Well, I definitely picked a good one to be bringing these Reviews back for. Hello! It's been too long, it really has. Through a variety of different reasons I've ended up missing out on the Charlton, Boro and Leeds Reviews- although you may have seen my Charlton Preview briefly before I took it down because I wasn't happy with it and I couldn't plug it anyway I had such little energy. So, anyway- I didn't see the Charlton game even though it was on Sky because I was in Hospital and I think it's a good thing I didn't given how we blew it. That Charlton game was the breaking point for me with Kit, especially going forward we've seen Preston and I think Brentford today go 2 Goals up against them and not blow it like we did.
Then of course we had the International Break- and coming off the back of it I was moving and therefore didn't get to see the Boro game either, but it was a good point without a doubt. I'll talk about this more a bit later on- but in the case of Boro and today's game we've caught them at good times and that can't go without mention when discussing the results. Then we moved onto Leeds, and very unfortunately I was actually watching that game- the less said about it the better. I was actually hoping to get a Preview up yesterday, but in short BT didn't want me to seemingly. Now we're moving onto today's game- and WHAT A GAME.
It was all business as usual for the first 46/47 Minutes. I suppose it helps we won, but you have to give a lot of credit to Reading for their first goal. It was a ridiculously fast-paced move timed perfectly and Piazon was in the right place to put it away. I'm honestly not sure how to feel when it comes to Reading's 2nd goal, again with hindsight. On the one hand it was a really bad goal to concede, Cairney and Ream have to take equal blame for it- Cairney for giving the ball away and then Ream for his shocking defending. Then in a really weird way that Orlando Sa goal was the best thing that could have happened for us.
I don't know if it was the fact Sa celebrated like he did or there was a "nothing to lose" attitude taken- either way that 2nd Goal was the catalyst for us. McCormack is always going to score goals, even when he isn't necessarily playing well he'll always pop up with goals. McCormack's goal today was just great, the level of skill for him to do what he did for the goal was just great- and in many ways summed up the 10 Minutes given the way it just seemed to work. On the theme of it just suddenly working for us in that little spell, Dembele's goals weren't 30 Yard Screamers today- or necessarily "impressive. However, what he did show for his 1st Goal was his desire to get stuck in for the team and it massively paid off for him today. I said earlier about how quick Reading's 1st Goal was, and Kacaniklic's goal was just great in that respect for us. The pace at which we won the ball and moved it forward was the primary reason Kacaniklic ended up being able to run into the space he did and put it away. The 4th Goal to cap it all off was another good move from us, McCormack's assist for Dembele was great- and in the form Dembele's in he was never going to miss it.
Joe Lewis had an interesting game today. He wasn't called on nearly as much as he was on Wednesday- and yet he's ended up conceding more goals today than he did against Leeds. I was actually happy to see Lewis continue, I can't speak for how he did when he came on against Boro- but he earned his place in the team after Wednesday, and it was good of Kit to pick him on merit for today's game. I don't think he could have done much for either Reading goal today- but in a definite positive for this season we've got competition for places and Lonergan may be coming back in next week.
The Defence was really weird today. Reading simply weren't good today, the move for their 1st Goal was good- but they were lacking quite a bit throughout. The Jazz Richards injury was obviously unfortunate for him, he's taken quite a few of those sort of tackles this season- and with the Peter Crouch one a Month ago and now this one he's been really unlucky. As I've already said, Tim Ream should have done better for Sa's goal- I don't know what he thought he was doing when he just stood off him to the degree he did. However, on the whole I thought Ream coped well although with Sa, Blackman and Vydra on the pitch I thought we'd be challenged a lot more than we were defensively. The same can be said for Stearman in-terms of on the pitch stuff, but it's just great to see how much it genuinely means to Stearman seeing him celebrate the way he does and just generally caring. I can't speak for how well (or not) Garbutt did at Boro, with that said Husband being left out for him on Wednesday surprised me- and Garbutt's performance didn't exactly help his cause. So to see Husband back in the team was nice, and he definitely put in a performance worthy of keeping his place for next week. It's not a new issue, but he does have to work at preventing crosses coming in from his side- but on the whole I thought he played well.
