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Daily Fulham- Show me the Muniz
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Gavin looks back on a successful night for Fulham as they secured a first win at Molineux since 1985.
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Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
Every club. Every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network. work What's up everybody, welcome back to the Daily Fulham Podcast brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network which delivers you daily coverage on all your Premier League teams as well as a podcast dedicated to all things women's football.
00:00:21
Speaker
My name is Gavin Ruffell and today i will be recapping all of the key events from Fulham's latest outing before offering up my insights from that trip to Molyneux. And I'm delighted to be able to talk to you guys today following Fulham win.
00:00:36
Speaker
Obviously, there was disappointment on the weekend with that home defeat against Crystal Palace. So it's great to see Fulham bounce back, react in the best possible way. think Marco Silva said it beforehand. It was good for his side to get straight back on the horse after disappointment game. Just a couple of days later, short turnaround, and they've come out of it in the best possible way with three points before they move on to that big game on the weekend in the FA Cup. So let's start from the very beginning then.
00:01:04
Speaker
And I did anticipate quite a few changes from Marco Silva. Probably not the number that he did make. He did make five in total, which is very unusual for Marco Silva. He doesn't tend to tinker so much. He doesn't tend to play around with his squad for Premier League games.
00:01:17
Speaker
In FA Cup games and Carabao Cup games, we're used to seeing 10, 11 changes at times. But usually for the league, if he does make changes, it's normally one or two. I was expecting at least a couple, as I said in the last episode.
00:01:30
Speaker
We know Emile Smith-Rowe had taken a k knock, although the news coming out of that is quite encouraging. It's not quite as severe maybe as first four, but he had to sit this one out, not available to take a place in the squad. Although we did see Tom Kearney on the bench, which was positive considering he came off after being substituted on. But there were five changes in total. The two that I did predict was Rodrigo Meniz and Andres Pereira coming into the team.
00:01:52
Speaker
As I said, Emile Smith-Rowe dropped out. Jimenez rested. Probably a bit of rotation there. When there have been games in quick succession this season, he's sometimes dropped out. But there was some surprise and maybe some of the other changes. he said you up Again, I spoke about potentially coming in for this game. Well, he did come in for this game.
00:02:07
Speaker
But he came in for Calvin Bassi. We saw a rare start for Jorge Cuenca. And we also saw an even rarer start for Ryan Sesson. Ryan Sesson, your first start for Fulham in the league since his return to the club.
00:02:19
Speaker
his first start in the Premier League for two years. Regular starters, Calvin Bassi and Anthony Robinson dropped out. Was it an aftermath of the result and the quick turnaround?
00:02:30
Speaker
Possibly. i feel like it's probably more to do with the fact that they have that big game coming up on Sunday and the fact that he did make changes for this game maybe signals his intent that that the FA Cup game probably is more of a priority with those guys that are surefire starters, Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassi...
00:02:46
Speaker
and Anthony Robinson having to make do with places on the subs bench. From that team line-up, it was interesting to kind of glean what kind of formation it would be, how it would look on paper. so Initially, when I saw the team, it was was not easy necessarily to decipher what the system would be because...
00:03:03
Speaker
They had played the back five earlier on in the season, but we kind of thought that experiment had come to an end after the home draw against Ipswich, we kind of thought that was something of the past. It's not really something he's employed too much of in his time at Fulham, and it didn't quite work so effectively in the few games he had. it I think it worked effectively initially in the game against Chelsea, but then maybe he persisted with it.
00:03:24
Speaker
for one game too many initially i thought it was cuenca playing at left back and sesignan playing in front of him but no it soon became clear that it was a back five and sesignan would be playing as the left wing back other fascinating part about the team was where was adam atraro going to play with the wing backs providing the width would he be given more of a free reign on the other hand in contrast vito pereira There wass a bit more continuity in his team selection.
