Jack and Loz Not at the Cottage - Blog 167

Date: 17th February 2021

Opposition: Burnley

Score: 1-1

Fulham goal scorer: Ola Aina’s tummy

Body part of the match: Ola’s tummy obviously but a shout out to Areola’s fingertips for dealing with the cross towards the end of the first half

Dinner: Loz - veggie curry; Jack - macaroni cheese

On Valentine’s Day, Fulham won a lovely 3 points and broke a record at Goodison Park. On Wednesday, we were slogging back up the M6 chasing another record - a W at a ground where we’ve only scored Roman numerals in the past.

Lots of fans suggested that Scott shouldn’t change his winning line up for the trip to Burnley and he took our advice. But it’s odd because between Sunday and Wednesday that line up regressed to the point where it felt like we were watching an entirely different team.

Of course, Burnley is a very difficult place to go. The pitch looks like a ploughed field so Burnley have to play head tennis instead of football at all their home games. This means they are very good at long kicks, agricultural clearances and generally hoofing the ball around. Fulham, whose best player is 5’11 in his studs, are very bad at this.

Burnley are also very good at winning free kicks and corners, the former sometimes by nefarious means. So a match at Throw Yourself on the Turf Moor is more like rugby in terms of being stop-start and more like diving in terms of......diving.

Burnley do what they do very well. There was absolutely no chance Fulham were going to allowed to play our smooth, intricate passing game (even if it were possible to pass a ball smoothly over all those furrows). At Burnley, you play Burnley’s game. Their combination of aggression and wussyness is unusual but effective, particularly when they manage to fool the referee into thinking a massive brick shithouse of a man can be knocked over by a featherlight touch.

However, all credit to them in their brutal pursuit of the points and for capitalising on the mistake which led to their goal. Fulham meanwhile, made life hard for ourselves (as usual) by constantly losing the ball, getting out of position and wasting most of our chances. Of course, everyone was tired and jaded after Sunday but whereas it was hard to pick a MOTM at Everton because everyone was so good, it was hard to pick one at Burnley because everyone was so average. Without wishing to single anyone out, loanees with double-barrelled names were particularly bad.

Andersen will be disappointed not to keep one of the clean sheets he cherishes and Lookman and Maja will be disappointed not to have been more alert in front of goal although Maja’s movement and all round game was refreshingly good. Frank and Cav looked strong and sharp when they came on and will have given Scott some dilemmas for Saturday’s Must Win Game. Areola did a lot more good than bad and whilst RLC’s football was lacking he used his physicality well at times.

So, back to those Roman numerals and a D is, of course, worth a lot more than an L. Sure, we’re only 1 point closer to safety but it could be a point that really matters at the end of the season. And more than that: Fulham went to Burnley battle weary and with a lot still to lose and we fought to the end. Most Fulham teams haven’t come away from Roll Around on the Turf Moor with a draw but this Fulham team did.

It was rough, it was ugly, it was in some ways lucky, but we got a point. Let’s take it and move on.

Random musings:-

- the pre-match huddle was good to see. Lemina seemed to be doing a lot of the talking

- when Scott was getting told off by the ref (presumably for questioning his eye sight) Andersen made sure he was in close attendance

- genuine kit suggestion: if you have a very muddy pitch, maybe white shorts aren’t the answer?

On Saturday our busy and crucial footballing week ends back home at the Cottage with the possibility of being within touching distance of safety. This team has come a long way but there are many miles still to go. There is still everything to play for.