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Fulham 0-1 Saints - Reaction


Lighthouse

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Decent enough win in what should've been a routine game, thought we looked disjointed first half but improved hugely in the second. Shame about Redmond, didn't look good from where i was standing, especially as he pulled up with no one around him by the looks of things.

 

I'm quick to have a go at our away support but last night i thought they were superb, not just the usual Oh When The Saints on repeat. Although jesus it was hot, i mean i know Fulham are a posh club but putting on a free sauna for the away fans was a bit much wasn't it?

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Anyone managed to find any highlights anywhere?

 

Edit: Found them...

 

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/competitions/carabao-cup/11795732/fulham-0-1-southampton

 

Terrible finishing. Really should have been 4-0.

 

You’re absolutely right, wow. Ings in particular needs to find his shooting boots, we cannot afford to keep squandering chances like that. It’s really been a feature of our game over the last few years.

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I thought Danso was very good - better than Vestergaard. Mousa and Boufal had exciting moments but lacked composure at critical moments to find a pass or decent shot.

 

It may be that when playing at high speed with a high press and their engines at peak revs, their thinking process is so fast that their finishing is also too hurried. It cannot be easy to suddenly slow down the adrenalin flow and give yourself a second or so to think through your options before shooting. Such composure is not available at the switch of a tap.

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It was hot, Saints not great in the first half but improved in the second half and should have scored more, nice to get another win away from home and into the next round of the cup. Really felt for Redmond that injury did not look good from where I was standing. Our away support was 100% better than the horrorshow that was Burnley away. Nice to hear more songs being sung and people having a laugh.

 

My god it was hot

 

"I left my 'ome in 'ampshire..."

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Hope the injuries aren't too bad. Can anyone advise on how Danso, Mousa and Boufal played?

 

Danso wasn't tested too much but did alright. Quick and fine in the air against fairly poor opposition but I do remember him getting moved out of the way quite easily in a race for the ball.

 

Djenepo wasn't in the game first half because we could hardly get the ball out to the attackers. Second half he was lively, particularly once he moved to the right. Some lovely touches.

 

Boufal was crap. Lost the ball time and time again by trying something tricky when there was a simple pass on.

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Danso wasn't tested too much but did alright. Quick and fine in the air against fairly poor opposition but I do remember him getting moved out of the way quite easily in a race for the ball.

 

Djenepo wasn't in the game first half because we could hardly get the ball out to the attackers. Second half he was lively, particularly once he moved to the right. Some lovely touches.

 

Boufal was crap. Lost the ball time and time again by trying something tricky when there was a simple pass on.

 

Tosh!

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I assume you mean the Boufal bit. Count how many times he lost the ball!

 

I think fans like him because he's unusual and his tricks are great fun when they work. But compare that to Redmond, whose positioning and ability to run into space are less attractive but infinitely more effective.

 

Boufal had more slips than shots last night (on one of the driest days of the year!) and gave the ball away countless times. I accept that we need these players to take risks but he was doing it on the half way line when a ball wide would have taken out the defender he was trying to nutmeg or whatever.

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I assume you mean the Boufal bit. Count how many times he lost the ball!

 

I think fans like him because he's unusual and his tricks are great fun when they work. But compare that to Redmond, whose positioning and ability to run into space are less attractive but infinitely more effective.

 

Boufal had more slips than shots last night (on one of the driest days of the year!) and gave the ball away countless times. I accept that we need these players to take risks but he was doing it on the half way line when a ball wide would have taken out the defender he was trying to nutmeg or whatever.

 

I think he started well, and ended strongly too, but towards of the end of the first half and particularly most of the second he was frustrating. That's where the decision making comes in - not necessarily to do with his final ball but rather when the ball arrives at his feet his first instinct is to do something clever with it rather than getting the ball under control or making a first time pass. You don't want to coach the flair out of a player like Boufal, he actually causes a bit of excitment, and from an attacking player I would rather have someone who does some great things and some poor things than someone consistently average. But there are certainly still things for him to work on.

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I think he started well, and ended strongly too, but towards of the end of the first half and particularly most of the second he was frustrating. That's where the decision making comes in - not necessarily to do with his final ball but rather when the ball arrives at his feet his first instinct is to do something clever with it rather than getting the ball under control or making a first time pass. You don't want to coach the flair out of a player like Boufal, he actually causes a bit of excitment, and from an attacking player I would rather have someone who does some great things and some poor things than someone consistently average. But there are certainly still things for him to work on.

 

Give me Boufal over El Younoussi every day of the week

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First half was pretty poor, Fulham could have been ahead at HT, but neither side looked particularly great. We looked threatening when we finally did get into attacking areas but didn't happen very often. We were playing a 4-2-2-2 which sometimes turned to a 4-4-2. Second half was generally better, and for the last 20-30 minutes we were dominant. Couldn't put the game to bed though despite a number of good chances. You would expect a forward to put one of Ings' chances away and I would expect any professional footballer to score Romeu's chance, albeit the keeper made a good save.

 

You can see the press starting to work more effectively, particularly near the end of the game when Fulham were tiring. You can see the rest of the team creeping up ready to pounce when the opposition defenders get hemmed in to a corner, for example. I think we will see a lot of games where we don't look very good, but we will create chances out of doggedness as well as individual moments of inspiration. You can also see how important the full backs are in this system as the rest of the team creates very little width. Our left hand side really suffered because we had Hojbjerg there, who is right footed, not quick and not familiar with that position (although he did actually play well purely from a reliable defensive point of view!)

 

Danso had an early test against Kamara and failed. After Kamara knocked it past him, Danso looked to have the pace and strength to get back, but then gave up the ground again and ended up with a deserved yellow card. After 6 minutes. But he didn't do a lot wrong after that to be fair to him, and won some commanding headers throughout the game. Don't think it was a big enough test to draw any conclusions, but there were some encouraging signs.

 

I thought Cedric was pretty good and linked up well with Boufal in the first half. Hojbjerg was solid at left back, but it stalled any attacks down that side as he was always cutting inside to make a pass. This meant Djenepo was out of the game and didn't do much until he switched wings in the second half. As mentioned above, Boufal had some great moments but also patches where he kept trying something too fancy. Interestingly there was a moment in the last 15 mins when he perhaps lost it one too many times and opted to pass it to Hojbjerg instead - who in turn gave it straight back. After this happening several times Boufal reverted to his normal self and starting dribbling again (more successful ones from then on though)

 

Redmond did well but finishing was pretty poor. That being said his injury is worrying and will be a big loss.

 

I thought Obafemi was pretty poor until his goal, and of course then picked up an injury. Obviously he is still young but he struggled to hold the ball up and bring others into play. His game strikes me as more of a 'nuisance' forward, like Long. Having said that, he did well for the goal by pointing to space and making the late dart into space. Redmond did well to see it and pick out the pass.

 

Ings looked tenacious and dangerous, but worringly couldn't score. He decided to cut inside on one chance, but I thought he was right footed and it was there to strike with his right. Long actually won some good headers and it made a difference, but then he fluffed a chance in a fashion we have come to expect.

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it was Fulhams second string ffs dont get carried away there.....we gave plenty of early chances ....

 

Cup football has always ben about XI v XI and who wants it most on the night, whatever the 'status' of the individuals. That's why everyone loves cup football because you never know what's going to happen.

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