00:03:50
Speaker
Would have been buoyed by the result on the weekend, going away to Bournemouth and getting a positive result, keeping a clean sheet. They have a crucial game on Saturday as well, but slightly different scenario because their situation is more concerning.
00:04:02
Speaker
The fact that they are hovering around relegation zone. This game was no doubt the priority as they went in the hunt for back-to-back wins. He kept exactly the same 11 looking to replicate that performance from the weekend.
00:04:13
Speaker
Matthias Cunha coming into this game on fire, scoring his last four, and we know from earlier in the season against Fulham the dangers he presents. So we come on to the action then, and Fulham, they're off to the best possible start. They couldn't have dreamt of a better start because around the minute mark they go into a one goal lead and it's a really well worked goal this. It goes from back to front pretty quickly.
00:04:36
Speaker
Anderson who's playing in the middle of that back three. He plays a ball into Meniz who's on the halfway line and he shows great hold of play, great strength just to lay off to Pereira. Pereira's sliding but he plays a first time ball to Sassignon on his left.
00:04:48
Speaker
Sassignon takes a first touch, gets a ball out in front of him, he's away and then the question is can he finish? Can he beat the goalkeeper? And the answer that is a resounding yes. He slots it into the bottom corner. And Fulham are off to the the dream start. The perfect start.
00:05:01
Speaker
All the best laid plans for Marco Silva. Even he can't have envisaged a start quite like this. And it's a really well worked goal isn't Brilliant start. Offside check.
00:05:12
Speaker
But the goal is given. To be fair to Wolves, after the goal they reacted really well and they looked quite sharp. They responded with intent, they were promising signs and it looked like just from the initial moments of this game that had all the hallmarks of a good game.
00:05:26
Speaker
There's an Andre strike from distance that goes wide. Wolves' system was was interesting to see how that would play out as well because the new signing was kind of the furthest player forward. Munetzi is more of a ah midfield player but he was operating on that sort false nine position. Some more chances for Wolves. a João Gomes effort that goes over. It comes from across from the left. It's flicked on.
00:05:47
Speaker
Finds its way to Gomes at the back stick. But he fires over from a bit of a narrow angle after pressure from Leno. However, it's not long after that that he actually does find the equaliser.
00:05:59
Speaker
Comes again from play down the left hand side. between Ait Nouri and Bellegarde. I think Ait Nouri, Nutmeg's Timothy Castagne. You won't want to watch this back afterwards. Cross is fizzed in.
00:06:10
Speaker
I think it's Munetzi who gets a touch to it, and then it just falls perfectly in the path For Gomez, who just puts his laces through it, strikes it first time and funders a shot in. It's pretty central, but Leno's beating for pace.
00:06:22
Speaker
And Wolves have responded in the best possible way. And they deserve that goal. At this point, the way the game was going, I feel like Fulham, they just needed a little bit of possession.
00:06:33
Speaker
Because since the opening goal, getting off to that best possible start, i just feel like they became a bit passive. There's a half chance for Traore. Traore. There's complaints initially from Wolves fans and players as they felt there was a foul and a build-up, Diop on Cunha.
00:06:47
Speaker
But Pereira guides a ball into the path of Traore, who's inside the box on the right. gets a shot off, hits a target, but is pushed behind for a corner. There's a chance for Meniz as well. Traore, he skips through a few defenders, lays it off to Pereira, who slips in Sessegnon.
00:07:01
Speaker
He pulls it back and picks out Meniz. And you're thinking, hit the target and it's 2-1. But Bueno gets his body in the way of it to deny a goal. It was an entertaining first half hour. i was expecting goals in this game. I think my pre-match prediction was 2-2 and it was delivering on that promise.
00:07:19
Speaker
Kunja's spoken about him already and the dangers he presents and he was being problematic for Fulham's back line. Diop was having a little bit of a tough time. couple of fouls given away just on the edge of the box.
