A new look, more expansive, Fulham team arrive at Loftus Road fresh from victory against Newcastle and with Dimitar Berbatov wowing the crowds at Craven Cottage.
Well, of all the teams QPR wanted to see rolling into Loftus Road this weekend to lord it over the current W12 train wreck I’d suggest Fulham would be somewhere near the bottom of the list. Fulham who lost Mark Hughes and replaced him with Martin Jol, sold Bobby Zamora for £6m and replaced him with Dimitar Berbatov on a free transfer, allowed Andy Johnson to leave and brought in Mladen Petric instead versus QPR who gleefully handed blank cheques to all three of those departures and are yet to win a league match this season in 16 attempts. They’re going to laugh at us aren’t they?
Somebody rather cruelly called up a thread on the message board this week started on the day that Ji Sung Park signed for QPR from Manchester United for, what seemed at the time, a bargain £2m. I was straight in there, describing it as a superb signing, and plenty of others followed with even the foolhardy talk of a potential push for European places among the chat. Fear not, I’ve kept a link to the thread where somebody has a go at me for my attitude when I called him up on his “could we make the top four this season?” prediction just in case the natives make me look too stupid.
There is also, somewhere in the murky depths of Twitter, a suggestion from me that Dimitar Berbatov and his £120,000 Old Trafford wage packet would not have been a good signing for QPR. Watching him for Fulham against Newcastle on Monday evening – wearing tights it should be pointed out – was like watching an artist at work, stretching out his leg every now and again like a paintbrush to delicately pull impossible balls out of the night sky and quickly move them onto a team mate in a dangerous position. He rarely got above walking speed, and was the best player on the field by a country mile.
But, this doesn’t necessarily mean he would have been a good signing for Rangers. Admittedly Harry Redknapp’s striking options have been left so limited by Mark Hughes’ bizarre decision to omit DJ Campbell from his 25 man squad that even former Scunthorpe and Northampton target man John Gayle (now aged 48 and not much good when he was 26) might be a good signing for Rangers given that he is actually a striker but what QPR were guilty of with Zamora and others was trying to run before they could really walk. Had they signed Berbatov as well they’d have been trying to sprint from a sitting down start.
Fulham have had to earn the right to sign players like Berbatov over ten years of steady building in the Premier League. They’ve had moments of lavish spending – Steve Marlet for £12m the epitome of that Viz transfer-window gag about sitting in the work canteen until 30 seconds before it closes and then paying £15 for a pot noodle – and near misses, most notably after they’d stupidly appointed Lawrie Sanchez as manager. But under first Roy Hodgson, and then Mark Hughes, they solidified their place in the league while investing heavily in the academy set up. Makes you wonder why Hughes didn’t realise the same was required at Loftus Road doesn’t it?
Martin Jol was left with no small task when he took over at Craven Cottage 18 months ago. For a start the bizarre decision to qualify teams for the very preliminary rounds of Europe through the fair Play league meant he was appointed just days before his first competitive match, and also then later had to cope with the inevitable fatigue brought about by starting your competitive season at the end of June. Add in the fact that much of the Fulham team was ageing and needed replacing – Jol inherited a strike force of Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora backed by a central midfield of Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu and none of them are still at the club less than two years later. He’s also taken it upon himself to change the style of play from a conservative system based on not losing rather than winning, not getting relegated rather than pushing forward, into a more expansive, creative, attractive shape. For this, Berbatov is perfect and has slotted right in.
When Mark Hughes said post-Man City away in May that QPR would never be in the same position again while he was in charge, he was rather arrogantly surmising that QPR had done in 12 fraught months what Fulham had done over the course of a decade: consolidated their position in the Premier League. I’m surprised he didn’t go for Berbatov to be perfectly honest because having survived only by the skin of their teeth last season QPR embarked on a summer transfer splurge that was not only wholly excessive in the number of players brought in, but was also more befitting of a team that was well established in the league and had earned the right to not consider itself a relegation candidate.
