Fulham vs Aston Villa match thread

[The Edge]

I think we will see Doug sitting in the Kamara role which he will do brilliantly. Obviously if he does we lose something in in an attacking sense so we really need Tielemans at the top of his game to make up for that. If both those things happen we win.

[Villan82]

This botched line up is exactly what previous managers would do. I thought Uni was different. Left sided CH playing on the right with a right sided CH on the bench. Attacking MF playing DM with a DM on the bench. Yawn. Why do they always pull shit like this.

Maybe you have missed the news but most of our defenders are currently injured. What options does Unai have?

[SoccerHQ]

Tielemans  in place of Kamara could be a disaster. Why has Ubai not been brave enough to start Iroegbunam?

Tim's not really a DM though.

QPR fan in the Mail in the week said he did well in the box to box aspect last season for them but his positional play and marking wasn't great.

Personally I'd just move Luiz back to DM. He played that role for most of his first three seasons here after all.

Not ideal given how brilliant he's developed into the 8 but ultimately it means SJM and Tielemans can be more advanced and get into shooting positions and link up with the forwards.

I'd be o.k with a point today (given we must win the next two after) but we need to be getting on the frontfoot in games again and winning them sooner or later.

Tielemans certainly isn't a defensive midfielder. Hasn't got the legs, and gets overrun everywhere he plays that isn't the number 10 position.

Not sure where the Tielemans DM idea has come from unless UE has specifically mentioned it.

It will just be Luiz-McGinn as it was pretty much between 2019-21 for us so it's experienced at prem level and we now have better players all around them than those years.

                                         Luiz
                               Tielemans   SJM

              Bailey                                        Ramsey

That's what I would expect today. Cash needs to be more cautious today as Fulham main gameplan is to get Willian cutting inside and then shifting the ball to Antonee Robinson on the overlap to get crosses in.

[SoccerHQ]

Maybe (hopefully) the thinking with Tim is that he's played about 25minutes of first team football this season so putting him in from the start might have bene a bit much and instead he'll get some more time from the bench for a game or 2 before being in the mix for a start as we get into March.

Luton away is a logical game to start him. See how this midfield functions in the next two and then bring him in if it's unbalanced.

Let's remember we won plenty of games in March and April last season after Kamara got injured although the "vibe" feels a little different now.

[PaulWinch again]

Midfield doesn’t look balanced.

Be brilliant Pau.

[Demitri_C]

If I was a youngster i would feel i have little to no chance under unai. Having two keepers makes zero sense at all. Why not have kellyman or a cb from our u21s on bench?

If paus not fit we have a cb pairing of chambers and lenglet.  Scary  thought

[kippaxvilla2]

This botched line up is exactly what previous managers would do. I thought Uni was different. Left sided CH playing on the right with a right sided CH on the bench. Attacking MF playing DM with a DM on the bench. Yawn. Why do they always pull shit like this.

Maybe you have missed the news but most of our defenders are currently injured. What options does Unai have?

He thinks Mings should have started.

[SoccerHQ]

I think we will see Doug sitting in the Kamara role which he will do brilliantly. Obviously if he does we lose something in in an attacking sense so we really need Tielemans at the top of his game to make up for that. If both those things happen we win.

I think Doug is mature enough in his game to realise he'll have to sacrifice himself for the team in last three months.

It's not ideal but he comes deep anyway to pick up the ball and SJM, Tielemans and Ramsey all ahead of him gives him decent passing options to connect to the two forwards.

We're not going to make top 4 just spamming a few 1-0 wins, need to roll the dice a bit and start scoring two or three goals on a regular basis as we were doing for most of 2023.

[edgysatsuma89]

I'm strangely positive. I have even included a Villa win in an accumulator which I basically never do. Actually, WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING?!

[paul_e]

If I was a youngster i would feel i have little to no chance under unai. Having two keepers makes zero sense at all. Why not have kellyman or a cb from our u21s on bench?

If paus not fit we have a cb pairing of chambers and lenglet.  Scary  thought

The other way to look at this is that by being so 'tight' with giving spots on the bench every time you get there, even if you don't get on in the game, it's still an achievement and a sign that he beleives in you as a player.

[Rigadon]

I think we will see Doug sitting in the Kamara role which he will do brilliantly. Obviously if he does we lose something in in an attacking sense so we really need Tielemans at the top of his game to make up for that. If both those things happen we win.

I think Doug is mature enough in his game to realise he'll have to sacrifice himself for the team in last three months.

It's not ideal but he comes deep anyway to pick up the ball and SJM, Tielemans and Ramsey all ahead of him gives him decent passing options to connect to the two forwards.

We're not going to make top 4 just spamming a few 1-0 wins, need to roll the dice a bit and start scoring two or three goals on a regular basis as we were doing for most of 2023.

I agree with you.   Need to go for it now. 

[ChicagoLion]

I think we will see Doug sitting in the Kamara role which he will do brilliantly. Obviously if he does we lose something in in an attacking sense so we really need Tielemans at the top of his game to make up for that. If both those things happen we win.

I think Doug is mature enough in his game to realise he'll have to sacrifice himself for the team in last three months.

It's not ideal but he comes deep anyway to pick up the ball and SJM, Tielemans and Ramsey all ahead of him gives him decent passing options to connect to the two forwards.

We're not going to make top 4 just spamming a few 1-0 wins, need to roll the dice a bit and start scoring two or three goals on a regular basis as we were doing for most of 2023.

I agree with you.   Need to go for it now.

we need to scrape as many points as we can as often as we can.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

He’s no risk taker is he
I’m a bit disappointed to be honest, I don’t rate Tielemans as much as others on here and would rather have seen Tim

Same here, John. Tielemans obviously has the talent but really lacks consistency, he's due a good game. I'm not a fan of having to change the set up to fix one problem, especially when the solution is potentially sitting on the bench. Dougie is such a key player for us, when he takes control of a game we're a joy to watch. Our success this season has been mainly from having a brilliant and powerful midfield with Dougie orchestrating it.

[Rigadon]

I think we will see Doug sitting in the Kamara role which he will do brilliantly. Obviously if he does we lose something in in an attacking sense so we really need Tielemans at the top of his game to make up for that. If both those things happen we win.

I think Doug is mature enough in his game to realise he'll have to sacrifice himself for the team in last three months.

It's not ideal but he comes deep anyway to pick up the ball and SJM, Tielemans and Ramsey all ahead of him gives him decent passing options to connect to the two forwards.

We're not going to make top 4 just spamming a few 1-0 wins, need to roll the dice a bit and start scoring two or three goals on a regular basis as we were doing for most of 2023.

I agree with you.   Need to go for it now.

we need to scrape as many points as we can as often as we can.

Yes we do, but 1 win = 3 draws (I know you can add up!!).

[mrfuse]

Not sure about Tim starting to be honest bit mixed from what I've seen. Digne not match fit so I think this is the best we can put out currently.