Fulham vs Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Whiney MacWhineface]

I thought it was an interesting game for a 0-0. The defence was excellent and Delph and Petrov screened them well. Our supporters were superb.

N'Zogbia seems to be lacking either confidence or fitness or both. No-one in the game attempted to beat their man, or take responsibility for trying to play a killer ball. I felt sory for Bent (no service) and Gabby (who worked hard but surely Alex will realise that he offfers nothing but nuisance value on the wing) and even Heskey (who also worked hard but if he's a central attacking midfielder then I'm Marilyn Monroe).

As for chances, we did have two shave posts late on (Albrighton and Dunne's deflected header).

And finally, just a thought as to why Heskey was played (and why we might see more of him)  - apart from the two centre-backs we are a very small side, and Heskey did good work defending set pieces.

[Matt Collins]

Heskey was more influential than gabby or n'zogbia, but I knew he'd get more stick

I thought petrov and especially delph were good first half, I liked delph's composure and manouevring of the ball. Petrov in the second looked fucked and went backwards every time.

I am a bit concerned about how many long balls we played. And I'd be worried if he put out a side with so little creativity on a regular basis.

I think mcleish may introduce that creativity slowly. But we can't rely purely on an unfit n'zogbia.

[Villa'Zawg]

Sorry TV, I'm afraid I can't agree that N'Zogbia has already shown he is a step up on A Young. He'll have to do considerably better than that for a sustained period of time.

That's not what I said though is it? My comment was specifically about the crosses he put in today. One thing we were all frustrated about with Ash was his crosses, be they open play or set pieces. I think N'Zogbia will prove to be a better crosser than Ash and better in dead ball situations. He'll have to do much, much more than that to be a better all around player than him, and I'd be mental to suggest that his is.

...

You said;
" N'Zogbia is going to be a big asset for us this season. His crossing is already a step up from Ash."

It was 30 minutes into the first game of the season and it was a silly thing to say. He had an indifferent performance with a couple of half-decent crosses, none of it was "a step up from Ash". Hopefully he will get better, I think he will.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I was surprised by how decent Warnock looked again.  He still has some improving to do, but his positioning was much better than over the last year and a half and he didn't look as ready to dive in.

I thought he put some good balls forward but sadly Gabby did nothing with them, should have switched nzogbia to that side

[SashasGrandad]

Having watched MOD - I think we have made the right choice of keeper.

Some were saying Al Habsi was a possible replecement for Friedel!
Butter fingers! Or Given's strong arms and legs.

AMc needs to lose a few pounds or buy a new suit.

[Neil Hawkes]

Staggering that is our first away clean sheet since Hull April 2010.

The above quote should be the one we all take note of - a remarkable achievement already, yet as we didn't score the emphasis has been on the negative.

Let's repeat that quote again:
Staggering that is our first away clean sheet since Hull April 2010.

The first premiership game of the new season, with a new manager and severe self imposed financial restrictions in place - yet we have achieved the first clean sheet away since April 2010.

I'm impressed.

[Dave]

Thoughts:

Craven Cottage is a brilliant ground

The away supporters sounded fantastic

Apart from some shaky moments in the first half, Given was excellent. Much better than I had been expecting. Did still miss a few balls that Friedel would have taken comfortably.

Delph was very good.

There were too many bookings for what was a pretty clean game

We could still be playing now and we probably wouldn't have scored. Which is a bit daft considering we had three strikers who all played 90 minutes. At Blues he didn't play enough strikers, now he's playing too many.

Bent did very little, but that's not meant as a criticism. He was never given a single opportunity to do anything.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I can't help thinking that the tactics and style of play from yesterday are a shape of things to come.

It's going to be very interesting to see how much Fucking 'Eck opens it up against Blackburn and Wolves.

[Chris Smith]

It was stated on here ad nauseum before the game that we'd be in trouble because of Fulham's superior match sharpness. We then go out and nullify that completely in the first half by taking the game to them and then defending resolutely in the second and still people choose to concentrate on the negatives.

We're not going to be a soft touch again this year, if teams want to score against us they are going to have to work for it. It will takes some time, I reckon, to get things right at the other end but N'Zogbia will improve with games as his fitness and understanding with team mates improves.

Biggest plus for me was Delph. I didn't expect him to start but, particularly first half, he was our best player. Getting selected for the first game will be a big confidence boost for him.

All in all a good point at a place where any team will be satisfied if they come away with a draw.

[JUAN PABLO]

I'm happy .

Did not lose .   Did not concede a goal like we normally do. 

I thought we looked the better side first half , but obviously Fulham got stronger second half as they are fitter with the extra games.

I'm looking forward to the home game with Blackburn .

[JJ-AV]

How can you start with four forward players and still look that toothless?

There were so many times when Bent was in the box with the ball on his own, that's not how we want him. We need Gabby and N'Zogbia getting beyond Bent.

Same shape, Bannan in for Heskey and a reshuffle for me.

Stan - Delph
Bannan
N'Zogbia - Bent - Gabby

[woody4866]

A good point well won I thought!

Fulham was never going to be easy and they are a mid to top half team like us so a draw was probably inevitable

Oh - and thank God for Shay, we would have lost if Old Yankee Doodle I Cant Command My Box Butterfingers was still in goal

[Shrek]

Agree above post.

Another positive was Delph getting 90 mins, I don't think he has had that playing in midfield for us, so well done to him

[Monty]

And finally, just a thought as to why Heskey was played (and why we might see more of him)  - apart from the two centre-backs we are a very small side, and Heskey did good work defending set pieces.

That's what I thought, and I do think it a bit of a sad state of affairs if we're selecting our attacking midfielder based on making defensive headers.

I counted three times that Heskey won a flick on and the ball went to one of our players. The reason we were under the cosh early in the second half isn't because Fulham came out particularly brilliantly, but because we just kept on punting balls up to Heskey and Bent (the worthlessness of having Bent and lumping it up to him) and losing the ball. Long-ball directness is a terrible tactic defensively because it just gives the opportunity more of the ball and more chances to attack, and it's particularly worrying that they did that so pointedly straight after half-time because that looks like an instruction. Just how Delph, after his excellent first half, must feel about an instruction to send the ball flying over his head I don't know. Then we settled into something approaching possession football (frustrating because it showed that our players can do it), where we gave away fewer chances (except where we hoofed it, gave it away and let them attack), but we created none either because instead of Stephen Ireland or Barry Bannan, Emile Heskey was the player between the lines. Well if it's more of that it's going to be astonishingly tedious at best, and really quite dangerous at worst.

[l_mckay]

just watched the game now,defended really well which is diffrent to last season. Given made some cracking saves. Not much exciting happend going forward but im sure that will improve once Nzogbia gets fitter. overall a decent point!