For the second week running the newly promoted West Ham will get the weekend off to a start featuring in Saturday's early kick off as they host fellow London rivals Fulham. Despite both teams winning their opening league fixtures, both lost last time out and will be looking to get back on the winning path at the others expense.
West Ham's opening day victory over Aston Villa seems to have flattered to deceive with Villa taking a 3-1 drubbing last weekend to Everton whilst the Hammers were rolled over by Michael Laudrup's exceptional Swansea team. Despite the loss to Swansea however West Ham did show some promise, especially from set pieces where they came close a number of times and they do appear to have goals in them.
Having won 2-0 in a mid-week League Cup match (against Crewe) West Ham may go into this match with some momentum however it appears one of those goal scorers, Nicky Maynard, is on his way out (expected to go to Cardiff). Though hopefully, regardless of whether Maynard moves or not West Ham will have rebuilt some of their confidence or Big Sam may find his players really doubting themselves, especially in front of goal.
With Matt Jarvis having made his Premier League debut for the Hammers and looking excellent it does appear that West Ham will create chances, but the bigger question is have they got someone to finish the chances? It seems as though this is biggest issue with the Hammers and although they scored freely in the Championship last year (81 goals, 2nd most) with Ricardo Vaz Te and Carlton Cole they do appear to be struggling this season. Vaz Te, an excellent Championship player, has struggled to score in the Premier League in the past and Cole's Premier League record is around 1 goal in every 5 appearances.
Despite having a number of Premier League level players they really do lack an out and out Premier League goalscorer, something that could really comeback to haunt them. It's the same problem that saw West Ham relegated 2 years ago when they scored a mere 43 Premier League goals (the 3rd worst) with their top League scorer being Demba Ba with just 7 goals. In fact West Ham's attack was so toothless that only 4 players scored 5 or more goals in their 38 League games.
Whilst West Ham are struggling for goals Fulham on the other hand are one of the Premier League's highest scoring teams with 7 goals from their 2 games far. They opened their league season with an excellent 5-0 over Norwich and were unlucky not to steal a point in their 3-2 loss to Manchester United weekend. Whilst they did lose in midweek (1-0 to Sheffield Wednesday) in the League Cup Martin Jol's intention will be for a successful Premier League campaign, not a League Cup one.
Like West Ham it doesn't appear that Fulham are done with the transfer market and whilst they have recently lost Mousa Dembele (selling him to Tottenham) it appears as if Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov is on his way to raven Cottage. Rumours are also circulating that Keiran Richardson could also join Fulham before the transfer window closes in just over a day. If Jol can secure both of these signings than it will be a major coup for the Dutchman.
Despite selling Dembele (who gave Manchester United a headache last weekend) Fulham have a really promising team. Not only is Damien Duff looking close to his best but Mladen Petric looks deadly in front of goal and Alexander Kačaniklić looks like a very shrewd signing. Fulham could be a handful for anyone in the Premier League.
Going into this match both teams will be wanting to show they are a good team though out of the two only Fulham appear to be a good team, I'll be expecting an away win.
Kick-Off: 12:45
Prediction: 0-2
Expected Line Ups:
West Ham-
Jääskeläinen, Demel, Reid, Collins, McCartney, Diamé, Noble, Nolan, Vaz Te, Taylor, Cole (4-3-3)
Fulham-
Schwarzer, Hangeland, Hughes, Kelly, Briggs, Duff, Diarra, Kacaniklic, Sidwell, Petric, Ruiz (4-4-2)
Notes:The summer signings haven't yet finished for either team and it looks likely that Andy Carroll will be loaned to West Ham for the season whilst Dimitar Berbatov is set to sign for Fulham (note this preview is being written on Thursday) however it's unlikely either will be registered in time to play.
West Ham have only lost 2 of their last 23 competitive fixtures (one of those being their 3-0 loss to Swansea)
Fulham have only beaten West Ham once at Upton Park in the Premier League
Players to watch out for-
West Ham:
Kevin Nolan-The
West Ham Captain is their key player and most of what they do goes
through him. Nolan is the driving force behind West Ham so the Fulham
defense and Midfield will look to keep Nolan from exerting his force on
the game. Whilst he's the West Ham Midfield general he's also a threat
in front of goal and acts not only as a poacher but also as a solid
threat in the air meaning that he will need to be marked well at set
pieces.
Ricardo Vaz Te-The Portuguese forward was one of,
if not the, Player of the Season for West Ham after signing from
Barnsley mid way through the season. His goal record for the club is
tremendous and his work rate is through the roof, he will always pose a
threat to defenses and he will be looking to open his scoring sooner
rather than later for the season.
