Well, bums. That’s pretty much all I can say in response to the news that Bobby Zamora faces a 5 month absence following the surgery on his broken leg and ligament damage. Much has already been said about how Mousa Dembele is keen to step up to fill the void (not that he’d have much choice about it anyway), and how Andy Johnson should be back and fighting fit next month and is also keen to prove himself.
The thing that worries me is that talk of Bobby’s injury has seemingly been accompanied by a tone of deep foreboding, like this is signalling the end of our season. In September. Don’t get me wrong, I think Zamora’s a brilliant player and was an integral part of the team, but it’s a bit harsh on the rest of the squad to say that, essentially, it doesn’t matter what they do, we’re doomed to fail. Charming.
We’ve got Dembele, Dempsey, Davies and Gera who are all more than capable of scoring goals. We’ve an experienced and effective midfield. We’ll have a solid defence when Pantsil gets his mojo back (where did he get the collywobbles from? Answers on a postcard please). We’ve a squad jam-packed with bloody good players and the whole point of football is that it’s a team game. Bobby’s absence, whilst being a big blow, is not going to mean relegation or even, necessarily, a bottom half finish.
Just you wait and see.
Not necessarily, but it’s certainly true that we won’t be nearly as effective as we would be if he was in the team. Certainly our most important player over the last year. Whether he was the best in down to opinion, but Zamora was absolutely crucial in the way the team played.
The issue now lies in the fact that we now have no Plan B. If we are under pressure, we can’t hoof it at Zamora to hold up the ball. We have no focal point now. As good as Dembele, Gera and Dempsey are, they aren’t focal points of attacks – they relish working off a big target man like Zamora, who can bully defences and score important goals.
Whilst I’m not saying that Fulham are suddenly relegation candidates, our hopes for an outstanding season are probably over with this setback.
Ok Nick, you’re very far off base (and just when I was starting to actually agree with you some). Dembele can certainly be a focal point (if that’s even needed, which I doubt). I’ve seen him play for a couple years now and he’s more than capable of taking on that role, even if its not his preferred role.