PLAYER WATCH v Fulham (A)

[tonyoz]

PLAYER WATCH v Fulham (A)

Each incident in the match was rated on the following scale: 

+5 GOAL 

+4 Excellent play 

+3 Very good play 

+2 Pleasing/good play 

+1 Decent play 

  0 Routine stuff 

-1 Sloppy play 

 -2 Disappointing/poor play  

 -3 Very poor play 

 -4 Terrible play 

 -5 Own goal 

The ratings for each player were then combined to produce a measure of the players overall contribution to the match. 

 
Ratings       

Key incidents per player = coloured stars              Overall contribution = numbers

Kaminski                          ***   ********     -11                               

Zeefuik (16)                     **     3

Lenihan                            ********************  ********     19     

van Hecke                        ***************  ***********      3

Wharton                          ********  *****     1

Pickering                          *******  ****    4 

Travis                                *************  ********     8

Johnson                            ****************  ************    4        

Dolan (65)                        ****  ****     3     

Giles                                  ************** *******     11

Khadra                             * *****     -6 

 

R-Costello (16)                *************  *******     5

Gallagher (45)                 **********  ****    10

Rothwell (65)                  ****** **     8 

 

Highlights and Lowlights 

(A justification for the main ratings given above)

 

Well, on paper, this has to be the toughest test of the season. Let’s see how we measure up!

05 A good ball out of defence by van Hecke finds Giles just in Rovers half. He runs towards goal and Fulham hold off…so Giles keeps going to the edge of the box before letting fly - but it’s a yard over. Nice positive run though.

Van Hecke is drawn to Mitrovic on halfway but he loses out and Fulham stream forward. Now Mitrovic is free in the box but the cross is just too high!

10 Fulham are knocking it about with confidence. Now they attack down their right wing and Williams is too fast for Pickering who can’t keep up and the cross comes in. Wharton reads the danger and heads out of play.

12 Another Fulham attack and Mitrovic receives the ball on the edge of the D. Lenihan tries to tackle him near the penalty spot and he goes down claiming a penalty. He actually stood on Lenihan's foot! Travis puts it out for a corner. It leads to more extended Fulham pressure round our box and more panicky defending.

15 Kebano streaks down their left wing past a limping Zeefuik. His cross is met by van Hecke.

16 Zeefuik off, JRC on.

There’s a massive gulf between the quality of passing between the 2 sides. And what a contrast from the QPR game. You’d hardly know Dolan was on the pitch and Khadra has done nothing positive at all!

23 Again Mitrovic draws van Hecke out of position, into the Fulham half, before turning him.

Now Van Hecke tries to save a corner by heading back into play but it just falls to a Fulham man and a few passes gets the ball to Williams on the edge of the box. He shoots straight along the floor to Kaminski; it should be a regulation save but the Rovers keeper pats the ball out to the feet of Kebano who gleefully pokes it into the net. Terrible!

25 Pickering’s giving Wilson too much space…….but Khadra’s not helping much.

Blimey, I can't remember a team whinging to the referee so much! (Fulham I mean!)

32 Travis and Giles mess up a simple pass between them allowing Robinson a free run on goal. Lenihan, in the box, tackles well and then clears. But back it comes and we are struggling to get any decent possession. Mitrovic performs another diving swan act….what a cheat!

33 Now Mitrovic leaves van Hecke and Wharton floundering as he heads towards goal again. He beats Travis just for fun before shooting from the edge of the box but Kaminski gets down to save.

Now Rovers attack as Johnson sweeps a nice pass to JRC on halfway and he starts a long run, he comes under pressure and overruns the ball but Dolan collects and weaves his way into the box but there’s 3 defenders and he goes down looking for a penalty. Oh! He’s booked for diving! Amazing after Mitrovic’s efforts earlier.

34 To top it off, Tosin, from his own half, threads a lovely flat ball through our entire defence. Pickering has lost Wilson again and because our defence line is so high, he’s clear to run on goal. Kaminski comes out but Wilson chips the ball over him and it’s 2-0. Could Kaminski have done better? I’m not sure but it was a good finish. 

38 Nothing’s working at the moment. We look  like a poor team. Now Johnson wastes a free kick by lumping it straight into the keeper’s arms!

Half Time

 

45 Khadra off, Gallagher on.

46 Fulham pull us apart all too easily again. Lenihan, Dolan, JRC far too casual. They eventually set up Carvalho with loads of space just inside the box. Fortunately Lenihan manages to deflect his shot on to the outside of the left post….with Kaminski going the other way.

50 Gallagher goes on a strong run down the left wing and wins a corner. Giles takes it and it’s decent. Gallagher gets his head to it but it’s disappointingly way off-target.

53 Dolan wins a free kick 35 yards out, just left of central. Giles puts a nice curving ball behind the defence for everyone to run on to but Ream is there just before Wharton to glance it behind for a corner. At the second attempt, Giles puts the corner into the 6 yard box but Tosin heads away comfortably.

