EPL 2020/2021
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Fulham win the dance of the desperate 2-0 at home against WBA and move (for now) out of the bottom three.
Are we doomed as everyone suggests? My hope is that the team has really only had a few weeks together and will improve. I'd argue that their off season was even more truncated than the teams that featured in Europe. Couldn't even hope to make a signing until it was confirmed we were coming up etc
We've had two bad losses against teams in the top 1/3 of the table, 3 losses by the odd goal against teams in the middle third and taken points (should have been 6) against the fellow strugglers.
Unfortunately our next 5 games are: West Ham, Everton(h), Leicester, Man City, Liverpool(h)....
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@canefan said in EPL 2020/2021:
@KiwiPie evened out because they were robbed by VAR and the ref on the Brighton goal. Spurs scrambled the points despite not playing great, still very much a work in progress
The Brighton equaliser should have been ruled out once it went to VAR and the ref saw it on the screen - a definite foul. Should it have been referred to VAR at all? Arguable as although a goal followed before the ball went out, the foul wasn't a direct contributor to the goal - indirect as it removed a potential defender.
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@Bovidae said in EPL 2020/2021:
I was happy to break a 14-yr drought at Old Trafford. Partey and Gabriel are proving to be great signings and Elneny looks to be a completely different player this season.
Arsenal look much more structured but they just lack a certain something - maybe it's a method of actually creating regular chances which can happen if you have 2 central midfielders who are grafters and you rely on 3 strikers to make things happen often without space to do so. United were awful, especially in the first half - just sitting back and letting Arsenal have the ball. It can work if the other side commits too many men forward but when the other side is cautious, it just makes for a tedious goal. Luckily for Arsenal, Pogba stepped up when they needed him. Ole secure in his job for the moment, but I'm not sure he would be if there were 76,000 people watching their 4 home league games so far.
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@dogmeat said in EPL 2020/2021:
Fulham win the dance of the desperate 2-0 at home against WBA and move (for now) out of the bottom three.
Are we doomed as everyone suggests? My hope is that the team has really only had a few weeks together and will improve. I'd argue that their off season was even more truncated than the teams that featured in Europe. Couldn't even hope to make a signing until it was confirmed we were coming up etc
We've had two bad losses against teams in the top 1/3 of the table, 3 losses by the odd goal against teams in the middle third and taken points (should have been 6) against the fellow strugglers.
Unfortunately our next 5 games are: West Ham, Everton(h), Leicester, Man City, Liverpool(h)....
Early days but it looks like perm 3 from 5 for relegation with Brighton looking better than their position indicates. Still plenty of time for the likes of Villa, Palace, Newcastle and West Ham to go on a slide though. And Leeds who look about to lose to Leicester but should have too much to avoid a relegation fight. Not seen much of Fulham so far but winning against WBA is gold for them.
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@KiwiPie said in EPL 2020/2021:
@Bovidae said in EPL 2020/2021:
I was happy to break a 14-yr drought at Old Trafford. Partey and Gabriel are proving to be great signings and Elneny looks to be a completely different player this season.
Arsenal look much more structured but they just lack a certain something - maybe it's a method of actually creating regular chances which can happen if you have 2 central midfielders who are grafters and you rely on 3 strikers to make things happen often without space to do so.
Arteta knows that, which was why he was so keen to get Houssem Aouar to be that creative attacking midfielder. Like Pep, he wants to use a 4-3-3 but hasn't yet decided on what the best mix is in the midfield (Partey + two others). And maybe Auba needs to move from the left to the centre of the front three.
Gabriel and Partey have solved two of the problems, but it will take another couple of transfer windows for the other issue.
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@KiwiPie as long as it means Fulham remain in 17th I'll take it!!!
In fact I'd rip your arm off to take it
Scott Parker has said we are in a mini league and that finishing 4th from bottom would be a fantastic result for us. He is right of course but it's a bit disheartening to actually read it.