00:07:31
Speaker
Another chance for Wolves. A bit of a half chance this one. Kunja's involved again. Twists, Castagne just inside the box on the left side. Leno's forced to tip over. It was a bit of a moody Molyneux crowd as well during the first half in spells because they felt that maybe one or two decisions, one or two 50-50 calls weren't going in their favour. Much to the same degree that Fulham felt that was the case with them on the weekend when Rob Jones was the referee.
00:07:57
Speaker
A noticeable tactical change change. Just towards the end of the half for the final five minutes or so, we saw Traore moved over to the left. So maybe Marco Silva's just identified something and has found a reason to put him over that side. There was just a couple of times in that first half, he was looking lively. When were on the attack, they looked like they could do something. And Traore, there was just a couple of moments. I think there was ah ah a throw out from Leno where he had a real chance to run at Doherty and back himself.
00:08:25
Speaker
Doherty's not used to playing in the back three. He's only something that's come about recently, but instead he plays a quick ball to Castagna and ends up coming to nothing. So just a couple of moments like that, I felt that Traore could have just backed himself a bit more and believed in his ability and believed in his pace because the last thing Matt Doherty would want is Adama Traore running at lightning speed up against him.
00:08:45
Speaker
Half's coming towards an end and it ends with Sasalukic giving away a needless foul on the stroke of half-time. But this foul has consequences because he's shown a yellow card and this means a suspension. And we knew it was coming. He's been on nine yellow cards for a good few games now. I think the only surprise is it hadn't come prior to this, but that will mean he misses the next two league games. He'll miss the games against Brighton and Spurs.
00:09:10
Speaker
That just about marked the end of the half and it it was a really enjoyable 45 minutes of football. It flew by, I felt like Wolves played really well but Fulham looked dangerous as well. Muniz was holding it up well, linking the play well with Pereira and Sessegnon was getting into forward areas as well.
00:09:26
Speaker
I definitely felt at half time there's more goals in this game. I was thinking could Wolves play any better than that in the second half? But at the same time, I knew that Fulham would have chances as well of their own. And in the next part, I will talk you through all of the action in the second half.
00:09:42
Speaker
But before I do that, I must draw your attention to our sponsors. Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform. Zencastr came out the clear winner.
00:09:54
Speaker
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00:10:10
Speaker
the second half starts and it starts in exactly the same fashion as the first half and fulham restore their goal advantage once again it's a a really well worked team goal maybe walls they haven't quite switched on after the restart and fulham are able to capitalize what's noticeable is triore i spoke about him spending the last five minutes or so in the first half playing out on the left well he continued this at the start of the second half and it starts from session who lays the ball off the triore And then Traore just plays a through ball for Miniz to run onto. He runs off Bueno and he finishes beautifully. It's a death chip, a little dink over the onrushing Jose Sarr.
00:10:48
Speaker
And the celebrations once again from the away fans. There's probably a lot of those Wolves fans in attendance that miss both of Fulham's goal given the quick nature of them from kickoff. Fulham are alive right from the outset and and they go back into a goal lead. But the question now is how will Fulham look to go about protecting this lead or will they look to attempt to build on it? I felt one of the things they were guilty of in the first half is they were a little bit passive after scoring the first goal and just allowed Wolves to come on to them. And Wolves played well for a good 20-25 minute period
00:11:20
Speaker
and they certainly deserve to be on level terms goes back to that old adage that I never quite get which is what they've scored too early but maybe that was one of those instances where Fulham scored too early and then just invited a bit of pressure from Wolves and they were good enough to score their equalising goal so I was hoping after scoring this goal right after the restart that Fulham wouldn't fall into that same trap same mindset again and could look to extend their lead go for the third goal which could well and truly be the killer goal wasn't sure at this stage whether the second goal was going to be enough because Wolves certainly in that first half had shown enough about them that they could score another goal again here Berger was the second fuller midfielder to go into the book again it's foul on Cunha and again it's a foul on the edge of the box and
00:12:04
Speaker
you're thinking you can't keep giving fouls away on the edge of the box because sooner or later you're going to get punished. But after Fulham's goal in the second half, the game was less frantic. I think the first half, you can certainly say it was very frantic game. But for the second half, Fulham were able to keep Wolves at arm's length, kept them at bay.
