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Three Perfect Palace Points
51 Plays1 month ago
Charlie delves into some stats and tactics after Saturday's dismantling of Palace. Special shout out to the new cult hero Harry Wilson.
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Transcript
Introduction and Recent Match Overview
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every
00:00:05
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global sports podcast network Hello hello hello and welcome back to the Daily Fulham Podcast. I'm your host Charlie Pritchard and I'll be here just to be breaking down some of the more tactics and stats that we've seen come out after a beautiful beautiful 2-0 win away at Selhurst Park. um I'm not sure how many times you all have watched back the game but It makes for some brilliant rewatching. I just saw that Fulham actually yesterday put out a 17 minute highlight clip of the game. Oh my God, it's so fantastic. Gentlemen Jim waxing lyrical over the top of a really breathtaking performance.
00:00:47
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The first half was a bit different though. um if we If we think about the first half, it was actually quite cagey, quite strange. We saw some really good shots on target from us. It would be at a really nice body set up by Smithrow and Robinson down the left-hand side. Something that we've come to expect a lot from from Smithrow is seemingly he always gets to the ball first in these weird little 50-50s. And I think it's just because he's sucking in.
00:01:13
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so much of the defence from the opposition at the moment, I think they're expecting his quality. And so they're all trying to sort of beat him to the ball, get there first so they can try and nullify that. But he's been playing so intelligently recently um just to keep hold of the ball. um I mean, he was electric drawing in an opening space for runners sort of with and without the ball. And obviously that anticipation, you can see that at the end of the first half, where it sort of comes from a misplayed pass by Lacroix.
00:01:42
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he's obviously Anderson's replacement over there, more on that in a minute. A brilliant interception knocks it down to him and Esi then plays him in. I mean it was it was a really well crafted goal for sort for for for two players who are not defensive minded. I thought it was really great anticipation and we deserved to be up.
Fulham's Form and Squad Depth
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There was a few shaky moments with Anderson having to clear it off the line. I'm sure we all remember that. um But I think that, to be honest, him having to to come and clear it off the line is actually comes from a mistake ah by Anderson himself. if you If you watch the scenario play out again, if you can remember.
00:02:22
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ah He goes to essentially try and block Mateta off instead of trying to go and win the ball. He's almost sort of expecting Leno to be on the front foot, come forward, almost sort of sweep or esque and pick the ball up. But Leno doesn't do that. And Anderson doesn't know that Leno isn't going to do that. And so there was this sort of weird, weird moment where Mateta actually, instead of just running into Anderson, he goes round him and tries to stick his head on it. Luckily, Leno gets a slight touch on it, which slows it down and then Anderson can recover. But to be honest,
00:02:52
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It's the only time that they really threatened us. And we played ourselves into it. Bassey sort of gave the ball away. Then Robinson loses a 50-50. And then we have the Anderson situation. But luckily, it didn't go against us. um And we end up going into the half ah at 1-0. But it was a it was a weird game so far. I think we were expecting Palace. you know that They need to come and win a game. And they've got a game at home against opposition that they would normally say is Well, again, they could win or should win, um but not for Palace at the moment. um they just they They really look all at sea at the moment. I know they've got a lot of injuries and I'm sure a lot of fans and from Palace, that's what they're going to be saying, which is fair. I think i think it is fair to acknowledge that, but Fulham are just firing so hot at the moment. and We just look like we really can beat anyone. I mean, I've said this time and time again, but
00:03:47
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I've not been this sort of positive about a Fulham side, maybe ever. Maybe ever. Do I go that far? I'm not sure. But since 0910, definitely. um i think I think we just look so terrific at the moment. I'm really proud of the guys.
00:04:04
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um What Marco's doing at the moment is is just working. You can see it. You can see it work. I mean, if if you look at it on stats wise, it looks a closer game than it was. um XG turns out to 2.08 for us and 1.8 for them. But look, we did have two goals chalked off.
