Fulham 2-1 Saints - Match Thread

[The Kraken]

2 hours ago, egg said:

For those calling for Lyanco in midfield. Please remember the Jack Stephens experience. It went as well as predicted, and about as well as a Lyanco experiment would. 

This.

Lyanco at CM would make Maitland-Niles look competent by comparison.

[Jonnyboy]

11 hours ago, The Cat said:

I admire the optimism of going into a game with only 10 players when we'll struggle to get a point with 11. 

There's 2 keepers there lol

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, egg said:

For those calling for Lyanco in midfield. Please remember the Jack Stephens experience. It went as well as predicted, and about as well as a Lyanco experiment would. 

It completely baffled me why anyone would think Stephens in central midfield was a good idea. It baffles me even more why anyone would think Lyanco in central midfield is a good idea. Neither is very good in their supposed specialist position, god help us if they played anywhere else on the pitch 

[Convict Colony]

Ok I've guaranteed us a win now and Adams to score a hatrick as I've replaced him with in Mitrovic in my fantasy team.

[Convict Colony]

7 hours ago, Turkish said:

It completely baffled me why anyone would think Stephens in central midfield was a good idea. It baffles me even more why anyone would think Lyanco in central midfield is a good idea. Neither is very good in their supposed specialist position, god help us if they played anywhere else on the pitch 

Unfortunately our specialist midfielders are as effective as a chocolate fireguard as defensive midfielders and jones first priority is to make us harder to score against.

I say in lieu of wherefore art thou Romeo being available put the big man in there, he's good with the ball and can actually pass forward and is a wind up merchant and actually enjoys defending.

Play 4 at the back with him occasionally dropping back and make it a 5 when fulham attack and if its not working at HT then we have 5 subs to use.

I'd try and out muscle them in midfield to control the ball/defend better and let Armstrong and Edozie go on their running spree's trying to feed che and if they lose it we have a good chance to defend it.

                         Baz

KWP.    ABK.         Salisu.     Perraud

                     Lyanco

           JWP.             AMN

  S.Armstrong              Edozie

                      Adams

 

Edited 30 December, 2022 by Convict Colony

[AlexLaw76]

Harks back to a time when Frazier Richardson was touted as a DM for us….

[SNSUN]

-------------------------Bazunu-----------------------------

-----------DCC-----------ABK-------------Salisu---------------

KWP------------JWP--------------AMN/Diallo---------Perraud

-----------------SArmstrong-----------Edozie------------------

-----------------------------Adams----------------------------

 

It's actually depressing trying to get a line up but this is as close to the team I'd want right now barring injuries to Tino, Lavia and McCarthy. AMN or Diallo - tough to know who gets that second CM spot without Lavia. I know people don't like the 3 CB system (nor do I particularly) but I still think with our personnel it suits us having the 3 decent CBs playing. I don't know what's happened to Aribo - I had high hopes for him when he signed. Otherwise I'd have him in for Stu.

 

Good God do we need a good transfer window...

[SotonianWill]

13 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

-------------------------Bazunu-----------------------------

-----------DCC-----------ABK-------------Salisu---------------

KWP------------JWP--------------AMN/Diallo---------Perraud

-----------------SArmstrong-----------Edozie------------------

-----------------------------Adams----------------------------

 

It's actually depressing trying to get a line up but this is as close to the team I'd want right now barring injuries to Tino, Lavia and McCarthy. AMN or Diallo - tough to know who gets that second CM spot without Lavia. I know people don't like the 3 CB system (nor do I particularly) but I still think with our personnel it suits us having the 3 decent CBs playing. I don't know what's happened to Aribo - I had high hopes for him when he signed. Otherwise I'd have him in for Stu.

 

Good God do we need a good transfer window...

Once again that 11/ formation gets run over in midfield, the two partnership of JWP with say a diallo/AMN had been the root cause of most attacks we face. 

