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State of Fulham:
Fulham were beaten 3-1 by Arsenal at home last weekend (Getty Images)
Besides the monologue above, Fulham will be without Maarten Stekelenburg for at least another week, following an injury to his other shoulder during training. At least his original injury has healed. Kieran Richardson is also out (get used to hearing that one, if you aren’t already) and Fernando Amorebieta continues to be sidelined, much to the chagrin of his new manager.
Darren Bent is set to make his full debut, after Martin Jol told Sarah Brookes and the official website that he was impressed with Bent’s poaching abilities, including his consolation goal against Arsenal. It would seem that if we can take anything from the Arsenal match, it’s that the lineup on the pitch at the final whistle is most likely what should be our lineup at the start of the match – with Bent up front, Dimitar Berbatov with free range to roam anywhere behind him, and Pajtim Kasami and Alexander Kacaniklic on the wings.
Adel Taarabt has impressed so far this season, but his beyond poor match fitness means he continues to run out of gas by halftime. Ashkan Dejagah also, most likely remains in the same boat, as he got a terribly late start to his season due to the ankle ligament damage suffered at the end of last season.
Fans aren’t happy, I get it. I’m losing patience in the management myself – how can you not? But let’s all give it some time. There are new players who it would be impossible to expect to slide right in and do well. In fact, if anything we should be praising Scott Parker, who looked as fluid in the middle as anyone could have dreamed against Arsenal, and his passing skills are precisely what this team is starving for.
Is he going to run directly at a central defensive partnership and create chances like Mousa Dembele did so beautifully? Of course not. But his technique and savvy for creating space in the centre of the pitch were the precursors to a multitude of openings in the Arsenal back four.
Let’s give time for Martin Jol to figure out the proper starting lineup. I give him credit for finally holding Bryan Ruiz accountable for his mediocre overall resume since joining Fulham. When I asked my Twitter followers what they would like to see the lineup look like, not a single lineup I received was the same. They’re like snowflakes!
Nobody knows which one is best at the moment, and therefore we need to give the leaders of the team time to figure out what they believe will work best. Are they responsible if whatever they decide doesn’t work out? Of course. But let’s hold our horses before we start calling for heads.
