Hello! Its another Fulham blog. After our cup exploits these blogs will be a bit closer together than I anticipated- but I don't mind if you don't. As I've said in my last couple of Fulham blogs- our ultimate goal this season should be a good cup run, with that in mind I'd be picking teams accordingly for the next two games to have a Fully Fit, Full Strength (or closest to) available for the trip to the Stadium of Light in just over a week.
Despite my view we should be looking at a Cup Run as our primary goal this season, it doesn't mean we should completely discount the League- as simply put we aren't safe enough to do so. However, with the squad we have available we should have enough to win enough games to be comfortably mid-table- so we might as well start getting to a "safe" points tally in tomorrows game. Reading are starting to look a bit better under Steve Clarke, and they've picked up some good points against Middlesborough and Norwich in recent weeks- but I still view Reading as a winnable game provided we get our tactics right.
Of course Bettinelli will continue in goal, in the last few days we've had Cameron Burgess and George Williams sign new contracts- and I would hope Bettinelli along with some of our other youngsters will be signing new deals soon. Bettinelli is a player I can see some Premier League sides being interested in him come Summer- and a new deal would be as much of a statement as possible to other teams, and if nothing else a long-term deal would inflate his transfer fee.
The defence selection is also pretty straightforward as it has been recently, until Tim Hoogland and Amorebieta are fit again there isn't even a debate over the current Back 4- unless of course we sign someone. Its probably more to do with the fact we're in the Championship, but the lack of rumours surrounding us at the moment makes me think we'll be prioritising new deals for our young guys over new signings for this window- which is alright in my book, because as I said in my Cardiff Review this season is pretty much over for us with the exception of a Cup Run- so we should be looking ahead, and the best way to do that is to prioritise signing the players we'll need next season to new deals.
As always the debate is going to be had for the midfield spots. As per Kits Press Conference Christensen is back in training today- but it'll be a week before he's selected, so he'll be back in time for Sunderland. Another notable part of Kits Press Conference was that Bryan Ruiz was fit again- whether we use him is another thing entirely, because as I've said in previous blogs I didn't think he'd factor into selections this month- but because of this I'll tentatively put him in my team for this game with an "*" and an alternative. The inclusion of Ruiz will of course mean keeping the diamond- and for once the three in behind aren't a sure thing. With the options we have available of Tunnicliffe, Fofana, Kacaniklic, Parker and G. Williams we have a number of options that can provide different dynamics to the team. According to Kits Press Conference everyone's recovered from the Wolves game, so Parkers fitness isn't an issue- the two people who play around him are another issue. I could be wrong- but judging by the number of minutes Fofana has gotten under his belt there is a clause in his contract stipulating that if he's fit, he starts. However, because that isn't public knowledge I'm going to work on the basis that there isn't such a clause- and with the 3 Games in a week I would keep Fofana for Wednesday when he would come in for Parker, because we need him fit for the Sunderland game- which as I've said should be our priority. This leaves us with the two recalls and the newly signed George Williams fighting it out for two spots, personally Tunnicliffe will be a must going into the back end of this season- and next season and when everyone is fit I can see him playing Right-Mid the position he took up for a couple of games under Meulensteen, which as I see it is the only way we can have Tunnicliffe, Christensen, Parker and Kacaniklic in the same team.
Of course Bryan coming back will mean him taking the spot at the tip of the diamond, this'll leave McCormack taking up the unfamiliar spot of taking up the position he was signed to play in the first place. This'll be an interesting selection after Tuesdays game, because Woodrow has just scored a double meaning he is high on confidence. However, McCormack moving back to Striker will also free up space for Hugo- who is a more potent striker, despite his recent barren run. As such I'd give Hugo and McCormack the starting positions- and then depending on how the games going bring on Woodrow for either Hugo or Bryan after 60 Minutes.
Team for Reading
Bettinelli
Grimmer, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Stafylidis
Tunnicliffe, Parker, Kacaniklic
Ruiz*
Rodallega McCormack*
*If Bryan isn't in, McCormack would drop the the tip of the diamond- with Woodrow going up front.
As I've said on numerous occasions, the Cup should be our priority this season- however that doesn't mean we shouldn't try and get as high up the league as possible, you only have to look at Reading's promotion season to see what can happen in the Championship if you put a run together.
Thanks for reading as always, this'll be our first League Game at Home this season- and we need to start making the Cottage a fortress again like it was under Hodgson- and to an extent Mark Hughes, and we need to start doing so tomorrow.
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