Good point. It would be interesting to see heat maps of Hughes & Femenia. Hughes tackles a lot (well or otherwise) & will be positioned more centrally. Taking him off weakens our midfield presence.
At the first stagings of King Lear, half the audience would have been standing ie the groundlings in the early seventeen century Globe. Doesn’t this suggest an answer? Half stand, half sit & the latter at the front.
It was the right move by Gracia imo as Hughes looked done. Many managers would have also swapped Gray for a CM but it showed his intent sticking with 442. On a separate note...I didn’t see what all the hype about Sessegnon is about
There were a number of away games under gracia where we played ok but missed chances, should have done better in. If yesterday was on the back of a run of 10 games without a win, it would be perceived as typical.
This may have been a special case, but Mrs Willis and I were in the front row yesterday, right down in the left corner (getting wet). Our seats were below the level of the pitch and, if we had sat in them, our view would have been obscured by various stewards, photographers and advertising boards. We could not see the goal line or the near touch line. Amazingly, these were not classed as ‘restricted view’ seats and we had shelled out £60 for them, so there was no way we were going to sit down. Everyone else in the front row was doing the same so I’m afraid it was bound to create a domino effect backwards up the stand. In this case it was a design flaw in the stand so Fulham can pack more people in and maximise revenue. On a side note, we are in away ticket group A so we can buy in the first ticket window, but the online ticket system regularly provides us with extremely positioned seats like this, which seems counter to the spirit of the ticket priority groups.
According to the disability manager of the Tennis Foundation who delivered a session on my latest training,we are no longer 'able bodied' but 'non disabled'! The word 'normal' is also frowned upon apparently. I quite often stand at home games too,not least because the eight year old behind me habitually kicks the back of my seat.
He was caught out quite a lot - even in the first half when we were on top. Not sure he has enough pace or physically strong enough at times.
He had a shocking start and struggled from then on. One of those days where he didn't seem to be able to get in to the pace of the game.
Not sure if this has been mentioned, but a good write up of the game by Oliver Holt in the MoS today. Sorry, can't post a link right now.
Are you unable to post the link because you bought the paper version of the Mail? Do you have your butler iron it for you, before you and Lady Top sit down for breakfast Earl Grey and toast & marmalade at either ends of a massive great long table?
Tbf he has been due one of those games, he has been mostly brilliant but with the goal he either has to win the ball or do more to put the attacker off.
I mentioned this after the United match. He was at fault for the second goal and also was not close enough when Pogba got free and fired in that shot which Foster made a good save. Also he was caught for the Zaha goal when we played Palace. We've conceded 6 and 3 of those are probably down to him. Gracia now has to be fair to others. If someone is under performing then he has to give another player a chance. Kiko should have been in yesterday and I said this before the match, so I'm not trying to be smart after the event. 1 point from the last two matches when overall performances were good enough for getting 4 points, so if something needs tweaking, then I hope Gracia makes the change.
Kiko is across the board, fundamentally a better full back than Janmaat; he's rapid, where Daryl is ridiculously slow for a 29 year old, he's more defensively disciplined despite only having been a full back back for two seasons, and you could see him improve and learn each game that he played in the position last season. Janmaat basically offers height, and apparently not even that as it certainly didn't help him win the defensive ball in the air on the way to Mitrovic's goal (which was an absolutely **** one to concede). Javi did very well getting him to perform at his top capacity at the start of the season, but as we noted at the time, it was in part because of the opponents allowing him to effectively function as a winger; remember his average position map from the Brighton game? He has not reverted to type, and I'll be frustrated if Femenia doesn't regain his rightful place there soon. Looks like we'll be seeing Masina on the opposite flank too soon considering Holebas is a yellow away from a ban, meaning presumably he will be banned for the game after next...
Arsenal don’t look particularly good at all based on their showing so far against Everton. I’d fancy us against them.
Good result away from home, we were our own worst enemies yesterday with our finishing and ball retention. At times there were slight elements of arrogance within our game play which didn't help. I actually think going one up so early on ruined our game plan, good finish from Grey though, over the moon that he's improved from last season - almost completely two different players. Did Deeney really play with broken toes? Seems irresponsible of the club if so. Jamaat was the weak link yesterday, just didn't get into the game. Hughes was great, as were the strikers. Take that first half performance to Arsenal and we could get a result or a draw. Second half performance and we'll lose.
Thought Gray, who I’ve been very critical of before, was superb yesterday. One very poor miss in the first half but he looks much better this year. Frustrated to drop two points but we only have ourselves to blame - far too many missed chances. I really like the team this year. There’s a very nice balance and I think we’re going to have a really good season. Onto the next one.
Mostly I agree. But I think we should pay tribute to a Fulham defence which picked itself up and improved during the game. And especially their midfield. We should have had that wrapped-up by half-time, but I think that,as the season wears on, fulham will show they've got some decent players and a draw there may look pretty good.
Yes, Janmaat was a bit unlucky: The ball had taken a wild ricochet and was spinning off the turf and he pulled out because he was left in nomansland. Much more to blame was flavour-of-the-month Kabasele, who let Mitrovic get goal-side of him the goal area. He's still making costly mistakes, I see; just possibly slightly fewer of them.
Sorry, don't agree: It wasn't his finest moment, but he was unlucky with the spin off the turf and pulled out to avoid a penalty-risk . Kabasele was at fault.
