For those not following this site last season, a note on the modus operandi. I generally let the dust settle from weekend fixtures before gathering my thoughts. Visceral emotion flows like volcanic lava too close to the final whistle with me – raw and instant knee-jerk reactions do not the best copy make. Sunday gives me the chance to balance my impressions with how the press saw it, what the managers said, and – most importantly – the general mood of the fans.
The new season rolled in with a big yawn. I felt duty-bound to give the curtain-raiser a trumpeting triumphal blast, but in truth it’s hard to get the blood up mid-August when the really big story is England’s all-conquering cricketers.
So Fulham came up short. Villa deserved their point and were the better side for half the game. Our passing was way off, we seemed nervous, and not one man in white excelled. I queried in my preview the necessity of stringing three centre halves across the back four to deal with lone striker Darren Bent. This was at the expense of our dependable and sold RB Chris Baird, who it seems is yet to convince Jol of his value to the squad (re paper talk of interest (again) in Luke Young).
Compounding this selection decision was Jol’s splitting of the Hughes-Hangeland axis at the heart of defence. This has worked flawlessly now for three seasons. Why tinker with it? By common consensus we lost the midfield battle, with Etuhu coming in for considerable flak. Why was he preferred to Sidwell? Against his old club Steve, with his ability to drive forward and try a shot, was surely a better option.
Let’s be clear about Etuhu’s role in the side. He is there to break up play and win back possession, try nothing fancy and play risk-free football. His first instinct with the ball won is to find Murphy. This invariably means the ball goes sideways or even backwards. Inevitably, these two are often alongside each other in midfield so forward momentum stalls. Sidwell has more scope to his game. He’s more likely to put his foot on the ball, look up to seek out the runners, or spin and try a darting forward run of his own.
No breathrough against a Villa team who wilted in the second half – so what did we learn from our forward play? Jol needs to stop giving out the same press quotes and concentrate on the 2-3 new players we need. Top priority is another striker. Why we didn’t move for Long depresses me. I just hope Jol has a bigger figure from the continent in mind. There was an over-reliance in trying to bring Riise into the game. Admittedly he did blast our best opening over the top at the Putney End early on. A goal there would have given the game a totally different complexion.
AJ worked hard. Fine, but when he was in on goal he twice shot wastefully straight at the keeper – just as he did at Villa Park last spring when we had a golden opportunity to steal a win at the death. I really do worry if Jol considers him good enough to start over the next 37 matches. Let’s launch a sweepstake now on his potential goal tally. I’d offer pretty long odds on Andy making double figures, which is what you need from your star striker.
As everyone had an off day I’ll withhold criticism of Dempsey and Dembele. However, as the match situation was and how Villa were set up to play, Moussa was NOT the man to replace BZ in the 2nd half. Following his selection of the starting eleven, this for me was the second blemish from Martin’s first game in charge.
To the positives, our defence was rarely in real trouble. Did Mark have a serious save to make? Bent was kept very quiet and neither Agbonlahor nor N’Zogbia threatened. And what is Heskey still doing at this level??? Jol now has the opportunity Thursday to try a few different things against Dniepro, and it doesn’t matter quite so much if he gets it wrong. If this week serves to highlight where the shortcomings lie – and the side certainly doesn’t need drastic surgery – then we can look forward to getting it right at Wolves next Sunday.
Finally, I could hardly believe my luck in the way the weekend matches panned out in light of my ramblings (Premiership Unplugged). Just about everything I flagged up came to pass. My favourite moment was seeing Warnock trying to put a brave face on a disastrous day for QPR. Anyone else spot his sly little dig at Kevin Davies in post-match interview? Now refer back to my overview of QPR as blogged.
So no wins, and not even a goal, for the four London clubs on day one. But no real damage done either. Apart from viewing figures for the underwhelming BBC offerings on Match of the Day and the Football League Show. Sorry guys…I just couldn’t be bothered to stay awake.
Who’s up for an escapade to Dniepro later this month? Sounds like fun – direct flight to Kiev with national airline and overnight train to Dniepropretovsk. I might just do it
Twitter@fulhamphil
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