00:12:24
Speaker
Wolves, I questioned whether they would it be able to keep up their level from the first half and it looked like that had just dropped the intensity and the energy just drained out of them slightly. it was up to Vito Pereira to look to his subs bench to see what he could do to make changes, to have an impact on the game. We saw Strand Larsson.
00:12:43
Speaker
was one of those changes he came on for Bellegarde as they went and hunt of an equaliser. Strand Larson, he's that more of a focal point, natural centre forward, and they'll be happy to have him back after his spell on the sidelines, that genuine striker that they were lacking up until this point.
00:13:01
Speaker
Fuller made changes as well, some sensible ones. Traore was taken off, he received a great reception, had a good time of things in the Black Country as a Wolves player. and And he had an effect on the game here with his assist for the second goal.
00:13:14
Speaker
was slightly concerned though because I feel like with Wolves having a bit more possession that you lose something on a counter attack, taking Traore off quite early on in the second half. But good replacements with Fulham making changes. They did have a strong bench. So we saw Wobbe come on and the other change was Sasolukic come off and Willian was his replacement. So they were good subs to have.
00:13:37
Speaker
Lukic, think that was a sensible decision to take him off. with both centre midfielders on bookings at this stage the last thing you want is to go down to 10 men and end up playing the last 25 minutes with a man down and William as a well is a very good sub to have in this situation where you're looking to hold on to a lead very clever player obviously very experienced but he's intelligent makes the right decisions got very calm head some more fulham's changes we saw jimenez come on for muniz a like for like swap there and we saw robinson come on for sassignon like for like change there so both of the goal scorers taken off and very positive evenings for for the pair of them not just the goals they scored but i think overall all their contributions and the impact they and the effect they had on the game they could be pleased with their night's work just like triore
00:14:24
Speaker
Jimenez also received a rousing reception from the Molyneux faithful. Obviously not not forgotten how crucial, how big a play he was for them under Nuno. ah Some final changes for Fulham.
00:14:37
Speaker
Bassi comes on for Cuenca for the last 15 minutes just to show things up, solidify things that bit more. So at this point, all of the regular starters have come off the bench. Fulham were able to take this thing out of the game.
00:14:49
Speaker
Walls weren't moving it as quickly as they did in the first half. Tried to bring a bit more energy onto the pitch. We saw Sarabia and Tommy Doyle come on. But obviously with Wolves seeking that equalise and having to commit more bodies forward, there would be spaces left in behind for Fulham to maybe exploit.
00:15:06
Speaker
It's a big chance for Raul Jimenez. Robinson plays a ball in behind. Jimenez, he spins. He's able to keep himself onside. I think he was in a similar situation on a weekend against Crystal Palace where...
00:15:17
Speaker
He didn't quite get a shot away or he didn't square it to the guy that was keeping up play. So it's a similar situation. So he can either go for goal or he's got Alex Iwobi who's busting the gut to try and support him.
00:15:29
Speaker
He decides to go for goal, but Jose Sarr gets his angles right to keep Wolves in the game. It's a big moment and you just wonder, will that be looked back on if Fulham don't get the three points? So it's a big last five, ten minutes, potentially in the outcome of Fulham's season.
00:15:45
Speaker
There's another big chance again on the break for Fulham. Jimenez switches the ball over to the right where Uwobi is in acres of space. He plays a first time ball for Pereira who finds himself in the box.
00:15:55
Speaker
He takes a touch and prepares a shot but Tommy Doyle makes a super superb block and the ball goes out for a corner. From the resulting corner Jimenez heads over. It's a flurry of Wolves corners from that point on, which Fulham have to withstand, and a seven minutes added on.