00:04:22
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um And that would have boosted XG massively. ah They were lucky that VAR exists because it could have easily been four, it could have easily been five, maybe even six. goes There's an opportunity from Andreas to score as well as Iwobi in the first half, which both of those could have easily gone in. Could have easily gone in, sorry. ah ah just There seem to be goals that are coming from all places in the pitch at the moment. I mean, Smith-Rose contributing so much.
00:04:51
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in the way that we sort of got used to seeing Andreas pop up in years gone by. I actually think for talking about Pereira, I think he had a much, much better game, especially in the second half um than we've seen of him in in recent runouts. um But God, we did need Harry in the end. um Harry Wilson. Wow. What a player, eh? No one was thinking about Harry Wilson, especially after Smith Rowe came in to be a sort of a key cog in winning us points. but You could maybe say he's won us points here. I know we were already 1-0 up, but he really put the game to bed um when he scored.
00:05:30
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um Harry Wilson, I mean what more can he do really? I mean well what he needs to do is for Smithrow to start playing badly but no one no one wants that. Smithrow is his only kind competition at number 10 really. I mean if we look at the stats here for Wilson he's he's scored three goals from four shots this season and it could have been four goals from five shots if VAR hadn't wrote ruled out his his goal against Palace. He also leads now the goals per 90 chart with 3.38. Obviously, ah there's probably not too much to be read into that given he's all of those have come off the bench sort of around the last 10 minutes. So of course, his goals per 90 are going to be crazy. But it's nice to see someone up at the top of the chart. He's over clip players like Duran and Wisser, Harland even.
00:06:20
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um But Harry Wilson is, I mean, there's not much more he can do. But to be honest, I think having the depth that we have right now
Defense Analysis and European Aspirations
00:06:28
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is remarkable. I've not i've not known a Fulham side to have this much depth and this quality in the depth. Having players like Moon is off the bench, having players like Wilson off the bench, Adam recently off the bench, um which I think is still his his best use is to bring Adam off the bench on tired legs just because of his physicality.
00:06:50
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because of his speed i mean players generally would be so would be scared or just not up for facing that in the last 10 minutes it's great to have someone like that to come off the bench for us can he can still do a job i mean we're We've got to the point with this squad where it's obviously not unimproveable. You can always improve it, but I think it's gotten to the best position that it can be. Not having injuries is a big part of that as well. um We've only really got one injury on the books. That's Lukic and he will be back after this next international break. um So hopefully we'll see him against Wolves on the 23rd at home. That'll be a nice introduction back, but you know, Berger's been playing, been playing well. um
00:07:33
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in his in his absence. I mean, there were a few you sort of sketchy starts from from Berger at the beginning, but I think now he's sort of, he is playing better. um And I think you've got to give him credit to that. It's definitely hard to come in and and take the position of someone who was a massive fulcrum for the entire offense and defense.
00:07:53
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i mean he Lukasz, we were all worried that he was going to be hard to replace, but I think Berger has really really done well. um Obviously it's going to be players like Wilson and Smith Rowe to be taking the headlines, but I think you've got a you got to respect and acknowledge the players that are really doing a lot of the work in the engine room um and up and down the flanks. I mean, how good was Kenny Tete? um I think One thing that I'm really really happy about with our with our defenders is their strength in one-on-one situations I think Tete and Robinson are some of the best in class full backs for one-on-one defending um and I think that's something that we are gonna have to pride ourselves on if we keep playing such a high line because
00:08:34
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We've got recovery pace which is fine but getting beaten and then having to restart and turn around instead of just already being on the run is a lot more difficult and I think we have left Anderson on his own a few too many times um for them to counter.
