Jack and Loz at the Cottage - Blog 293

Date: 22nd December 2024

Opposition: Southampton

Score: 0-0

Weather: folks dressed up like Eskimos

Atmosphere: all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile

MOTM: Oh come all ye Fulham faithful, come and behold him - and what a sight it was: Josh King made the most of his first Premier League start, racing around the pitch with youthful energy, refusing to be bullied off the ball by bigger players and trying to make things happen. On a dull, flat afternoon our bright shining star gave Fulham fans hope for a very exciting future

Lunch: Pret

Post-match hot chocolate: Costa

In the words of the noted football pundits Jay Livingstone and Ray Evans:

“Silva bells, Silva bells, it’s Christmas time in the city.”

Unfortunately the match before Christmas tends to be a frustrating affair for Fulham fans - in 2021 we risked Omicron to watch a 0-1 loss to Sheffield United and in 2023 it was beginning to look a lot like Fulham with a 0-2 loss to Burnley.

And it’s not just nightmares before Christmas which is a common theme here - Fulham often struggle against weaker teams. Especially recently. Since our dire loss to Wolves in November we haven’t been beaten - a stellar achievement considering the fact we’ve faced some of the best clubs in Europe (and Spurs).

So Saints, with a new manager to impress as well as seasonal and league position advantages would be a challenge.

The team named to meet that challenge was, to put it mildly, a surprising one. Whilst Fulham fans were pleased with the inclusion of Josh King, we hadn’t anticipated a midfield three of Josh, Tom and Berge. Of course, Andreas was suspended, but we were surprised to hear ESR was suffering from a knock - perhaps he bumped into Marco’s office door on his way out of a meeting to discuss playing football with a bit more effort…..

Because it’s Christmas (thank God it’s Christmas) and we are mulled wine glass half full fans, we will endeavour to be positive.

This was a very good performance by the defence. Whilst Leno had so little to do he was doing plyometrics to keep warm, Issa Diop maintained his high standards to the point where he’s putting himself in contention for Player of the Season. Bassey was lively, solid in defence and making more forays forward than some of his attacking colleagues. Although Antonee wasn’t as imperious as he’s been recently he was still sprinting to the by-line and flinging in crosses while Castagne was as consistent as ever.

And, as we’ve already said Josh King was energetic, impactful and a joy to watch - he’ll go down in Fulham history.

We’ve now run out of positive things to say.

Tom looked rusty, misplacing passes and reacting too slowly. Harry and Alex seemed to think the match was a light-hearted festive shooting practise where it was fun to get the ball close to the target but there’d be a forfeit to pay if you scored. Berge was busy but uninspired and…..was there a striker on the pitch? We’re not sure. Certainly no one got on the end of any of Antonee’s crosses.

Things didn’t improve in the second half. The team looked disjointed and sluggish, shooting became less frequent but no less wild and our nerves were tested when Southampton won a series of free kicks and corners. They’d come to play for the draw (and who can blame them) and their football had a definite whiff of the Championship about it with head tennis and hoofed balls. But we couldn’t break them down. Most of our “attacks” comprised slow, easy-to-read passes around the box which became increasingly painful to watch.

Then Marco’s subs philosophy, which we have occasionally questioned, took an experimental turn. First, he brought off Josh, who was our best player. Then he brought on Raúl about 20 minutes later than he should have done. Then he realised the team was devoid of life without Josh so brought on Martial Godo. Martial was speedy and industrious but couldn’t provide a break-through. Meanwhile, Adama was also speedy and industrious but he couldn’t provide a breakthrough either.

Matters deteriorated further when Berge was injured - we didn’t seen what happened but someone must have taken a bite out of him. Later, his replacement, Sasa Lukić was injured too but managed to stagger on.

Peak Experimental Philosophy was reached as the game drew to a dull and ugly close and Marco brought on Carlos Vinicius - once the vanquisher of Chelsea, now the forgotten man (literally, in the case of some of our neighbours). At that point, no one knew what the formation was supposed to be, least of all the players, and no one cared either. Vini had one almost glorious Moment as he shaped to shoot, but somehow rolled the ball towards the keeper rather than smashing it past him. And that Moment of What Might Have Been summed up the whole afternoon.

We have to ask how a team that can rise to the level of Liverpool and match them goal for goal can, only a week later, sink to the level of Southampton and match them error for error. Liverpool fought for the win and we held them; Southampton played for the draw and we gave it to them. Is it complacency? Is it tiredness? Were we - whisper it - missing Andreas? Where do the failings lie?

Festive musings:-

- It was great to see John Fraser at half time

- The Saints players were dressed as marshmallows for toasting

- Their goalie did the worst long kicks we have ever seen

- Never mind Godo, that match was even more dull than Waiting for Godot

- As well as Berge and Lukić, Harry limped off injured and Castagne didn’t look too healthy either.

- As usual, Sess got the biggest applause of the subs even though everyone was pleased to see Joa back. We’ll probably see quite a lot of them both over the next few games as at least one of them will have to play CDM…

-…….how hard can it be?

So our walking in a winter wonderland wounded are now: Tete, Berge, Harrison, Reiss, possibly Lukić, possibly Castagne, probably Harry and ESR (even if it’s just his confidence that took the knock). But that’s fine because our next game is only the one we want to win more than any other….

Having said that it would actually have made more sense to have gone all out to get 3 points against Southampton and taken the pressure off Boxing Day rather than treating the Saints game as a cup match with one eye on Chelsea.

Instead, everyone is injured and from now on Europe will be miles away….

But, as it’s the season to be jolly, we’ll end with a bit more positivity - unlike other recent festive fixtures, we didn’t lose, we kept a clean sheet and we’re 5 games unbeaten. We’re not even halfway through the season and soon we’ll be singing our manager’s and team’s praises once more.

We wish you a merry Christmas!