Fulham:
Mladen Petric-The new Striker Mladen Petric has looked a star since signing for Fulham and with 2 goals already this he looks like an excellent threat. He gave the Manchester United defense a head ache at times last time out and was unlucky not to have scored past David De Gea. Expect the West Ham defense to be given a real nightmare against him.
Damien Duff-The Irish Winger retired from international football at the start of the new season though has proven that there is still life in the old dog with a goal in both Premier League games that he has played in so far, giving him the same return as he had in the entire of last season. Duff will give the Hammers fits if he gets the ball.
Showing posts with label Mladen Petric. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mladen Petric. Show all posts
Friday, 31 August 2012
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Premier League Week 2-Write up Manchester United v Fulham
Manchester United 3-2 Fulham
Having lost in their opening fixture away to Everton, Manchester United knew they would need a win in their first home Premier League game. Going into this match however they were facing a confident Fulham who had breezed aside Norwich 5-0 just a week earlier in one of the most impressive performances of the opening week.
The confidence of Fulham showed from the opening whistle and after just 141 seconds Fulham had raced out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Damien Duff finish inside the penalty area from a Bryan Ruiz free kick. Their lead however was to be short lived and less than 8 minutes later Robin Van Persie would open his account for United as he banged in a beauty.
After equalising United pushed hard for another goal and their pressure told as they scored their second of the match with new signing Shinji Kagawa putting in from close range after a Mark Schwarzer save landed at his feet. It seemed after this goal that United would want to put Fulham to the sword and bag themselves as many as they could get. Just minutes after taking the lead the ball was in the net again thanks to Rafael, though it was ruled offside as United sought to increase their lead. The pressure eventually told as they claimed a 3rd goal before half time, again it was Rafael who put the ball in the net, this time he was onside as United appeared to have the game in the bag before half time.
Sadly for Manchester United fans their team has a habit of making life harder than it needs to be and midway through the second half goal keeper David De Gea and captain Nemanja Vidic collided in mid air going for the same cross. Somehow the ball caught Vidic on the heel before rolling into the net in what will like be one of the most bizarre own goals of the season. This seemed to give the Fulham attack some real hope and they searched for an equaliser in the final 25 minutes though United just did enough to thwart the Fulham attack. Sadly the defensive duties did have a casualty as Wayne Rooney suffered a nasty gash in stoppage time that will likely keep him out for around a month.
Whilst Alex Ferguson will be happy at the 3 points he won't be happy at the fact United made the game hard for themselves and almost threw it away. Their defensive woes are frightening at the moment and they really need to do something about it or it will again cost them points like it did last season. The absence of Rooney, any other season would have been really catastrophic for the Red Devils however new signings Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa proved in the first half that United probably don't need to rely on Rooney as much this year. In fact it seems likely that Kagawa, who looked tremendous again, will be their key player this season and can really pull the strings with complete ease.
Martin Jol may feel unlucky his team didn't manage to steal a point, they were certainly the better team in the second half and forced a great save from De Gea just before half time, however he will take solace in they way his men played. They refused to give up at 3-1 down like some other teams would have, they refused to accept the game was lost and they showed real character once again. Moussa Dembele put on an excellent performance and could well be the key to the Fulham attack over the coming season and Mladen Petric once again looked a threat and was close to scoring before being subbed off. Jol has got a strong team here and I wouldn't be surprised if they challenge for a Europa League place at the end of the year.
Notes-
This match saw the first Premier League start for Robin Van Persie in a Manchester United Shirt
Damien Duff scored in a second successive game
Having lost in their opening fixture away to Everton, Manchester United knew they would need a win in their first home Premier League game. Going into this match however they were facing a confident Fulham who had breezed aside Norwich 5-0 just a week earlier in one of the most impressive performances of the opening week.
The confidence of Fulham showed from the opening whistle and after just 141 seconds Fulham had raced out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Damien Duff finish inside the penalty area from a Bryan Ruiz free kick. Their lead however was to be short lived and less than 8 minutes later Robin Van Persie would open his account for United as he banged in a beauty.
After equalising United pushed hard for another goal and their pressure told as they scored their second of the match with new signing Shinji Kagawa putting in from close range after a Mark Schwarzer save landed at his feet. It seemed after this goal that United would want to put Fulham to the sword and bag themselves as many as they could get. Just minutes after taking the lead the ball was in the net again thanks to Rafael, though it was ruled offside as United sought to increase their lead. The pressure eventually told as they claimed a 3rd goal before half time, again it was Rafael who put the ball in the net, this time he was onside as United appeared to have the game in the bag before half time.
