Its a bit half-arsed but it gives a flavour of the Fulham squad and their recent form. Sorry I couldnt do a full analysis, have exams this week so didn't have much spare time.
You'd think Babel was a Fulham fan in a red jersey.
At the start of April, Fulham were 10th on 39 points and 9 clear of the relegation zone. However, they appear to have gone on holidays and in the last 5 games they have picked up only 1pt by drawing away at Villa and losing the other 4 and even managed to lose to Reading at home last week 4-2. Had Wigan won during the week, Fulham would only be 2pts clear of relegation. As it is, they are 5 clear with 6pts to play for so they should be safe.
Fulham's home record against Top 10 Teams is 3rd worst in the league with only 7pts - W2 D1 L6.
Liverpool's away record against Bottom 10 Teams is 3rd best with 17pts, level with Chelsea and City and 1 behind Spurs.
They are fairly reliable goalscorers at home, scoring in 14 of 18 league games. Liverpool have only scored in 13 of our 18 league games as a reference point. Another reference point is the Fulham have scored 27 goals at home in 18 games whereas Spurs have scored 28 goals at home in 18 games (Liverpool 32), so they have decent form for causing the opposition a problem when they go forward.
Their problem has been in defence where they have conceded the 4th most goals at home with 27 in 18 games keeping only 4 clean sheets. Again, a reference point is QPR who have conceded 1 less at home. They only reason they are not 3rd worst is because we recently put 6 past Newcastle which took them down to 3rd worst.
Fulham are yet to win a game after going behind this season, picking up only five draws from losing positions.
Away from home Liverpool have scored the 2nd most amount of goals (35) which is 1 behind Man Utd. Only 3 times have we failed to score on the road which were the opening day defeat to WBA (3-0) and two 0-0 draws at Swansea and Reading. However, 15 of our 35 goals came in 3 games (Wigan, Norwich, Newcastle).
- Riether has been in and out with injury, if he is out again it will probably be Manolev
- Riise could drop out for Richardson at left back
- Karagounis was taken off early last week for tactical reasons and Fulham brought on Rodallega and went 2 upfront but given it was against Reading, I dont think Jol will go 4-4-2. If Karagounis is dropped for form/fitness reasons, his back up is Frimpong.
- Our old boy, Kacaniklic, could get a start ahead of either winger.
- As you will from the scoring stats below, Rodallega is unlikely to start ahead of Berbatov.
Goalscorers & Assists
Berbatov has scored 13 goals with Rodallega only a disappointing 3. Ruiz is their 2nd top scorer with 5.
Their main source of assists has come from Duff (7), Ruiz (6) and Berbatov (3)
Transfers & Squad depth
Fulham paid just £4.5 million to United for Berbatov - great value for 13 goals and 3 assists. Fulham also brought in Kieran Richardson. Their final signing in the Summer was Ashkan Dejagah, a winger from Wolfsburg who is out for the rest of the season.
Fulham lost Dempsey and Dembele at the end of the window and Danny Murphy turned down a 1 year extension for 2 years at Blackburn. It left them weak in midfield at the start of the season with just Sidwell, Diarra and Richardson with Chris Baird filling in. They were in for the Ghanian midfielder Derek Boateng from Dnipro which fell through, Jordan Henderson declined a year long loan move, Charlie Adam turned them down whilst they were close to getting Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacios on deadline day. In a desperate bid to add a midfielder, they signed 35 year old Karagounis in September after the Greek was released by Panathanoitkos.
To add bodies to the midfield and the squad, Fulham engaged in patch-work by loaning in 4 players in January and buying none;
- Emmanuel Frimpong joined until the end of the season but he has only has a few sub appearances,
- Urby Emanuelson joined from Milan also until the end of the season,
- Stanislav Manolev who can play in midfield but has largely filled in at right back joined PSV
- Eyong Enoh is a Cameroon international and joined on loan from Ajax where he previously worked under Jol when he was coach there.
Fulham have the option to sign Enoh at the end of the season and he has largely come in the last 7-8 games as the replacement for Steve Sidwell. Based on 'per game averages', he is close to being their top tackler, top intercepter and top fouler - Sidwell ranks high in these stats as well. Here is a brief account of his performance vs Chelsea in their 3-0 home defeat '......The best Fulham player on the pitch by a longshot, Enoh was physical, accurate, and looked like he was trying a whole hell of a lot harder than anyone else under Martin Jol’s command. Enoh finished 48/49 passing and was 5-for-5 in tackle attempts, committing only 2 fouls.
It was recently speculated in the media that Martin Jol lacks financial backing by the Fulham backers for the coming transfer window, and as a result both he and Dimitar Berbatov could leave this summer. There is some concern amongst the fanbase that, if it happens, it would be the 2nd straight managerial departure due to financial reasons. The self-destruction and fall of Mark Hughes began when he shocked Fulham by leaving, without another job secured, partly for the same reasons being suggested this time around.
Fulham fans feel that the recent Top 10 finishes, the Europa Cup run in 2010, the new TV deal is not consistent with the financial blueprint of a club that is relying on free-transfers and loan deals to get players on the pitch.
Depending on their close-season, they might be one to watch out for relegation next year as an outside bet.
You'd think Babel was a Fulham fan in a red jersey.
