Roma (and the Ref) in the Europa
By: timmyg |
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Stadio Olimpico translated into Spanish must mean Estadio Azteca because my lord that was the most comically biased game I’ve ever seen refereed.
Funny, I was about to cite the Roma blog here (Daryl, is it kosher to start a cross-Offside blog feud??) but Dan beat me to the punch in the comments. And he’s spot on too.
This match and the previous match against Roma were, unfortunately, about the referees. This is not sour grapes, it is fact.
Today, two players mind-bogglingly received straight reds and will now miss the rest of the group stages. Nevland nicked (studs weren’t even showing!!) De Rossi’s ankles and Koncheskly laid out for a ball that was being taunted in front of him. Both incidents led to the Roma players looking like they just got hit by a car. Two others were yellow carded for light infractions (I think — what was Baird booked for again??) and one will miss the next match because of card accumulation. Oh, and the fouls were 21 to 7 against us.
Two weeks ago, Stephen Kelly brought down a Roma player in the box. Sure penalty, but not a red card. How do I know that? BECAUSE JAMES MILNER DID THE SAME THING TO KAMARA IN MAY AND WASN’T EVEN BOOKED. And the fouls were 15 to 10 against us.
So my worst case scenario didn’t just come to fruition it basically broke into my house, shot my dog, and slept with my girlfriend. An already battered squad will already be without four players next match, three for the remaining group stages.
But at least none of our fans were stabbed.
Europa League Round 4 Preview
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All the hoopla regarding the Champions League has driven me to focus on Thursday’s fixture against Roma, perhaps out of spite.
Sure, the Europa League is basically the NIT and doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. But as Frank Drebbn once said, “But this is our hill. And these are our beans!”
More tabling goodness: Thursday isn’t necessarily make or break for our chances on advancing, but will sure push us into one category (happy) or another (sad).
With news of CSKA Sofia’s manager suspending basically his entire squad, and already with just one point and one goal — against us, natch — I think its fair to write off The Pigs before they travel to Basel. And yes, “The Pigs” is one of their nicknames. After Thursday they travel to the Cottage and then host Roma.
So, for Thursday, worst case scenario is Basel getting three points and we lose. They’ll be on 9 points and we’ll have 5, 2 behind Roma on 7. After us, Roma host Basel before traveling to Sofia.
Second worst case scenario is Basel winning and us drawing. They’ll be on 9, we’ll be on 6 and Roma on 5. Basel travel to Roma before hosting us. There’s a chance that a Bebbi loss in Rome and then a win by us at the Cottage could eliminate their chances of advancing, but thats wayy too much conjecture.
Best case scenario is us winning in Rome, and Basel winning. That will create a gap of four points for Roma to overcome. Even if we defeat CSKA and then draw or lose in Basel, Roma will have to win out to have a sniff of advancing.
So yeah — we really can’t afford lose on Thursday.
Which is why one of the reasons why I enjoy footy so much is because one shot, one goal, one save, one anything can have such huge after effects. This bitter truth is what made shows like “The Wire” so fascinating. Sure, its bleak realism was a welcome relief from the mindlessly fantastic CSI, NCIS or other American law/order shows. And it was about my new home, Baltimore. But it’s depth came from how what someone said or did in one episode would come to pass with positive or negative — mostly the latter — consequences. You really had to pay attention.
Roma’s late equalizer could royally screw our chances to advance. But, essentially, it was just one goal in the third game of a six-game competition. Is that tough luck, or life?
Tabling Tables
By: timmyg | 2 Comments
Rich over at CCN has been having some fun with tables from days gone by to prove points about Phil Brown and Fulham’s salvation.
Although we’re not yet at third-way, Roy often says it takes 10 matches to see where a club is going. Although I agree with him on premise, there are some notable exceptions. Lets also have fun with tables, no?
Lets begin with my maiden season, 2006-07:
Liverpool, erm, Rafa has been getting plenty of guff recently for bungling the title away again, but three seasons ago they were already 11 points off the pace. And Bolton and Portsmouth were both 3-4. Us? Well we were in the top half of the table at 9th despite a -3 GD.
In 2007-08, things were starting to go downhill in a hurry for us. Let’s take a peak:
Sven’s City and Hughes’ Blackburn were punching above their weight while Tottenham were on their second (of three) straight poor start to the season.
