Jack and Loz at the Cottage - Blog 74

Date: 24th February 2018

Opposition: Wolves

Score: 2-0

Weather: the sky over the river turned from blue to gold to pink to purple as the air became so cold you almost see it

Atmosphere: a packed Craven Cottage under the lights for a big match. The old ground was made for nights like this.

Opposition fans: the Wolves fans were numerous but not noisy in defeat. Perhaps they have got too used to seeing their team win - but who are we to criticise anyone for that?

MOTM (football): on the night that the Beast from the East arrived in England our own Beast from the East Aleksandar Mitrovic scored his first goal at Craven Cottage. A showman who feeds on the energy of the crowd and plays to the cameras, he charged straight to the Hammy End and thumped the badge in ecstasy. Mitro is what we have been missing. Strong, powerful and determined he made the first goal as well as scoring the second. Defences simply cannot handle his menacing threat.

MOTM (non-football): as well as being in the right place at the right time to score goals (Saturday being no exception) Ryan Sessegnon is also in the right place at the right time to celebrate goals - he always seems to be the first player to reach and celebrate with the scorer. There is a deeper reason for this than simple joy and youthful excitement perhaps - if we score enough goals and Fulham go up he can carry on playing for the club he loves.

Pub: we had celebratory noodles at Wagamamas

Wolves have had it all their own way this season. The ease with which they have dominated the Championship is very impressive and their now inevitable promotion is well-deserved. Whilst they have not won every single game those they have lost have been due to bad luck rather than bad football. They have been outmuscled but never outplayed. When they arrived at Craven Cottage on Saturday evening, however, all that was about to change.

Fulham came into the game on the back of an astounding 11 game unbeaten run and a series of 3 clean sheets at the Cottage. Whilst the match against the league leaders would be the hardest test of the season so far our advantage was that the pressure was off for a change - a draw against a team so superior to its rivals would be acceptable, a loss wouldn't be embarrassing.

On the basis of the first half, Sky had picked the right match to televise. A watching neutral would have been astonished at the quality of Championship football. For us, it was fantastic to watch Fulham play another team who play like we do - all about passing, possession and perfection. It was like a game of chess, if chess was a spectator sport played at dizzying speed - touching and moving, finding space, controlling the game, the disguised attack, the alert defence. Here were two teams who were well balanced and well matched; there was terrific teamwork on both sides; we spread the play the wide, Wolves raced through the middle; we pressured them and pushed them back, they counter attacked with alarming speed; we probed and danced, they circled and snarled; there was no hoofing, no head tennis, no ridiculously long throws - this was pure football.

Wolves are not winning the league by accident - they defend confidently, they tackle and intercept competitively, they attack like, well, a pack of wolves. They are simply very good. But Fulham were better. After the first goal our watching neutral would be wondering if he had read the table wrong because only one team looked like it was in a league of its own. After the second goal, Wolves, like Villa last week, had nothing left to offer (and less reason than Villa to continue to fight) and a 3 or 4-0 score line would not have been unjust.

We described the 6-0 thrashing of Burton as perfect but the Wolves game trumps that because of the calibre of the opposition. This was a flawless performance by every single Fulham player. As well as the Beast, we have to single out Ryan Fredericks who is being pushed by Cyrus Christie to new levels of attacking pace and defensive skill, Kevin McDonald for whom we have simply run out of superlatives and Tim Ream, contender for Man of the Match, Player of the Season and - words we never thought we'd write - best centre back in the League!

This was a brilliant match to watch and an even better one to win. The quality of the football in a packed Craven Cottage made it feel like a Premier League fixture. And next season it should be.

Random musings:-

- whilst no less than 6 Wolves outfield players were wearing gloves, no Fulham players were. Has Slav issued an edict that gloves are for losers?

- on the subject of our savant Serb, he got his main sub just right - Ayite, who had spent the game defending from the front in the Roy Hodgson approved manner, was tiring and Ojo was a handful when he came on. It was a shame not to see either AK or Kebano but in all honesty they weren't needed

- it was a good game for the ref who let things flow and caused no controversy. More like him please.

So 11 games unbeaten have become 12 and 3 clean sheets at the Cottage have become 4. The Cottage crenellations might be invisible but they're back: Fulham is a fortress once more. We often talk about the unpredictable nature of the Championship but something has become set in stone: come to Craven Cottage and you won't win.

So the question now is how far can we go? We are closing fast on 3rd and 4th but will 2nd place remain tantalisingly out of reach? One thing is for sure - if we do not go up in the form that we are in it will be a tragedy. We are ready for the Premier League. We are ready for the Beast and Matt Targett to sign permanently, we are ready for Ryan Sessegnon - One Club Man to become a reality. We are ready for the Big Clubs and the media suddenly (and finally!) so enamoured of Mousa Dembele to discover that he is nothing at all compared to Kevin McDonald.

The rest of the season is going to be one hell of a ride. Whatever happens, Fulham are the best team in the league. And the best club in the world.