[Chez]

2 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Ok I've guaranteed us a win now and Adams to score a hatrick as I've replaced him with in Mitrovic in my fantasy team.

I'm wondering who is best equipped to prevent Mitrovic bossing things. ABK, Salisu or CC. Seeing as both/all will ed up up one v one at some point, lets hope they all are fully on their game.

[Turkish]

23 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Harks back to a time when Frazier Richardson was touted as a DM for us….

and Dan Harding.

Maybe a front sweeper is the answer afterall?

[Saint86]

4 minutes ago, Chez said:

I'm wondering who is best equipped to prevent Mitrovic bossing things. ABK, Salisu or CC. Seeing as both/all will ed up up one v one at some point, lets hope they all are fully on their game.

ABK and Sali can handle mitrovic ffs. 

Our issue is we have no CDM to speak off. So our defence is going to be exposed down both flanks and through the middle. They're being led to the slaughter every game as it stands. 

Realistically if we're going to turn this around and survive, we need to be getting a draw here and beating forest. A failure to win either of these games and we're fooked.

And in reality, can I see a well honed Marco silva team losing to a low confidence Nathan Jones team... No. Its going to be a cake walk for silva/fulham - they beat Luton 7-0 last year 😬😑

Edited 30 December, 2022 by Saint86

[austsaint]

12 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

ABK and Sali can handle mitrovic ffs. 

Our issue is we have no CDM to speak off. So our defence is going to be exposed down both flanks and through the middle. They're being led to the slaughter every game as it stands. 

Realistically if we're going to turn this around and survive, we need to be getting a draw here and beating forest. A failure to win either of these games and we're fooked.

And in reality, can I see a well honed Marco silva team losing to a low confidence Nathan Jones team... No. Its going to be a cake walk for silva/fulham - they beat Luton 7-0 last year 😬😑

You've summed it up well - any two of Salisu, ABK and CC can easily take care of Mitrovic.  It's in midfield where we are open and porous - unless Lavia makes an appearance.     Most of all though, I look at Nathan Jones as our Manager and Silva as theirs!!!    

[Stubby]

Still can't find the press conference on the club website. How bad was it?

[SambaMaverick]

4 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Still can't find the press conference on the club website. How bad was it?

Bit strange how there is no mention of it at all on the official Twitter, etc.

Only snippets I've seen are these:

 

[Chez]

33 minutes ago, austsaint said:

You've summed it up well - any two of Salisu, ABK and CC can easily take care of Mitrovic. 

I wish I shared your confidence.

[SotonianWill]

2 minutes ago, Chez said:

I wish I shared your confidence.

couldn’t even stop our own goalkeeper scoring from a corner, can’t imagine they’d stop mitrovic. 

[Chez]

53 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

And in reality, can I see a well honed Marco silva team losing to a low confidence Nathan Jones team... 

We badly need to get some confidence from somewhere. Something needs to click in place, we need a great goal or a late come back or suchlike. This game is massive...the season will disappear so quickly. 

[austsaint]

9 minutes ago, Chez said:

I wish I shared your confidence.

You should.  the open gateway is our midfield (if Lavia doesn't play).

[saintscottofthenortham]

1 hour ago, SNSUN said:

-------------------------Bazunu-----------------------------

-----------DCC-----------ABK-------------Salisu---------------

KWP------------JWP--------------AMN/Diallo---------Perraud

-----------------SArmstrong-----------Edozie------------------

-----------------------------Adams----------------------------

 

It's actually depressing trying to get a line up but this is as close to the team I'd want right now barring injuries to Tino, Lavia and McCarthy. AMN or Diallo - tough to know who gets that second CM spot without Lavia. I know people don't like the 3 CB system (nor do I particularly) but I still think with our personnel it suits us having the 3 decent CBs playing. I don't know what's happened to Aribo - I had high hopes for him when he signed. Otherwise I'd have him in for Stu.