00:16:10
Speaker
Another chance for Jimenez. It's from a Robinson cross. It's not cleared. Jimenez, he chests it down, but drags a left-footed shot wide. And then as the game's nearing an end, there's one big potential opening for Wolves to find that equaliser.
00:16:24
Speaker
Looks like Aitnori is able to fashion a shooting chance for himself in the box. He's up against Castagne, tries to turn him, but castaigne sticks to his task and puts a really crucial block in late in the game much to the delight of his team mates it's celebrated by leno and anderson and fulham hold on they bounce back from the week-end disappointment they had to defend well in the second half Wolves, they slightly ran out of ideas, I felt, but that's a crucial three points for Fulham.
00:16:52
Speaker
As I said, I think it was good to get a game in soon after. so you're not dwelling on the negatives. You're not dwelling on that defeat for seven or eight days. And they responded in the best possible way.
00:17:04
Speaker
And in the final part, I will just give my final thoughts and reflections as we draw a line under this game. Your body is unique.
00:17:16
Speaker
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00:17:34
Speaker
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00:17:45
Speaker
Don't settle for off-the-shelf solutions made for just anybody. Get what's right for you right now. So that is a big win for Fulham. It's their first win at Molyneux for 40 years. going to go back all the way to 1985 since their last win there.
00:18:01
Speaker
They've made a habit of that this season, haven't they? Because it took them a long while to win at Stamford Bridge. They did that in December. and they can now tick off molyneux as a ground where they've had not a lot of luck and they've managed to secure the three points and it keeps up their away form certainly away from home they've looked a lot more secure a lot better recently but they'll be happy as well that they've won a game against one of those sides at the bottom because they've been few and far between haven't they and to prevent wolves from potentially doing the double over them silver after the game he admitted it was a bit of a risk to make that many changes
00:18:33
Speaker
but he was pleased with the players that came in because some of them haven't played so much have they they've been restricted to five minutes off the bench here and there or maybe playing in a cup so he said he was really pleased to see the performances from them given that they haven't had the game time they would have liked given the fact that they have had to be patient And he was also pleased that with the way they controlled the game in the second half, not necessarily with the possession. He would have liked them to control possession a little bit better.
00:18:59
Speaker
But from a defensive standpoint, I think he was really pleased with the way they were able to handle what Wolves had to throw at them in a second half. And it was a big second half. for the defense a word of credit to castania for that block right at the end because he probably would have been disappointed maybe in his in his role in the first goal as i said earlier he got nutmeg so he won't want to watch that wolves go too many times but that challenge at the end was every bit as good as a goal and secured the three points for fulham think sessignon was a big tick as well and I think obviously with players coming in who haven't played so much football, it shows that there is squad depth there.
00:19:34
Speaker
And if players need to be called upon, that they can do a job. They can be trusted. I feel like he went to a back five just because he wanted to rest Robinson.
00:19:45
Speaker
Robinson is the first name on the team sheet and they don't have cover necessarily at left back. Full back is a little bit of a problem there in the fact that they don't have reserves with Tete's injury and they don't have a likeful like for like replacement for Robinson anyway so I kind of feel like that's why he went for a back five because Sessegnon probably can't trust him to play left back that's why they went for the back five and I think Sessegnon you've got to put a big tick against his name first Premier League start in two years he took his goal superbly and he has that in his locker doesn't he we you know We know that because he scored 16 goals in one season. Let's not forget when he was breaking through at Fulham.
00:20:20
Speaker
And he's just shown to the manager, whilst he has had impressive performances in the cup, they have been against lower league sides. He showed here against the Premier League side, against Premier League quality opposition, that, hey, don't forget about me.
00:20:33
Speaker
But the problem is he's not going to get in as left-back ahead of Robinson. And then the question is, does Silva think he could potentially play him further forward? Well, the way he took his goal here... Maybe he's given him food for thought.
