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Under Roy
Hodgson, who performed a miraculous last day survival win at
Portsmouth to maintain their Premier League life, Fulham
have looked a different proposition to previous years.
I do not think that even their own fans might think they
will challenge the top four at the moment, but they look a
more solid outfit, who are harder to beat and have a better
squad, with more experience in the right places.
Having signed
Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer, the hope was that he would be a
straight replacement for the retiring Antti Niemi. In
games against Spurs in the past, Schwarzer has displayed the
ability to drop a clanger or several and with the way
Tottenham are playing at the moment, he could come under
pressure on the afternoon of the match. In front of
him, he will have to rely on Brede Hangeland, John Pantsil,
Paul Konchesky and Aaron Hughes as the back four to protect
him from the new Spurs attacking style. Hangeland is
an old-fashioned central defender - big and strong, while
Hughes is a little more mobile. The two full backs are
keen to join the attack, which can leave holes to exploit,
as neither are the quickest to recover their positions.
In midfield,
there are some familiar faces to Spurs fans. Simon
Davies, who was perhaps shunted out of the Lane a little too
quickly, has found a consistency to his game at Craven
Cottage, while the responsibility of being Welsh captain has
also helped him realise his importance to the side. A
good player who prompts from midfield, he does a lot of hard
work tracking back too, making him a useful player to have
in your team. Alongside him, Danny Murphy has been
having a bit of a renaissance at FFC. His passing is
his greatest asset, but he brings experience, which was
shown at Fratton Park on the last day of last season to
bring about the goal that kept Fulham afloat on good ship
Premier League. The reason he was not getting games at
Tottenham was because his legs were not what they used to
be, but with willing runners around him, he can still be a
useful player. Spurs are reportedly looking at Jimmy
Bullard's situation at Fulham, where he is yet to be offered
a contract and he is one such player, with a joy for playing
the game, who will run all day. A good passer and a
player who knows where he should be to get on the end of
things, his free-kicks are also a potent weapon for the
Cottagers. Summer signing Zoltan Gera from West
Bromwich Albion is the fourth of the midfield quartet and he
has great skill on the ball, good vision and possesses a
fine shot. Another one who will need to be made to
work backwards instead of allowed to make progress forwards.
In attack,
Andy Johnson is finding goals easy to come by just now after
over-coming his injury when he signed for the West London
side. Nippy and strong on the ball, he has the
goal-scorers instinct of knowing where the goal is and will
need to be closely marked to prevent even a half-chance
coming his way. Much has been made of his weakness on
the ball in the penalty area, but with Ledley hopefully
returning for this match, any tackle will be well-timed and
any fall will hopefully be scrutinised by the referee.
His partner up front is another ex-Spurs man in Bobby
Zamora. His six months at White Hart Lane did not give
him the opportunity to show what he could do and he has
scored wherever he has played, so a good run in the first
team at Fulham has shown he can do it there too. Good
in the air and a strong runner with the ball, it will be
another big and small combination for out central defenders
to cope with.
Other options
for Hodgson's choice are American striker Clint Dempsey, who
is yet to fully show what he can do in England; former Man U
forward Erik Nevland, who has scored infrequently, but has
good set-up play and Chris Baird, the defender who is
inevitably deployed as a midfielder when he comes on as a
sub, to shore up the side when in a point(s) winning
position.
With things
going well under Harry Redknapp, I think he will have
Tottenham fired up for this one. With the team
understanding the way he wants them to play and getting used
to each other now, it should be an interesting game, but one
which I can see Tottenham doing well in ...
PREDICTION :
- Fulham 1 Tottenham Hotspur
3
For more information on
the opponents and their history, including full result history of
matches between the two teams, click
here.
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Coverage
TV
Sky Sports 1 - Football First -
Saturday 20.25
Match of the Day (BBC 1) - Saturday 22.30 - 23.50
(highlights)
Goals on Sunday (Sky Sports 1) - Sunday 11.00
Match of the Day 2 (BBC 2) - Sunday 22.35 - 23.35
(highlights)
For coverage in all parts of the world, check
here and
here.
Radio :
BBC
LONDON 94.9FM (London area only), Digital Radio
(London area only) & Sky Channel 0152
(live coverage)
BBC Radio Five Live (live coverage) 606/939 MW
If
available on BBC radio, it can supposedly be heard
in these countries on these stations ...
