Fulham v Derby Review: Perfection

Well where did that come from eh? I'd almost forgotten what it was like to win, the game today was as close to perfection as I've seen in at least the last two seasons. It was a complete team performance from us- and the performance today was absolutely everything we haven't been doing recently. We looked driven, determined and really up for it. The focus of my Preview was having a go- regardless of the end result, and we more than had a go.

The goals today were great, mind you any goal is- I've always liked Bodurov; and his finish today was top draw. He didn't have time to overthink the situation and went for it, and while thats not always a good thing to do- we've definitely been guilt of over-thinking things when it comes to attacking as of late. The second goal was almost the perfect goal from a "where we're at" perspective- Parker putting someone under pressure, winning the ball- charging forward and putting McCormack in; who put it back across for Woodrow with a free header. If I'm honest I thought we'd blown it when Parker put the ball in and it went a bit wider than I was hoping it would- but credit to McCormack for keeping the ball alive and getting the cross in for Woodrow.

I can't believe I'm going to say this given the goalscoring prowess that Derby do undoubtedly possess- but I genuinely can't remember Bettinelli having to make a save. That was the kind of performance we put in today, and that is all you can really say about Bettinelli's performance today. Two Clean Sheets out of our Last Three games should go some way to helping Bettinelli out confidence wise because he has had a few shaky moments, but a Clean Sheet against Top of the League is pretty much ideal.

In terms of defensive displays, it was the best I've seen in god knows how long. A lot of credit has to go to Stafylidis- he's come in for some criticism (deservedly) as of late, but he performed really well today. There was a few iffy moments, like when he misjudged where the ball was going to land in the first half to give Ince the chance to run onto it; but considering the threat Ince does pose I thought Stafylidis coped really well in general. Bodurov of course scored the goal, but he was also top quality today- I said in my Preview that I thought Hutchinson & Bodurov could keep Bent quiet, and so it did. Bodurov was mopping up everything at the back- and between him and Hutchinson it was definitely the most defensively sound we've looked in ages. The same praise can also be heaped onto Hutchinson- who as with Bodurov was absolutely top draw today and dealt with absolutely everything remarkably well. Jazz Richards put in a really solid display as well, the overall defensive performance was the best of the season by a mile.

Before Christensen was taken off I thought he was looking really good- the whole team were really up for it today, and Christensen was no exception. I'm just hoping the injury isn't yet another setback for him- because although he's been far from his best as of late, he is a player of huge potential and on the basis of his 40 Minutes today he was looking close to his best- although his injury did benefit us to an extent for the Second Half. Scott Parker is a limited player, I think even he'll admit that- but his performance today was as good as I've seen him play since his West Ham days, He was leading the charge for us today- he was going to win every ball he challenged for or die trying. I was really worried about him heading into half-time when it looked like he was injured- but the type of player he is he carried on in the Second Half, for a lot longer than I thought he would to be honest, and todays game showed why he is Captain. I've slated Tunnicliffe lately, but he was really solid today- the type of player he is was perfect for thee type of game found ourselves in, in that he's a really dogged and committed player; I thought he could have been Sent Off in the First Half- but thankfully he wasn't and all was good.

Bryan Ruiz Appreciation Society Time. He was amazing today, he put in one of the best shifts I've seen him do in a Fulham Shirt- he was fighting for the ball and tracking back; and looked really up for the fight today. He's the calm in the storm for us, sometimes a bit too much- like when he tried to take a few touches before getting rid of the ball on the edge of the box in the Second Half. However, he was great today- he only really made one mistake in the whole game; he kept the attacking shape for us crucially and while he wasn't directly involved in the goals he was a key player for us; and even the most ardent of Bryan detractors must recognise how key he is for us now. The win today also means the statistic continues for us of not winning a game without Bryan.

The Strikers were a mixed bag today. On the one hand we had Woodrow- who was really putting himself about today, and has more than put his flag in the ground for a Starting Role. He of course got the goal, but he was causing problems for Derby all day today- and his presence was definitely something we've been lacking in the team. While this was a great display- I'm not completely turned off to Hugo, because he's largely had to feed on scraps since Christmas; and its impossible to say how Hugo would have performed in a team that actually had some guts. Since Forest McCormack has looked really bad- just bad. I think you can sum up his performance today with him missing his One-on-One in the Second Half that he really should have buried. That said he wasn't completely useless- and he linked up the attacking play well- and he was battling away all game.

One of the Subs Kit made was enforced, but in a weird way it was the best thing that could have happened for us. Kavanagh coming on gave us more natural width- and also gave Stafylidis a bit more cover on the Left-Hand side. He gave us a great performance today- and between Kavanagh and Tunnicliffe really pressuring and pushing higher up we forced a lot of mistakes from Derby today, some of which we should really have capitalised on. It was good to see Hoogland come back into the team, it was great to see him come on for Parker because as I've been harping on about for a while, Hoogland is a DM and should be played as such. He didn't have much of an impact on the game- but in the very limited cameo he did have he showed a lot of defensive steel when it was required. I liked the look of Dembele today, he's bulked up a bit- and looked really hungry today; on another day he would have scored instead of hitting the bar, and in the last patch of the game when he came on his fresh legs and drive helped to see us over the line.

I said in my Preview that I don't mind the end result for the game today as long as we  have a go and showed some guts. We have been gutless as of late, and this game was such a welcome relief- with the Millwall Result today we're now 8 Points above them, and Relegation. With 12 Games to go, and an 8 Point gap I'd like to think we will limp over the line this season relatively comfortably- especially with the way Millwall specifically have been playing lately, they couldn't even beat us!

On the way back from the game today I was trying to think of the last game that I've deemed a "complete performance"- I've got a reasonably good memory and I was struggling. Factoring opposition heading into the game I'd say it was our most complete performance in at least the last two seasons.

Thanks for reading as always, I said it would be a February miracle- and it indeed was. If we were playing like that since Christmas we would be looking up rather than down, if anything this game has frustrated me more so because its shown what we're capable of- and we can beat anyone in this League. Anyway, lets not get bogged down too much- and lets just bask in the prestige of being the Feature Game on the Football League Show.