may need something special and Murphy could be the guy". And every game he is pretty bad. Thought Clint had a great game,sorry to see him taken off, but he was busting for every ball and probably needed a break... 2-0 is Brian's plus/minus, works for me!
I've just binned two posts talking about the transfer, with some regret since they were both civil and to the point. However, the point they were to had little or nothing to do with the established purview of a game day thread.
ONly saw from 60 on, but thought Dempsey had a very good game. He had Bouma shaking his heads at the calls Dempsey was picking up. Clint has gotten noticably better and being left stranded with a marker draped on him. And as an OT side note: shouldn't the game-day thread rules relax once a game is actually, you know, over. I mean, once you hit the "FT" post you pretty much know PBP is done and the rest is bar-chat. Just my non-conformist thoughts.
Maybe. It's worth considering. However, things are a little bit hot right now and part of that is coming from the usual suspects using game day threads to square off over the same issues they've got going elsewhere. Maybe I'm being too quick to pull the trigger because of that.
Maybe just allow for the bar-chat, which is inevitable after the whistle and, on a message board like this, a logical follow-on from the pbp. This can be done while still taking a hard line on those who would start MLS versus Europe debates on every thread. In other words, it's not the thread drift that matters; rather, it's about preventing that drift from drifting (meta-drifting, if you will) into rehashings of tired, petty debates.
That's my preference. It's harder to be consistent with that approach since you're forced to make a more subjective call more frequently, however.
Fulham are a decent team, at long last. They had better ball movement and 100x more possession passing than I have seen perhaps ever from Fulham. The midfield has gone from the major weakness to a strength with Bullard and Murphy working well together. Clint did great and won a lot of free kicks. The weak spots are now the wide defenders and keeper. I hope Keller earns the spot soon, and not because Niemi blows a game. Baird was obviously rotten and Bocanegra is a better contributor to the offense and just as good on defense as Konchelski(sp?). Fulham should now be up to the task of beating or tying every team in the bottom half of the standings.
I think Murphy would be a nice rotation player for Fulham...occasional start, central midfield backup most of the time. He had a poor game today, even by his diminished standards. But I don't think he's that bad of a player. I really, really liked how Dempsey and Bullard combined and will combine going forward. And Dempsey's "flair" passes will benefit also from having a speedy forward ready to run on to them. Andreasson continues to impress me, he seems a very good acquisition. And the Norwegian-Texan seems pretty good too. If Staltieri is half the player he was in the BL, he'll improve the team alot just by replacing Baird. I actually now think this team will stay up. They've played pretty solidly recently, and remember, if the matches were 80 minutes long, these guys would be midtable or better. The point being, they have some talent, they just need to get some more confidence. With Villa's distuinguishing characteristic being team speed, this probably wasn't the right game for Boca. Maybe next week.
Dempsey had some great flicks, and was pretty strong in the air as usual. Seems like every game he comes close to converting a header in the box at least a couple of times. Sometimes I feel he's a bit too quick to look to the one-touch ball played backwards, though. He doesn't have the speed to blow past defenders, I know, but still I think his foot skills are enough that he could be holding onto the ball for a bit longer in hopes of waiting for something up field to open up. Seems like when he first arrived in England he was more willing to throw a move and beat someone one on one.
He tried this midweek and got burned. His back passes are 100% coaches influence, I think. He now only goes for the hold or flick upward when he is 95% sure he has support. Hogs is doing a great job of laying foundations: keep a clean sheet (from opposition anyway), keep possession over flair, when the opportunity strikes be ready. I missed the entire second half, but I am glad to hear that Murphy and Baird (the two guys I picked to stay out in favor of Volz and whomeverelse at right), that people now see what Demps can do with some support and that BMB brings class to the team. highlights?
I will revise my opinion to the worst player in the league THIS WEEK. But I never liked him. His decision making is horrible, although he had some beautiful passes today...all to Aston Villa.
absolutely, Boca is stronger, better in the air and makes better decisions than Baird. Baird is a nightmare waiting to happen for Fulham and they can't afford that. Having said this, do we think thet will switch a line-up that won for only the third time this year. I hope they do but I don't think they will. They both distribute the ball poorly but that can be said of Konchesky as well. Boca deserves a spot on the starting line-up. I thought the tall guy in central D, did a nice job for Fulham today.
Konchesky has a really bad habit of letting the ball roll away from him before he strikes it. Every time he traps the ball to make a pass, he's rolling it in front of him. I don't know if this is something he's been coached to do, say a rolling ball is harder to intercept than a stationary one, but it also means he's leaving the ball out in front of him for anyone to charge onto. The consequence of rolling the ball out like that is lower accuracy on his passes, especially longer ones. Sometimes he clearly is trying to catch up with the ball as he strikes it. But he clearly prefers to do it; because when a ball stops rolling he plays it short. It's bad habit, like dribbling in the paint or patting the ball before making a pass. I watch him play and wonder if he really is Fulham's best option. He just seems so mediocre.
What a great game for us Fulham faithful. We can be optimistic now, because of all the performances today that have been mentioned in this thread. And lucky for me, I found another Fulham fan in Edinburgh, and he happens to manage my favorite pub. One more thing....it was too bad about the own goal - it left the crowd shell shocked and quiet, just when they were getting ready to give McBride the ovation he deserved. Oh well. Can't describe the joy I felt when he started warming up on the sidelines. Stay up Fulham!
Doesn't matter. He's an outside back. He's not directly competing with Boca. Boca's job is to displace Hughes. Hangelund won't be dropped, barring injury. Boca has to show Hodgson that he's more up for the task than the Northern Irish international.
I just finished watching the MOTD. Even after knowing the score, reading the report, and reading this thread, I still pumped my fist at full time. What an uplifting win for Fulham.