Australia (Melbourne)
SEN - 116 AM Live
Transmissions: TWI, Saturday. 12.45 & 1500 matches
Australia (Sydney)
Radio 2 - 1611AM Live
Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 12.45 Match
Singapore
Media Corp Radio - 93.8 FM
Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
South Africa
SABC (Radio 2000) Live Transmission: TWI,
Saturday, 15.00 Match
Uganda Radio 1 (English) 90.0 FM, Radio 2
(Lugandan) 87.9 FM Live Transmission: TWI,
Saturday, 15.00 Match
North America (USA, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean)
Sirius Satellite Radio Live transmission:
Saturday - 12.45, 15.00 (TWI) & 17.15 (BBC) Sunday -
14.00 & 16.05 (BBC) Mon, Tue, Wed - Various times
(BBC)
Internet :
www.spurs.co.uk
Live webcast - subscribers only
BBC London -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/10/12/live_commentaries_feature.shtml
click on link to "Listen to Tottenham Hotspur live
commentary" on top right hand menu. |
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Fu
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Fulham 2
Tottenham Hotspur 1
(Half-time score : 1-0) |
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Saturday 15th November 2008 |
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Referee : Alan
Wiley
(Burntwood) |
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Fulham
:
1 Schwarzer
4 Pantsil
18 Hughes
5 Hangeland
3 Konchesky
13 Murphy
23 Dempsey (11 Gera 87)
21 Bullard (26 Andreasen 90)
25 Davies
9 Zamora
8 Johnson
Unused subs:
19 Zuberbuhler
10 Nevland
17 Gray
33 Kallio
34 Baird |
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| Tottenham Hotspur
:
1 Gomes
(o.g.)
3 Bale
39 Woodgate
26 King (c)
22 Corluka
5 Bentley
8 Jenas
4 Zokora
6 Huddlestone (
9 Pavlyuchenko 46)
14
Modric (
7 Lennon 46)
10
Bent (18 Campbell 71
)
Unused subs:
21 Sanchez
2 Hutton
20 Dawson
32 Assou-Ekotto |
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Fulham
Gomes (o.g.) 33
Johnson 70
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Tottenham Hotspur
Campbell 81 |
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A subdued performance by Spurs was a big let down in a match which could
have gone a long way to keeping the club out of trouble at the bottom of
the table, but with Fulham being in good form, especially at home, the
Cottagers were good value for their win. However, Gomes' gaffe
could have mad eit a bit harder for them.
A slow start to the match perhaps set the tone for Tottenham who failed
to pick up any sort of tempo. It took ten minutes before a chance
arrived and it was for Fulham, who got Johnson away and his square ball
to Murphy was blocked by Corluka. A couple of minutes later, Gomes
was equal to Dempsey's shot as he came in off the left to hit a shot
that looked as though it was going into the top corner. Johnson
struck a shot over the top and Woodgate got in the way of a Bullard
effort before Tottenham's first shot on goal in the 25th minute, when
Modric got through and lashed a shot wide from outside the penalty box.
It was quickly followed by David Bentley's volley flashed just wide of
the left hand post with Schwarzer stranded.
Unfortunately, it was the pre-cursor to
Fulham's goal. Davies was allowed too much time on their left wing
and cut back to put a cross into the near post area. Johnson went
for it, but it was Jonathan Woodgate who got a touch to it and while the
ball went towards the Tottenham goal, it had little pace on it, but
Gomes took his eye off the ball and failed to get his body behind the
ball, allowing it off his arm and chest into the inside of the net to
hand the home side the lead.
It was a ghastly goal to give away and
made it all the harder to get anything from the match, even if the side
was playing well. The only succour was a Jeans break into the box
to have his shot blocked by Hangeland, so when the team came out for the
second half, there was a double change, with Modric and Hud going off to
be replaced by Lennon and Pavlyuchenko.
It set up a 4-4-2 formation, which had
worked against Liverpool in midweek, but the opening attack saw Lennon
just fail to pick out Roman's head with his cross. It was Gomes
doing what he does better in the next action, with a save from Bullard's
25 yard free kick, but he still could not get it wide of the goalmouth
and had to rely on a defender to hack it away.
Shots from distance rained in on Gomes,
who dealt with a lot of the stuff safely, but Fulham had worked out that
there was always the chance that he might mess up. Lennon almost
pulled a low ball back for Pavlyuchenko and Bale tried a shot from very
long range, as it looked like Spurs were getting a bit desperate.
When Gareth's cross was taken well by Ledley King, his volley was just
too high to trouble the Cottagers' keeper. With twenty minutes to
go, it all went wrong again, with another goal conceded from a corner.