Fulham are there now, so much so that people wonder what’s going on when they don’t win for seven matches even when the run includes draws at Chelsea and Arsenal. I should imagine Mohammed Al Fayed shall quite enjoy his trip to Loftus Road this weekend, although perhaps not quite as much as he would have done if Mark Hughes was still in the home dugout.
We’ve acquired a few Fulham fans on our message board of late – coincidence that QPR are doing dreadfully just as that happens I’m sure – so we decided to make use of one of them and ask Alex for some insight into his team ahead of this weekend’s game. We thank him for taking the time to speak with us.
A bright start, then a bit of a trough in form lately. Assess Fulham's season so far for us and why things have gone awry recently.
This season has been a real departure from previous seasons in that having moved away from an over-reliance on maintaining our shape and organisation under Hughes and Hodgson, Jol’s more fluent and exciting brand of football has begun to take shape. As a result of this, however, we’ve conceded considerably more goals than usual, with many of those coming in the latter stages of games. In terms of recent results, although we didn’t win for several games there were important away draws at Chelsea and Arsenal (albeit while conceding three at Arsenal) within that run of games. Overall we are now much more adventurous in our play and look to attack teams whether at home or away rather than strategically playing for draws.
What have you made of the job Martin Jol has done? He seems to have changed the entire spine of the team around since he took over and it's been very much my way or high way for people like Zamora.
Martin Jol has dramatically changed our style of play and definitely made us more entertaining to watch, but also - particularly away from home - a tougher prospect for the opposition. Rather than facing a fairly straightforward 4-4-2 set-up, teams have had to work out how to deal with mercurial characters such as Berbatov and Ruiz in a much more fluid system. We have lost some significant players, but in the cases of Dempsey and Dembele had no option but to sell them to Tottenham: Dembele had also made it clear that he wanted to move to a bigger club, and Dempsey went on strike seemingly to secure a better contract elsewhere. Zamora always seemed to have a strange attitude towards the fans - his trademark ‘ear-cupping’ celebration didn’t really endear him to us and most fans were happy to see him go on the basis that he didn’t seem to want to be there. Losing Murphy and Etuhu, though, has probably had a more significant impact on the team as they provided a defensive know-how in midfield which has been lacking at times. Overall, the fans have a lot of respect for Jol and have supported him in his handling of the big egos.
What is the medium to long term aims for Fulham? There's talk of some stadium redevelopment but are you too reliant on Al Fayed? How are the finances?
Planning permission has been granted for an extension of the Riverside Stand which will increase the capacity to about 30,000 and open up a public walkway alongside the river. There doesn’t seem to be an immediate plan for this work to start, but it does seem a very realistic prospect. Although the club does have an overall debt, this is underwritten personally by Al Fayed and operationally we are run on a stable footing although I agree that this could be interpreted as an over reliance on one person. That said he has done nothing so far to suggest he would let us down (bizarre monuments excluded) and there is a generally high level of trust in him as chairman.
Where are the key strengths in the team at the moment and who are the players to watch? Where are the weak links and what do you need to add in January?
Our key strengths this season have definitely been in attack, and Dimitar Berbatov has been a class apart. We are currently missing Bryan Ruiz but have other decent attacking options in Rodallega, Petric and Duff. Steve Sidwell has also had an impressive season in midfield, although I would identify central midfield as the one area which still needs improvement after Murphy and Etuhu’s departures to Blackburn; Karagounis was a good player in his time but now seems off the pace so we might need to sign a new holding midfielder in January.
Fulham really seem to have piled resources into the academy in recent years - any signs of that bearing fruit? Who should we be looking out for in seasons to come?
Some very good players have emerged from the academy in recent seasons, including Kerim Frei and Alexander Kacanaklic who are both talented attacking midfielders. Marcello Trotta is another young forward who was successful in a loan spell at Wycombe and has made a couple of impressive first team appearances. The most surprising recent academy signing was a 17 Year-old called Moussa Dembele (no relation to the Tottenham player!). Dan Burn, the young centre-back signed from Darlington’s youth system, also seems to be a good prospect.
