Alright, first post, might as well introduce myself. The name’s Lork, you might have seen me around on TiFF or Friends Of Fulham, and I’ve been asked to do some writing for HammyEnd. So with the pleasantries out of the way, here goes.
Stockdale – 7, played well including making one stunning save from Berbatov just before Scholes’ goal which he could have done better on, it looked like he could have sorted his feet better although it would be harsh to blame him for conceding what was a superb strike. Caught almost everything else, including a nice catch from a deflected Berbatov shot, but they were all routine really. Something’s been made that he didn’t come to catch any crosses in the game but United’s deliveries were on the whole dealt with Hangeland and Hughes, and I don’t think it’s a weakness considering his aerial performance against Bolton where he claimed crosses very impressively. So yeah, a good performance from the young gloveman who promises much.
Pantsil – 7, started off quite poor really (two incidents stick in my mind, the tackle where he should’ve got a yellow near the beginning and when he lost the ball to Park in a really dangerous position) and as per his crossing was below average, but improved as the game went on with some big defensive headers. Noticably didn’t get forward as much as Konchesky which is suprising considering Park doesn’t offer as much threat as Valencia, especially on the counter.
Konchesky – 7, found himself in space on the left loads of times but never took advantage of it fully. However he did provide a good and important outlet out wide especially since Davies and Duff like cutting inside. Valencia and then Nani were kept quiet, and he only made one ‘big’ mistake when he switched off with a backpass to Stockdale. Very solid display.
Hughes – 7, not sure how underrated he is now considering everyone’s saying it! The usual from him, superb anticipation and acceleration.
Hangeland – 9, from zero to hero in 5 minutes with goals at either end but he made many more contributions to the game aside from that. His tackling and intercepting were both top class, he wasn’t afraid to come deep to get infront of the striker and when he was the othermside he always seemed to stick a leg out. Composed on the ball and dominant in the air, this was a very impressive performance which added a goal to his disappointing tally, when you’re as tall and as good a header as he is you should be getting more than 3 goals in two and a half seasons from set pieces. The only black mark on his display was the own goal which he should have prevented, you can see him jump out of the way of the ball instead of taking responsibility for clearing it, but he made up for it at the other end so I’m not gonna be too harsh.
Etuhu – 8, had a very impressive performance going forward and defending. No doubt he should have scored from the double chance from which van der Sar made two very good saves but he made a few good runs like that which shows a significant change from the way Fulham’s midfield played under Roy, where both Etuhu and Murphy stayed deep. He barged players off the ball, made some of good tackles, filled defensive spaces well and according to the Guardian chalkboards didn’t miss a pass (I think that’s wrong, I’m sure he did one of those silly round the corner first touch passes he likes doing, why he does I don’t know). Despite this and his athleticism I don’t think he’s good enough for that role, Etuhu has many positive attributes but he’s not technically gifted or creative in possession which I think you need in a midfielder who’ll get forward often but who knows, on the offal Etuhu says he’s always been a box to box player so it’ll be interesting to see how he plays this role in the rest of the season, assuming a replacement doesn’t come in of course.
Murphy – 7, just a shame he isn’t 5 years younger then! You can tell his legs are going as both Lee Dixon and Graham Taylor, pundits yesterday for the BBC, pointed out that he didn’t close down Scholes much especially in the first half, and more often than not he’ll be subbed before the end of the game. Having said that he shouldn’t be replaced just yet and yesterday’s game showed why as after a couple of poorly misplaced passes he ran our midfield and made some nice tackles. With Etuhu breaking forward more often Murphy’s adopted the same role as he did when Bullard played in midfield by hanging back and protecting the back four when we have possession. He didn’t make too many defence splitting passes, but maybe that’s too much to ask against a team like United.
Duff – 7, made a great run for Davies’ goal with a bit of good fortune thrown in, and set up Hangeland’s header, and set up the corner from which he set up Hangeland’s header and worked hard in defence, but I thought he was quiet otherwise. Oh yeah, he also gave away a freak penalty which I thought was stonewall but others disagree. Again he looked more threatening on the right of midfield than the left.
Davies – 8, looked dangerous all afternoon and could have added to his goal if he had a bit more composure with his chance from a nice Zamora knockdown. His intelligence is so impressive, and with last season’s injury problems behind him it’s good news we’ve got him for another 3 years. Worked hard with some clever little passes and movements, including giving Evra a massive headache in the first half when he often drifted inside to cause problems. Good finish too.
Dempsey – 6, looked out of sorts. The pundit on my stream mentioned his intelligent movement which helped assert us onto the game which I couldn’t see, which is why he might be getting the lowest rating of the day. But took shots from distance when he didn’t need too, and when he got subbed his body language was poor. One of our most talented players who I think is much better suited to left midfield than behind the striker but he hasn’t looked good in the couple of games we’ve had. Maybe 2 years of non stop competitive football has caught up to him.
