Fulham at Everton

Everton have, by most accounts, been chronic underachievers so far this season. A new manager and a significant investment in new players has, thus far, not produced the results the investors and supporters had hoped for. Their record and place in the table is almost identical to ours, so this should be an opportunity to snatch a rare PL road win for our lads, right? Maybe. If Ream and Odoi start in front of Bettinelli Saturday at Goodison Park, I'll feel better about our chances. A lot also depends upon who starts outside them in the back four, if that's the way Joka configures it. Christie at right back? Bryan at left back? Both scored at The Den Tuesday night, but we need them to shore up the keystone cops defending we've witnessed so far this season. I don't care if we have to put the mascot out there, I don't want to see Ryan Sessegnon start another match for us at left back ever again. That's a sinful waste. "A left-sided defender with attacking instincts..." says his bio page. Attacking instincts? That qualifies as the understatement of the century. Put him as close to the opponent's goal as possible...then move him up another 5-10 yards. He and Mitro feed off of each other. Make it happen. Hopefully Cairney's back, too. Even a partial shift from him would be a welcome sight. As for Everton, they've got a lot of talent. We need to hope they don't have a massive reversal of form and fortune, or it could get ugly quickly. I don't think that will happen, but we really, really need to pick up the pace playing out from the back. Last season in the Championship, we figured out how to beat the high pressure some tried and kept possession and created chances. This season the superior athletes and talent have taken their toll on our largely new and inexperienced back four. Time to pick up the pace, show some urgency, pull up our big boy football shorts and get after it. We've got a slight chance here to turn things around a bit. The way they've been playing, we need to go for it from the opening whistle and stay on them.

 

The defenders need to figure it out, but another problem this season is passing accuracy. Cairney is the only player with over 90% completion. That's a problem for a team whose game relies on passing out of the back and possession. I hope it gets better as all the players have more time to gel. These things take time.

 

I might be mistaken, but isn’t Goodison Park Fulham’s House of Horrors? Could of sworn the last Prem run we didn’t even earn a point there. Hoping that the squad builds off the Watford 2nd half, and the feel good vibe of smashing Millwall.

 

SCJ's stat re Goodison seemed a bit far fetched upon first glance, but the esteemed representative from down south is correct - no points during the first Prem run according to the internets. I'm hoping for a point at best, or a non-goal differential busting loss...net-net, I don't expect a result. COYW!!!

https://www.11v11.com/teams/fulham/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Everton/

 

From the Tony Gale column, "Fulham fans will be well aware that we’ve never picked up a Premier League point at Goodison Park"

Items of note from today's training photos... Cairney was on the field and for some reason Seri put on some keeper gloves and tried a bit as a netminder. I'm hoping that was some water break fun and nothing more.
http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/september/27/thursday-training

Everton play with width so Fulham need to make sure that they don't get spread too thin in the middle. The central defenders also need to communicate well and track Everton's runs (I.E. don't give up easy through balls). Fulham's right back will certainly have his hands full with Richarlison as well. He seems to be Everton's best player so far (aside from the red card vs Bournemouth).

 

Here's the match report from our last loss at Goodison, December 14th, 2013. Best I can tell, only Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman are the only participants still around for this encounter. Neither featured in the 2-0 loss to Gooners. I don't put much stock in streaks when there's been this much of a gap between the sides. Our road record under Joka has been decent, and all bad things must come to an end eventually. Heck, even Kentucky won at Florida this season. I'm gonna say we finally get our act together defensively and pull it off this time, in memory of Sascha Riether, Giorgos Karagounis, Maarten Stekelenburg (who'll be on their bench) and Rene Meulensteen. Feel better now, don'tcha'?

http://www.fulhamfc.com/first-team/2013_2014/league/away/everton

 

If Kentucky can win at Florida, I'm going to be watching out for flying pigs. A point at Everton ... why not?

 

Team news: http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/september/28/team-news

Ream: "He probably needs a little bit more time to reach his best level. We assessed and observed him and soon he is going to be available for us to use."

Cairney: "He started working with us this week which was positive but we must still assess him and make a decision as to when is the right moment to give him the opportunity to play a Premier League game."

Also, "a decision will be made on Alfie Mawson who currently has a back problem."

 

I guess the question then becomes: Is a less than 100% fit Tim Ream better than a 100% fit Callum Chambers? Or a 100% fit Maxime Le Marchand? Or a 100% fit Timothy Fosu-Mensah? I think we all know the answer to that question at this point in the season. Even more telling is the gaffer’s observation about Tom Cairney: “He’s (sic) a player who doesn’t lose the ball. We need to defend less when he’s on the pitch.” Enough said.

 

The match will be available through NBC Gold.

Bottom of the table Huddersfield has just one point on the road this season and they got it at Goodison Park.

Formerly bottom of the table West Ham has one win and they got it at Goodison Park.

No reason Fulham can't go into Goodison Park and get points too.

