Dempsey not on the bench as his on-going saga continues. Fulham took the shock lead 3 minutes in through Damien Duff off of a nicely crafted free-kick. RVP responds with a cracking volley. Its now 1-1 in the 14th minute.
We always forget Brede . . . As I said elsewhere: Screw Liverpool- Clint needs to get back on the field with this Fulham team. They look like a lot of fun this year.
3-2 now. This Fulham squad is adjusting well to playing without Clint. I think it would be pretty interesting to try to re-insert him into the line-up.
If Fulham can keep their personnel, they have a solid chance to finish in the top half of the table this year and possibly grab a EL spot (though the latter would be much more difficult). Dempsey needs to get back on the pitch asap. Dembele is a monster, looks like he's gotten much better.
That's a question-- has he (and Duff and a few others) really gotten better or are they just doing more to take up the slack? Sometimes playing in the shadow of a player (like Clint) having a great year can depress the output of other players.
True, though I think in Dembele's case in particular, he seems more willing to use his pace and make runs with the ball to eat up space. Its refreshing and is definitely something he wasn't doing last year. Perhaps in that sense it isn't that he got better, but more that he is beginning to realize his potential. I thought it was a pretty good tackle on a second look. Got the ball first and wasn't studs up. First view though it looked bad.
I kind of wish Jol had held him out of this match. He's putting in a hell of an audition in front of one of his big suitors.
Dembele brilliant again, to Ruiz with a nice pass to Rodallega who has his shot crucially blocked. Fulham close to equalizing here.
Then unless he goes to United, City, Chelsea, Barca, Madrid, Juventus, Bayern Munich, etc, he will never be on a team that is fun, extending your logic. Look, a close loss away to ManU does not invalidate the fact that Fulham looks to be a fun team this year.
Big chance for Ruiz at the end after Dembele skins 2 Man U defenders and puts in a nice ball, but Ruiz' header is saved by De Gea. 3-2 FT. Good match.
Damn shame. Dempsey could have been the difference. I really don't rate Ruiz. He's anatomically unable to kick a ball with his right foot. Dempsey easily slots right back into the starting 11, if he doesn't move in the coming week. Come on Clint, play out your contract.
Dempsey for Ruiz and that might be a different result. Liked the look of the backup LB. Is Riise hurt?
Just watched the game - I thought that Ruiz was really poor. More of the same with last year, just turns the ball over way too much in the middle of the pitch. He made a nice pass to Rodelega towards the end around the edge of the area, but really really hurt Fulham in the 1st half when they got pinned in and he couldn't keep possession (just plays too slowly). He also places no pressure on the opposing defenders when out of possession and loses the majority of 50-50 balls. I really do hope he improves because that was a large transfer fee for Fulham. As for Dembele, Fulham really do have a gem. He did great work in winning balls and his ability to dance around players in the midfield is very impressive. Fulham better get a big fee for him if he goes.