00:20:45
Speaker
The other player want to highlight, who thought had a really good evening, was Rodrigo Munez. Held it up well, was strong, brought others into play, and he took the goal extremely well, didn't he?
00:20:57
Speaker
It's healthy competition now, isn't it, between him and Jimenez? you're not always sure which one's going to start. I felt like Munez would start this game given the quick turnaround and the fact that Jimenez maybe struggles at his age now to play two games in in such a short space of time. But I thought Munez was outstanding. And I think going forward, again, that's food for thought. Who is his number one striker? Because on one day it could be Jimenez, on another day it could be Munez. There's There's not a lot to choose between those two, but he had a very good evening Rodrigo Muniz. And I think Fulham can be happy that they were ruthless and clinical, which has sometimes been a bit lacking, something you can maybe question them in in certain games this season.
00:21:39
Speaker
I know they had chances later on to kill the game off, a couple for Jimenez, just to make the last few minutes a bit more comfortable. But the way Sessegnon took his goal, the way Rodrigo Muniz took his goal, big chances, and they were put away in style.
00:21:51
Speaker
Psychologically now they've gone past the 40 point barrier which is always a target managers will set themselves at the start of the season and the question now is how how far can they go how many points can they rack up between now and the end of the season.
00:22:05
Speaker
It's very competitive, isn't it, beyond the top two. Liverpool are going to win the league and Arsenal are probably going to finish second. But beyond that, there's a whole bunch of teams bunched up and they'll all feel they're in with a chance of qualifying for Europe, especially now given the likelihood of an extra spot being available um with the UEFA coefficient.
00:22:24
Speaker
system how that works so we don't know if it goes down to seventh we don't know if it goes down to eighth but at this stage Fulham they're in the mix aren't they you know you talk about consistency well I mean how you be consistent unless you're the team that wins the league or unless you're Southampton who lose every week every other team is going to be inconsistent but all in all it's been a very positive month for Fulham hasn't it they've ended it with a 2-1 victory and 2-1 has kind of been the popular score this month hasn't it they've won four of their five games and they've all been by the same score 2-1 There's a lot to look forward to now, isn't there?
00:22:57
Speaker
And it's funny ah how things change, isn't it? Because there was a spell in December, January, where they were drawing a lot of games, they weren't losing too many, but at the same time, they weren't winning too many. Now it kind of seems it's one or the other now. It's it's win or loss. And wins are massive because draws, whilst you're not losing games, it's nice to keep an unbeaten run going, but they don't give you so much headway in the table. But if you're winning games, even with the odd loss, you can catapult yourself up up in the league table.
00:23:25
Speaker
Look, they don't have a Premier League game for... a little while now, i think 10 or 11 days. Attention obviously turns to the FA Cup game on Sunday, but they can go into the next few games now with a bit of confidence off the back of this victory.
00:23:38
Speaker
Just briefly on Wolves, I felt they looked good in the first half, but they just they just ran out of steam a bit in the second half, ran out of ideas. And it'll give a bit of hope tips, which in Leicester, but you have to ask yourself, are those two good enough to go on a streak now, go on a little run?
00:23:54
Speaker
It's a five-point gap, and I think at this stage of the season, that's that's a big gap. They've got games now, important games against sides in and around them. So in the next few weeks, they've got a real opportunity to possibly extend that gap. Who knows at the end of the season and what the magic number is going to be for survival. But just on viewing here and seeing them recently, when they have lost games, it's generally been by tight margins. And they they have played some good teams recently as well. So...
00:24:21
Speaker
I think they certainly have enough in them to survive and probably survive quite comfortably. So that's just the about covered everything from Fulham's trip to Molyneux, a very successful one. That first win since 1985. It's on to the FA Cup game against Manchester United on Sunday.
00:24:38
Speaker
And we will build up to that in due course. Thank you all once again for listening and be sure to tune in next time on the Daily Fulham Podcast. See you then. Every Club.
00:24:53
Speaker
The Global Sports Podcast Network.