Fulham away thread

[el matador]

Been busy with business and young family. You guys ok?

[Doc_Piptorious]

I'm still sweetness and an all round delight.



The rest on here are still a gaggle of muppets though.

[Venton]

Milner was the difference between a draw and a loss imo.

****e generally, especially the back five. VVD looked like Maguire when conceding the pen. Not an encouraging start, especially with another injury.

Fulham might do alright because they’ve worked out how to play PL refs quickly. Loads of ridiculous decisions for them today.

Agree about Milner, although it's a bit strange that we need someone of his advancing years to get us going. I also wonder if it's time to start trying Trent in midfield given our injury woes.

[Catrin]

Out of possession they were very much on it and quite physical. A lot of borderline wrestling going on. In possession they looked pretty good to be fair. A better final ball a few times and things could have got worse for us. Our passing at times was uncharacteristically sloppy. There was a brief period where Thiago, Virg and Joel were passing the ball amongst themselves and several successive passes were off. Quite a wtf passage of play.
First half particularly Trent and Mo seeded to struggle against their intense pressing. Darwin coming on seemed to draw the attention away from them a bit and gave them more space.
Overall I think it was down to rustiness rather than complacency but they need to snap out of it quick.

[Catrin]

I'm still sweetness and an all round delight.



The rest on here are still a gaggle of muppets though.

I guess that makes me Miss Piggy

[Doc_Piptorious]

I guess that makes me Miss Piggy

Your words not mine


Though you would not have been my first choice to be Miss Piggy from the current lot on here

[Mr Pink]

What are you talking about? What toys? I said we were crap, that Milner made a big difference and that Fulham cheated a lot. So shove it.

it’s hardly a surprise that people will be “moaning” in a match thread after we drop points in the opening game, to a newly promoted team, especially after that performance… better to be moaning about the game than moaning about other posters moaning.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Klopp in the after game interview saying Thiago's injury looks like it may be a bad one.

[Mark79]

[ame]https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/1555928456059297792[/ame]

[Irishnev]

Klopp in the after game interview saying Thiago's injury looks like it may be a bad one.

Light in midfield, irreplaceable Thiago = guaranteed injury. Milner and Hendo starting games for the foreseeable…….Milner did well coming on today but we shouldn’t be relying on him

[Charly]

Is Milner really able to press for 90 minutes twice a week? A good option from the bench, but should be temporary starter at best.

Really only leaves Jones. Carv and Elliott dont seem like midielders to me.
It is a bit worrying our lack of depth there. many of us were thinking that this time last year, but we got lucky with injuries.

I have thought Firmino is done as a top level striker for a while. I keep hoping he will prove me wrong though. He could have been an option for midfield. Dunno though. Just not sure why its not working for him. Too many injuries? Maybe he just needs games, but I dont see him getting too many.

[Exiled_red]

Let's be honest that was as bad a performance as we've seen for a while, Fulham were by far the better side, we only played for about 15mins in total. That said if they hadn't got that pen I think we would have won, I thought we were building some momentum and it came just at the wrong time. I also thought it was a fairly soft one, silly from VVD to dangle a leg though.

I knew Nunez wouldn't start but I have to say I am baffled as to why, I know Klopp brings in new players slowly to learn the system etc, but the reality is that the system is completely different with Nunez playing in the front 3 to Firmino playing there. I like Bobby, he's done alot for us over the years but the reality now is that when everyone is fit he's a backup. I would be amazed if when everyone is fit the front three isn't Diaz, Nunez and Salah. I think Nunez is ready to start and getting everyone used to that system is something we need to do sooner rather than later.

Midfield today was a big problem they were out thought and out fought. We improved significantly when Milner came on, but I don't see him being able to put those performances in on a regular basis. We are going to E playing twice a week most of the time until the WC, no way he can do that. I am disappointed we didn't sign an new midfielder in the summer, and unless this injury puts Thiago out for much of the season I don't think it changes transfer plans. It's a big opportunity for someone now to step up, Elliott most likely, let's hope he's up to it.

[Exiled_red]

Is Milner really able to press for 90 minutes twice a week? A good option from the bench, but should be temporary starter at best.

Really only leaves Jones. Carv and Elliott dont seem like midielders to me.
It is a bit worrying our lack of depth there. many of us were thinking that this time last year, but we got lucky with injuries.

I have thought Firmino is done as a top level striker for a while. I keep hoping he will prove me wrong though. He could have been an option for midfield. Dunno though. Just not sure why its not working for him. Too many injuries? Maybe he just needs games, but I dont see him getting too many.

I think Carvalho is a forward at least for now. Jones and Elliott are midfielders but are still a little tactically naive as they are still learning the game I think they require the right players alongside them for the system to work. I feel Elliott is probably the further ahead in his development of the two because I feel we are trying to mould Jones into a different type of player to what I feel he naturally wants to be. If Thiago is out for any length of time we need at least one of them to step up.

Firmino is 5th choice now for me, front three are going to be Diaz, Nunez and Salah, with Jota coming in fairly frequently. I think the style of play we used has evolved and the role he played isn't as needed or as effective as it used to be.

[Mark79]

Klopp also saying that Naby won’t definitely be back for next week.

[Tribute]

Similar issue to the defensive injury issues we had a couple of seasons ago. Don’t we ever learn… ?!

Ox should have been sold pre-injury and a solid midfielder brought in to shore up our options. Thiago is a worldie, but always prone to long spells on the sidelines…