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Boxing Day Bonanza: Will Fulham leave their neighbours feeling the Christmas blues?
44 Plays12 days ago
Gavin looks forward to Derby Day as Fulham make the short trip to Stamford Bridge in a bid to upset their title-chasing neighbours.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Daily Fulham Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Every club. Every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network.
Boxing Day Football Traditions: Excitement and Expectations
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome back to the Daily Fulham Podcast and Happy Holidays to you all and for those who celebrate I hope you were able to have a wonderful Christmas. And as you tuck into your leftovers today, let's hope you have enough of an appetite for a West London and Derby. That's right, it's Boxing Day and Boxing Day means football and what a game we have in store as Fulham make the short trip and I'm sure many of you will be making that short trip as well to Stamford Bridge to take on second place Chelsea.
00:00:35
Speaker
My name is Gavin Ruffle and I've got you covered as we build up to this one. And it's always great, its tradition isn't it, to have Boxing Day football in this country. I know many other countries in Europe have their winter break. We have had a winter break in the UK over the last four or five years, so I think it is the first time since the 2019-2020 season that where we haven't had a winter break. But that generally takes place in January, so it would be an abomination in my view if we didn't have football over boxing day over new year it gets everyone excited we're still in the festive spirit aren't we it is the most wonderful time of the year as they say and unless your team gets hammered this is a big game for both teams really isn't it and many of you will have good memories of boxing day football 1963 do you know what happened then
00:01:21
Speaker
Well, 10-1 victory for Fulham at home to Ipswich. And that always seems to come up around this time of year, the results from 1963, which produced a lot of goals on that day.
Fulham's Historic Boxing Day Performances
00:01:33
Speaker
I think some of the players were still maybe not quite prepared for a game after their ah Christmas Day shenanigans, so to speak.
00:01:43
Speaker
Let's hope for Fulham's sake it's a better Boxing Day outing than the one they had last year when they went down 3-0 to Bournemouth. It's actually Chelsea's first Boxing Day fixture since 2021 where they beat Aston Villa away from home.
00:01:59
Speaker
and Chelsea come into this game in really good form don't they as I mentioned second place in the league they're in beaten in 12 in all competitions a lot of Europa conference games in there as well and on the other hand for Fulham yeah it was a bit of a disappointing result wasn't it against Southampton but the beauty of this time of year is you don't dwell on those results because you know there is another game around the corner and there's no better game to come into after that disappointment than A local derby, a rivalry with Chelsea, probably more of a rivalry on Fulham's side
Fulham's Recent Form and London Derby Record
00:02:29
Speaker
to be quite honest. I'm sure many Chelsea fans, their big game would probably be Spurs but no doubt a lot of Fulham fans circle this fixture when the fixtures come out at the start of the season.
00:02:42
Speaker
and they come into these games against title challenges knowing that on their day they can get results we've seen in the last two outings against Arsenal and Liverpool the two other teams up there in and amongst that they have taken points so they'll hope to add Chelsea to that list and make it a hat-trick of results against those teams fighting for the title unbeaten in five with four draws in that period of time so Fulham can be pleased with their efforts ah recently been hard to beat both sides have been hard to beat recently as I said it was a little bit of a disappointment not getting the three points at home to Southampton but that's Premier League football if you're not quite at it then you're not going to get three points full and we know they'll have to be at it
00:03:23
Speaker
They know this is a big game, there's a lot riding on it, and I'm sure, well, I'm not sure, because you never never can be sure, but I'm hopeful we see the Fulham that played against Liverpool two weeks ago, or whenever it was, it's hard. You lose track of the days, it could be Tuesday, it could be Saturday today. I have no idea, all I know is it's Boxing Day.
Chelsea's Recent Performance and Title Contention
00:03:43
Speaker
And it's come full circle for Fulham this fixture because they have had a good recent record in London Darby's. They are 9 and beaten with the last defeat coming all the way back in January against Chelsea, their opponents today. And that was a narrow win for the Blues, a Cole Palmer penalty and they have a very proud record in London Darby's this season, themselves having won three and drawn two. Chelsea did do the double over Fulham last season and so Fulham will be keen to make amends for that and could they possibly get their first win at Stamford Bridge since 1979? Most of the listeners wouldn't have been born then.
