I haven't done one of these for a while but I will resume my normal format of each half analysis followed by player ratings.
1st Half. Fulhams runs from deep combined with their wide players cutting in were causing absolute havoc for us. As good as Swift and Ejaria are they are not defensively good enough to help Rino. I honestly would like to see Rino and Pele in the middle with one of Swift or Ejaria further up. It would provide more steel in the middle and allow Swift or Ejaria to fully focus on their attacking and pressing duties.
The red card was deserved for Swift. I don't like hearing people say he went for the ball when that is bloody fecking obvious. He was too wild for the first yellow and his studs were up for the second. His poor first touch caused him to react for the ball without any proper control and that's how he caught the player for the second yellow. End of.
Apart from that we were not able to string more than 3 or 4 passes together and were deservedly down at half time.
How bad was the 1st goal we conceded
I saw 4 players ball watching the guy who crossed the ball across the outer box, and no one getting close to the 2 players hovering on the outer edge of the box. Of course, it reaches Cairney and he scores a good goal there.
2nd Half Better. Rino was driving forward again like the player we saw last season. Albeit not always successfully but better. Every player seemed to roll their sleeves up and get into the game alot more too. The passing was a little better, bar Liam Moore, and we actually looked dangerous going forward. However, you could argue Fulham had eased off so it was inevitable we would look better later in the game. The goal they scored just summed up Liam Moore this season. He needs to be dropped and taken out of the spotlight for a few games. We have plenty of options who can do a better job.
Player ratings
Rafael 5 - Should have taken control of his area for one of the goals but did pull off 1 top save. I know he sold short for the 4th goal but he would have been better off running back
Yiadom 4 - a lot of Fulhams attacks were coming down his side in the 1st half. I thought that was one of his worst defensive performances I've seen from him.
Moore 3 - Drop him. Give him 2 weeks leave and go again.
Morrison 4 - Not great either. Was partly at fault for one of their goals.
Richards 6 - I actually thought he had a decent game. He wasn't helped by having a shit Liam Moore next to him and no one tracking back in the first half. He did get more help with Boye and Olise second half but he held his own.
Rino 6 - 1st Goal he should have closed down Cairney but was ball watching. However, as I said earlier he was trying to do the defensive duty of 3 players against a team that like to drive runs in from deep. We should have played both him and Pele to cope with that. He got better second half.
Ejaria 5 not a great performance. Lost the ball a few times but tbf he was also fouled a lot with his trickery.
Swift 4 - idiot. I don't know what was said to him earlier in the game but something clearly wound him up. He won't do that again.
Puscas 5 - Worked hard. When we went down to 10 men he single handily started off a couple of attacks through sheer effort of the press. Should have hit the target in the seond half after that surging run. I really want him to score soon as I think he will burst to life after.
Barrett 4 - He started off as one of our best players then just got worse and more anonymous. Gomes could have taken anyone off at halftime to be fair but you know he takes off the youngest players first!
Meite 5 - Goal aside. How many times did he win the ball and lose it by thinking he can just batter his way past people? We can't keep talking about his potential now. He should have dinked the ball over the keeper in the first half rather than go for power. If that was any other striker I think they would have scored.
Boye 5 - Lots of effort, a few nice touches. Still lost the ball needlessly too.
Olise - 4 no impact
Joao 3 - Um. Yeah no thanks.
Gomes - The team were off the pace at the start and it was only when we were riled we looked better. I think Gomes has 1 last throw of the dice before he is fired or leaves himself. Play Pele and Rino together (Box to Box and a DM) for more steel and balance. Drop Moore and hopefully get a win on the weekend. If we lose our next 2 games he will be gone and we will no doubt be hearing the ancients of this forum calling for Brain McDoughnut to come out of his scouting duties to relive his glory days here again. Please god no.