Morning all.
With the return of league football almost upon us, the thoughts of the British sporting public are gradually edging away from the idiotic furore over Roy Hodgson’s space monkey references and back onto the matter of the game itself.
Whilst newspapers and phone-ins have been busying themselves in debate over the fall-out to Roy’s ill-conceived NASA analogy, the vast majority of British football fans have been readying themselves for the return of normality to their weekend routine, not in the slightest bit bothered by the potential tension the England manager’s words have provoked.
From our own perspective, this weekend brings a fixture with a sense of expectation attached. Having struggled to assert any level of authority on our previous four opponents, we as a club are looking upon the visit of Fulham as an opportunity that must be grasped with both hands. Given our league status only five months ago, it does seem somewhat perverse to view a fixture which could see us pitted against a strike partnership of Darren Bent and Dimitar Berbatov as a gilt-edged chance for three points, but given the standard of opposition we’ve met so far, it’s become painfully clear that we will need to exploit the lesser sides in the division, particularly when on home turf, if we are to survive.
Having used both Marouane Chamakh and Dwight Gayle from the start in a number or our games so far this season, I have a hunch that Holloway will sacrifice one the aforementioned pair in a bid to get a balance of pace and width into the side as we look to break. Although it’s impossible to know, I would guess that Chamakh may be the man to lose his place, with Bolasie starting on one flank and Kebe or Puncheon occupying the other.
As we demonstrated on countless occasions last season, it is with balance on the wings and pace in the right areas, that you can force the opposition to sit deep, thus ensuring a far lesser level of pressure on your own goal in pivotal defensive moments, as the defenders tasked with keeping our attacking trio quiet, refuse to fully commit to any form of positional risk for fear of the recriminations that may follow.
Were we to implement a system that involved two out and out wide men, feeding into Dwight Gayle in a central strikers role, backed up by Barry Bannan floating in central midfield and kept in shape by Jose Campaña and Mile Jedinak in front of the back four, I would be confident in our ability to retain possession for prolonged spells, along with the capability to mount attacking moves with vigour and invention.
Given the importance attached to the fixture, it would be understandable to see certain members of our squad retreating into their shells somewhat against the Cottagers, but we must use the opportunity afforded to us by Fulham’s shaky start to our advantage. If we can begin to cement ourselves as the dominant force in terms of possession early on, we could be looking at a second win of the Premier League campaign.
Of course, it’s easy to talk a good game, with the true test of our readiness being demonstrated by the performance we provide, nothing more, nothing less. The time has come for this group to demonstrate their collective worth, in a tie which should allow them to display their attacking prowess, accompanied by a committed defensive display.
It won’t be easy, but then nothing worth waiting for ever is.
Until tomorrow.
Posted in
Daily Thoughts and tagged
Barry Bannan,
Bryan Ruiz,
Cottagers,
Craven Cottage,
Darren Bent,
David Stockdale,
Dimitar Berbatov,
Dwight Gayle,
England,
Fulham,
Jason Puncheon,
Jimmy Kebe,
Jose Campana,
Marouane Chamakh,
Martin Jol,
Mile Jedinak,
Roy Hodgson,
Yannick Bolasie |
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