 

Good God do we need a good transfer window...

I'd sooner play Caballero CM over Diallo, because at least that would be a joke we could actually laugh at.

[Chez]

1 minute ago, austsaint said:

You should.  the open gateway is our midfield (if Lavia doesn't play).

like a revolving door. Although the woeful press is another issue and thats a team issue - something that should have been addressed on day one of NJs tenure.

[Smirking_Saint]

3 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Unfortunately our specialist midfielders are as effective as a chocolate fireguard as defensive midfielders and jones first priority is to make us harder to score against.

I say in lieu of wherefore art thou Romeo being available put the big man in there, he's good with the ball and can actually pass forward and is a wind up merchant and actually enjoys defending.

Play 4 at the back with him occasionally dropping back and make it a 5 when fulham attack and if its not working at HT then we have 5 subs to use.

I'd try and out muscle them in midfield to control the ball/defend better and let Armstrong and Edozie go on their running spree's trying to feed che and if they lose it we have a good chance to defend it.

                         Baz

KWP.    ABK.         Salisu.     Perraud

                     Lyanco

           JWP.             AMN

  S.Armstrong              Edozie

                      Adams

 

You need significantly more tactical awareness to play DM, its a hugely specific position, you need to be aware of where the space is, where your team mates are, where the opposition is. You need to be able to find a pass in the chaos

Just being able to tackle and head a ball simply isn’t enough

So no… imo Lyanco in midfield will be as disastrous as Stephens was

[Convict Colony]

2 hours ago, Chez said:

I'm wondering who is best equipped to prevent Mitrovic bossing things. ABK, Salisu or CC. Seeing as both/all will ed up up one v one at some point, lets hope they all are fully on their game.

I'd say DCC as a Croat he will have lifelong hatred of Serbs.

[Saint Billy]

I'm getting fed up with the other half asking "Have they lost again". 

[SNSUN]

4 hours ago, SotonianWill said:

Once again that 11/ formation gets run over in midfield, the two partnership of JWP with say a diallo/AMN had been the root cause of most attacks we face. 

If Lavia is out we're not blessed with options to partner our out-of-form best player. The other option is to play Stu there and another AM in his place further up which means we lose even more defensively in midfield but gain more in attack. 

[Chez]

1 hour ago, Saint Billy said:

I'm getting fed up with the other half asking "Have they lost again". 

I'm getting fed up of mine not even bothering to ask, it's just automatically assumed that we have lost again.

[Whitey Grandad]

4 minutes ago, Chez said:

I'm getting fed up of mine not even bothering to ask, it's just automatically assumed that we have lost again.

“I see that Saints are losing again”

”How do you know?”

”It’s five past three on a Saturday”

[egg]

1 minute ago, Whitey Grandad said:

“I see that Saints are losing again”

”How do you know?”

”It’s five past three on a Saturday”

My dad asks "who will your lot be losing to this week son". He's sweet like that. 

[Yorkshire Saint]

1. McCarthy or Willy if AM not fit.

2. KWP if Tino is not fit

3. Larios but KWP if Tino is fit

4. Carr as DM if Lavia not fit.

5. ABK

6. Salisu 

7. Edozie

8. JWP

9. A.Armstrong because we don't have a choice 

10. Adams

11. S.Armstrong 

4-1-3-2

 

[bpsaint]

1 hour ago, Yorkshire Saint said:

1. McCarthy or Willy if AM not fit.

2. KWP if Tino is not fit

3. Larios but KWP if Tino is fit

4. Carr as DM if Lavia not fit.

5. ABK

6. Salisu 

7. Edozie

8. JWP

9. A.Armstrong because we don't have a choice 

10. Adams

11. S.Armstrong 

4-1-3-2

 

We really are better just trying Ballard up front with Che at this point. There is absolutely nothing to gain by bothering with Armstrong anymore.