What’s the point to all this? Well, besides the exceptions I pointed out most other clubs finished about where they are listed above. So Roy is completely correct in his assertion. Yet again it proves we have a manager who knows what he’s doing. But more importantly, who knows what he’s saying and is correct. All the hoopla with Rafa has brought the (seemingly) obvious difference home.
The question remaining though is that who of the following clubs will rise, drop, or stay put this season?
Category: Team NewsLoaner Report 11/2
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In a rather bizarre twist, Elliot Omosuzi was loaned out to Charlton Athletic. Despite the fact that he was reportedly released over the summer.
The offal says he is “still registered” with the club. And according to Charlton’s offal:
Although technically recruited on a month’s loan from Fulham, England U19 international Omozusi is out of contract at Craven Cottage.
“The situation is a bit complicated because Fulham still hold his registration, so it’s not a normal loan,” said Phil. “We’ve had to take him on a month contract, but we also have the option to make it permanent in January.”
Yet again, a Fulham beat reporter would be really handy right about now.
Nonetheless Omosuzi started and played 71 minutes in Charlton’s 3-1 loss at Carlisle United on Saturday.
Fredrik Olof Esaias Stoor Siekkinen (that’s his full name!) surprised no one by extending his loan deal at Derby County until December last week. He started and played 90 minutes in the Rams’ 1-0 loss at Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Lastly, Adam Watts started and played 90 minutes in Lincoln City’s 3-1 loss at Morecambe on Saturday.
Hmm. Not a good weekend for the loaners’ clubs.
Fulham 3 Liverpool 1
By: timmyg | 4 Comments
[Sorry about the delay in posting this -- it was Halloween yesterday after all...]
There was an odd sense of confidence heading into this match that normally doesn’t accompany visits from the Big Four.
Liverpool were having a terrible season up until last weekend when they defeated rivals United and Torres scored and although they were without Gerrard Fergie screwed up the tactics and so all is right in the world and Liverpool were set to march up the table.
Sorry, but that was ridiculous then as it is now.
Although still without Gerrard (and Martin Skrtel, Fabio Aurelio, Daniel Aggard) and today lacking prized offseason acquisitions Johnson and Aquilani, Liverpool’s bench looked like so: Andrea Dossena, Ryan Babel, Damien Plessis, Peter Gulacsi, Jay Spearing, Nathan Eccleston and Daniel Sanchez Ayala.
Uhm, who?
I’m not having a go at Liverpool, but how does anyone expect them to place even in the top 5 with a bench like that. Maybe I’m revealing my own ignorance, but that is the point — who are most of these people?
Oh right, back to the match.
Up until the Degen and Carragher red cards I was fully expecting referee Lee Mason to rip off his uniform and reveal a red Liverpool shirt once they notched the winning goal. But things turned on a dime once Torres was subbed off. Although tied and victory conceivably within their grasp, Rafa threw in the towel. Good for us, despicable for Liverpool.
Nevland scores, Degen sent off, Carragher sent off, Kuyt subbed out, Dempsey scores. I want to relive the second half of today’s match like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.
It’s the next day and all the stories are focusing on Rafa Benitez. This makes sense, but greatly overshadows the efforts Roy and the players put forth.
Look at this chalkboard and think whether was it Rafa’s or Roy’s tactics that resulted in the side passing. I’m thinking the latter.
Better yet, lets compare the total passes of both clubs.
I don’t like to swear in writing, but holy shit! It was obvious that Fulham was playing on the counter — as evidenced through the first goal — but not to the extent that the chalkboard shows. Liverpool completed 90 percent of their passes and lost; if you look at each Fulham player’s chalkboard, particularly in midfield, none look particularly noteworthy.
I’m beginning to wonder if yesterday was luck, or deserved. This is probably one (of many) reasons why statistics don’t always blend with footy.
On a tangential ending note, of the 7 goals Erik Nevland has scored for Fulham, 5 have come in the second half. Has any other striker had such a proportional second-half success?
Liverpool Preview
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Expect a similar lineup that appeared last weekend at Eastlands. Danny Murphy, Simon Davies, Dickson Etuhu and Andy Johnson all remain injured.
Thankfully, Liverpool will be without Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, and Alberto Aquilani. Excluding Stevie G, that’s nearly 35 million pounds — 56.8 million dollars — unavailable. Fernando Torres will be given a late fitness test. Hopefully for us, the 33 million dollar player doesn’t pass fit.
Speaking of Torres, the ESPNsoccernet podcast mentioned that Torres rarely shot across the face of goal against Manchester United last weekend because it hurt his groin too much. If he does play tomorrow, it’ll be interesting to see if the same occurs.