A long cross to the far post allowed
Simon Davies to jump highest to head into the goalmouth, but the ball
was knocked out where it came from. Davies again won the header
and when the ball dropped in the six yard box, Andy Johnson turned and
hit the ball low past Gomes and the two defenders in front of him.
It is another aspect of the defensive side of the game that needs
working on.
Redknapp brought on Fraizer Campbell for
a lack-lustre Darren Bent and things looked a bit livelier. Gomes
had to be on his toes to tip over Bullard's drilled free-kick from
outside the area and another corner led to a panic, but Hangeland could
only put in a tame header that fell into Gomes' hands comfortably.
Then, almost out of nothing, Tottenham got a lifeline.
Jermaine Jenas brought the ball through
midfield and into the Fulham half, before passing square to Bentley, who
played it on to Campbell inside the left corner of the penalty area.
His cool side-foot finish was out of Schwarzer's reach and well-placed
inside the post to make it 1-2 with ten minutes left.
However, Spurs failed to capitalise on
any worry the goal might have put into Fulham minds, but it was the home
side who went closest, with Bullard hitting another sweet free-kick that
Gomes once more flew into the air to turn aside.
The final whistle brought a big cheer
from the home club's fans and there were familiar groans from the Spurs
end, as points were once more (literally) thrown away. The team
were perhaps not as sharp as they should have been and need to regain
the zip in their play they showed against Liverpool in midweek to make
opponents work harder to get the ball and push them backwards.
It was not a great game, but one in which
we handed a goal start to Fulham and then had to play catch up again.
If we can eradicate these cheap goals we keep giving away, then there
may be a chance of moving up the table a bit more consistently.
PURCELL COLE |
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Other scores
this weekend : |
| Arsenal |
0 |
Aston Villa |
2 |
Saturday |
| Blackburn Rovers |
1 |
Sunderland |
2 |
Saturday |
| Bolton Wanderers |
0 |
Liverpool |
2 |
Saturday |
| Everton |
1 |
Middlesbrough |
1 |
Sunday |
| Hull City |
2 |
Manchester City |
2 |
Sunday |
| Manchester United |
5 |
Stoke City |
0 |
Saturday |
| Newcastle United |
2 |
Wigan Athletic |
2 |
Saturday |
| West Bromwich Albion |
0 |
Chelsea |
3 |
Saturday |
| West Ham United |
0 |
Portsmouth |
0 |
Saturday |
|
League
Table |
| |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
GD |
|
1 |
Chelsea |
13 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
32 |
4 |
32 |
+28 |
|
2 |
Liverpool |
13 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
21 |
8 |
32 |
+13 |
|
3 |
Manchester United |
12 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
25 |
10 |
24 |
+15 |
|
4 |
Arsenal |
13 |
7 |
2 |
4 |
25 |
15 |
23 |
+10 |
|
5 |
Aston
Villa |
13 |
7 |
2 |
4 |
22 |
16 |
23 |
+6 |
|
6 |
Hull City |
13 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
19 |
21 |
21 |
-2 |
|
7 |
Everton |
13 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
19 |
20 |
19 |
-1 |
|
8 |
Middlesbrough |
13 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
14 |
18 |
18 |
-4 |
|
9 |
Portsmouth |
13 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
13 |
18 |
18 |
-5 |
|
10 |
Fulham |
12 |
5 |
2 |
5 |
12 |
11 |
17 |
+1 |
|
11 |
Sunderland
|
13 |
4 |
3 |
6 |
12 |
19 |
15 |
-7 |
|
12 |
Manchester City |
13 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
26 |
22 |
14 |
+4 |
|
13 |
Bolton
Wanderers |
13 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
11 |
15 |
14 |
-4 |
|
14 |
West
Ham United |
13 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
16 |
22 |
14 |
-6 |
|
15 |
Stoke City |
13 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
12 |
22 |
14 |
-10 |
|
16 |
Wigan
Athletic |
13 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
14 |
17 |
13 |
-3 |
|
17 |
Newcastle United |
13 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
15 |
21 |
13 |
-6 |
|
18 |
Blackburn
Rovers |
13 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
14 |
24 |
13 |
-10 |
|
19 |
TOTTENHAM
HOTSPUR |
13 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
16 |
20 |
12 |
-4 |
|
20 |
West
Bromwich Albion |
13 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
10 |
24 |
11 |
-14 |
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