[SotonianWill]

10 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

We really are better just trying Ballard up front with Che at this point. There is absolutely nothing to gain by bothering with Armstrong anymore.

I mean it would help to see if he's decent at finishing or not. When was the last time he actually had a shot inside the box?

Edited 30 December, 2022 by SotonianWill

[Appy]

7 hours ago, SambaMaverick said:

Bit strange how there is no mention of it at all on the official Twitter, etc.

Only snippets I've seen are these:

 

It was done in the post match of the Brighton game, then the quotes for Fulham were released yesterday, there wasn’t a new presser. 

[Puelsarmy]

my team:-

--------------McCarthy------------

KWP ---  ABK  ----  Salisu ----- Perraud

------------  Lyanco   ------------

S Armstrong --- JWP--- AMN --- Edozie

------------  Adams ---------------

That gets beaten by just 2-0. 

With the exception of the last transfer window, we have bought poorly over a few seasons.  Tino was obviouly one that worked but many were strange decisions : Lyanco, Ely, A Armstrong, Walcott, Small, Simeu (these last 2 are so far off playing for the first team).  Also our players out on loan are sometimes not getting a game or are subs.  Need a clear out to make way for younger players coming through - Vokins, N'Lundulu, Ramsay - all not good enough.  Sean Dyche would have saved us....

[rooney]

50 minutes ago, Appy said:

It was done in the post match of the Brighton game, then the quotes for Fulham were released yesterday, there wasn’t a new presser. 

Never known that ever.Suspicious!

[Appy]

44 minutes ago, Puelsarmy said:

my team:-

--------------McCarthy------------

KWP ---  ABK  ----  Salisu ----- Perraud

------------  Lyanco   ------------

S Armstrong --- JWP--- AMN --- Edozie

------------  Adams ---------------

That gets beaten by just 2-0. 

With the exception of the last transfer window, we have bought poorly over a few seasons.  Tino was obviouly one that worked but many were strange decisions : Lyanco, Ely, A Armstrong, Walcott, Small, Simeu (these last 2 are so far off playing for the first team).  Also our players out on loan are sometimes not getting a game or are subs.  Need a clear out to make way for younger players coming through - Vokins, N'Lundulu, Ramsay - all not good enough.  Sean Dyche would have saved us....

You list Lyanco as a strange decision. 
 

But yeah, stick him in midfield. 

[CamSaint]

Lots of pics of Lavia & ABK in the training gallery on the official site. DCC, Salisu & Lyanco also feature. Quite a few of Willy, but none of McCarthy. Does that mean we're keeping Lavia but selling McCarthy? 😂

[The Cat]

Never realised there was an antique breadboard museum in Putney. 

Might have a wander around there on the way back to the car if we're 3-0 down at half time.

https://antiquebreadboards.com

 

[Saint86]

9 hours ago, Chez said:

I'm wondering who is best equipped to prevent Mitrovic bossing things. ABK, Salisu or CC. Seeing as both/all will ed up up one v one at some point, lets hope they all are fully on their game.

If we can't beat Forest on Wednesday we are down imo.

[Saint86]

8 hours ago, Chez said:

like a revolving door. Although the woeful press is another issue and thats a team issue - something that should have been addressed on day one of NJs tenure.

Does Nathan Jones press? I didn't realise this. I genuinely thought the tactic was to stand off with 5 at the back, wait for the opposition to give us the ball, and then hoof it 50yards and hope Che wins us possession before the oppo can recycle it...

[Saint Garrett]

36 minutes ago, CamSaint said:

Lots of pics of Lavia & ABK in the training gallery on the official site. DCC, Salisu & Lyanco also feature. Quite a few of Willy, but none of McCarthy. Does that mean we're keeping Lavia but selling McCarthy? 😂

Think Jones said Macca wasn’t fit.

[bangkoksaint]

24 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Think Jones said Macca wasn’t fit.