00:08:52
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we saw that We saw that against Palace i think twice in the in in the first half and it's great having ah having a partner centre-back like Bassey who was just rapid for a centre-back and obviously Anderson who's filthy quick. ah But I think that's something that we're going to have to address if we're going to try and make a charge at Europe which is something
Sponsor Message
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we can now say. I mean we were in the top six for a fraction of a second at the weekend and then Brighton went and beat ah city, which wasn't expected. um So we're now sitting 7th, which God, if you if you told me that at the beginning of the season, would have bitten your hand off. um But, but no. The plaudits now have to fall to Smithrow, I think, and I will tell you a bit more about the stats that he leads in after this quick message from our sponsor, Zencaster.
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Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform, and Zencaster came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone and AI editing that automatically removes all those ums and ahs, it's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great and is delivered efficiently. If you're ready to tell your story, check out the link in the show description to learn more about Zencaster.
Player Highlights and Stats
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So Smithrow really took all the headlines, I think,
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at the weekend despite Wilson obviously cropping up and scoring again um but Smithrow was just fantastic and I've mentioned a little bit about stats that he leads, this is an impressive one. He leads the possession min plus and minus stat for all wingers and attacking midfielders in the top five leagues.
00:10:29
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Which basically means that his balance of winning the ball and giving it away is the least negative out of every attacking midfielder and winger in all of Europe's top five leagues. That's France, Spain, Italy, England, obviously.
00:10:46
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um And France, of course, France. if France is a weird one when people always forget about that as being a top five league. It's basically PSG, Lille, Lille and the rest. um But the fact that he's such a creative player and is tasked with being one of the most creative players on the pitch, the fact that he's is essentially the least negative in terms of possession, I think that's a serious thing to be looking at. um And I'm sure a lot of Arsenal fans are very annoyed given their sort of difficulties they're having in creativity this season seeing Rhys Nelson and Smith Rowe having such a good season for us. um It recently came out actually in the news that Rhys Nelson has said to Arteta that when he comes back finishes this loan spell he wants a permanent move um and I don't think he'll be starting for Arsenal so it looks like he's going to get that move away at the end and
00:11:40
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Look, based on how good he's been for us, either off the bench or recently starting, I think Reece Nelson is someone that we definitely should be looking at um with Adam as contract out at the end of the season. and um I think Reece Nelson has been terrific for us, ah especially recently. I mean, at the beginning of the season, I think everyone was saying, why isn't he starting? Why isn't he starting?
00:12:01
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And now he is, and he's been he's been great. So to be honest, I think I'd rather have Adam are off the bench than Reese Nelson's start than the other way around. um Just my my thoughts on that. um I think the other thing that we're seeing is this connection that all the players seem to have. Smithrow and Iwobi are just brilliant to watch work together. um They seem to sort of be in each other's brains. i mean and you saw them after the game with the interviews they were giving, there there seems to be a serious camaraderie
Team Dynamics and Key Partnerships
00:12:32
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between them. It's like they know what they're going to do before they do it. And I think that's just giving us all the benefit, all the benefit in attack. Jimenez as well, you've you've you've got to you've got to mention him as a focal point for the attack. it's it's It's difficult. Obviously, he's run a bit cold, I guess you could say, considering his scoring rate at the beginning of the season. um But to be honest, I think that
00:12:56
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I think Jimenez did all that he could have. He's he's very good at drawing defenders off when he makes a run, which then opens space for people like Iwobi and Pereira to have shots from either range or tight in. um what What he's doing is working. And I know that we said at the beginning of the season, you know, Stryker's job is to score goals. And that's sort of why Munoz was dropped. But I think if you compare both of them in off the ball work, Jimenez is the superior one in in in that respect, for sure.
00:13:25
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um Muniz has had some nice sort of cameos off the bench recently, but I'm worried about Muniz at the moment. um not in terms of Not in terms of him leaving or anything like that, but just in terms of him getting that confidence back. I i guess it's a good thing that we're winning because, God, if we weren't, I would be really worried about that that striker spot because it's gone a bit quiet as of late. um But it's great to see the rest of the squad sort of um backing those players up and and giving them the confidence to go forward.