00:04:22
Speaker
I'm sure obviously the people who remember the 1963 10-1 win against Sips which unboxed there you'll be able to remember the last win at Stamford Bridge but it's it's been a long time between drinks there's been a number of draws in that time and as you would expect Chelsea do have a dominant head-to-head record in the Premier League with 21 wins 11 draws and just the two Fulham wins one of those Fulham wins coming a couple of seasons back with Carlos Venizius The Lesser spotted Carlos Vinicius these days heading in the winner to secure a 2-1 victory for Fulham and it would be a nice late Christmas present if Fulham could turn over their West London rivals in this one. On the other hand, Chelsea will be full of confidence. They had a little bit of a setback against Everton drawing that game away from home but as I have mentioned they have been tough to beat this season only the one defeat since the opening weekend and that one defeat was against Liverpool.
00:05:15
Speaker
So things are going pretty well on the other side of West London and Focus will turn to Chelsea in just a moment. But before I talk a bit more in depth about Chelsea, let me tell you all about our sponsors. Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform.
00:05:33
Speaker
Zencaster came out the clear winner. With 4k video recording from your phone and AI editing that automatically removes all those ums and r's 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. Let's come on to Chelsea then shall we? They are a big club they're used to winning trophies over the course of the last 20 years certainly since the Abramovich era with all the money coming in. The titles they won under Jose Mourinho, latter league likes of Antonio Conte as well. They've won FA Cups, they've won Champions League since that time. The last couple of seasons they have been a little bit off the pace, haven't they? With Todd Bowley taking over from Roman Abramovich. But they do find themselves in a title race as much as they will try to not say they are in a title race, which they don't get. I think that's a load of rubbish to be honest.
00:06:31
Speaker
They're trying to act as if they're underdogs. Well, I'm sorry, but once you spent a billion pounds or whatever in the course of the last two or three years, you're never underdog you're not less the city 2015-16 they most definitely are in a title race they are Liverpool's closest challenger at this stage and I'm sure that would have been a surprise to many after 17 games of the season because Enzo Mareska took over and I'm not sure what was expected of him to be honest because towards the end of the championship season he was actually under pressure at Leicester wasn't he and
00:07:02
Speaker
there were a lot of descended voices at Leicester thinking they were going to fumble it and not get promoted but they did get over the line and then he moved to Stamford Bridge with the sacking of Richard Pochettino surprise surprise it's what Chelsea like to do isn't it it's their it's their method they hire and fire that's the type of club they are that's carried on from the Abramovich era into the Todd Bowley era and At the time, it seemed strange. I mean, can it seem strange? Can you be surprised when Chelsea sack managers? No, because we see it time and time again and we'll continue to
Key Chelsea Players and Squad Depth
00:07:31
Speaker
see it. But Pochettino, it just seemed like he was turning the corner with Chelsea and they had a good run towards the end of the season to make sure they finished in sixth place. And it looked like things were starting to go the other way. And um with a good preseason behind them, then maybe they can look to replicate that sort of end of season form and be challenges for top four.
00:07:50
Speaker
Well, as it turns out, Mareska, he's got them not only challenging for top four, but he's got them challenging potentially for the title. I did find it was a little bit of a strange appointment going to Mareska. A great opportunity for him. Obviously, having worked under Pep at Manchester City and got that chance with Leicester in the Championship, leading him back to the Premier League. And they were a bit of a laughingstock in pre-season, weren't they? Because all the talk was about how many players they had. They have so many players on the book, like field,
00:08:17
Speaker
three or four sides. So it's kind of hard as a manager to to mesh things together and to keep everyone happy. It is a case of saying and too many cooks spoil the broth and there's a lot of egos no doubt in that dressing room. So he's got a job in his hands, not just to get a team together for when they play the matches, but to keep everybody on board and happy. And they are fighting on multiple fronts as well. They're going very well in the Europa Conference League and what he has managed to do is He has managed to and assemble a side specifically for the Premier League and a side specifically for the Europa Conference League and that's working wonders for them at the moment. They do have one or two injuries at the moment but with a squad of that size that they always have they always have someone to cover in those places and what they've proven this season is they have to have to beat.
00:09:05
Speaker
the Manchester City lost on the opening day, the opening weekend of the season, okay that was expected. No one would have predicted the downfall of Manchester City, everyone would have had them as the title favourites or if not title favourites, certainly in the top two in the run along with Arsenal if you're talking about pre-season predictions.
00:09:22
Speaker
that's not quite going to form at the minute and since then their only defeat has been that one at Anfield which is no shame in that the way Liverpool have been performing and often blowing teams away we saw that on the weekend what they did to Spurs and we saw what we saw what Chelsea did to Spurs as well after being two goals behind in the game at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium recently so yeah they've exceeded at everyone's expectations but is that to the detriment of Maresca now because they've performed so well in the first half of the season expectations will be raised and the pressure comes on him and if they are in a position with 10 games to go in a similar position to now how will he be able to cope with the pressure and how will he be able to motivate and keep his players happy motivated how will they cope with the demands of the running and just want to focus on one or two individual players of course when you mentioned Chelsea you have to talk about Cole Palmer and what we've seen again this season he's carried it on
00:10:17
Speaker
From what he did last season, hasn't he, and been their best player, been the most important player, he's the first name on the team sheet every week. Fantastic season last season, he's backed it up this season as well. and He's just a supreme talent, isn't he? And whilst I'm not necessarily an England football fan, the new manager Thomas Tuchel, the first thing he's got to do is find a way of getting co-part in his 11, isn't he? He's a bit of a free spirit, isn't he? I mean, you see his interviews off the pitch and ah he doesn't give you the typical media train answers, does he? He probably wouldn't be the best guest to invite onto a talk show, would he? I think that would be a bit challenging for Graham Norton or whoever, but ah he lets his football do the talking, doesn't he? And he's been superb again. and
00:10:59
Speaker
Obviously, I'm sure we're in the Fulham team meetings, Cole Palmer's name's going to come up and how they stop him is going to be crucial in terms of how they can look at getting a result, a positive result in this game. But the question's been asked, is he the best player in the Premier League right now? You'd certainly have to say he's up there. I think probably with Mo Salah's form, the goals and assists Mo Salah has had this season. he would be the number one for me, but Cole Palmer, would he be on that same level? Would he be penciling just behind Mo Salah? Absolutely. You know, you talk about all the money that Chelsea has spent in the in the last few seasons under Boli, and there's no doubt about it that Cole Palmer's head and shoulders above some of those over signings, those hundred million pound signings. But one of those big money signings, the best DMs in the league so far,
00:11:44
Speaker
Ryan Gravenboek has done very well at Liverpool, he's very much improved but you'd have Moises Casado in that particular position as that sort of defensive destroyer, he would be the best player I would say in the league and you're also seeing someone Romeo Lavia who Romeo Lavia had an awful time of things after that big money move from Southampton, didn't play any football really last season with injury and he seems to be blossoming And you've seen the best of Enzo Fernandez, finally. I mean, we also saw Enzo Fernandez at the World Cup. We won the award with the young player of the tournament, wasn't it? And then it's difficult, isn't it? Because he signed for that huge fee and you were expected to hit the ground running and and and just be the main man. and
00:12:25
Speaker
maybe a little spell out of the team and the fact that the attention and the focus are on ah is on other players now that the Cole Palmer now that's been to his benefit and you're seeing better results with him, better output, he's started to score the odd goal, have a key influence in games. So it is it isn't just Cole Palmer, can they go all the way in the Premier League this season? Yeah they can, they absolutely can but it comes down to it again of when you're in the run and you've got a manager that is very inexperienced in this league, this is his first season in the Premier League, this is the first time where he's managed a club in in the top flight in any country. So it's a big it's a big ask for him and it's always said about certain clubs isn't it of
00:13:07
Speaker
you know, keeping players fit, but they have such a such a big squad that you feel like injuries, they can just bring another person in. you You've got someone like Joe Felix, who's just playing predominantly in the real police, such as the size of their squad, that they can seem to cope with injuries and suspensions. and Obviously, the big one would be Cole Palmer, or something weird to happen to Cole Palmer, how that would affect things, that affect the way they play, because everything does go through him.
00:13:35
Speaker
Look, they have experience of winning the Premier League. they yeah They have that winnings mentality where they've been there before. Okay, maybe not this group of players and not this manager. But they're used to winning things as a club, aren't they? Even when they have won things, they've they've sacked managers. They've sacked managers after the win in the double. They've sacked managers after winning the Champions League. That's just what they do. They demand success. They demand perfection.
00:13:58
Speaker
almost and there will come a point as I said with Maresca the expectations will change and if they are in with a shout come 10 games to go then the pressure will hot up and the pressure will intensify but they just got to keep doing what they're doing I mean grinding out results okay the Everton Everton result wouldn't have been what they were after but if you can't win games don't lose them a season ago that might have been a game that when they came unstuck I know they've had their problems at Goodison in the past But apart from that, I think things that things have gone well. And yeah as I said, they were a laugh in stock at the start of the season. Well, they're certainly not now and they have a big chance. I think the expectation for them was to be in the mix. And what I mean by being in the mix was being in the mix for top four, to get back into the Champions League. And they're certainly ahead of those
Fulham's Tactical Approach Against Chelsea
00:14:51
Speaker
expectations right now. And you would say,
00:14:53
Speaker
in all likelihood they will be in the top four. And then it's see where you are come come March, April, May time if you're in with a chance. Well, that's enough about Chelsea. I'm just gonna give you a bit more of a preview in a sec. Look at what players may or may not be available and give my score prediction for the game. But before I do that, let me draw your attention to GSPN.
00:15:19
Speaker
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 broadcast in five different languages, it's your one-stop shop for your daily football fix. Find GSPN wherever you find your usual podcasts.
00:15:39
Speaker
So I don't really have any concerns of what Fulham we're going to get heading into this game because I know against the top teams in the league they've gone to the Etihad, they've gone to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, they've gone to Anfield and they have put in good performances, not only have they put in good performances, they've put in displays where shows that they can hurt the opposition, they can play a ah brand of football that can cause them problems and hopefully they can do that again for this particular game. As far as changes are concerned, I would be extremely surprised if they play the same team that drew against Southampton. It's different opposition. Availability-wise, we know that Andreas Pereira will be back for this game and what Marco Silvers tended to do in the games away from home against the teams higher up in the league. He's liked to play Andreas Pereira
00:16:31
Speaker
probably in a role more suited to them, more of what we've seen over the course of the last two seasons rather than when he has played in games at home or against some of the teams in and around Fulham or to the lower reaches of the table where he has operated in that number eight position. So I would expect him to come back in. Emil Smith real, I'm not quite sure. Marco Silva did say how he had a bit of a knock, a bit of a leg injury, which I don't think is anything too serious. I don't think it's anything long-term which which is the last thing Fulham can afford at this stage of the season because they do have one or two out for a long term that we won't see back until February. So even if Emil Smith row was fit I'm pretty adamant Andres Pereira will get the nod ahead of him and then behind Andres Pereira is the cause for concern it's what options Fulham have available because ideally Marko Silva will want to come into this game with Sander Berger and Sassolukic.
00:17:21
Speaker
But there are injury doubts about them. Sander Berger had to go off with an injury against Southampton for the last 20 minutes and Sassolucic seemed to have a problem with his shoulder which is ah a bit of a worry because you hope he has an aggravate of that. Of course his initial spell on the sidelines was brought about because of ah an injury to his shoulder away on the international duty.
00:17:40
Speaker
As long as he has one of those players available, then he can he can mix and match. There's potential for a woebe to go back, play in that centre of the park as he did against Brighton. Disaster would be if neither of them are available because then you really do have limited options because Harrison Reed is still not fit. That would be a problem because you worry about the midfield battle there for Fulham against Fernandez and Caise though.
00:18:05
Speaker
you worry if they're having to play like a care in the inner or bring bring a centre half into play in in that position you worry if they're a bit lightweight maybe. I don't think we'll see Josh King and obviously made his debut against Southampton I don't think we'll see him start in this game but yeah Fulham they'll be desperate for a full bill of health for their central midfielders because they can't afford to go into this game with their missing because they are limited in that particular department Joachim Anderson as well. Does he come straight back into the team? We saw him on the bench against Southampton and I thought that was the right call for Michael Silver not to rush him back into things for a game against Southampton where they're not really going to be backs against the wall. You said the horse aren't going to have to do so much defending. Does he come back and into this? I don't think he does. I would i would keep Isidiopp. Isidiopp hasn't put a foot wrong, has he? And Joachim Anderson, has he lost his place now long term?
00:18:58
Speaker
it's difficult to say isn't it but Isidiopp has come in to replace him and he's he's played against tough teams as well Arsenal and Liverpool in there as well and he's been he's been solid as a rock really so it would be extremely hard to drop Isidiopp so I can see keeping his place in the team and Anderson will will just have to wait a bit longer. One change I definitely do see happening is Raul Jimenez will come back into the team. I was actually surprised looking back now that Jimenez was rested for the Southampton game. I can understand why Marco Silva will look at rotation because they have three games in the space of eight days. Well, they have a game after this now against Bournemouth on the weekend, whatever day of the week that is. Who are the no's at this stage of the year? but
00:19:43
Speaker
Yes, so that's an interesting one. If Raul Jimenez does play this game, then does he play the one on the weekend with two get games in close succession? I would have thought he would have been the other way around. He would have started against Southampton. Maybe Moniz would have got the nod for the Chelsea game, and then Jimenez would come back in for the weekend game against Bournemouth. But Moniz didn't have a good performance, did he, against Southampton? He struggled to make any impact at all. So Raul Jimenez, I think, will come back into the team for this game. And Chelsea, they do have their injuries of their own as well, especially at the back. end we're more than likely to see tossing playing against his old club and you know with tossing having seen him many times in a Fulham shirt he can be very good on his day but he can also be error prone as well and be just very careless with the ball at his feet so i think that is an area for Fulham that they can look to exploit put pressure on tossing and if you put pressure on and then he is so prone to passing the ball to the opposition the one area i'm concerned about
00:20:35
Speaker
is Pedro Neto against Timothy Costanha. Timothy Costanha is a really experienced player but I just worry about his lack of lack of games recently and he wasn't tested against the Phantom, it wasn't that type of game for him but with Pedro Neto and his pace I am a bit concerned, I feel more comfortable with Kenny Teddy in that matchup so Timothy Costanha has got to have his wits about him to keep Pedro Neto at bay if Pedro Neto does indeed play on that side, never quite sure which else he especially this time of year they're rotation and look they have the squad to rotate don't they so it could be he could be playing against Jaden Sancho you're not you're never too sure and Colt Palmer we know how important he is to Chelsea we know how important he is to the way they play He'll take up various positions on the pitch throughout the game, so it's important for the Fulham back four and whoever's in midfield to keep him under control, keep him on a leash, otherwise he will cause havoc and Chelsea will have joy. As far as the predictions concern, I think Fulham can get a result on this game. Yeah, everyone's going to be a bit down beat about the performance and the result against Southampton,
00:21:48
Speaker
They struggled, they didn't have that intensity, they didn't have play with any urgency against the team they would have expected to beat. They will have that level of intensity being a London Derby, being a West London Derby, playing against a team that's second in league, who are in good form, haven't lost many games all season, they'll be right up for it. They know
Match Prediction and Closing Remarks
00:22:09
Speaker
they have to beat.
00:22:10
Speaker
I can't see Fulham getting a result. but I can't be on this podcast and say that Chelsea are going to beat them, can I? shit I just, I wouldn't watch with it. So I am going to go for a 1-1, but I would be a bit concerned depending on availability of the likes of Sander Berger and Sassilukic. If they aren't available, then I think they will have their work cut out. But, uh, Fulham, as I've said many times, they come into these games now.
00:22:36
Speaker
with a good spirit and good feeling that they can get a result. They do always pose a threat and it was disappointing to see that streak of consecutive scoring games come to an end isn't it? It's always got to come in to an end at some point but they can always pose ah pose a threat.
00:22:54
Speaker
to the opposition and of course of course you're looking at Anthony Robinson as well given the performance he had against Liverpool if he can combine as well with Oobi if Oobi is playing on the left hand side then they to get at get out Chelsea whereverever whoever's playing whoever's playing it right back there whether it's Dizazio or Gusto they can look to that as an avenue ah of getting success because that has been their strength this season those two players so yeah 1-1 Fulham to keep up their unbeaten run. Make it six and make it 10 undefeated in London Darby's. That'll do it as far as today's preview for the West London Darby is concerned. Thank you all once again for listening and be sure to catch us next time for the review of all things at Samford Bridge. We'll see you then.
00:23:52
Speaker
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