Post by Ghostrider on Aug 11, 2016 10:47:51 GMT
Talk about a damp squib.
We all looked forward to a fresh start and all had high hopes of seeing some slick football with power and pace from the new boys, coupled with the class we already have and we got a misfiring starter pistol.
It's my fault for getting ahead of myself and I suppose it's Rafa's and the players fault for probably not taking this game as serious as they should have. This is how I saw it anyway.
I think we committed the cardinal sin of going there and believing turning up was all that was needed. I think too many players bought into the Newcastle United recent premier quality against championship title no hopers who have lost their star striker, etc.
Weirdly when the game kicked off I thought, " hmmm we look quick and fired right up." I honestly thought that this was a game we had little chance of losing. I think the players believed it as well; especially the way Fulham played in the early part of the game.
The problem was, we started hitting long balls far too often and trying to play slick through balls that were woefully short of any quality.
Fulham possessed what we should have. They possessed a 90 plus minute attitude of all in it together mentality and a die for the cause man on man marking that basically pacified us.
We had a stone wall penalty turned down and possibly another, as well as a few chances - one from Ritchie (who is going to be a class act for us) that he should have actually done better from but we paid the price for a lapse in defence from a dead ball situation.
We got nothing from the game because we simply didn't play well as a unit and also many individuals just weren't up for the fight.
Having said that, I don't think Fulham will play much better all season and yet we were literally unlucky to come away empty handed. We deserved a point even if we did play crap.
One away game down. A one nil defeat on the first day of the season out of 46 games overall. We will get better. We will gel in squad terms and fitness terms, as well as togetherness for the fight ahead.
Rafa will make a few errors as we go but I believe he will learn extremely quickly and address them immediately; something many of our previous managers failed to do.
Onto the next game against Huddersfield at home. Let's see what we have to offer, because we've got a hell of a strong squad quality now.
We will go from strength to strength from here on in. Rafa will have read the riot act on that game, so I doubt many repeats of that will ensue. I can see us enjoying an exciting season ahead and a end of season promotion as champions.
We all looked forward to a fresh start and all had high hopes of seeing some slick football with power and pace from the new boys, coupled with the class we already have and we got a misfiring starter pistol.
It's my fault for getting ahead of myself and I suppose it's Rafa's and the players fault for probably not taking this game as serious as they should have. This is how I saw it anyway.
I think we committed the cardinal sin of going there and believing turning up was all that was needed. I think too many players bought into the Newcastle United recent premier quality against championship title no hopers who have lost their star striker, etc.
Weirdly when the game kicked off I thought, " hmmm we look quick and fired right up." I honestly thought that this was a game we had little chance of losing. I think the players believed it as well; especially the way Fulham played in the early part of the game.
The problem was, we started hitting long balls far too often and trying to play slick through balls that were woefully short of any quality.
Fulham possessed what we should have. They possessed a 90 plus minute attitude of all in it together mentality and a die for the cause man on man marking that basically pacified us.
We had a stone wall penalty turned down and possibly another, as well as a few chances - one from Ritchie (who is going to be a class act for us) that he should have actually done better from but we paid the price for a lapse in defence from a dead ball situation.
We got nothing from the game because we simply didn't play well as a unit and also many individuals just weren't up for the fight.
Having said that, I don't think Fulham will play much better all season and yet we were literally unlucky to come away empty handed. We deserved a point even if we did play crap.
One away game down. A one nil defeat on the first day of the season out of 46 games overall. We will get better. We will gel in squad terms and fitness terms, as well as togetherness for the fight ahead.
Rafa will make a few errors as we go but I believe he will learn extremely quickly and address them immediately; something many of our previous managers failed to do.
Onto the next game against Huddersfield at home. Let's see what we have to offer, because we've got a hell of a strong squad quality now.
We will go from strength to strength from here on in. Rafa will have read the riot act on that game, so I doubt many repeats of that will ensue. I can see us enjoying an exciting season ahead and a end of season promotion as champions.