If that’s the case and we play Willy then Bazunu’s career could be heading in a similar way to Gunns. I hope it doesn’t but he never recovered after Leicester and losing your place to an ageing 3rd choice wouldn’t help his confidence 

[verlaine1979]

Surely when JWP+1 is getting overrun whoever we play alongside him, the answer is to play a compact, as-mobile-as-possible three in the middle? Isn't that one of the tricks Koeman used to arrest one of our slides back in the day? I seem to recall a game against Everton where he gave Reed a start to make the midfield harder to play through in a 3-5-2 and it worked well.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

3 hours ago, Puelsarmy said:

my team:-

--------------McCarthy------------

KWP ---  ABK  ----  Salisu ----- Perraud

------------  Lyanco   ------------

S Armstrong --- JWP--- AMN --- Edozie

------------  Adams ---------------

That gets beaten by just 2-0. 

Could we have JWP in the central defensive midfield role? Don't want to see AMN or Diallo anywhere near midfield - come to think of it, when they play, we don't see them anywhere near midfield - so instead have S.Armstrong and Mara tracking back and Edozie on the wing/up front with Che.

May just sneak a 1-0 away win 😉

 

[Saint Garrett]

1 hour ago, verlaine1979 said:

Surely when JWP+1 is getting overrun whoever we play alongside him, the answer is to play a compact, as-mobile-as-possible three in the middle? Isn't that one of the tricks Koeman used to arrest one of our slides back in the day? I seem to recall a game against Everton where he gave Reed a start to make the midfield harder to play through in a 3-5-2 and it worked well.

Think that was because we were missing someone, maybe Romeu and Wanyama; and had to play JWP, Reed and Davis as CMs. 

[verlaine1979]

6 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Think that was because we were missing someone, maybe Romeu and Wanyama; and had to play JWP, Reed and Davis as CMs. 

Yeah, I think the analogy to Lavia being missing is what sparked the memory. What we've got left in the squad isn't good enough to stick with a CM/DM two, so we should play three there instead.

[Harry_SFC]

Finnigan is a CDM and has been training with the first team for the last 6 weeks or so. Supposed to be quite highly rated. Might as well give him a go. 

[Reggie Rodway]

Anyone got a spare ticket for tomorrow? Can meet at gate before kick off £££

[Puelsarmy]

5 hours ago, Appy said:

You list Lyanco as a strange decision. 
 

But yeah, stick him in midfield. 

He was a strange decision to buy in the first place as he is not young and nor was he having enough talent to compete for a starting place. Like buying someone to be 4th choice - what's the point?  However, the reason to stick him in midfield is that he gets stuck in and no-one else does. We get over-run there and at least against Brighton he was trying to break up play (yeah I know he was then out of position). Perhaps we should drop JWP as he offers so little atm??

[alehouseboys]

6 hours ago, Reggie Rodway said:

Anyone got a spare ticket for tomorrow? Can meet at gate before kick off £££

Reggie, meet Warren…

https://www.saintsweb.co.uk/topic/59772-fulham-ticket-available/

 

Edited 31 December, 2022 by alehouseboys
Added link

[Convict Colony]

Ok no messing i expect our best players today - think he will go with 4-3-3, no need for 5 v fulham looking at their set up.

I pray we have Lavia and Bella back.

Edozie starts again and whoever is the other numpty choosen for the right doesnt revert to type.

CM could be anyone but would probably go for AMN and JWP.

[Pilchards]

4 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

Ok no messing i expect our best players today - think he will go with 4-3-3, no need for 5 v fulham looking at their set up.

I pray we have Lavia and Bella back.

Edozie starts again and whoever is the other numpty choosen for the right doesnt revert to type.

CM could be anyone but would probably go for AMN and JWP.

Would be nice if the players run into spaces when receiving the ball so we play more on the front foot.

Also I miss those days when we would go to Chelsea during the New Year period and dick them 4-2 with a Beattie hatrick.