Lastly, we should all bid adieu to Jason Gatties’ blog, cravencottage.us. It was always an interesting read that sadly had to stop. Here’s hoping he finds time to restart it.
Globetrotters
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National teams aside, just where exactly does our team come from? A few may surprise you.
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Loaner Report 10/26
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Adam Watts started and played 90 minutes in Lincoln City’s 0-0 draw with Torquay United on Saturday. Watts’ loan deal was set to expire at the end of October, but Imps manager Chris Sutton was able to extend the deal until January 2.
Fredrik Stoor started and played 61 minutes in Derby County’s 4-2 loss to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday. He was substituted because of a sustained facial injury. Stoor’s loan has expired, but Rams manager Nigel Clough wants to extend the deal.
City Away
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I probably should have posted this in previewing today’s match against Manchester City, but it’s probably better looking at it in retrospect to the earlier result.
That is City’s transfer activity in the past three transfer windows. Of the 19 players listed, 11 played today. The total cost of those 11 players: 164.9 million pounds (which includes Bellamy at 14 million and De Jong at 18 million). According to google finance, that is $268.95 million dollars. Or about what the New York Yankees spent last winter.
A lot has been made of the amount of money City has spent, even dating back to when Thaksin Shinawatra owned the club. But today’s result went beyond the typical “haves versus the have-nots” story-line that accompanies every game involving the Citizens. It was how a bunch of substitutes rallied from a 2-0 deficit and certain defeat to earn a point.
Wait, didn’t we see this same headline in the spring of 2008? Oh, thats right, we were at Craven Cottage-North both today and then. And Roy Hodgson was manager. How could I forget?
Hard for me to comment much on the intricacies of the match as I missed a majority of it (Sundays…) but with a spirited performance like that, a consecutive top half finish is feasible. It’s still early, but a victory for our game in hand and we’re already there.
October looked very challenging heading into, but even with one match remaining Fulham have accomplished more than what most could have predicted. A win or draw with Liverpool would be icing on the cake, and set up what should be a manageable November quite nicely.
Category: Team NewsChris Baird and the seven substitutes
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When the Premier League went from 5 substitutes to 7 last season the switch was perceived by many as the end of the utility-player. An additional two players on the bench meant managers had more opportunities to impact the game tactically.
The rosters then were about the same size, but the lack of substitutes created a larger margin for error. So stalwarts like Carlos Bocanegra and Moritz Volz played practically the entire defense and midfield positions while at Fulham. And although not very successful at either role, Tomasz Radzinski could play up front or out wide.
Yet those three and others were sold in exchange for players like Stephen Kelly and John Painstil (up until last night anyways) who only play right back, or someone like Damien Duff who often stays on the left side of midfield.
Now, granted a footballer has their favored position. But Roy’s stressing on systemic tactics and role-playing that leaves little for generality, makes it ever more difficult for any remaining “jack of all trades, master of none” to see ample field time (see: Seol Ki-Hyeon).
But then there is Chris Baird.
Baird was a center back while captain at Southampton. Under Lawrie Sanchez he played at right back to mixed results, but still earned the “Player We Hate of the Year” by the fans. Roy Hodgson used him once, as a center back, in the second half of 2007-08. For 2008-09 he was used sporadically as a center mid, right back, and center back in predominately cameo roles, but he always made the bench.
So far this season he has started and been substituted to be both a center back and a center mid, performing admirably in both in three different competitions. Although we’re just nearing the end of October, no other player has seen such time in two different roles.
Assuming that Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu are the bona fide starting midfielders, Baird has to be the #3 center-mid based on the number of appearances alone. That puts him over Jonathan Greening, The Evidence and Andranik (remember him?).
Excluding the promising but still green Chris Smalling, Roy appears to have so much faith in him that he is really the only substitute center back on the roster. (Think about that for a second – under Cookie we used what, 5 center backs? Sanchez utilized at least 4? Now we have three, plus the young Smalling and the oft-injured Kallio. Although it’s good to have some continuity, is anyone else a little bit concerned about this?!?)
We could chalk up Baird’s deputizing toward our involvement in the Europa League, the solo Carling Cup match, and a hopeful FA Cup run. But there are other players, specific-role players, that are not seeing time that Baird is.
Perhaps Roy just really rates him (he did sock Jimmy Bullard in the jaw after all). Or maybe he proves that there is always an exception.
At least he’s playing well.
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