58 JRC gets a block in to prevent the cross at the byline but it’s a corner. This is amazing. Mitrovic is next to van Hecke central……and he just pulls away and arcs round the back of everyone to the far post…….where he meets the cross totally unmarked.  Van Hecke got trapped in the crowd and lost him completely. Fortunately the ball ended up in the side-netting. JP is being taught a lesson here.

61 Fulham playing with us at the moment. A bit embarrassing.

63 Johnson wins the ball and feeds Dolan on the left wing. He beats 2 men and they have to bring him down, 20 yards out. Giles puts in another of those wicked behind the defence balls for Rovers to run on to. Johnson gets in a header and the goalie dives to save it but Gallagher is there to tap in the rebound from 2 yards. Gallagher has the ball back at the centre circle before the ref rules it offside! The replay shows that Johnson and JRC were offside from the free kick. This is unforgivable when we have so few chances to begin with!

65 Dolan off, Rothwell on.

72 Lenihan wins the ball and Travis clips a nicely weighted ball out to Giles on the right wing. He cuts back to his left foot and bends another decent ball into the box. The goalie has to lurch forwards and punch the ball away as Gallagher steams in. The ref gives a soft foul on the keeper.

74 Wharton, on halfway, puts in a long, accurate crossfield pass to Giles. He brings it down well but the ball runs a little too fast into the box towards the keeper. Giles decides to shoot from a tight angle but the keeper saves on the near post. It may have been better to square to JRC but it’s a close call. Giles is making more of an impression this half.

78 Fulham breeze through our midfield again, Wilson has a pop from just outside the box and it whistles past the left hand post. Too easy.

80 Wharton is dispossessed just outside our box: big danger! Wilson again has a pop but this time it’s well over the bar.

81 A Rovers move breaks down near the Fulham box and Williams brings it out. He gets to halfway and, good grief, he punts a long ball towards goal from halfway! Kaminski is scrambling back from the penalty spot but is nowhere near as the ball slams against the crossbar!

We’ve done better this half but there’s the distinct feeling that Fulham are sauntering along in low gear.

85 Carvalho is too good for Lenihan and the Rovers captain rugby tackles him to the ground on halfway. A really pointless and dumb yellow card!

86 An awful pass from Wharton, just outside our box allows Reed to get the ball before Johnson. Van Hecke intervenes but just gives it straight back to a Fulham man. This is pathetic! Finally JRC runs it clear but his pass is too short too!

88 Now Johnson fouls just outside our box. The direct shot comes in and Kaminski dives to push it round the post.

92 Another good cross from Giles but Gallagher is offside. Why is it that the ball only ever seems to hit the top of Gallagher’s head? He’ll never score a proper headed goal at this rate.

94 The whistle goes. Well it’s no disgrace to lose 2-0 away to the best team in the league but the gulf in class between the two teams brought me back to Earth. Sometimes we just don’t seem very good! After the triple home fixtures coming up I guess we’ll know exactly where we stand.

Edited March 7, 2022 by tonyoz

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Thanks Tony. That’s an excellent report. We seem to have exactly the same ideas about the game and how it should be played. I saw it just as you wrote it there. I thought the ref gave us very little but maybe that’s because Fulham played him much better than we did. Van Hecke had his hands full with Metrovic but at least he kept him scoreless. He’ll be a better player for that experience. He never stopped trying. If you’re going to go deep with the centre forward you’ve got to stop the pass being made at the least. It’s like in rugby league, if you come out of the defensive line you’ve got to make the interception.

[tonyoz]

13 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Thanks Tony. That’s an excellent report. We seem to have exactly the same ideas about the game and how it should be played. I saw it just as you wrote it there. I thought the ref gave us very little but maybe that’s because Fulham played him much better than we did. Van Hecke had his hands full with Metrovic but at least he kept him scoreless. He’ll be a better player for that experience. He never stopped trying. If you’re going to go deep with the centre forward you’ve got to stop the pass being made at the least. It’s like in rugby league, if you come out of the defensive line you’ve got to make the interception.

Yes I like van Hecke, I hope we keep hold of him. I just hope we can reproduce something like the QPR form over the next 3 matches….we looked like a team again…..but Saturday was a reality check and injuries are killing us. In less than 24 hours we’ll know if the lads have what it takes to complete the job I reckon. It’ll be a nervy game.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, tonyoz said:

Yes I like van Hecke, I hope we keep hold of him. I just hope we can reproduce something like the QPR form over the next 3 matches….we looked like a team again…..but Saturday was a reality check and injuries are killing us. In less than 24 hours we’ll know if the lads have what it takes to complete the job I reckon. It’ll be a nervy game.

I watched Notts Forest v Huddersfield tonight. I was really impressed with both teams. Moving the ball at pace, energetic, full of running and playing aggressively. Obviously both teams are well coached and highly motivated. Just what we aren’t at the moment.