Perhaps my favorite ever View from South Texas

Discussion in 'Fulham FC News and Notes' started by HatterDon, Feb 25, 2015.

  1. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    in these dark days, I hope this cheers some people up.

    Well, the contract I've been working ended a day early, so I got to watch this one "live." And, after 95 thoroughly enjoyable minutes of football, all I have to say is,

    The Guys Who Watched Real Madrid v. Barcelona Missed Out On Some Brilliant Football!

    I've only been following Fulham closely for about 8 seasons, so I'm sure that there are some with longer histories that can respond to the following with, "Oh yeah, well I can remember ... ." And you'd be correct I'm sure. But I'm here to say that I have never seen Fulham play more beautiful, breath-taking, and stunning football than I saw today -- especially during the first half. Yes, I saw both our recent wins v. Man United [Ag and I sat in a small sea of VERY quiet United fans for the second one] and yes, I've seen Norwich dismantled and us slam 4 past Tottenham in the Cup, but today was like nothing I've ever seen before from our team. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

    Well, now that I've firmly established my credentials as a unbiased critical observer, I'll go on.

    About Bolton. All day long the Trotters missed the key pass, missed the guy to pop up in the penalty area, missed the good corner taker, missed the guy to dispossess cleanly and start a counter attack. Yes, all day long Bolton missed Stuart Holden. To be fair, the guy I talked up the most prior to the match -- Lee [and why is it that we got the only crappy Korean????] -- had a horror of a first half, throwing away possession after possession with terrible passing. Robinson? As promised, he looked every bit the out-of-position not-up-to-the-top-flight defender. I'm sure as I type this, he's getting someone to tattoo "I am Simon Davies' bitch" across his ample ass. Bolton's most consistent performer was Jaaskelinen's woodwork, depriving both Gudjohnsen and Dembele of richly deserved goals. Bolton, people, FA Cup semi-finalists and 8th place Bolton, the same Bolton that slapped Arsenal around on the weekend, the Bolton that has won many converts with their attractive attacking play, THAT Bolton were taken apart by a Fulham side that could easily have won 7-0.

    And we did it so majestically.

    Who had his best match of the season? Well, Mark Schwarzer, for one. His command of the penalty area was brilliant. Plus, he didn't manage to pass to EVERY player in blue today, so he had that going for him which is nice. He was quick, decisive, and made a very nice save off Muamba when it was still 0-0 that might have been a very early match changer. Great stuff, Tha Big Aussie

    Who else? Moussa Dembele -- Haysus Marimba, that boy can play some football. Class, class, and more class. He humiliated every defender he faced, crossed well from both wings, and should have had a brilliant goal, or perhaps two. Dembele has impressed us many times before, but I've NEVER seen him more effective, more attacking, more artistic than he was today.

    Who else? Well, I was going to say Chris Baird, but then there's that brace at Stoke, but he was brilliant on defense and in attack. He and Salcido have joined withThe Thames Barrier and Mark to give us a back 5 I'd not trade for Man United's. Baird made one mistake, then sprinted 20 yards to disposses the guy he gifted.

    Who else? Eidur Gudjohnsen. Young people, that's what we saw when he was playing at the other end of Fulham Road several seasons ago. Majestic on the turn, Danny Murphy-like vision, able to find space for himself and deliver amazingly accurate and weighted passes. I don't know which was more lucious to behold, his flick that beat Jaaskeleinin [but not his post], or the gentle re-direction he provided that resulted in Clint's second goal. Wow! His first half was even better than Dembele's THAT's praise.

    Dempsey was pretty good also. He was quicker to the chance than anyone, converted twice, scared the crap out of everyone in blue and, when the front two changed to BZ and AJ, he dropped back to do a job in defense. He and Sidwell obviously visited the same barber though, so at least he LOOKS less scruffy. I think Clint's market value is well into 8 figures on the basis of this season's and this day's work. I'm going to miss him, but I'm convinced we got everything he had every time he went out there in black and white.