Parker quoted in Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/fulham-news-west-brom-scott-parker-fixtures-results-epl-table-b1527198.html
He said: "I want to win more than anyone, I want us to be successful more than anyone, I want to be seventh to 10th in the league this year, but reality tells us that's going to be very, very difficult and not where we will be finishing. "I know where we're going to be punching this year, and we're going to be punching in and around the bottom four, bottom five, bottom six, but at the same time I want my team to understand that. "To understand the battles and what we need to do to be successful and realise the peaks and troughs along the way and stay positive, keep staying motivated and understand this is what we need to do and this is where we need to get to and with that I do actually feel that's the best way for us to come out with points and be successful this year. "There's still a great hope, of course there is. I'm not saying that we can't end up with some good results and end up in 15th or 12th - sure we can but we end up there with a mindset and an understanding of where we are and the dips don't break us." -
@dogmeat said in EPL 2020/2021:
@KiwiPie as long as it means Fulham remain in 17th I'll take it!!!
In fact I'd rip your arm off to take it
Scott Parker has said we are in a mini league and that finishing 4th from bottom would be a fantastic result for us. He is right of course but it's a bit disheartening to actually read it.
I think you want to avoid the immediate drop in your first year. Do that and you can try to consolidate from there
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10 years last May since those dirty, cheating Athletico Madrid thugs (by far the better team TBH) robbed us of glory in extra time on the greatest day in the clubs history (almost).
Its the curse of the wacko statue. Al Fayed said the club would never have success again when the Khan's ripped the statue out. We were relegated that season after 13 consecutive seasons in the top flight. Al Fayed took us over when we were at bottom of L1 and said we'd be in Premiership inside 5 years. It took three. Blessed be his name
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Must be tough to be a Man United fan - a week after beating Leipzig 5-0 they lose to a small Turkish team when a win would have pretty much guaranteed qualification. Leipzig beat PSG meaning that group is wide open again.
Easy wins again for Chelsea, Liverpool and City and Diogo Jota is already looking like the signing of the season.
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@KiwiPie Yeah - shame the Giunners were so shit against Burnley, but I cautiously optimistic that there are three teams worse than Fulham this year and so we may avoid the drop.
We seem to have recruited quite wisely. Defence is looking a lot steadier and Parker seems to have settled on a team set-up that is working. We have actually looked quite good of late. Could easily have picked up points against Everton and West Ham.
Basically we had no off season so the first month was almost our pre-season which could have been fatal but fortunately for us others have struggled as well.
I have actually seen a couple of press reports recently that were quite complimentary which is a first for this campaign
Having said all the above we will probably now surrender meekly to Brighton which is a game we have to win. Point against Newcastle would be handy as well.
Be interesting to see if we persist with the game plan that has served us well against the top sides or revert to a more possession based style against the "weaker" teams. Our best striker can't be happy not even making the bench but his lack of pace doesn't suit the breakaway football we've been playing. Against Brighton though I think Mitrovic form and confidence allowing could be the go.
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@dogmeat On the podcast I listened to this morning, they were praising Parker's recruitment and quick work in getting a lot of new players well. They also reckon Fulham have an advantage in location in being able to take someone of the class of Loftus-Cheek on loan - a lot more appealing to shift to a club down the road rather the frozen north.
Sheffield United look gone already but I would be wary of them yet managing to put a run together. West Brom should go down - you do really need to beat Brighton who have looked good at times but you want to keep them close to the bottom. And at least Burnley pulled Arsenal into the relegation fight ....
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I am really happy Fulham have come good. It's very rare for a team to bring in that many players in one window and actually get better.
Winner of the weekend was the Premier League. This time last week it looked like business as usual at the top, as the big budgets started to float towards the top of the table. A bunch of draws and suddenly there are a bunch of teams that can win. The lower the projected points total is, the more teams that will believe they are a chance.
Arsenal are fucked though.
