Last Year’s Record: 14 wins, 11 draws, 13 losses for 53 points and 7th place in the Premier League, which was good enough to claim the EPL’s last European space- entry into the 2009-2010 Europa League’s 3rd qualifying round.
Transfers (In): Bjorn Riise (Lillestrøm, around £2m), Stephen Kelly (Birmingham City, undisclosed),
Transfers (Out): Moritz Voltz (free), Collins John (free, signed with KSV Roeselare), Leon Andreasen (Hannover 96, £2.5m), Oliver Dacourt (end of loan), Julian Gray (free), Giles Barnes (end of loan, Derby County), Karim Laribi (free).
Season Outlook: Coming off their best ever finish the Cottagers are in back in Europe for the first time in seven seasons, recently opening their Europa League campaign with a 3-0 away win at Lithuanian side FK Vetra. However, if Fulham hope to make it into European competition again at the end of the season they are going to have to do better than the three away wins they earned last season. Eight road draws helped their cause, but replace just three of those draws with road wins- and that’s what teams like Wolves, Birmingham, and Burnley are for- and suddenly those 17 road points become 23 road points. Last year that would have been enough to make 6th, or even 5th place a possibility. Luckily for Fulham, if there’s any manager who can keep them on the right track it’s the one they have now- Uncle Roy Hodgson.
One key to the 2009-2010 season will be the form of last year’s second top scorer for the team, Clint Dempsey. The Deuce used the recent Confederations Cup to show just what kind of player he can be when he pushes himself to play up to the level of the opposition. The club will need him at his dogged and flashy best if they hope to have a successful season. More often than not, it was Dempsey, not one of the club’s more “established” players who stepped up when the team needed an important goal last year. Anyone who doubts this need only watch the 2-2 “come from behind” draw against crosstown rivals Chelsea last December when Clinton Drew Dempsey scored both goals for Fulham, the first (at the 2:40 mark) of which was as cheeky a tally as you’re ever likely to see.
If Fulham supporters have one area for concern it is the depth of the side. While the side’s first eleven can play with pretty much any club in the EPL, things get a bit patchy after that. Nevertheless, so far the club has been very quiet on the transfer market, bringing in only two players- Riise and Kelly. Kelly, though a Republic of Ireland international is in danger of becoming a journeyman player (seven clubs in the last 10 years, including four loan spells) if he cannot win and hold down a place on the back line at Craven Cottage. Bjorn Helge Riise- younger brother of former Liverpool star John Arne Riise- is in much the same mold- a Norwegian international, but a bit of a wanderer on the club scene- six in the last decade including two loan spells. Fulham might benefit from some “addition by subtraction” if Bobby Zamora is sold, allowing players like Eddie Johnson, Erik Nevland, and Diomansy Kamara to compete for the open spot.
Most EPL season previews are predicting Fulham to drop to somewhere between 10th and 12th place this year. The wisemen at Avoiding the Drop beg to differ, calling for a finish similar to last year’s- 7th or 8th place and possibly a return to European competition.
Good preview, and I agree with most everything in it – but the lack of depth cannot be stressed enough. I don’t recall the exact number, but Fulham played the same starting 11 in (I think) 33 of the 38 games in the Prem last season – an incredible run of good fortune for a team that has rocks in defense (Hughes and Hangeland), a capable midfield and an average/below-average core of strikers.
However, if Hangeland is snatched up by Wegner and co., this season becomes a lot more uncertain. Fulham relied on their back four to hold fast in several games last season – and there were times when Konchesky and Pantsil misplayed balls and showed frailty on the ends. After the starting back four, though, it’s down to options like Chris Baird…Toni Kallio…Adrien Leijer. Not the most confidence-inducing defenders, if I do say so.
As it currently stands, I’m not sure where Fulham are going to come up with the warm bodies needed to make any run in Europe and gain the points they need on the road to thrive like they did last season. My prediction: they’ll survive, but it won’t be nearly as secure as last season – they’ll end in 13th position. Hopefully they make it to the group stage of the Europa League, because that would be historic for the club, and a treat to watch the Cottagers square off with the likes of Roma, Villarreal and St. Patrick’s Athletic (one can hope!)