Ryan Fredericks is turning into one of our better signings this season. Kacaniklic has Pace undoubtedly- but he isn't necessarily a player we can rely on, with that in mind Fredericks really gives us another dimension. The fact he actually tries to take players on AND SUCCEEDS IN DOING SO most of the time is absolutely mind-blowing. Depending on Richards he may well be going back to his (brief) Former-Club next week playing Right-Back and I don't have any issues with that. I think the best way to describe Tunnicliffe today is "solid". Especially First-Half the lack of cover for the defence was an issue, Tunnicliffe and Cairney not really being able to play that role- but obviously as we went more attacking 2nd Half that became less of a problem. Cairney actually looked uncharacteristically unsure of himself at times today. I'm not saying he played badly today, and especially long-term him playing centrally will pay-off should we keep doing it- but relative to what he's shown he's capable of it wasn't his best game in a Fulham shirt. Christensen's been one of the more frustrating players this season. I think it's because he's shown he can actually perform to a ridiculously high level for an extended period of time as he did for Kit's first three months in charge. With that said, I thought Christensen played fine today, without being outstanding or anything.
Moussa Dembele is a truly special player. I know I've said it before- as has, well pretty much everyone else but it's worth repeating. The Leeds game really annoyed me, because the Ref basically tried to neuter him with the way he was punishing him for pretty much every ball he tried to challenge for. I'm not saying because he plays for Fulham let him do whatever, but some of the decisions made against Dembele on Wednesday were ridiculous and made his head drop. Dembele was great today. Players like Dembele win games, and given his age it's ridiculous how much he's developed already. Obviously not being on the Internet for a week I was sort of cut-off, I did see the thing about Dembele supposedly signing a new 4-Year Deal. All I can say is, I hope that's true- because the longer we hold onto Dembele the better. As with Dembele, players like McCormack win games. When we basically ended up with a rotating 4-3-3 of McCormack, Dembele and Kacaniklic I thought McCormack played really well and he made his goal look so much easier than it actually was and his assist for the 4th was great.
Kit only made one sub today, but it definitely made an impact on the game. As I've already said, Kacaniklic isn't someone we can necessarily rely on and as I've said repeatedly this season he's looked shot for confidence. That 2nd Half may well have given us a player capable of being as good as any in the Championship back. I'm not even sure what happened, but Kacaniklic in the 2nd Half was so far above anything he's offered since he came back in January. He was just great when he came on, and while it won't happen overnight- I'm praying Kit will start him in a "make or break" sort of run because if Kacaniklic can translate that 2nd Half into consistent performances to that level we'll massively reap the benefits.
Obviously it's not a big thing, but at around 80/85 Minutes I'd have brought on Scott Parker. He's got to start getting game-time at some point after all. Especially with Cairney taking the Advertising Board knock, being where I am in the ground I had nearly the perfect view for it and it was a bad one. We're going to need to put in a new Electronic Advertising Board thing, I think it traumatised a Ball Boy and Cairney will be feeling that one for the next few days.
Today's game, I won't say has saved Kit- I think it's more of a stay of execution. We've got the players capable of putting 4 past decent teams like Reading and QPR, but Kit's tactical knowledge- or lack thereof will be shown up more often than not. I've seen some people saying how we're "unbeaten in 4" which is factually accurate, however it's how you look at things- I say we're nearly in November and we've won 3 games since the start of September. It's still a week-to-week thing for Kit, which just isn't good for the Club, the Players, the Fans or him. If we lose to Bristol City next week the pressure will be back on, and after Burnley if we're back at the Cottage with 0 Points from 6 for Birmingham the crowd will be ready to turn just as they did today (albeit briefly with McCormack's goal) and the questions over his future will be as strong as ever.
Thanks for reading, obviously there's been a bit of an extended break- but barring trips to the Hospital these Reviews should be back now. Today's game truly was mental, and it featured without a doubt the best 10 minute sequence of Football there'll be all weekend. This Review could have turned out very differently to the way it has both going 2-0 down and then when Fredericks cleared the ball off the line at 3-2. Thankfully it didn't and we're moving onto Bristol City with a win. Thanks again for reading, I can only apologise for basically missing 6 Fulham Posts this month- but I hope you understand why. Kit's safe for another week.
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