At the start of April, Fulham were 10th on 39 points and 9 clear of the relegation zone. However, they appear to have gone on holidays and in the last 5 games they have picked up only 1pt by drawing away at Villa and losing the other 4 and even managed to lose to Reading at home last week 4-2. Had Wigan won during the week, Fulham would only be 2pts clear of relegation. As it is, they are 5 clear with 6pts to play for so they should be safe.
Fulham's home record against Top 10 Teams is 3rd worst in the league with only 7pts - W2 D1 L6.
Liverpool's away record against Bottom 10 Teams is 3rd best with 17pts, level with Chelsea and City and 1 behind Spurs.
They are fairly reliable goalscorers at home, scoring in 14 of 18 league games. Liverpool have only scored in 13 of our 18 league games as a reference point. Another reference point is the Fulham have scored 27 goals at home in 18 games whereas Spurs have scored 28 goals at home in 18 games (Liverpool 32), so they have decent form for causing the opposition a problem when they go forward.
Their problem has been in defence where they have conceded the 4th most goals at home with 27 in 18 games keeping only 4 clean sheets. Again, a reference point is QPR who have conceded 1 less at home. They only reason they are not 3rd worst is because we recently put 6 past Newcastle which took them down to 3rd worst.
Fulham are yet to win a game after going behind this season, picking up only five draws from losing positions.
Away from home Liverpool have scored the 2nd most amount of goals (35) which is 1 behind Man Utd. Only 3 times have we failed to score on the road which were the opening day defeat to WBA (3-0) and two 0-0 draws at Swansea and Reading. However, 15 of our 35 goals came in 3 games (Wigan, Norwich, Newcastle).
Schwarzer
Riether Senderos Hangeland Riise
Duff Karagounis Enoh Emanuelson
Ruiz
Berbatov
Riether Senderos Hangeland Riise
Duff Karagounis Enoh Emanuelson
Ruiz
Berbatov
- Riether has been in and out with injury, if he is out again it will probably be Manolev
- Riise could drop out for Richardson at left back
- Karagounis was taken off early last week for tactical reasons and Fulham brought on Rodallega and went 2 upfront but given it was against Reading, I dont think Jol will go 4-4-2. If Karagounis is dropped for form/fitness reasons, his back up is Frimpong.
- Our old boy, Kacaniklic, could get a start ahead of either winger.
- As you will from the scoring stats below, Rodallega is unlikely to start ahead of Berbatov.
Goalscorers & Assists
Berbatov has scored 13 goals with Rodallega only a disappointing 3. Ruiz is their 2nd top scorer with 5.
Their main source of assists has come from Duff (7), Ruiz (6) and Berbatov (3)
Transfers & Squad depth
Fulham paid just £4.5 million to United for Berbatov - great value for 13 goals and 3 assists. Fulham also brought in Kieran Richardson. Their final signing in the Summer was Ashkan Dejagah, a winger from Wolfsburg who is out for the rest of the season.
Fulham lost Dempsey and Dembele at the end of the window and Danny Murphy turned down a 1 year extension for 2 years at Blackburn. It left them weak in midfield at the start of the season with just Sidwell, Diarra and Richardson with Chris Baird filling in. They were in for the Ghanian midfielder Derek Boateng from Dnipro which fell through, Jordan Henderson declined a year long loan move, Charlie Adam turned them down whilst they were close to getting Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacios on deadline day. In a desperate bid to add a midfielder, they signed 35 year old Karagounis in September after the Greek was released by Panathanoitkos.
To add bodies to the midfield and the squad, Fulham engaged in patch-work by loaning in 4 players in January and buying none;
- Emmanuel Frimpong joined until the end of the season but he has only has a few sub appearances,
- Urby Emanuelson joined from Milan also until the end of the season,
- Stanislav Manolev who can play in midfield but has largely filled in at right back joined PSV
- Eyong Enoh is a Cameroon international and joined on loan from Ajax where he previously worked under Jol when he was coach there.
Fulham have the option to sign Enoh at the end of the season and he has largely come in the last 7-8 games as the replacement for Steve Sidwell. Based on 'per game averages', he is close to being their top tackler, top intercepter and top fouler - Sidwell ranks high in these stats as well. Here is a brief account of his performance vs Chelsea in their 3-0 home defeat '......The best Fulham player on the pitch by a longshot, Enoh was physical, accurate, and looked like he was trying a whole hell of a lot harder than anyone else under Martin Jol’s command. Enoh finished 48/49 passing and was 5-for-5 in tackle attempts, committing only 2 fouls.
It was recently speculated in the media that Martin Jol lacks financial backing by the Fulham backers for the coming transfer window, and as a result both he and Dimitar Berbatov could leave this summer. There is some concern amongst the fanbase that, if it happens, it would be the 2nd straight managerial departure due to financial reasons. The self-destruction and fall of Mark Hughes began when he shocked Fulham by leaving, without another job secured, partly for the same reasons being suggested this time around.
Fulham fans feel that the recent Top 10 finishes, the Europa Cup run in 2010, the new TV deal is not consistent with the financial blueprint of a club that is relying on free-transfers and loan deals to get players on the pitch.
Depending on their close-season, they might be one to watch out for relegation next year as an outside bet.
