Fulham 2-0 Aston Villa post match thread

[wittonwarrior]

More than a blip but not a crisis. First half did well, axel outstanding

Individual mistakes second half and heads dropped.

We need grealish playiing even if 70% fit

[SoccerHQ]

Surprising given they've lost Hugil. A man sent off today too for them.

Important we bounce back.

Not replacing him surprised me more. They played Calum Robinson upfront today and had Barkhusien who is also rapid alongside him.

Clear they'll sit back and hit us on the counter so important we get the first goal and ideally an early one as we could then pick them off like Bristol game.

[Matt Collins]

Don’t mind a defeat so much

More concerned that Fulham are now only four points behind us with real momentum. Hopefully their tough fixtures will see them lose a couple

And suddenly with jack “nowhere near” for today and Adomah “our for a while” plus green injured our attack looks weak down the left side and in terms of pace

Preston game now very big. Need a win but I’m not that confident

[clash city rocker]

Our injuries have been horrendous this season. Latest injuries to Jack & Albert could derail this push for second place...

With the money  we have spent our squad depth should be second to non in the championship

[rougegorge]

Today showed how much we need Grealish and Adomah.

In the first half we were comfortable without creating too much,  but they clearly came out of the blocks faster after the break and we didn't respond.

Losing Elmo was a blow as all the shape went to pieces as well and the full backs got little support.

The midfield in the second half was woeful and Fulham didn't have to play that well.

[Holte132]

Our winning run had to come to an end sometime - thank goodness it wasn't last weekend!

[BC Villain]

Probably the game we were most likely to come unstuck in, given their home form and their good run themselves.  Big worry is that - once again - we suffer from missing any of the first eleven.  Take Grealish and Adomah out and we lose a huge chuck of our creativity - particularly Grealish, as he's a game-changer, which the squad isn't blessed with.  The same when Terry was out before Christmas, we went on that dreadful run.

When everyones's fit, we have a very good side, but take players out, and its concerning that we don't have effective cover.

Need to bounce back against Preston, which won't be easy.

[themossman]

Today showed squad depth is still deceptively poor when you put it in terms of quality and flexibility of approach, made much worse by Bruce’s tactical limitations.

[Toronto Villa]

Today showed the manager isn’t making best use of his squad rather than a commentary on squad depth. Bruce showed that when faced with a specific level of competition he too often lacks faith in himself and his team.

[myf]

Today showed squad depth is still deceptively poor when you put it in terms of quality and flexibility of approach, made much worse by Bruce’s tactical limitations.

Not the depth just plagued by injuries. I can understand Bruce setting up for a draw today when we're light on attacking options. Tuesday is must win though

[SoccerHQ]

Today showed the manager isn’t making best use of his squad rather than a commentary on squad depth. Bruce showed that when faced with a specific level of competition he too often lacks faith in himself and his team.

Dunno, he put a similar line up out v Peterbrough and they were rubbish.

[itmustbe_it is!]

Nothing to worry about, Fulham were better (going by radio commentary).

We had injuries to key players, we didn't win. Oh well.

We still have a great chance to finish 2nd and go up automatically.

We can't win them all. The team is still doing really well.

UTV

This for me.
Beat Preston !

[postal]

There are still a lot of points to play for. Okay we missed Albert & Jack, and the team is a squad, and we shouldn't have to rely on them.
That said, if they had played, their injuries could have been more prolonged, and they could be back on Tuesday now.

We did beat Sheff. Utd, when we could have lost.
Lets be positive.

[paul_e]

One defeat isn't a problem but today, for me, highlighted why the bench for the last 3-4 games was so wrong.  If o'hare, green or rhm had been given time on the bench, been around the first team and had a few cameos we'd have been able to replace Grealish and Adomah with like for like players (in style not talent).  By flooding the bench with defensive players we had no one ready to come in and ended up with a midfield that looked defensive on paper and surprised no one on the pitch.

Bruce's natural conservatism needs to be challenged by people like Agnew to make sure that we don't fall back on plans like today.

[Three Spires Villa]

Had a great day, saw people I hadn’t seen for ages, but the game was a bit meh! Shame really, would have taken a draw, let’s hope Tuesday gives us a win.