And I suppose I should give you a chance to gloat about Zamora, Hughes et al. What have you made of our car crash? Try and keep it civil.
Mark Hughes was a good manager for us but in terms of his commitment to the job, I think alarm bells should have sounded in chairmen’s minds when he walked out on us after a year citing ‘ambition’ as the reason. Randy Lerner didn’t shortlist him for the Villa job as a result of this and I think Tony Fernandes probably should have taken his cue. To be honest, we would have loved him to still be in charge of QPR on Saturday in order to have another go at him and also because, given your recent performances, Harry seems so much more adept at getting the best out of the team. We’re expecting a very tough game on Saturday and it would be ‘Fulhamish’ to face you just as your fortunes are beginning to change (you have to score against us at some point, surely).
Now having sat down to watch Fulham play against Newcastle on Monday night I noted from the team sheet that Chris Baird – ostensibly a full back or centre half – had been picked in the middle of midfield. I assumed that this was done with left back John Arne Riise in mind as the Norwegian has never been shy of bombing forward and with young Alex Kacaniklic in front of him perhaps Martin Jol had decided that having Baird to shuffle in behind them while they went gallivanting off down the field wouldn’t be a bad option against a Newcastle team that started with a very positive, attacking line up that included Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse and Hatem Ben Arfa in a classy three man attack.
Attacking down the left seemed to be a very shrewd option for the home team given that Ba and Ciise – out and out strikers really – took it in turns to shuffle over to the Newcastle right potentially leaving their full back exposed while on the other side they not only had a more orthodox winger in Ben Arfa, but a decent left back in Davide Santon and a third supporting player Jonas Gutierrez who has proved very adept as a sort of second full back against teams with good right wingers in the past. With Damien Duff, left footed by playing wide right, Fulham’s main outlet down that side I thought we were all set for a lopsided evening favouring the Fulham left.
Not so, and here’s where Fulham can be a tricky side to play against because they just have so many strings to their bow. I actually doubt Riise’s kit needed washing at the end of the evening, so little did he see of the ball. Instead Jol pinpointed Duff’s direct running and high work rate as a potential source of joy against Santon who, shall we say, has a rather Gallic attitude to hard work when the going gets tough. In an effort to cover his full back, Fabricio Coloccini often found himself dragged out of the centre half position which in turn meant Dimitar Berbatov was left with only the meagre opposition of Mike Williamson to deal with. It was a tactical masterclass, and Fulham scored both their goals down that side of the pitch after defensive mistakes.
The other key element to the game was the return of Brede Hangeland, the classy Norwegian centre back fresh from his first ever suspension in the English game after four years and almost 200 matches at centre back – he was rather harshly dismissed for a two footed tackle against Sunderland a couple of weeks back. Fulham have conceded 27 goals this season – QPR have shipped 29 – and have lost more points from winning positions than any other side. But the difference Hangeland makes to them is immense – he coped splendidly with Ba and Ciise and then when Alan Pardew decided to really up the physicality and replace Ben Arfa with Shola Ameobi his team completely disappeared as an attacking force with Hangeland barely breaking a sweat. Watch out for him at set pieces too – arriving late, beyond the penalty spot, ready to stride onto outswinging deliveries from Duff. A marker, and a man to block his run, would be advisable.
In fact it was hard to pick fault with Fulham in this match. Berbatov was outstanding but the sheer volume of work put in by his striking partner Hugo Rodallega laid the platform for him to perform on – it was very Ian Holloway and Ray Wilkins like. Sidwell and Baird provided excellent cover for their full backs in defensive situations and although Kacaniklic was poor and substituted, and goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer had a very uncomfortable night with his clearances, they looked an excellent all round team. Hard to believe they hadn’t scored for five hours prior to this game and impossible to see them going as long again anytime soon.
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