    There really wasn't anyone who looked poor or even average on the day. Sidwell disappeared from the camera's eye for long stretches, but that's because he was doing his job well fronting the defense. He needed to as well, since Etuhu looked brilliant and HUNGRY in his substitute role. Bobby Z and AJ didn't impress as much as they might have, but that's primarily because Fulham had been thriving on an attack orchestrated by Eidur and Dembele and executed by Danny, Dempsey, and Davies. When those two came on, that attack changed to a more conventional 4-4-2 and, really, it gave Bolton a bit of a rest.

    The announcers for the international feed -- Taphouse and another Gary -- couldn't stop talking about how brilliantly Fulham play, how wonderful our football is, how our tenacity on defense and our ability to close down opponents blends so well with our attack. I couldn't agree more, and it was great to hear someone who ISN'T Fulham point out what so many of us who have embraced Mark Hughes's football have long felt is true. All of this was best summed up by what probably should have been a Bobby Zamora goal for 4-0. Because of quick tackling by Hangeland, good positioning, by Hughes, quick reactions by Baird and Sidwell, Fulham broke up a Bolton attack just on the edge of our penalty area. Rather than letting the ball go out of bounds on the right wing, Sidwell and Baird contrived to feedSimon Davies. Once again hammering the poor, poor Paul Robinson, Davies streaked up the wing and arched a pin-point pass to a penalty area inhabited by only Zamora, Cahill, and Jaaskeleinin. Zamora brought down the ball, swivelled [beating both Cahill and the keeper with the turn -- bad hip and all] and lashed it into the top of the net. The ref waved it off for handball by our #25, but it looked as much chest as upper arm to me. On a ball we could have let go out of play for a throw deep in our area, four Fulham players contrived to show the crowd something you'd really expect to see from Barcelona. Wonderful stuff.

    Man of the match? Wow, what a toughie. As I said, everyone played well today. Dempsey is the easy one here with the two goals, but just as a reward for the smile that is still plastered on my face, I'm splitting the trophy between Dembele and Gudjohnsen. Well done all. And for what Steve Bruce is about to receive, may the lord make him truly thankful.

    COYW!
     
    #1
    nevzter and SoCalJoe like this.
  2. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2006
    Location:
    Peoples Republic of South Texas
    By the way, this was originally posted in April of 2011 -- The Hughes Season
     
    #2
    BarryWhite likes this.
  3. dcheather

    dcheather Administrator

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2005
    I think you just made me even more depressed about Fulham. Thanks, Hatter.

    I'm now going to go and try to find that bottle of Tequila I have my husband hide before each Fulham game. And, yes, it's around 6:30 in the morning as I type this. Jeez. Thanks again. ;)
     
    #3
    nevzter, BarryWhite and SoCalJoe like this.
  4. BarryWhite

    BarryWhite Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Newburgh, IN
    A reminder of better days. Murphy, Davies, Dembele and Dempsey oh how I miss you all!
     
    #4
    nevzter and SoCalJoe like this.
  5. SoCalJoe

    SoCalJoe Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2006
    Location:
    Walnut, CA
    Review: I laughed, I cried, 2 huge thumbs up, good Fulham Fun.

    I also miss them all, especially the Bolton player missing that day; Stuart Holden.
     
    #5
    nevzter and BarryWhite like this.
  6. nevzter

    nevzter Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2007
    Location:
    A City by a Bay
    Recalling the quality of the squad during that brilliant 2-3 year run, it's not surprising that supporters began to believe a top 10 finish should be a regular occasion.

    COYW
     
    #6
    SoCalJoe likes this.
  7. pettyfog

    pettyfog Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 4, 2005
    Oh, the passion. The humanity...
    Pretty sad in a way... but it cant be taken away.
     
    #7
  8. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2011
    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    How ironic that a goodly number of these lads are still playing somewhere, albeit, many, not at the level they were on this day. But still....
     
    #8
Similar Threads: Perhaps favorite
Forum Title Date
Fulham FC News and Notes The Reserves (or more kindly put perhaps, The Future...???) Jan 23, 2007
Fulham FC News and Notes Who is your favorite all time fulham player. Jan 31, 2009
Fulham FC News and Notes Your Top 3 Favorite Fulham Players for Next Year Jun 30, 2008
Fulham FC News and Notes Favorite Fulham Moment May 15, 2008
Fulham FC News and Notes Who's your favorite Fulham player? May 13, 2008

Share This Page