can we beat fulham??

[Marvin]

easy 3 points for us, Fulham will be knackered and also have eyes on cup replay the following week.

Not necessarily

They will probably go out against Juve, and will be desperate to bounce back against us

 

[Seosa]

Its a must win game, but it won't be easy. Hopefully we can break the indian sign they have over us, its been a decent season to do so, i.e. Chelsea, Liverpool, Arse etc

 

[The Pink Panther]

We can beat Fulham, but I don't think we will.

But the premise is wrong. We don't have to play catch up. A draw at Sunderland/Fulham is not a bad result.

I don't see why our form and results have to move up a level at this stage of the season when drawing (on everage) away and winning at home has got us into 4th.

Stop panicing, placing unrealistic demands, and setting yourselves up for disappointment

We have to win a couple of our remaining away fixtures because in all honesty, just like the liverpool match, not losing against villa and spurs at home is probably more important than winning.
We need seventy points and Fulham away, especially after the last few games they've had, has to be targeted as a must win game.

 

[Marvin]

if we dont play 3 defensive mids, and hope our goals come from magic created by tevez or bellamy then maybe.

if we start johnson in a 442 with either tevez or bellamy up front or tevez rsc maybe.

if we do a 442 then i wouldnt start de jong instead id put in vieira, or ireland. if we do that maybe.

but if we use the tactics of a bottom half team and just try to counter attack teams who dont send alot forward we r fucked. when we do that the only times we look like well score are from free kicks/corners.

But this system got us into a decent position, and we've played great football this season.

Watching the Sunderland game, the defensive coach was Bruce who at 1-0 left one man up front and got his whole team behind the ball hoofing it up to Bent evry time they won it back

The biggest reason for the big change at half time was that Sunderland just retreated and let us have the midfield

I don't like the midfield 3 we play, but it's what we have, and I really like Bellamy, and Johnson playing as wide forwards. We could play your system, but you play with one wide man it would make it easy for the opposition to double bank on Johnson

Seems when something is not right we always have to blame the coach.

 

[ali]

yes we can beat fulham but not if we play in the same way as we played at sunderland, we need to make 2 changes to tghe team

1 - no more SWP, he is just not good enough and always gives the ball away
2 - no more santa, he is not match fit, lacks any bottle and what was that point of his shots on sunday, he did not get any on target.

if we can bring in AJ on the right and Tevez up front on his own we will beat the fulham... I think Ireland should be given another chance, he has not played his best this season but his heart is in the right place, all SWP wants is another long contract, sell him now while we can and sign Joe Cole

 

[KingofDraw]

if we dont play 3 defensive mids, and hope our goals come from magic created by tevez or bellamy then maybe.

if we start johnson in a 442 with either tevez or bellamy up front or tevez rsc maybe.

if we do a 442 then i wouldnt start de jong instead id put in vieira, or ireland. if we do that maybe.

but if we use the tactics of a bottom half team and just try to counter attack teams who dont send alot forward we r fucked. when we do that the only times we look like well score are from free kicks/corners.

But this system got us into a decent position, and we've played great football this season.

Watching the Sunderland game, the defensive coach was Bruce who at 1-0 left one man up front and got his whole team behind the ball hoofing it up to Bent evry time they won it back

The biggest reason for the big change at half time was that Sunderland just retreated and let us have the midfield

I don't like the midfield 3 we play, but it's what we have, and I really like Bellamy, and Johnson playing as wide forwards. We could play your system, but you play with one wide man it would make it easy for the opposition to double bank on Johnson

Seems when something is not right we always have to blame the coach.

i dont just blame mancini for some things, not his fualt entirely. none of his players. the ones we have arent good enough for his system i feel.

the team has been starting bad a whole lot this season and making it more difficult for a win.

but if we are going to do a 3 man midfield we have to have ireland in there even if he has not been performing. otherwise its like saying we r just going to sit back and counter you. and if you dont attack us and leave some behind to protect the counters we will rely on tevez to have an amazing goal.

doing a 442 at least helps out the attackers so every time they get the ball its not 1vs3 and well have more options.

I do blame mancini for picking given as captain every week, he wont be able to inflluence the game from the box or lead by example.

 

[Shooter 83]

It's a must win!!

 

[mancity1]

Can We?

Of course.

Will We?

Tell you on Sunday around 4.00pm your time.

 

[J-Bay Blue]

mid-table sides are always the easiest to play at this stage of the season especially if they are still in Europa and FA Cup.

I have always believed this to be true, but I think that I remember on another thread someone pulled out some statistics that cast doubt on this view.

It is VERY difficult for ANY team to play well in each match, avoid injuries and look fresh when they play 3 games in 8 days or so.

The game against us is the only one in which it does not matter too much if they lose.


Mick McCarthy "B" team selection, anyone? (Oops - thier reserves almost knocked us out of the Carling Cup!).

Time for RM to be a bit more adventurious, I think.

Richards - out (Toure in at RB)
Zabs - out - Viera in his place
SWP out - Johnson in his place