Sadly for Manchester United fans their team has a habit of making life harder than it needs to be and midway through the second half goal keeper David De Gea and captain Nemanja Vidic collided in mid air going for the same cross. Somehow the ball caught Vidic on the heel before rolling into the net in what will like be one of the most bizarre own goals of the season. This seemed to give the Fulham attack some real hope and they searched for an equaliser in the final 25 minutes though United just did enough to thwart the Fulham attack. Sadly the defensive duties did have a casualty as Wayne Rooney suffered a nasty gash in stoppage time that will likely keep him out for around a month.
Whilst Alex Ferguson will be happy at the 3 points he won't be happy at the fact United made the game hard for themselves and almost threw it away. Their defensive woes are frightening at the moment and they really need to do something about it or it will again cost them points like it did last season. The absence of Rooney, any other season would have been really catastrophic for the Red Devils however new signings Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa proved in the first half that United probably don't need to rely on Rooney as much this year. In fact it seems likely that Kagawa, who looked tremendous again, will be their key player this season and can really pull the strings with complete ease.
Martin Jol may feel unlucky his team didn't manage to steal a point, they were certainly the better team in the second half and forced a great save from De Gea just before half time, however he will take solace in they way his men played. They refused to give up at 3-1 down like some other teams would have, they refused to accept the game was lost and they showed real character once again. Moussa Dembele put on an excellent performance and could well be the key to the Fulham attack over the coming season and Mladen Petric once again looked a threat and was close to scoring before being subbed off. Jol has got a strong team here and I wouldn't be surprised if they challenge for a Europa League place at the end of the year.
Notes-
This match saw the first Premier League start for Robin Van Persie in a Manchester United Shirt
Damien Duff scored in a second successive game
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-Write up Fulham v Norwich
Fulham 5-0 Norwich
One of the stand out results of the day was the dominant performance by Fulham who truly dominated the Canaries banging in 5 unanswered goals. The match started well for Norwich who came close to opening the scoring via Surman though as soon as Damien Duff broke the deadlock in the 26th minute the wind was taken from the Norwich sails.
Fulham doubled their lead 4 minutes from the break with Mladen Petric scoring his first goal for the team from a Duff corner. The lead was further extended with a second goal for Petric early in the second half after a major deflection from Michael Turner took the ball over John Ruddy.
Alexander Kačaniklić scored his first goal for Fulham as he extended the lead to 4-0 in the 66th minute finishing off an excellent pass by Petric who made an excellent debut.
The scoring was finished with just minutes left as Hugo Rodellaga was taken down in the penalty area allow Sidwell to slot one in from the penalty sport.
Before kick off many tipped Fulham for the drop though on this performance they look like a very solid team, the signing of Petric has seriously improved Fulham, especially offensively. If anything this should really make Norwich fans worry, they were awful and completely out played managing only 2 shots on target (to Fulham's 9). Chris Hughton appears to have a lot of work on his hands if he intends to keep Norwich in the Premier League. Martin Jol however has proven, once again, that he's an excellent manager and really knows what he is doing.
One of the stand out results of the day was the dominant performance by Fulham who truly dominated the Canaries banging in 5 unanswered goals. The match started well for Norwich who came close to opening the scoring via Surman though as soon as Damien Duff broke the deadlock in the 26th minute the wind was taken from the Norwich sails.
Fulham doubled their lead 4 minutes from the break with Mladen Petric scoring his first goal for the team from a Duff corner. The lead was further extended with a second goal for Petric early in the second half after a major deflection from Michael Turner took the ball over John Ruddy.
Alexander Kačaniklić scored his first goal for Fulham as he extended the lead to 4-0 in the 66th minute finishing off an excellent pass by Petric who made an excellent debut.
The scoring was finished with just minutes left as Hugo Rodellaga was taken down in the penalty area allow Sidwell to slot one in from the penalty sport.
Before kick off many tipped Fulham for the drop though on this performance they look like a very solid team, the signing of Petric has seriously improved Fulham, especially offensively. If anything this should really make Norwich fans worry, they were awful and completely out played managing only 2 shots on target (to Fulham's 9). Chris Hughton appears to have a lot of work on his hands if he intends to keep Norwich in the Premier League. Martin Jol however has proven, once again, that he's an excellent manager and really knows what he is doing.
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