 

I don't think that Ream starts. Too early. We may see a version of 3-center-back lineup Slav tested at Millwall. Whatever we do, I really want to see Sess up in attack so he occupies his wingback and can use his best attributes. But the most important thing will be to take care of the ball. We've lost too many goals after dumb turnovers in midfield. Seri, McDonald and whoever else joins them in the middle cannot play sloppy passes. Here's what I think would give us the best chance: Betts--Bryan, Chambers/LeMarchand, Odoi, Christie--Seri, McDonald, Anguissa--Sess, Mitro, Schurrle.

Vietto redeemed himself against Watford, but I still don't see him as the better option up front over Sess--he could be the first off the bench.

But I bet Slav will surprise us all and may for all I know roll out a 442.

 

REEEEEEEAM!!! And Cairney on the bench!! Sessegnon up front! All your dreams came come true!

Your starting XI:
Bettinelli
Fosu-Mensah, Odoi, Ream, Bryan
Anguissa, Seri, Vietto
Schurrle, Mitrovic, Sessegnon

Subs: Rico, Christie, LeMarchand, McDonald, Johansen, Cairney, Ayite

EDIT: Given Vietto's appearance I have to wonder if I don't have this represented correctly. Is Jokanovic going with a 4-2-3-1?

EDIT 2: FulhamFC.com has it shown as a 4-4-2 (just like you said @daddude7 ) with Vietto and Mitrovic the top pair

 

Good to see #13 in white out there. Kinda like getting your favorite blanky back from the wash when you were a youngsta.’

 

All those offensive players in the lineup and zero shots on target.

 

We seem to be playing a step behind so far in all our matches in the Premiership. Don't know if it's our style of play or a significant gap in talent. Probably a bit of both, I'm guessing. I believe in the style, I just don't believe we're executing it quickly or efficiently enough. Gonna have to find a way to pick up the pace, or it could be a long season. Credit to Everton, they brought it today, but we've got a lot of work to do. Weren't a lot of bright spots individually, but it was good to see Ream and Odoi in front of Betts again. We're still not getting what we got out of Fredericks and Targett the second half of last season, and I don't know what the answer is. Christie's OK, but nobody has Ryan's pace. Granted, it may not have been as effective against the better players in this league, but it's missing and it's obvious. The midfield is a train wreck. The new guys are still learning the league and Cairney's still learning them. Schurrle's been fading and was almost nonexistent today. He may need a break. And I think we were just unlucky that Sess's ball didn't go in. Might have changed the entire tenor of the match. But it didn't, and the wheels came off after Sigurdsson's penalty miss. If anything, that should have sparked us a bit. Instead, we went the other way. Back to the drawing board.

 

The match result gets worse when we consider the injuries. Bryan is likely out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury and Fosu-Mensah's injury hasn't been reveled yet, but I fear a broken bone of some sort that will also require a multi-week absence. Bryan's injury is particularly frustrating since he has barely had a chance to play and is the key person that allows Sessegnon to move forward. Fosu-Mensah and Christie seem equivalent, so I don't think we loose much there - other than depth.

It really is unfortunate that we couldn't go into the half up one or two goals (Sessegnon and Schurrle both had looks that deserved goals), that would have totally changed the match. In most matches Fulham feels competitive, but just can't maintain their quality consistently enough to see things through.

In addition to grave concerns about the left-back position I'm also worried about the defensive midfield. I have yet to see anything that justifies the money Fulham paid out for Anguissa. He makes a lot of poor passes, gives up the ball easily, and I rarely see him breaking up opposition attacks. McDonald is a great guy, but I think he is literally out of his league, so I'm not sure what we can do at that position immediately - unless Tom Cairney is able to return and provide better direction for the midfield.

I also can't join the Odoi bandwagaon. He makes too many rash decisions that get Fulham into trouble. I love his ability to elevate and get things out of the box (or into the goal in the case of Derby) but he needs more situational awareness. I'm not sure if I'd prefer Mawson given what I've seen so far. So, bottom line, our defense is a mess.

The good news today is that with the exception of West Ham, everyone else on the bottom end of the table failed to score and lost their matches too.

 

I wasn’t worried before, but am starting to feel uneasy. It’s taking too long to figure out our defensive posture. Also, Seri has, for me, not played up to his billing. I know it may take longer for people to gel, but it’s becoming concerning.

 

Spot on about Anguissa, Micah. Can he adjust? Slava wanted players familiar w/English football to get out of the Championship, but went away from it at this level. We desperately need some steel in defensive midfield

 

I can't find the thread, but mentioned it over the summer that I was worried about skipping the defensive signings leaving us vulnerable on counters. I've only been able to watch one game, so not sure of the scoring in the run of play, but still worried!

 

All of these are valid concerns. I keep thinking we were in a similar place a year ago -- concerns about the team coming together -- and things turned better than OK. So, for the moment, I'm putting on my Alfred E. Newman face and waiting until they work some of the kinks out.