We've had to take it on the chin for the second home game running. Same scoreline, and this time our pain doubling with goals out of nothing arriving with the last attack of each half. The standard at this level is merciless. On Sunday it was Fulham's Sidwell who came within a whisker of giving the Whites a dream start from our first attack, only for us to then gift Spurs a very preventable opener. Then we're on the back foot for all of the first half.
© Getty Images
Do we need to name the guilty party for a costly misjudgment on the crossfield ball over to Walker on the right flank after 10 minutes? Too slow to cut out the pass, then hopelessly wrong-footed when diving in. The ball across the box could have gone anywhere, Bale's driven cut-back is only heading to any one of three Fulham men - of course, it has to fly in off the unlucky Baird.
Boy, did Spurs ride their luck. 20 efforts on goal from Fulham to five for the Spuds, eleven corners to one, and still no Fulham man can put the ball in the net. Unrelenting pressure, all culminating with Walker during a real goalmouth stramash cuddling the ball in his arms as if lying on the beach. Everyone saw it except ref Walton, who 'apologises' to us afterwards.
But, having wiped away my tears, here I am by Tuesday feeling a damn sight more optimistic than I did a week ago after the appalling effort up at Wigan. First off, as we all knew but most journalists barely acknowledged, Fulham had out eight men who'd seen action on the Thursday in the Europa League. Spurs had one - which means ten of their players were fresh. Secondly, I have never seen the likes of Bale, Modric, Parker and Adebayor kept so quiet over the course of 90 minutes. Did Mark have a save of note to make in the second half? The centre backs were immaculate, Dembele unrecognisable. Everybody worked their socks off.
Yet we come out of it with nothing, and slip a little closer to the bottom three. Jol got lucky that AJ's ankle knock allowed him to sidestep a tough decision. That enabled him to retain Duff as our one real wide player and bring back Moussa. As I've been on his case recently let me say he was one of Fulham's heroes of the hour, running at defenders with real purpose. Now, if only he could learn to be more clinical with his shooting opportunities. Following the international break I'm intrigued to see Jol's selection next up - because someone from Duff, Moussa and AJ is going to have to start on the bench. From what the gaffer's been saying in incidental sound bytes, I can't see the axe hovering over Zamo or Clint. What would Fulham fans prefer?
The one issue remaining with our rather stubborn leader is, what do you do with a problem like Riise? I flagged it after the Wisla game. Fans all over the ground are of one mind. Read the forums Martin...it's not working out at left-back! I'd like to know what Matty Briggs has done on the training ground not to be given another shot in the first team. Harsh to criticise him from the Wisla away game when we had to play for an hour a man short. If you still feel Briggs is learning his craft boss switch Bairdinho over to left-back (he's done it before) and let Kelly have a run. It still gives you two current internationals at full-back, rather than the fading star that is JAR.
As every Fulham fan who saw the game has been saying, we are in a false position. Yes, we have some tough fixtures between now and the end of the year, but we are playing more expressive football than 12 months ago (labouring up front without BZ). And our luck will change at some point. Peering into the crystal ball, is Ruiz the man to assume Danny's role at the head of a midfield diamond? He certainly looked the part when he came on. His ability to quickly get the ball under control and find space (unlike Sidwell or Etuhu), and run at defences was very encouraging to see. And as everyone observed, his killer ball down the side to Dempsey all but gave us a goal. From what I've seen of the Costa Rican, he has a footballing brain to supplement his skill. And that is what's going to mark him out as special.
We talked of Jol's task in juggling all his big names to fit the bigger picture going forward - which in the short term means fighting a relegation battle whether we like it or not. Even more critical is the moment he decides Danny is no longer an automatic starter. The process I think has begun. Ever since the Stoke loss through two late goals, the skipper is being routinely subbed on the hour mark. Clearly Jol does not want to see Fulham's midfield melting away in the final third of games, it's going to cost us over the season.
A two week break gives us all chance to draw breath, though not most of our first team, called into international duty. Will Bobby be given a chance by Capello? A goal Sunday would have helped...not that BZ let the side down. Far from it. But I would like to see more of him in the heart of the box and hunting goals. His contribution is great pulling defenders out of the middle and coming deep to play his flicks and feints. But the reason we lost a very winnable game Sunday against one of the league's top teams was simple - lack of a really sharp finisher.
That deficiency could be rectified in January. Whatever, as Hughes was repeating ad nauseam this time last year, we'll come on strong after Christmas. After another enforced change across all the backroom staff over the summer, I guess that's the way it has to be.
The glass is certainly half full, so let's keep the faith and give the side all the support we can through to January. Hey, we've still got another Europa League final to look forward to - hopefully with a different result. Yes, I'm Fulham through and through, but I'm fed up with always coming second!
Keep the faith Twitter@fulhamphil
RSS feed