We've had a really good start to the
season. So good in fact that a defeat away from home against the league
leaders had been greeted with huge disappointment because it seems to signal
that we are not the title challengers we had convinced ourselves we were.
Personally, I'm not so worried about the result but I must be honest and say
the performance did leave me a little bit cold.
Our target at the beginning of the
season was Champions League qualification, this is still the case. If at any
stage during the season we seem to be on course to achieve more than that it
can only be a bonus but our base target is top four and the result against
Arsenal did not unduly damage our progress on that front.
In order to achieve top four it is
essential that we win the games against the teams we are expected to beat and
the game this weekend against Fulham is a prime example of this. A lot of
people are taking it as a given that we will win comfortably and of course
that's understandable because of the poor showing from Fulham so far this
season, but I always fear teams a little bit more when they are at a
particularly low ebb. This is mainly because results tend to improve eventually
with the downward trajectory halted, it's our job to make sure any improvement
doesn't come against us.
Having said that.... Fulham are a week
side and on paper seem the ideal game for us following last week’s defeat. Individually
they have some real talent in their squad. They have some pretty decent game
changers in their side even if they are yet to turn them into a team who can
consistently perform. In their last game against Utd they were truly
awful in the first half and any improvement they showed in the second half was caveat-ed by the fact that Utd’s intensity dropped off a little with the game
more a less won, they began keeping one eye on their big European game to come.
As for us, the only truly poor results
we have had so far have come against teams with real quality who were bang in
form. That's not a phrase that can be used to describe The Cottagers. We have
some question marks around our line up. Controversial as it may seem I
would be happy to see Stevie rested for this one with Joe Allen finally getting
a chance to show what he can offer. I’m not fond of Stevie playing as defensive
midfielder in the first place, but he has also looked tired recently and a
particularly poor showing from him last weekend should trigger a period of rest
for our captain. I dont believe this will happen, but I would be happier if it
did. Obviously if Johnno is fit again it may influence the set up
drastically. I think our 3-5-2 last week looked tepid in his absence even
though Flanno's individual performance was decent. Johnno is tailor made
for the attacking requirements of the formation however we don't have any other
player who can match his levels. If Johnno is still out we may consider going
back to basics formation wise. Coutinho is in line to come back into the first
11 and a game against Fulham would seem ideal for him to get some good game
time under his belt. It will take him time to get back to top gear but
the only way to do it is with minutes on the pitch. With the Goodison Derby
coming up and a rough run of fixtures following on it’s tail, we really need to
get him back firing on all cylinders ASAP. Even though Cissokho's performance
last week was very poor I think he will continue on the left hand side of defense regardless of formation mainly due to Enrique’s continued absence.
All things considered, we have no
reason to doubt our quality at the moment. Our strikers may have drawn a blank
last week but they will truly relish this match up. We’ll need to be switched
on to ensure there are no scares from their danger-men but overall I think we
will prove to be to strong for Fulham in all areas of the park. If we can
get a goal early enough to settle the nerves of players and fans we could
really push on and win by a decent margin.
I’m going to predict a scoreline of
3-0 to the Red men for this one.
