Fulham v Huddersfield Review- Wet

Hello! Its been a while since I've done one of these but I hope you understand given the fact I've only recently had the stitches out of my ear and my arm is fully healed yet blogging has been low on my priority list- but I'm in a good mood from todays game- and I figured I might as well do this one to show I still intend on doing them given the International Break is coming up which means a natural gap.

Firstly, I got a bit wet today. I sit in Row C in the Hammersmith End- which for those of you who haven't been to a Fulham game/ Sit in a different area means I'm pretty close to the pitch, and also means I'm not really covered by the roof on the stand. Many weaker souls moved back into the shelter, but I stayed where I was and accepted the fact I'll probably have a cold for the whole of the international break- and at least we got the 3 Points at the end of the day to send me home happy.

Secondly, What a player McCormack is. I knew we were lacking something against Blackpool (as I'm sure everyone with a brain-cell did), but I attributed it to complacency as much as anything else- but what Ross showed today is that he was well worth the 7 Billion Price we paid for him. He'll obviously get the plaudits for the goal he scored (and rightfully so), but everything he did today turned to gold his first touch today was sublime- and the way he linked the midfield and attack today was great, and exactly what we didn't have against Blackpool- and he was on balance the Man of the Match today. However it wasn't a one horse race, Parker and especially LVC also played blinders today. Once again LVC will get plaudits for scoring a goal- which if Arsenal/Liverpool scored pundits would be orgasming over, but once again he did all of the little things right- which helped contribute to the overall performance.

I haven't seen the Huddersfield goal from any kind of angle to which I can make a fair judgement on it, however Bettinelli has owned his mistake so as far as I'm concerned its over- and it didn't really matter at the end of the day as if anything that goal woke us up, and had Huddersfield scored a tiny bit later we'd have left the Cottage with 1 Point. However overall I thought Bettinelli played alright- it wasn't his best game, and at times he looked quite shaky from set pieces, but as I've said I can forgive him having a "just ok" day as we got the 3 Points at the end of 90 Minutes.

The defence I felt dealt quite well today. Given the attacking threat Huddersfield can pose with Holt, and Wells off of the bench it was imperative that Bodurov and Burn stayed focused and got to every ball first, and for the most part they did. There were some shaky moments, but I don't remember that many opportunities where you'd have gone Huddersfield should have scored that- although them parting like the red sea in the first half to allow Bunn (?) and clean run at goal as awfully generous of them- don't do it again please. I'm not his biggest fan, but I have to give credit to Zverotic today. He's Zverotic so he didn't play a perfect game- but it seems he's starting to understand that for the good of the team he should avoid doing anything except controlling the ball and moving it along. You could Huddersfield had identified him as an area to exploit- as it seemed for most of the first half they were camped on Zverotic's side of the field. Stafylidis also had a good game, and for the most part he dealt with Scannell well- which was necessary as he looked dangerous when on the ball.

I've already mentioned LVC's performance, but Parker was nearly as good. It makes me laugh looking back that "he" resorted to playing amongst others Fotheringham and Ryan Williams at Central Midfield in League games. LVC having 45 minutes against Millwall wasn't exactly a fair crack of the whip, and he's now more than owned his place in the starting eleven. Which if I'm honest when he first came in under Kit I wasn't sure if he merited it. Parker and LVC have the right combination of grit, determination and general ability to be a real force in the Championship. Not to discount George Williams' contribution to the Midfield. He also played a good game, although I think he needs to work on his decision making before he becomes a real force for us- and whomever inevitably buys him in the not so distant future. Its strange in that so much of the attention on our youth set up was placed on Patrick Roberts, presumably because he's English. Williams managed to almost go about his business without too much pressure on him- and I think that has benefited him massively. I think its also helped him with Kit being in charge on a temporary, and now permanent basis- as Kit knows him from our own youth set up and also from the Wales set up.

I've said this a million times. Rodallega is not a target man, and should not be played as such if we're insistent on playing long balls. However where Rodallega excels is in the situation he was in for the goal today- and thats the reason I'd never suggest dropping him in favour of Woodrow/Smith I'd instead work out a way to accommodate both, or change the entire footballing philosophy. When the ball was at his feet today Rodallega proved why he should be in the team, and his link up play for LVCs goal was great- especially given the fact it was roughly a minute after the Huddersfield goal he could have easily let his head drop and spend too long on the ball and then lose it. Speaking of losing the ball, What do we do about Bryan? Once again, I do think Bryan merits a place in the team- and this isn't a Bryan tirade which I'm sure quite a few people will be doing on various forums. But he can go from being an absolute genius (see Wednesday- he meant it, no really) to being the second coming of Berbatov with how frustrating, and slow on the ball he can be. The number of times he lost the ball today was too many to count- although it wasn't helped that the ref seemed to have it in for him so when genuine fouls were done on him the play was waved on- which in turn made his head drop. However as I said I'd persist with Bryan because he is capable of those moments such as Wednesday which can be the difference between 0 and 1, and 1 and 3 Points- at least until January when we can plan ahead with Bryan presumably not being by the Thames by February.

Overall this was a very good 3 Points, and don't be fooled by the 2 Goal winning margin we were in the ringer for large sections of the match- and we need to improve once we get to better opposition such as *shudders* Brentford. However now we've gotten a break (with a few exceptions) hopefully Kit can use it to iron out the kinks in our team, and we look much more polished when we get around to the Brentford game. I'd also look at using the loan market to our advantage, as we are ridiculously top-heavy with our squad and depending on how long Hoogland, Voser, Amorebieta and Kavanagh are I'd act accordingly- as there are some very capable players we could feasibly get on loan for example Jon Flanagan. This win was also a very good mental boost for the players as we're back out of the Relegation Zone going into the International Break which is a good sign- and hopefully when we come back from the break we can look up rather than down, as with the way the Championship is shaping up this year pretty much everybody has a crack at getting into the Top 6, however we also can't afford to think we're completely out of danger yet and we could be back in the Relegation Zone just as feasibly as climbing the table looks at this stage.

The grittiness we showed today has put me in a very positive mood however, we could have easily let our heads drop after they scored (and under previous managers perhaps we would have) but instead we rallied very quickly and picked ourselves up and got on with the game- which sounds basic, but its something previous teams haven't always had the strength of character to do.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate any feedback on these blogs as per usual. Its always fun for me to reflect on these types of games where you know we've put a shift in- and gotten the 3 Points. Thanks again- now lets get up that table.

Did I mention I got wet?