Hello, Welcome to another one of these Fulham blogs- and what a game yesterday. I was put through the ringer and I was just following the game on Twitter (but I refresh it every 10 seconds thinking something must have happened). But we (eventually) took a point away from the New York Stadium which considering everything is a very good point for us to get.
Because we don't get as much media coverage as last season its hard to say whether Rotherhams first goal was offside, however Kit has said he was on so I'll take his word for it- as such I don't think we could have done much for any of Rotherhams goals- Clarke Harris' goal was sublime and the Bodurov Own Goal was very unfortunate. But what we did do which was very pleasing was we responded within 5 Minutes every time. Granted "responding" will only every get you a point, but for the purposes of a tricky away match in Mid-Week in pretty bad weather conditions managing to muster a response three times speaks volumes for the belief, and character of the team which simply wasn't there under our previous manager.
The Team Selection was quite strange from my point of view. The reason I didn't suggest making more changes in my Preview blog was simply because I didn't think Kit was the type of manager to make 5 changes in a game- however I'm glad he did as some of our key players should look fresh on Friday. The selection was pretty strange although obviously we got something from the game so its harder to criticise than it was under Penfold. "The midfield will be where we win or lose this game in my opinion. We could easily get overwhelmed if we're not careful". This was what I wrote in my Preview Blog for this game and when I saw the Midfield we did start I was incredibly worried.
Eisfeld-Hyndman-LVC-G. Williams
We were apparently playing an "orthodox 4-4-2" to quote the Fulham Twitter. What I emphasised in my preview blog was the need for a bit more of a physical presence. So naturally the midfields tallest player was 5ft 9. Hoogland was ill, so my idea of inserting Hoogland into the Midfield obviously didn't come to fruition, that also meant we'd struggle for the physical presence I thought we'd need- especially once the team selection came out and we were resting Parker. If this midfield hadn't yielded any points then I'm sure there would have been some critics over Kits team selection, especially the midfield selection- however we got the point so all is good with the world, the fine lines of Football Management eh?
There wasn't something obviously wrong with the defence for all three of Rotherhams goals, except maybe we should have closed down Pringle quicker than we did for the third goal- but given how late it was in the game and the fact we'd had to chase the game that is perhaps understandable. As such despite conceding three goals I don't think you can really criticise our defensive display, and considering this is the first time we've conceded 3 Goals+ Under Kit I'll happily acknowledge the defensive progress we've made under Kit and move on. It appears Zverotic is now our 2nd Choice Right Back which is perhaps better from a defensive standpoint as I highlighted in my Preview Blog. I think Zverotic is perhaps the better option on balance because he is pretty solid defensively in comparison to Voser- and I think thats what Kit values above all else. Hopefully Hoogland isn't out for much longer- but having Zverotic come in and play decent can only be a good thing. It would appear as though Stafylidis is now firmly back in his natural habitat of Left-Back which is good from my point of view because I was never sold on him in Central-Midfield and I thought he looked better going forward when he was in the Left-Back position as well.
The fact we started a whole different midfield (with the exception of LVC) showed great squad depth on our part, and also gives me hope we could go on a good cup run without impacting on our League performances. As said in my Preview Blog resting Parker was a must for yesterdays game, as he looked dead on his feet by the end of the Norwich game- and I read somewhere he was going to come off but then didn't. I was surprised we rested/dropped Kavanagh because he would have been confident going into the game after Saturday, but with the Formation change that was perhaps a good thing as I'm not sure where he'd have fit into the formation. Chris David not getting into the team when Eisfeld did surprised quite a few people, but not me. Eisfeld scored a double for the U-21s at the Weekend against Chelsea and I'm sure that played a factor when Kit was naming his team. David is obviously a very good player- but I don't think Kit is sold on him, and I hope this doesn't come back to bite us in January if Ruiz leaves (likely) and David also leaves because of the lack of game time.
The Forward situation is now a very interesting debate to be had. Woodrow getting his first goal of the season (and it was a peach), combined with his physical presence has now put Rodallega's place under threat as purely from the point of who's a better Target Man Woodrow wins every time. Of course Smith is also in that debate, but after Woodrow scoring I think he's put himself firmly above Smith in the pecking order. McCormack was (again) great yesterday, his penalty was sublime- and his delivery for Burn's goal was spot on. But also his work ethic was very good again, and he's made a significant contribution in every recent game. Dembele is also in the fold as he's come off the bench in recent games, which means we have 5 Strikers all staking a claim for the Striker positions which in turn means people up their games to stake a claim for their place which is only a good thing for the team.
There we some notable performances from our young players, perhaps most notable was George Williams who provided a nuisance to the Rotherham defence all night- and won the penalty which got us back in the game (the first time). Also for anyone who says the penalty was soft please rewatch Cameron Jeromes belly flop from Saturday. Pat Roberts could have perhaps made a similar Impact, but I'm not overly concerned about his lack of minutes recently as I'm sure his time will come- and I think we're perhaps trying to hide him a bit to deter any interesting in January.
Its a good sign when we're picking up points when we perhaps didn't deserve them, and if we can keep picking up wins/draws when we perhaps didn't deserve them we should be able to climb up the table. We're now on the verge of getting out of the Relegation Zone which will provide a confidence boost to everyone at the club given the position we were in when Kit took over.
Thanks for reading these blogs, its really humbling when I see people are actually reading them. As usual any feedback is appreciated. I'm not sure if I'll do the Charlton Preview on Thursday or Friday so I'd like your suggestion on that. Thanks again.
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