Zamora – 9, had a stormer. His strength and target man play were top class, poor young Jonny Evans was completely dominated by him aerially and on the floor. He kept most long balls up to him (and there were a few) to start counter attacks and hold possession, although I think he would have benefitted from Dempsey and then Dembele not dropping so deep because he often had to hold up the ball for quite a few seconds, by which time the attack loses alot of momentum. Had a tricky but clear chance a few minutes before Hangeland scored the own goal, but if he carries on like this he’s surely a shoe-in for the England squad in september.
Substitutions:
Dembele – 7, looks remarkably similar to Zamora in terms of physique. Some intelligent runs, flicks and passes, but it’s way too early to say how good or bad he’ll be for us. I thought Dempsey gave us better shape despite his below par performance and we didn’t play as well when he came on but that may also be down to Nani coming on for United.
Greening – N/A, only on for 10 minutes so can’t really give a rating. Most notable contribution was a clever foul on Nani which earned him a yellow card. Desperately needs an amazing beard again.
yikes, an Ibrahimovic like signing! Good stuff Lork.
Re. Murphy, not sure the pressing argument holds up. You can’t press for 90 minutes. Chile were the nearest to this in the world cup and even they have to slow down sometimes. So they were pressing sometimes, sitting back (and holding the shape) others. I think it’s called selective pressing, and the idea is to do it sometimes then ease off for a bit. So this would surely have been part of the plan.
I won’t be a typical Yank and focus on Dempsey for long. 6 or 7 is about right for him. He wasn’t great but he was good. He laid off several great ball, dropped in to make some tackles and get/maintain possession, and his run set up the first goal for Davies.
Dembele is a curious case because I’m not sure he helps beside Bobby. They are too similar, and while Dembele does have pace and craftiness he likes to play with his back to the goal like Bobby or running in from wide positions, neither of which complement Zamora.
He’d be a better fit if we ran pure 4-2-3-1, with him on the left and Duff on the right. That, however, would take Davies off. I think his role is going to be sub for Bobby or even Duff out wide.
Our best shape continues to be 4-4-1-1 that sometimes look 4-2-3-1. Both feature Zamora up top with a striker (Dempsey or Gera, the latter in better form) and two inverted wingers (Davies left, Duff right). Etuhu is going to be key if he keeps his surging runs forward. I worry about Murphy, but Davies has the same ability to pick out a pass.
I don’t care about rankings, but it seemed to me that dempsey linked up better with the team than dembele did. NOt saying much since he had been witht he team for probably a couple hours, but once dempsey went out, and dembele & greening came in, it seemed fulham were on their heels the rest of the game
ibrahimovic rich? haha, i wouldn’t go that far. i disagree about the closing down thing because when you have a player as good on the ball as scholes (especially in his vision and imagination) you can’t afford to give him more than a few seconds. it wasn’t just selective in the first half, it was non existant. i wonder why etuhu didn’t close him down too but i assume he was given more defensive responsibility to close spaces infront of the defence and to track runners. i think in the second half murphy was helped with the whole team pushing up so it was easier to close down. but he still looked laboured at times. still very good though and as i say i would keep him in the team
cody i agree with you about zamora and dembele. i rate dempsey ahead of gera yet gera plays the role much better and dembele does seem the type of player to run into channels and spaces (although i don’t think he likes to play with his back to goal, he seems to be similar to joe cole inthat he likes to face forward and run with the ball or pick out a pass). like i say dempsey is a better left midfielder than attacking mid and dembele, with davies, duff, dempsey and dembele going for that position it’s going to be interesting to see how hughes keeps them all happy. and of course there’s andy johnson upfront who we shouldn’t forget about. very udnerrated forward.
Konk cannot find a final ball to save his life. He finds space and then nothing time after time. I am a fan but am becoming frustrated at this lack of skill or awareness or whatever.
By the way Lork. FOF have your tea ready and you know how cross we get when you stay out with your posh friends.
I am going to have to agree with your pundit rather than you regarding Dempsey’s movement Lork. Without Clint’s run through the middle dragging defenders with him Davies never has the open space to cut into for his goal and that is just one example.
where I was sitting we thought Clint had a really lively first half. Quite surprised to get home and find that most people seemed to disagree.
I agree with most of what’s been said. Clint, to me, looked like he was trying a bit hard to impress the new manager in the first half, with a couple of laughable attempts on goal. I know he makes a few of those a season and we have to applaud his confidence, but he seemed to press a bit early on.
Dembele impressed me. First match on, and with him and Bobby up top that’s an intimidating top two. Also could have been awarded a penalty when he was dragged down.
The one ranking I disagree with would be for Etuhu. I liked that he ventured forward (especially with Danny looking a bit tentative) but he still turns the ball over too often for my liking. And I wholeheartedly agree that Greening needs to do something with the facial hair.
“turns the ball over” – have you seen his Opta stats? 33 passes without giving it away.
HammyEnd building a very impressive team. Think all you need is a bit of pace up front and you could challenge for honours!
I thought Dempsey was playing well too. Bit surprised when he was taken off but Dembele certainly impressed. It’s going to be interesting to see how the Davies/Duff/Dempsey/Gera selection choices go, especially if we start playing with two “proper” front men.