Hopefully this will be my last blog I write whilst the Whites are in the Championship. Some of you may have enjoyed my blogs, some of you will say " Who is this self righteous wan*er, spouting off his opinions about our club". Do you know what... we all have an opinion and who cares if we don't always see eye to eye... at the end of the day we are all one big happy FFC family.
I was a teenager the last time Fulham were at Wembley...drinking in the King's Arms in the morning and being silly, attacking West Ham cars after the game outside the Golden Lion. Every single moment of those long ago years are cherished by me, and a few unnamed people who may read this blog were also there at the time. And now, the conclusion of an amazing season is upon us all...as the White's approach our own personal judgement day.
I was going to write a match preview, but for superstitious reasons of my own, I cannot tempt fate. Before the Derby game, I predicted the score to myself (no, I cannot prove it), and I was correct. Again I have a feeling about tomorrow's result, and again I am keeping it to myself. It could be good news or it could be bad news, but I won't tell anybody.
I have been buzzing all week, but today I didn't think about the match too much... maybe the anticipation has numbed me, but reading the posts on various social media has made me proud to be part of this amazing club, and even more so to be a part of our family of supporters, some of whom I still see from that day in 1975. It wasn't our time back then, but our time will come and we will be celebrating outside the Golden Lion, still being silly but without the aggro.
Will I sleep tonight? Who knows and who cares? Tomorrow is all that matters, not my sleeping problems. I am certain many of you will be feeling the same, and like me you won't care as long as the boys go out and play at our best without fear.
Is this all garbled nonsense that I am writing? Possibly, but I cannot think clearly as all I can think about is watching our beloved Whites at Wembley.
So I will end with a few phrases.........
FTID
COYWs
London's Original
Mitro's On Fire
and most importantly..
IN SLAVISA WE TRUST.
COME ON YOU WHITES.....WE BELIEVE.....
© Nic Smith
In the league a 1-0 win would have given Derby 3 points, but in the play offs it gives Gary Rowett a tactical dilemma. It is impossible to see how Derby can possibly "park the bus" for 90 minutes, as they did for the entire second half on Friday night. If we went 1-0 down, at home, in the first minute of any game we would still have faith that the Whites would recover to win.
For Fulham, there is no tactical dilemma, other than not getting caught on the break, but that is exactly the same as any of our home games since Bristol City at home. Most teams have come and sat behind the ball, waiting for a counter attack. Only Sunderland played with freedom against us, but they were already doomed and had nothing to lose. Slav can tell the boys to go out and play our normal game, and not to panic. If after 60 minutes, it is still 0-0, then he can throw on AK, and other attacking options, but that is something the lads are already used to. So for me, Slav has the easiest of tactical decisions to make.
Rowett on the other hand must decide whether to stick or twist, or something between the two. He may opt to try and get another goal, early on, whilst being cautious, and for me that is his best option. He cannot tell the Rams to attack us too much as he knows we will have lots of possession and we also like to play on the break. He could decide to sit back for the first 45 and frustrate us, but that is risky, because even against a tight defence we can still score, and after Friday Slav will know how they will set up to defend. The biggest problem for Rowett is what happens if we score late in the first half. A goal before half time, changes his tactical talk, and does he take the risk of leaving his defence more open whilst chasing a goal. A 1-0 home win in two legged fixtures is always the toughest result, other than a defeat. Even a draw is better than a 1-0 home win, despite the obvious advantage. Tactically Rowett has a massive dilemma on how to approach the game, and also on what contingency plans to put into action when Fulham score, as i believe we will. Rowett will know all of this, but it is still his dilemma.
I am not going to make any prediction regarding the score, because I do not want to tempt fate, and like all the Whites' faithful I am nervous as hell. I think that Derby will press us high up the pitch early on whilst keeping men behind the ball. I cannot see a repeat of the last 30 minutes on Friday when their furthest forward player was 10 to 15 yards inside his own half. Fulham will stick to their normal patient passing game early on, and many of our fans will get frustrated by it. We need to take our time and slowly force them to defend deeper, and we are used to doing that. I expect Derby to tire and as long as they do not get a first half goal, then they will defend deeper and deeper in the second half. Even though I am not convinced by AK, if it is 0-0 in the second half then it will be time for him to be thrown on, up top with Mitro, so that their big centre backs have more to worry about. Predicting this is difficult, but deep down, I have a feeling that after 90 minutes us Fulham fans will be thinking about going to Wembley to get one over on that Pikey they call Terry.
Whatever happens tomorrow night, we are Fulham, and we will always be Fulham.
IN SLAVISA WE TRUST
FTID
FULFORCE
STILL BELIEVE
COYWs
© Nic Smith
