RoyHodgsonsB&WArmy

I got through my first season with fulham finishing 15th. I played 80% of games with a 4-5-1. My main problem was losing goals in the last 10 minutes of a match. Literally I probably would have finished about 7th or 8th if I had held on to my countless leads.

Anyway the board have given me just around 9 million as I have said I believe that I can achieve a mid table finish (as long as I hold onto leads better, should be fine, right?)

So after picking up a few free transfers my squad looks like this

GK: Anti Niemi
RB: Moritz Volz
CB: Brede Hangeland
CB: Ramon Zomer
LB: Paul Konchesky
CDM: Leon Andreason/Claude Makalele
RM: Clint Dempsey
CM: Steven Davis
CM: Jimmy Bullard
LM: Harry Kewell
CF: Alexander Frei

Other players: Keller, Kallio, Baird, Eddie Johnson, Omozusi, Nevland, Danny Murphy, Smertin, Collins John, Simon Davies, Bouazza, Seol (these are the most notable ones)

So I have 2 problems. Firstly I need to bring in players who can help me hold my leads better, and secondly I need to replace Brian McBride who was my top scorer last season. Frei has good stats but last season he only got 3 goals in about 25 apps.

Any help or advice is appreciated.

busheyladd

Zarate too replace McBride ;)

Bowser

Wrong place to post lad, a mod please move to scouting network please.

And I think u should replace Niemi soon and extra attack will help lol.

shadowbrewster

frei will score if played right just computer never seems to get most out of him
zarate is a possible option

RoyHodgsonsB&WArmy

Apoligies for posting in the wrong area, forum noob :)

Yeah I was thinking that Frei would probably need more support to get the best out of him, but whenever I go to 4-4-2 I get torn apart. I was thinking that I really need a poor mans Drogba, someone who is quick enough to feed off scraps but has the strength to challenge in the air and hold up play (like Kevin Doyle, Kenwyne Jones).

Ill take a look at Zarate though.

shadowbrewster

i suggest tryin out a 4-3-3 in which theres 3 midfielders 2 wingers (AML & AMR) and then 1 striker as this works brilliant
and have frei set as a a target man with ball played to his feet and on player instructions tell him to hold up the ball
this should prove quit effective if u add your own playin style (tempo,mentality,passing etc) to it
for some 1 like frei i would also up his long shots and forward runs but keep his run with ball on mixed and have through balls on mixed,crosses on rarely and he should do fine

u could allways try out Billy Sharp i know he may not seem the type but in my QPR side i had him from championship all the way to champions league and he was my top goal scorer every season and was top goal scorer in premiership 3 seasons running
or Bogdan Stancu could be called a poor mans drogba in a way since hes gd all round

lady luck

not too bad of a team, and as a fulham fan myself you better do good :P

i rec. getting a new GK to take over from the might Niemi, also get a class LM as kewell gets injured so much, make sure you give collins john a few games as he develops into a class act!

RoyHodgsonsB&WArmy

Bouazza seems to be looking good enough for my LM spot. First game of the season was away to spurs, Kewell was just unfit so I played him and he got 2 goals, I won 3-1.

I signed Isaksson on Loan from man city, he seems to have good stats. I also got Zarate for £3.2 mil.

My final dilema is this. Bolton have made me a bid of £4 mil for Frei. Now because of the clubs financial state id only get about 2 mil of this bringing my remaining funds up to about 3.3mil. Frei had a crap season and is getting on a bit at the age of 29. I dont know whether to cash in on him.

Ive already got John, Zarate, Nevland and Johnson as my four strikers (with McBride in reserve, i just couldnt bring myself to release him). Reckon I should take the cash or give him another chance?

benjspurs

how much did you pay for him
??

RoyHodgsonsB&WArmy

5.25 mil

I went ahead and sold him

Signed Hourau from PSG, hes quick, good in the air and has high finishing, composure and off the ball stats.

fulham_fanatic

should never have bothered with frei imo, eddie johnson is a class act alongside mcbride in first season, his stats may not be great but his pace gets in behind the defenders alot and he finishes more than he misses! 2nd season play collins john as he is fantastic.

Usually when i'm leading with a couple of minutes to go i drop in an anchorman in midfield. Andreasen is perfect for this spot and with hangeland behind him you shouldn't fare too badly. Konchesky and volz i find never perform for me when i am fulham. To get the best of them you have to have them with the arrows going forward slightly to make them more attack minded. If you choose to do this, its always better to play with 3 in the centre and 2 Attacking wingers AML AMR. And then close the game out with a DM and 2 MC's...have both the AML and AMR running into the corners of the box and they will become secondary strikers almost and will take a share in a lot of the goals.

Good luck and hope you can more on up the table.

Come on you whites!!

fulham_fanatic

oh yeah, and niemi's stats will start to decline fairly rapidly halfway through the second season so be prepared for that too

qdj68

I played as Fulham and i got 3rd in the 1st season, so maybe i could help you out abuit i guess.

Yea, i agree with fulham_fanatic that maybe you shuldnt have bothered with frei imo, becuz eddie johnson is really a class act, and i was just wondering, wheres your diomansy kamara? These two can really form a deadly pair, kamara was runner up for golden boot with 28 goals for me (rooney won it with 29). I have seen eddie johnson with 14 goals and 15 assists in 31 appearances and thats pretty good for me.

Playing with two strikers really helps, thats what i realised while using Man City. The rest of your team still looks good so i hope you can move up the table.

Oh yea, like shadowbrewster said, you could always try Billy Sharp or Bogdan Stancu. They are really impressive players; Sharp is a van Nistelrooy-type of poacher, while Stancu is a raw talent with decent speed and dribbling. You could also do with a DC or DL to either be a first team player or backup. For me, i snapped up Pierre Wome for left-back to rotate with Konchesky. Simon Davies,Bouazza and Seol are also players you could try to use more often, in fact for me, Seol is a 1st-choice.

Hopefully my advice helps, and Good Luck for the rest of your game!

RoyHodgsonsB&WArmy

Thanks for all the advice.

I think my problem with losing leads was that I was throwing to many men back and inviting the opposition on to me.

And the reason I got Frei was because Johnsons attacking stats seemed really poor. I mean his composure is like 8 and I seem to remember his off the ball isnt that great either. Kamara aswell his stats are that of a championship players. 10 finishing and 8 composure! If you managed to get that kind of return from them though ill play them more often. My 4 main strikers at the moment are Zarate, Johnson, John and Hourau. I have Kamara, McBride and Nevland on back up.

As for Left back, sunderland offered me 4.2 mil for konchesky which i took. I got Assou-Ekoto on a free transfer, and Justin Hoyte on loan.

Goalkeepers - Signed Issaksson on loan and Itandje on a free. Isaksson is doing well but itandje has been rather poor.

FMacd

How Is Zarate ?

busheyladd

Make sure you put Zarate on free kicks. This is a must. Will get at least 5 more goals. Can't re-call him ever missing a penalty for me either.

RoyHodgsonsB&WArmy

Yeah i got him on freekicks.

Hes doing well, he got 3 goals in 4 games last month and got the young player award. Hes had a slight dip in form over the last 3 games and Ive brought in Collins John whos got 8 goals in only 5 starts and about 8 sub appearences.

I only play 1 up top, and I have about 4/5 strikers so I rotate often.