Rich bravely poses that very question over at Craven Cottage Newsround. Our new loan signing didn’t have a great game at Villa Park yesterday, but it’s a struggle to think of anyone in a Fulham shirt who actually did. He was slagged off by our keyboard warriors long before the final whistle went, although that’s no reason to hop aboard the bandwagon.
Rich’s statistics suggest that he saw a lot more of the ball than many of his predecessors at Fulham. In fact, thinking about it this morning, his performance reminded me very much of the early Bullard efforts last season and the displays Murphy put in when he was playing in a deeper role. He was dropping back to receive the ball from our defenders and initiating the attacks when ideally our playmaker (if that’s what he is) should be higher up the pitch supplying the telling ball through to the forwards. Etuhu ended up in a seemingly much more advanced role than normal and that’s part of the reason why we looked very ponderous in the final third.
I’d hazard a guess that Zamora might have been able to latch onto a few of the more direct balls that Greening played later in the game, but he still surrendered possession far too often for me. Just having the ball isn’t enough, it’s what you do with it that counts. It’s far too early to malign Greening – he’s likely had at best a couple of full training sessions with the whole squad (he didn’t travel to Russia) and was making his debut yesterday. Another couple of weeks on the training pitch – this is what I mean about the impending international break helping us – and he should be up to speed.
Of course, Murphy may well be back by then and our new signing might have to sit on the bench.
He didn’t do so badly. I knew everyone would get bent out of shape this season and it’s only going to get worse as we have to negotiate some difficult games. There’s a lovely run in late November/early December, and if we’re all sane by then we should pick up a decent number of points from those games. I just hope the early setbacks don’t affect everyone too much.
You see, growing up as a Fulham fan, I was always hopelessly optimistic, which was odd because the football didn’t give me much to be all that optimistic about.
I just don’t get the doom and gloom. We’ve had two tough games (against the side everyone seems to think will be champions – sadly – and a team who should be around the top six, if not better) and won away. The performance yesterday wasn’t very good, but last year’s display at Villa Park wasn’t much better if I recall correctly. The margins are so fine in this game.
On Greening, he didn’t do badly but he didn’t play well either. Far too early to scapegoat him as some have.
Murphy has played poorly for him so far and Greening was no worse. But if we don’t shoot we don’t score. So far in the Prem we have made few efforts to play football outside of our own half. Then we have given the ball away. Too narrow and lack of length. Not a medical problem but a lack of tactics. Don’t shoot the players but worry what they are being told.
Roy is still the best one for the job. Just very frustrating sometimes.
if you look at the chalkboard for etuhu, you’ll see his passes are wayy up the field. so you’re correct, dan. and rich.
Lighthouse – Not shooting has been a problem for Fulham sides for years. Wilkins was the worst with his team instruction to bore the opposition (and quite possibly the critical fans) into submission with all those sideways passes. Bracewell’s sides were pretty negative as well.
Hodgson’s certainly still the man – I can’t believe people would question that. Thinking back to these last two fixtures last year, I don’t remember us creating too much against Chelsea or Villa. Dempsey got us out of jail with a late equaliser against Chelsea but Cech didn’t have to make too many saves and the Villa performance was very backs-to-wall with Clint having a few shots.
timmyg – Thanks for the point about the chalkboards. Surely we want Greening and Etuhu the other way round?
Not training with the team does not mean you have to give the ball away to the opposing team so often. The fault was not with the forwards, so much as midfield, which was woeful.
Greening was brushed aside & lost for pace for the second goal, & was as much to fault as Aaron Hughes who backed off. Was it because he expected some help from Greening, who had by then given up the chase ?
As per Ray’s comment, I gather that Andy Gray was pretty scathing about Hughes’ failure to close down Agbonlahor. Had he come out to press the ball, there’s every chance Agbonlahor, with his pace, could have left him for dead. Greening lost the ball very cheaply and, neither he or any of his colleagues, made any particular effort to win it back.
I missed Gray’s comments regard gabby’s goal, but I was really startled to hear him dig into Roy.
Gray kept commenting on how Roy’s lack of emotion or even physical motions seemed to be rubbing off on his players. No drive from the manager, and thus team.
To be honest, Timmy, to say that I take Gray with a pinch of salt would be giving him too much credit. When he started with Sky, he genuinely was a breath of fresh air but he now appears very staid, like most of the other pundits on TV over here.
I must admit I didn’t hear those comments about Roy. The people I was watching with (and I, of course) were getting quite animated by the end. One of the hilarious things about Gray criticising managers is that he has freely admitted that he’s turned down coaching and management jobs in the past because he enjoys life in the TV studio. It’s a hell of a lot easy up there, that’s for sure.
Is that Andy Gray the former Aston Villa forward?
Pretty much the whole team were poor. Greening no more than anyone else. He does not as yet, unlike Murphy, Hughes or any of last years team a series of good performances to point to to suggest it is only a temporary blip.
Yeah, the very same, Alan. I don’t know if you would have heard his commentary yesterday.
Greening can do it at this level I think. He was West Brom’s best player last year, although it’s an easy retort to say they went down, but I happen to believe he’s a far better passer of the ball than he showed at Villa. He’s got a European Cup medal, too, and Ferguson was apparently reluctant to let him go so he’s got the talent, it’s a question of producing it on a regular basis, although if Etuhu and Murphy are our regular central midfield partnership, he’ll have to work very hard to get into the side.
I did hve the pleasure of Mr Gray in my front room.
He did suggest that Hughes backed off too much, to be fair as did John Pantsil who gestured that much as we picked the ball out of the net.
Don’t recall hearing the comments on Roy. I did turn over as soon as I had seen the interview with Roy.
Although the natural way of things is for me to be angered by Sky pundits I don’t think there was too much to be overly upset about said yesterday.
I too had the dubious pleasure of listening to Gray and the annoying, former boxing commentator who was alongside him. My instinct is to agree with Alan that nothing objectionable was said, but Gray was at great pains to point out that he was surprised that Hodgson had sat motionless on the bench for pretty much the full ninety minutes (I presume this is what Timmy is referring to above). Hodgson’s normally a fairly passive manager as opposed to those who are often on the touchline and frequently sends Lewington into the technical area to pass on instructions, so I don’t think there was anything particularly noteworthy about his pitchside demeanour yesterday.