Match Day Thread Fulham v Leeds Utd

Alioski was no world beater at fullback.

 

Didn't realise he was playing

 

Tall for his age then might have a growth spurt up to 21.

 

He is somewhere.

 

I was being ironic...... With everything being an ist these days

 

Last season it was Alioski, Harrison and Meslier getting the pelters on here early doors.

This season its Firpo and Roberts.

Just let them get on with it and get behind them.

 

Some pundits saying Firpo is getting better and his penalty was the best if the night, great technique. The kids were all good especially Cresswell as he played the full 90 and defended well all night. He was as good if not better than Struijk in the 23s but Charlie was only 17 then, so I think everyone can now see he is on a par with Struijk at least. All the kids took stick all night from players trying to bully them, they were kicked and pulled all night. Seems they were all warned and ready for it. Summerville did well for his first start and made a couple if great moves and deserved an assist. These attacking kids didnt really get a sniff as we were not attacking like we should have done. We concentrated down the Dan James side more often than not so Summerville had look inside. McKinstry was lucky at the death that the ball came to him a couple if times and he dealt with it really well. Joffy took abuse from the crowd, was smashed in the head and kicked in the back but he didnt stop running, just unlucky not getting any balls to run onto.

Some great penalties last night from all who hit the net. Firpo and Joffy’s and McKinstry’s stood out. Our 2 failures were our most experienced players

 

I think it was Chesh who said we should have just kept Leif Davies, I wasn’t a fan of Alioski but he was better than Firpo who is quite easily the worst LB in the PL

 

Alioski is irrelevant, he was offered a contract which he rejected. He chose to leave, he could have stayed and fought for his place but didn’t want to.

 

You finish 10th you look at where the team failed, you discuss what needs strengthening. You go several league games without a win, you try and analyse where improvement is required, it’s a forum to debate opinions. How boring would it be if everyone had the same opinion. The weakest area is always going to be the current topic of debate.

I’ve seen people knock Ayling, Cooper and Dallas this season but if Roberts and Firpo are grabbing the lions share of criticism I’d say it’s because those are the weakest areas.

 

I’m not saying he is relevant but when he was on his way out we could have kept Leif better still we could have spent that £12m on someone a bit better than Firpo. We are sometimes lacking in forward planning, how long have we been a quality CM short? Since we sold Saiz we’ve signed probably 5 wingers, Pablo retired yet we still never went out and brought a replacement, instead we accepted we made two mistakes on the 4 available wingers and signed another.

 

I agree I thought the U23s coming in did great.

 

Junior Firpo is a quality player. Hes learning a new skill under Bielsa, hes in a strange country, hes getting better. Hes faster and covers more fround than people think, he spends a lot of time driving at defenders and has made some great crosses which should have had Bamford, Rodrigo or Roberts on the end of.

Yes he has made some bad passes, yes he may have scored a couple if goals if he hadnt had a rush if blood. He made some good tackles last and cut out a lot stuff. He is getting better and deserves a chance.

 

Chesh ffs

 

Just can't understand the constant critcism of Firpo.

You can see he's got a good engine and is quite a strong/physical player for a modern left back.

Ok, he's not the finished article and sometimes his touch can be a bit heavy but he is a good player.

 

I know what a forum is. My veiled point was this time last year Alioski was getting absolutely slaughtered. Now a fair few would have him back. Then you get some saying Leif Davis should be playing. I'm sorry but Alioski kept Leif Davis out of the picture easily. When he did play he looked out of his depth and nervy. If Alioski wasn't good enough then Leif Davis wasn't either.

I think a bit of a reality check is in order for some fans. The progress this club has made is unbelievable over the last 3 or 4 years. We all strive to improve and some signings won't always work out.

Ayling Dallas and Cooper have spent all their careers at lower leagues and do OK. They'll do for now. Firpo and Roberts are still young and Firpo is in a new league, in a bit of a unique system with new players. I'm not saying they are beyond criticism but Firpo has only started about 4 games for the club but yeah, let's get Leif Davis back in then shall we.

 

You are only assuming Leif would be better, he is also untried in this division, yes he’s doing well in the championship but so did the whole Norwich team. You might be right on Firpo, the jury is still out with me, but he’s only had a few games, I’d be the same with Leif if he was here and finding his feet.

 

Okay firstly, I apologise if my previous reply was a bit flippant.

I do have to pinch myself to check I’m not dreaming and that the nightmare of Bates, GFH and Cellino is really behind us, I’m not knocking our owner, I love how he has made us a proper attractive well run club, I’ve said dozens of times I wouldn’t swap Bielsa for anyone else at this present stage of our resurgence.

I wouldn’t want Alioski back either but he was better than Firpo and that’s scary. If you’re a decent footballer you have basic skills, I don’t see anything in Firpo just like I don’t see anything in Roberts, it doesn’t mean I hate either player and it doesn’t mean I believe they deserve abuse on social media either. I just question their inclusion and purchase, more so that I put it out in this forum and open it for debate in the hope I’m wrong and someone can tell me what I’m missing.

I remember Phillips getting abuse yet I could see what he offered at the time, I’ve been on and off the fence about Roberts a dozen times but I’ve lost patience now.

I didn’t mind Douglas at LB and I felt he never got a decent crack at it when he was here and when I moan about us not signing a decent central midfield player it doesn’t mean I’m not grateful for the signings Radz has brought in, more so I’m frustrated at Bielsa for not agreeing to one of the many that have been offered. It doesn’t mean I don’t trust him and I’d imagine Orta is even more frustrated.

Am I a bit negative lately yes I am, I’ll not lie, it worries me that we’ve had one win in 7 games this season (over 90 minutes), I know we’ve had injuries at the back and if we were losing 4-3 I’d blame it on that but we’re not.

 

It could have been me

 

The huge difference is Leif was already with us, just like Ayling, Cooper, Dallas and company who came up and were transformed from average Championship players to where they are now.

We had scouts out looking at LBs and Firpo was (you assume) the chosen one by Bielsa. Now just like he chose Rodrigo, Raphinha, Llorente when you spend big money you expect a glimpse of something special, I’ve not seen that glimpse in Firpo.

If he is in need of lots of time and work under Bielsa to transform him why did we bother spending so much money? I rate James more than Harrison and I know I’m probably in the minority on that one but just a couple of games in and he’s showing great promise.