For all the whining about Johnson's backpasses, he was far from the only one on Fulham that utilized them. If anything, he was no more conspicuous in utilizing them, and went down no more easily (per the PBP clown) than any of the other Fulham players. Fulham are crap in midfield
What you said. Also, I would add that while all of us were influenced (some more than others) by the overly negative commentator, the Sky ratings come from someone that didn't have to listen to that garbage the entire game. (Though I have had the misfortune of sitting next to Dave O'Brien in a pressbox before. There was soundproof glass between us but damn if I didn't hear every single word the guy shouted out.) Of course, they also come from a sports writer that probably only looked up from his laptop when the crowd got excited. That would mean that the only times he saw Eddie play, he was likely doing something well.
EJ had a better first half than the color guy. How is it OK for Morten Gamst Pedersen to trip Stalteri to get free, while at the same time Samba getting called for kicking EJ in the face is harsh?
You shouldn't let your heart/hopes overwhelm reality. I do not for a moment think that you would be complaining nearly as much about the referee if Fulham had won. And yes, the announcers were quite accurate in reporting that EJ had a terrible first hour. Do you not agree? They started to report the improvement in EJ's play in the last 30 minutes. Do you not agree? Most people on this board agree with these assessments. What game were you watching? In top leagues like the EPL, EJ's overall performance merits a low rating. There are no coulda/woulda/shoulda clauses in which some improvement at the end somehow makes up for the fact that the Fulham attack was nearly nonexistent in the first half. Sadly, EJ was perhaps the best defender for Blackburn in the first half --- three shots by the Fulham midfield and none by EJ --- two off-target shots by Andreasen and Dempsey and one on-target by Bullard. Friedel could have slept in for most of the first half. Last game, EJ's ratings in the three British newspaper reports that I found were 1.8 points below the average of all of the other starters --- 3.3 for EJ and 5.1 for the other starters --- a huge deficit. In 29 of the 30 comparisons, EJ was given a lower score than the other starter(s). In 1 comparison, EJ was given the same poor score of 4. I think that EJ will earn another set of low scores from the British press --- about as low as your last post which was full of opinion about my post but lacking in facts about the game.
This is my least favorite saying. If you could make your own luck, it wouldn't be luck. It would be skill.
Well, maybe I have been too harsh on EJ. He has no real chance to ease into his role because of the relegation threat. But a 7 rating?? Wow.
I'm a Rovers fan. But the announcer was still awful. And so was Mike Riley. He gave us two huge breaks. EJ is a striker. He hit the post once, and drew a foul in an extremely dangerous position, and that freekick was converted. Ergo, he had a good game.
A 7 is about right. He nearly scored a great goal and set up the equalizer. Sure he could have done more with the chances he created for himself in the first half. But that's why he's a 7 and not an 8 or 9. It's not like he took a shit on the pitch and sat around eating it while all the worldbeaters around him were playing the beautiful game. In a game that lacked a standout performance, his was about as close as it got.
I usually don't care if I'm the only one who sees things a certain way, but it's nice that there are a few folks out there who agree that Johnson - over the course of 90 minutes - earned his paycheck.
He play well in the second half, and that's where I would say he earned his paycheck. I just hope that he, and along with his teamate get go on with more confidence. They may have a shot at survival, and should of gain a boost from this game.
I think Fulham will be encouraged by what they saw of Johnson today in that he gives them something they haven't had for a long time - the pace to get behind defenders. Yes, he has to make more of those opportunities, and with more minutes he'll hopefully adjust and do better with them. Still, none of Fulham's other options up front can offer that kind of threat. While EJ couldn't do enough with his chances, Dempsey was awful and created almost no chances for himself - even the penalty non-call couldn't be seen as a chance, as he was headed away from goal when he was knocked down. McBride hasn't rounded back into any kind of form yet and Healy is useless unless he's wearing his national team's shirt. I wouldn't be surprised if Hodgson stuck with EJ for a while, in the hope that some of the chances his pace creates will be converted, as was nearly the case when he hit the bar. Did Johnson look overmatched and out of his depth at times? Yes. Did he use his pace to create clear chances at goal? Yes. Is it possible he can raise his comfort level on the ball enough to start scoring at this level. He nearly did.
I thought EJ had a pretty decent second half. The issue with him is clearly experience at that level and closely related to that, confidence. I actually thought it was a little odd how much the analyst on the broadcast focused on him. For example, when Bentley(?) made a quite similar mistake to one EJ made in a very similar situation, they barely mentioned it. It's not like he's a huge transfer fee star like Shevchenko, who is expected to tear the place apart.
in my opion ej looked clueless out there, he only started to look somewhat ok ,after he hit the cross bar with that shot,,,besides that he was lacking in confidence to take people on and also lacking in heart,, he goes into challenges half hearted at best, he did not win 1 ball or battle today, he just looks like hes clueless/lost,,, i must admit im happy mls got 6 million for him(i still wonder how) he is at best a streaky player,,, in my opinion i dont think hes our answer at striker,, maybe he makes our(usa) team as a sub/option of the bench, i think as of right now the usa's best option at foward is brian ching, honestly fulham should have gone after ching in the transfer window,,,,$6 million for ej,,OMG way too much
Well, this is Eddie after what, 2 months in England? In any case, having him pair up with another forward takes a player off somewhere else and Hogdson likes playing it closer to his vest, which is why he is trotting out 4-4-1-1 out there. Once Eddie learns where things come from, it'll take all 4 defenders to guard him and that's as much as one can hope from a player.
i argued that demps should be given time to settle in, and he eventually proved that he belonged. ej has had just 2 starts. he needs more time to show whether he belongs in the premiership or in the colaship. both of these players had the misfortune of being bought in the january transfer period. it seems to me that mls'ers need a full preseason to acclimatise to the epl. it's tough going from not playing at all to the middle of the season in england. we don't need to make up our minds on eddie today, but the manager would have seen that he created chances where no lone striker has been able to for a while. i expect to see eddie up front again in the next game. he's not suited to it, like dempsey is not suited for it. but he has the speed to beat his marker if the ball is delivered to him by someone like bullard, davies or if the manager is brave enough demps instead of murphy. we'll see.
No, you made a smartass comment about how a poor ref and announcer miraculously made EJ play poorly. It was a stupid post you made. The ref was terrible, as was the announcer. EJ was pretty bad too for 60 minutes, a fact no one is disputing. You're just trying to stir up crap. No one here was blaming the ref or announcers for EJ's problems, yet you come in here spewing about just that. Your game *facts* are simply opinion, which many of the experts rating the game disagree with. Hardly surprising.
The color man was VERY harsh on Eddie. Granted, he had a pretty poor game, but c'mon, he was on him from the word go. And his view that somehow Stalteri wasn't deserving of a free kick when Pedersen dumped him was absurd. Meanwhile, he thought that it was soft when Fulham was given that free kick for dangerous play that resulted in the goal. Please, the guy kicked EJ in the face! Does anyone know the commentators name - he was simply terrible.
looking at the player ratings on sky, it looks like they should update the stock photo for friedel: http://www.skysports.com/football/player/0,19754,11676_35934,00.html
It was Barry Horne. And unless I misheard, he called Fulham "Wigan" at one point in the second half, as well.
Wait, aren't you supposed to be analyzing Toon goals with and without Gooch? (That should keep you busy this season!) or do I have my Trolls confused?