00:13:57
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And I think sadly the the only way for someone like Roger to get into the team now um over Jimenez is probably through a cup run. And we all know that we're already out of the Carabell Cup after losing on that ridiculous penalty shootout.
00:14:13
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16-15 to Preston. So his next shot is going to be in the in probably in the FA Cup which doesn't really start for us until next month. The second round will finish at the end of this month on the 30th and then we'll have a ah bit of a wait again. So I'd like to see Roger get some more game time maybe off the bench but I just don't really see how you're going to take away from this sort of run of form that we're on right now. I just don't think you can touch it at all.
00:14:40
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these got These boys are just running so hot at the moment. um It's a shame to have to have it all sort of broken up by this international break. But look, Harry Wilson seems to love the international break. He scored three times nice twice three yeah three times for in his last couple games for them. um And now he's got
Upcoming Matches and Future Prospects
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another chance as well to sort of keep that runner form going. So, I mean, I'll be definitely keenly watching all the Wales fixtures. I'm sure Gavin will be pleased to know.
00:15:08
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um first time I've probably ever said that. um And yeah, I'll be watching those Wales fixtures very closely to see to see how Harry's getting on. I mean, this is sort of that run of form that we remember remember him for in that beautiful season when we got promoted after winning the league. um He was terrific in that season. He never really seemed to have quite kicked on in the Premier League under under Marco. um So God, I mean, all power to him. i Again, having that quality off the benches Something you can only really dream of and and we've got it right now So I'm look all power to it before we come on to our just last little segment I'm gonna tell you a little bit about the GSP end
00:15:51
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The Global Sports Podcast Network is changing the face of football podcasts with dedicated daily content for every Premier League team, women's football, fantasy football and a daily Premier League wrap-up in five different languages. It's your one-stop shop for your daily football fix. You can find GSPN wherever you find your usual podcasts. So as of recording, we now have 12 days until our next game against Wolves, which will be the final game of this four-game tranche that we sort of pointed out as being a key area to win some points. So those games were Everton, Brentford, Palace, obviously now, and Wolves in the future. I sort of said that realistically you can probably you probably maybe expect to get 12 points out of this.
00:16:43
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And to be honest, we almost we almost have. That Everton game was a real killer, a real kick in the nuts at the end there, which we seem to do to ourselves quite a lot. And then against Brentford, it looked like, God, we're going to come out of these first two games with one point. And Christ, but given the way we've played, that can't be happening. But no, we've we've done what Everton did to us and managed to score two in there.
00:17:10
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in the closing minutes so that's now up to four points then we've won again so that's now up to eight no no seven points sorry um i think we can go on and and get another three and i think to be honest i wouldn't i wouldn't have expected 12 but i would have maybe thought it was possible but i wouldn't have expected it um now seeing how we've played i think we beat wolves at home um If we put on the same performances that we've put out against Palace and Brentford, we seem to have more of a cutting edge recently. Look, we could have scored four goals. Four goals went in the net. Two of them were were ro were ruled out. So I think we've sort of got our scoring boots back. It's just a shame it's not always the striker doing it. So that's something to maybe be considered. but
00:17:56
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Right now this is such a good run of form for us and I'm really excited to see what happens against Wolves. I think Gary O'Neill's job is probably on the line and we do like firing firing managers as Fulham in terms of getting the opposition to sack their manager after a loss to us. We've done it a few times in the past couple of seasons. um I'm really excited. ah Then we've got Tottenham afterwards um on on New Year's Day.
00:18:23
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which again will be really fun sorry, not Newsday, on 1st December. um I think it'll be really exciting. And I think for the next for next couple of games, we just need to get behind the boys and push them on, um because right now we're sitting seventh. ah So if the season ended today, we'd be going we'd be going on a European tour. And doesn't that sound exciting? um So yeah, let's let's just get behind the boys and look forward to Wolves. um But until then, come on, you whites.