Unbeaten in 2013 but worrying signs persist
PA PhotosKaragounis celebrates his opener against Wigan Painful to watch, despite the point! The wheels have well and truly come off the Fulham machine – and two more points are dropped at home to Wigan in a match we could easily have ended up losing.
There's nothing new to add to issues we have been blogging since Fulham's form went backwards with the clocks at the start of winter. What, however, I sensed was new from the mood inside the ground after this latest shambles were comparisons being voiced between Jol's ability to manage and Laurie Sanchez. This team, and its lack of creativity, cohesion, spirit and organisation is edging ever closer to the nadir reached before the arrival of Roy the Saviour five years ago.
Now in 2013 I'm not sure Jol has much more left to offer in terms of the 'project' as it stands. If we are to believe reports of the lack of finance on offer for reinforcements in the transfer window that broke Friday, we are all in for some sleepless nights in the coming months. We are skating on thin ice if club thinking is to survive with the current squad till May, keep our powder dry, then prepare for a massive overhaul next summer which sees all the old lags shipped out and a brand new side assembled – alongside the new stand, if Maf hasn't lost his enthusiasm by then.
No one component of our team selection functioned here as it should. Hardly surprising when you consider our entire midfield from a year ago has disappeared. Our two most gifted players, who should be doing all their damage in the box, play too deep in trying to compensate.
When our top scorer from the past two seasons moved away, no genuine striker was signed in his place. Today Wigan's Al Habsi did not have a single save to make. We created absolutely nothing of threat. Nor did we manage to win one offensive header in the box all game. Both wingers were nullified, crosses of the hit and hope variety rarely caused Wigan any trouble. As for our free-kicks...is there any coaching involved here? It seems like the playground, whoever's nearest the ball at the time can have a crack. The only thing you can safely predict about any Fulham game at present is that Jol will have all his three subs on by the end desperately trying to ring the changes and pull a rabbit from the hat.
At the back we were porous yet again, with Di Santo allowed to run way too deep into the box before firing into the top corner. It is now beyond the once formidable 'Thames Barrier' to keep a clean sheet. Mark Schwarzer's worrying inability to put distance to his clearances means the ball comes straight back at us. This allied to our casual inclination to try and play our way out of danger deep in our own half means a goal for the opposition becomes just a matter of time. I said that to the guy next to me 60 seconds before Wigan's leveller.
There you have the perfect storm. Creaking defence. No creativity or composure in midfield, non- productive wingers, no cutting edge up front. Oh yes, and no obvious tactics, strength on the bench nor – it now seems – reserves of cash ready to bring in the quality needed to save our season. My, how I’m looking forward to Man City next week!
Can we find any bright spots from a chilling afternoon by the river? Not that I'm ever going to admit to Richardson being a good bit of business, he made two goal saving block tackles in our box and looked a tad more nimble. But we still need a new left-back who can bring out the best in Kacaniklic, who I sense could really use some Hodgson-style one-on-one coaching. Sascha Riether gave another energetic display, as did the old Greek master. Top marks Giorgos Karagounis too for another quality goal - if only he had the legs to run for 90 minutes. But with Dimitar Berbatov disappearing from view in the second half and Ruiz back to his shambling show pony worst, if the team is clearly not being inspired to play for the manager, where does the board go next?
If anything good can come out of the way Wigan passed round us with such ease, it may be a rethink on transfer activity. One of the Sunday’s already has us linked with Yann M'Vila of Rennes. On Saturday’s evidence Hugo and Mladen look to have nothing in the locker, so a striker too needs to be signed. Though we are now playing to the levels of QPR, Reading and Southampton, we are still six points away from being relegation fodder. But where are further points going to come from with the team as it stands, and a run of tough games approaching? If things go from bad to worse in the coming weeks, Jol surely will be getting a summons to the chairman’s office.
Yes it's midwinter, and we’re all gloomy as hell post-Christmas, so rather than trigger three days of misery on the message board, let me know what YOU would do to turn the good ship Fulham around. Can we cut it with the current squad, who should we be chasing, and how much of this is the fault of the board, or the boss? Had that last minute Ruiz effort not been headed off the line, we’d be sitting pretty tonight above West Ham in 11th and having an entirely different slant on life. Well, we’ve been in a worse state than this plenty of times. That's following Fulham FC for you.
Twitter@fulhamphil



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