Cast your minds back to the 29th November of last year and an away trip to Craven Cottage. A game which Arsenal fans would expect to win went very pear shaped and we were 2-0 down after 20 minutes. We had been susceptible to crosses and both goals came from wide areas, one from a set piece, our Achilles heel. Apart from a brilliant Van Persie free-kick our performance was awful and Fulham even missed a penalty. Up until then, Fulham had not beaten us for 40 years and recently Craven Cottage had been a stamping ground for Arsenal. The previous season we won 4-0 there and the season before that 3-1. Fulham are languishing in the relegation zone and in 19th place have a tough job on their hands to stay up. Personally I think they will be ok. At the helm they have Roy Hodgson and this guy has been around the block from Norway to Italy. He has managed at Inter Milan and has the right attributes to keep them up. His tactical know how and motivational skills will help the players in their fight for survival.
We all know about Antii Niemi after he had some brilliant games against us for Southampton. On his day he is one of the best keepers in the Premiership and a good goalkeeper is a great base to build on for Hodgson. They have signed a centre back this week and this is undoubtedly their weakest department having shipped 39 goals so far this season. They have only scored 23 goals in the same period but over two thirds have come at home. As the stats read, if matches were only 45 minutes long, Fulham would be in the Champions League places. IF they can start to get more goals and bring in defenders capable of keeping clean sheets then they will go a long way to staying up.
A deal to bring in Marlon King from Watford has been agreed and King is a player that will get goals if given the right supply. Bullard is back from injury which is a major plus. Last season he was their playmaker and he can form a great partnership alongside Danny Murphy. They have Bouazza out wide who is speedy character and he will supply King. They have the ingredients to score goals, it just needs Hodgson to get it out of them.
King may not be available for tomorrow's game which will suit us. King has pace and strength, a combination that has often tested Senderos in the past. Last season he was sent off in this fixture and he needs to have a big game in Toure's continuing absence. He has a real chance to show his worth with Toure away and Djourou injured. We definitely cannot afford another red card for Phil.
After such a poor performance against Birmingham, a strong showing is required tomorrow. Obviously the result comes first and the win is the most important thing. However, if we can couple that with a good performance then that will do the team a world of good. Since the 1st half of the Villa game I cannot recall a performance of a suitable level for title challengers. It is time we sorted that out if we really want to be considered as contenders. Disappointment
Van Persie is out AGAIN and for a few more weeks. We can never be sure it will be that short and it could well be a far longer lay off. This guy has missed more games than he has started and it is starting to get very worrying. He is a brilliant player but needs to sort his fitness out. It is the second season in a row now he has had serious injuries and we may have another Freddie (last 2 years) on our hands. Hopefully Eduardo can start knocking them in on a regular basis for us.
Rosicky, another who has had injury worries, was ill last Saturday and will be back tomorrow. I have hoped to have a midfield including Cesc, Flamini, Hleb and Rosicky in it for a while now and maybe tomorrow I will finally see it. The three attacking players here know each other's game so well and when it clicks, it really does click. Theo has not done enough to stay in the side and Diaby cannot play on the left. It is our best midfield currently and it would be nice to get it flowing once more.
As I mentioned, last season we conceded from a corner at the Cottage and tomorrow we must mark well, attack the ball and win every corner that comes in. We were asleep against Birmingham and it cost us the victory ultimately. We need to sort this area out and concentrate fully if Fulham should get a corner or free kick. If we can break from any of their attacks or set pieces we can punish their lack of pace at the back.
So, a victory is required as number 1, a good performance number 2. Hopefully we get both but I'll take number 1 alone with the League as tight as it is. We will come out of the dip in form and if we can keep results ticking over for now that's fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment