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Forecast Thursday: Maintaining high standards & avoiding complacency
46 Plays1 month ago
After another international break, the Premier League returns and Gavin is on hand to look ahead to Fulham's encounter with Wolves.
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Transcript
Introduction & Match Preview
00:00:01
Speaker
Every club. Every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network. Yes, yes, yes. Welcome back everybody to the Daily Fulham Podcast. This is your home of all things Fulham. My name is Gavin Ruffell and this is our preview show. As we look ahead, we look forward to the game on a weekend against Wolves. Normally our forecast Friday would of course come out on a Friday, but slightly different, slightly change of plans this week. So we're bringing
League Fixture Run
00:00:31
Speaker
it a day forward. This is our forecast Thursday episode.
00:00:34
Speaker
And I'm sure just like me, you'll all be pleased to know there's no more international football, no more international breaks until March. It's been that kind of a season so far. It's been this really stop-start kind of staccato. Can't get into a rhythm, can you? Because you've got a block of three games here, a block of four games there, a block of four games there.
00:00:54
Speaker
and I don't think anyone enjoys the international break really today so in gear now all Steve ahead can look ahead to a good chunk of fixtures until March with no breaks in the calendar for international football. But let's just reflect on some of the action that happened in the international break because some of it is relevant to Fulham.
International Break Review
00:01:18
Speaker
I think thankfully this time There's no injury concerns. Last time was a bit of a disaster, wasn't it? Because Sassa Lukic went away with Serbia on an international duty. He picked up an injury and up until that point in the season, he'd been possibly one of Fulham's best players. and
00:01:37
Speaker
We haven't seen him since. Will we see him on the weekend against Wolves? Well, we'll soon find out, but um it seems the news is encouraging regarding that injury. And regarding the rest of the squad, there's no injury setbacks. No one's come back.
00:01:53
Speaker
ah badly hurt from international duty and in fact a couple of the players managed to get themselves on the score sheet. Harry Wilson continuing his fantastic form for club and country. I'm sure a lot of you will know that stat by now that he has the best goals per minute ratio in the Premier League which is staggering 24 minutes.
00:02:12
Speaker
telling you that he's only played 72 minutes of Premier League football, he'll be chomping at the bit to get that start. Marco Silva is very reluctant to change a winning winning team and it's good that he does have options off the bench. If they need to be called upon, they can do an adequate job. Yes, so he scored the fourth goal in Wales, his 4-1 win over Iceland, yay! um So that meant promotion from the Nations League. It seems weird, doesn't it, talking about international football and relegation and promotion and I'm still in this stage where I'm coming to terms of understanding what the Nations League is but... I guess if you get promoted, that's a good thing, isn't it? What it means in the long run. I'm not quite sure, but you'd rather be relegated and ah you'd rather be promoted than relegated, wouldn't you? So another goal for Harry Wilson.
Significance of Wolves Game
00:03:00
Speaker
He continues to excel for country. And we saw in a couple of games prior to the international break, he was starting to excel for club as well. And Raul Jimenez, Evergreen Raul Jimenez, of course, will be coming up against his former club on the weekend. He managed to notch another goal for Mexico as well.
00:03:17
Speaker
There were some other positive displays, some assists in there for Sander Berger and Anthony Robinson, as well as I think tim is Timothy Constantia, captain in Belgium as well. So all things good, really considered on the international front. I think another positive was Joachim Anderson actually getting suspended for Denmark, which meant he came home early, so he wasn't involved in their second game. so it's always ah It's always a manager's relief, isn't it? They're kind of holding their breath and praying, keeping their fingers crossed that everything goes swimmingly well and that there are no injury setbacks. And thankfully, this time for Fulham, they have a fresh bill of health going ahead, looking forward to the weekend's fixture. And we are back to the cut and thrust of the league. And it's an exciting time to be a Fulham fan, isn't it? If you look at the position in the league table,
00:04:03
Speaker
It's very congested, isn't it, between a lot of teams there after Liverpool and Manchester City. From third down to sort of 12th, 13th, there's is's only a few points in it and a lot of teams are going to be jocking for position 11 games into the season now. So you're almost to the third of the way through.
00:04:21
Speaker
and we can finally get into a sort of rhythm of things now, can't we? With no international breaks and that's something to look forward to. Hopefully they can keep the feel-good factor going, keep impressing with the style, the brand, the football they've been playing, and we'll see what they can achieve. Have expectations changed given the result in the last couple of games? Quite possibly. ah It's not just the results as well, it's the performance the performances. You look at the 11 games.
00:04:49
Speaker
There's maybe one, two games there that for them have probably been second best, but they've been in they've been in every game and they've had some tough games in there as well. Manchester City away being the toughest on paper and they certainly held their own in that game. So as much as it's impressive to be winning games, they're winning games in a fashion in a style that's exciting for fans.
00:05:11
Speaker
It is the end of a little run of fixtures where which we had earmarked a few weeks back. the They had a good chance of collecting points. It's easier said than done isn't it because of course in the Premier League no points are handed it to you. You've got to earn them, you've got to win them if you're slightly off it.
00:05:27
Speaker
you're not going to win. It's as simple as that. So after the disappointment of Everton to concede such a late goal, um you get the sort of a familiar feeling of not quite capitalising on the performances and not converting. But the last two games, they have managed to get maximum points, always exciting as well. When you manage to win Darby's, West London Darby, I think the atmosphere there at Craven Cottage for that game was probably as good as Good as there's been a long time, maybe since since the event this game. You know, Sean, for the fans that go to games more regularly, we'll be able to give you a better answer than that. But so everything's going great at the minute and hopefully, as I said, it can it can continue to be that way going forward. We will talk a bit more about walls. But before we do that, I have to say a word or two about our sponsors.
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00:06:20
Speaker
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00:06:46
Speaker
Before we come on to Wolves, I'm sure many of you will remember the fixture from last season. It was a very entertaining game, actually. It was a Monday night football and Fulham came at winners 3-2 on that occasion. Willian, remember him? Yep, he scored a couple of goals from the penalty spot.
00:07:04
Speaker
a couple of maybe fortuitous decisions 50-50 calls going in Fulham's favour but yeah that was an entertaining game last season and hopefully we can see something similar with Fulham coming out the right-handed again on the weekend but let's come on to Wolves and that was a a massive win for them wasn't it in the last outing before the international break to get that victory against Southampton at home was their first win at the Premier League season and you know you don't want to go into a third international break not having won a game so every team now has managed to win a game in the Premier League and the important thing for Wolves is that's three points they've taken off i get they've taken against club that's possibly going to be down there with them.
Wolves' Recent Form
00:07:49
Speaker
Did it save Gary O'Neill's job? Would his head have been on the chopping block? Had they not managed to secure three points in that game? Quite possibly. Or is it just the stay of an execution? I mean, if they lose on the weekend, I'm sure he's going to be under pressure just as much as he was prior to the Southampton game. I'm sure fan the fans of Wolves you always you You never get 100% either way, do you? it's It's always going to be split. I'm sure there'll be Wolves fans that are fully behind Gary O'Neill, but there'll probably be others is that are feeling a bit tense under pressure and wondering if this is the season Wolves get relegated, go back down to the championship because they have had a good time with it, haven't they? And when they got promoted, they got promoted
00:08:34
Speaker
same time as Fulham actually, Fulham the season they came up through the playoffs the first time when they beat Aston Villa Wolves went up as champions that season and that was a very impressive team one of the best championship teams ever which was assembled by Nuno who you know we're seeing these doing great things and not in the forest now and the first seasons they came back into the Premier League, they really excelled, got into Europe, a couple of seventh placed finishes. They're probably not at that level now, it hasn't been quite as good as that, they've lost some key players as well, ah certainly the likes of
00:09:09
Speaker
you the players you sort of associate with that team that did so well, the likes of Raul Jimenez, who's now at Fulham, Diogo Jota, Gio Matino, Ruben Neves, Conoco Di, those type of guys.
00:09:25
Speaker
The last couple of seasons they've been steady, I think 13th and 14th finishes, so what the Wolves fans expect from them, they probably expect a minimum of the same. They certainly don't want to see themselves rooted, marooned to the bottom of the table. Obviously just off the bottom now, managing to secure that win, but it's going to be a tough season and then the next few game weeks are massive for them because People may have made one or two excuses early season, given the run of fixtures they had. They were playing a lot of the top teams, so you could maybe say, yeah, you know it was it's understandable they got beat there, because they were playing a team that finished first, a team that finished second, third, fourth in the league. Now they've got a run of fixtures, starting with this full game, which is going to be a tough game, going to Craven Cottage in a minute. It's not going to be an easy task for any team going there. But you've got Fulham, you've got Bournemouth, Everton, West Ham, Ipswich, and Leicester.
00:10:19
Speaker
all of those teams they played before Christmas and this could be a defining part of their season. It's always important to beat those teams around you because it, what come what may, you'll always look back at certain games and if you've been beaten by one of your rivals at Ax is a double whammy and that could be the the difference at the end of the season, even if, even if we are talking about results in December. So it is a chance for them to pick up support some points, but they need, they need to do it swiftly.
00:10:46
Speaker
One of the players that they signed in the transfer window is Andre. And Andre will be a name familiar with many Fulham fans because he's been linked with a club seemingly forever through multiple transfer windows. Seemed like it was going to happen at times, but it never happened, did it? And he ended up going to Wolves. And he started their first game against Newcastle. And I think he had that stat, which was like 30, 40 successful passes, completed out of 40. But kind of since then, he's he's been out of the team. so Fulham fans with a keen eye on how that moves progress and you know maybe looking at thinking possibly have they dodged a bullet. Yeah I mean it's interesting that he isn't in the in the Wolves team at the minute they are spearheaded by an ex.
00:11:29
Speaker
for the man who was there on loan a few seasons back in Mario Lemina. And I think it's important when you're in a relegation battle, you need to look to leaders and solid characters. I think Mario Lemina is certainly one of them. Craig Dawson, I feel over the years, whether he's been a West Brom or West Ham, I think he's been a dependable, reliable, important player. And he's also someone that can be a leader as well. You need those guys that are going to fight in and in the trenches for you. and to rally the group around them, so they were one or two key personnel for them. ah If you look at the problem this season, it's been shipping goals. It's as simple as that. They've conceded way too many goals and they they conceded 27, which is comfortably the most in the division. You compare that to some of their attacking stats. They've scored 16, which isn't too bad. and
00:12:22
Speaker
They do have capable attackers. We saw what Kunya did last season, him and Wang. They actually got double figures, both of them, for Wolves last season. And Kunya started this season and pretty well as well. these He's managed a score of a handful of goals. Wang's had a bit of an injury, so maybe he hasn't quite reached the level of last season. They got Strand Larsen at there who's a bit of a physical presence as well. so it's clear that it with the 27 goals conceded in 11 games that defensively it's not quite working out at the minute and that's something Fulham will certainly want to exploit on the weekend. I think it is important for Fulham to guard against complacency as we return to the cutting thrust of the Premier League it's easy to take your your eye off the ball and start getting ahead of yourselves thinking
00:13:08
Speaker
walls at home that's a very winnable game a game on paper the way things are going for both sides you'd like to fancy your chances of getting three points and then you start thinking about other things you start thinking about oh if this result goes this way if this result goes that way you know you might end up being fourth or fifth in the table Saturday five o'clock so it's important for Fulham to guard against that sort of complacency and I'm sure Marco Silva will have them right at it and He knows he's an experienced manager. He's been in this business for long enough. He's managed teams in the Premier League to know that if you are if you are off it, if you are complacent, if you feel the games won before kickoff, then it's got a funny way of kicking you at the backside and it will come back to haunt for them. But the important thing is they can maintain the levels that they displayed in in recent weeks.
00:14:01
Speaker
the performances against Brentford, the performances against Crystal Palace, even against Everton when they didn't get the three points. If Fulham can play to that sort of standard, that level, then you think they've got every chance of making it three wins from three. Before we come on to the game itself, talk about some team use, some key personnel, let me tell you about GSPN.
00:14:23
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
Fulham's Strategy & Squad Readiness
00:14:41
Speaker
wherever you find your usual podcasts.
00:14:45
Speaker
So i as I did touch upon in the beginning, it looks like Sassanukic is going to be back fit, but Marco Silva isn't the type to rush players back and reintroduce a player if he feels it's unnecessary. And what we've seen in recent weeks after the slightly shaky performance against Aston Villa is Sander Berger. we're see We've seen the best of Sander Berger.
00:15:12
Speaker
probably operating in a role that's not necessarily been accustomed to him in the past couple of seasons when he's been at Sheffield United and Burnley. And the other thing is, once you do have successive relegations, you do have a tag which is very unwanted, isn't it? I think I remember Mark Noble at West Army, yeah he coined the nickname for Roger, he called Roger Johnson the relegator because he had suffered relegations with with Wolves and Birmingham as well and it's certainly not a nickname you want, but Sander Berger, I think his performances have continued to get better and better as he's started the games against Everton, against Brentford and then against Crystal Palace. He's won up there each time and he's looking to he seemed to grow into his role and if Sassa Lukic is fully fitted, it's a tricky one to see which way he goes because
00:16:10
Speaker
There's a lot of clamour for getting Harry Wilson in the team as well because of his performances off the bench, because of his performances. for Wales, but it's difficult. You almost want to get 14, 15 plays into 11, which is a great problem to have, isn't so it? And you're seeing the impact players are having off the bench as well. Adama Troyori, who might've had a couple of quiet games, he comes off the bench and he makes an impact, doesn't he? That cross for Harry Wilson, the first goal against Brentford,
00:16:40
Speaker
He almost set him up, well, he did set him up for his second goal against Crystal Palace, which was disallowed. So we've always said about a Damatrori, what impact he can make coming off the bench for the last 20 minutes when he's running against tired defenders. Whether you're the ones chasing a game or whether the other team are trying to get back into the game, he's the type of guy that can exploit space with his with his running running ability. And, you know, the last thing fullbacks want is a Damatrori run into them, an absolute nightmare for them.
00:17:09
Speaker
And what we've seen in the last game for Emil Smith Rowe, that's the player we wanted to see when he joined Fulham, and we've seen it in glimpses. You saw the assist for the Alex Awobi goal against Everton. Again, that was a prime example of the player, the best of Emil Smith Rowe, that guy who can drive forward, can carry the ball, can make the right decision there. And he had his best game against Crystal Palace, so you want more for him. The Wolves fear Raoul Jimenez.
00:17:40
Speaker
I'm sure Wolves fans remember him dearly despite the way it ended with without scoring in the last 28 or 29 games. They had a bad bad injury there but they had some great times with Raoul Jimenez so it's just football isn't it the way these stories seem to happen time and time again that it wouldn't surprise you if Raoul Jimenez scores the winning goal in that game.
00:18:04
Speaker
So team changes from the Crystal Palace game. I think he will go with the same. I think he will go with the same. And you've got with those options off the bench that if things aren't working out that Harry Wilson can come off the bench and score because you know he's done it the last two games. So no problem there. For Wolves, what are their assets? Yeah, going forward, they they can be dangerous. They've got a player in CUNY that scored goals in this league.
00:18:31
Speaker
He's done it this season, so he's backed up last last season's a dozen goals with with five already, so he's he's shown that's not just a flash in the pan, that's not a one-off. But defensively, the statistics are there for all to see, 27 goals conceded, so if Fulham can pass the ball crisply, be incisive, ask a lot of questions of this Wolves defence, then I think they will get their answer.
00:18:55
Speaker
As I said, the biggest concern from this game is that Fulham aren't quite at it because they're playing Wolves at home and they think the game's won because before it's already already started and hopefully we don't see that. We don't see a complete drop-off in level as a result of that. and I don't
Match Prediction
00:19:12
Speaker
think we will. I think Fulham will emerge victorious in this game. I think they will come out 3-1 victors.
00:19:20
Speaker
There we have it. There is your preview for all things Fulham v. Walls. Thank you for tuning into this episode. And I just want to say thank you all for your continued support for us here at the Daily Fulham Podcast. It doesn't go unnoticed. We are still in our infancy at this stage. We are looking to take things to the next level. It's been a few days since our last episode because of the international break, but we're back on track now. and Firmly looking forward to the next few months as we can look forward to full on games every weekend. Thank you all for listening once again. We'll see you on the next one.
00:20:05
Speaker
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