Match Preview - Wolves v Fulham
last updated Friday 20th February 2004, 10:22 AM
Fulham are four places and three points adrift in the race for the second tier title within the top division and without a victory in three League and Cup games.
Fulham have plenty to prove to their angry manager. After their 0-0 draw with West Ham in the FA Cup, Chris Coleman was fuming: "A couple of my players looked complacent. They might think they've done enough already this season, but we're at a critical stage and going through to the next round of the cup is very important to us. I had some strong words after the game and now it's up to me to shake it up."
Even the Fulham faithful came under fire from Boss Chris Coleman"I've had a go at our fans before. They're too quiet, we need more of them and they don't always show up. But how can I have a go at the fans when we performed like that?
We'd be out of the cup if it wasn't for keeper Edwin van der Sar and there's no doubt about that. We should be out of the cup as we had too many pretenders. We didn't have enough men out there and we need to pull our socks up."
Coleman was in the Fulham team the last time they visited Molineux in October 2000, and he was able to help ensure that they kept a clean sheet on their way to promotion.
He was on the touchline for their last meeting at Loftus Road in October last year, and the result was also 0-0, so neutrals and fans of both sides will have to hope for rather more entertainment this time around.
Wolves are back at the foot of the table where they were at Christmas, three points from safety and in danger of a third successive Premiership defeat.
If Wolverhampton Wanderers do get relegated this season, they will have look back to their recent trip to Elland Road as the most damaging blow to their survival hopes.
Had they beaten Leeds, Dave Jones's team would have been six points clear of them, not to mention level with fourth-from-bottom Portsmouth. It would have been a huge confidence boost for them and they could well have gone on from there to secure their place in the Barclaycard Premiership for next season.
But it didn't go like that at all, and the 4-1 defeat they suffered meant that they are now bottom of the league on goal difference and morale at Molineux must be very low.
Dave Jones was furious after the game: "I am not very happy," he complained. "Once we got back into the game I thought we looked a better team, but then in the second half we never turned up.
"When you are down at the bottom you'll get performances like this which is frustrating because we have put in a good run and have done well of late. Again it's about how we now respond.
We have responded well all season and I expect the players to do so again. We have to keep plugging away. All we can do is stay positive and keep knocking on the door because we want to prove all the experts wrong."
Jones will be looking for a response from his team against Fulham this Saturday.
source: 4thegame
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Stats from League games
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Molineux Stadium
in Wolverhampton
Premiership 26 - 21 Feb 04 |
Pos |
Wolves |
Fulham |
Pos |
Div
Avg
|
| Games Played |
20 |
25 |
25 |
8 |
25 |
| GOALS |
| Goals Scored |
20 |
22 |
37 |
4 |
33 |
| Ave Goals Per Game |
|
0.88 |
1.48 |
|
1.32 |
| Shots |
13 |
257 |
273 |
6 |
265 |
| % Goals To Shots |
20 |
9% |
14% |
7 |
12% |
| Shots On Target |
18 |
95 |
134 |
5 |
115 |
| % Shots On Target |
20 |
37% |
49% |
2 |
43% |
| Ave Shots Per Game |
|
10 |
11 |
|
11 |
| Ave Shots On Target Per Game |
|
4 |
5 |
|
5 |
| PASSING |
| Total Passes |
13 |
8502 |
9129 |
9 |
9147 |
| Ave Passes Per Game |
|
340 |
365 |
|
366 |
| CROSSING |
| Total Crosses Made |
14 |
555 |
461 |
20
|
586 |
| Ave Crosses Per Game |
|
22 |
18 |
|
23 |
| DEFENDING |
| Goals Conceded |
20 |
51 |
35 |
11 |
33 |
| Ave Goals Conceded Per Game |
|
2.04 |
1.40 |
|
1.32 |
| Tackles |
12 |
674 |
857 |
1 |
699 |
| Tackles Won |
15 |
485 |
638 |
1 |
512 |
| % Tackles Won |
10 |
72% |
74% |
3 |
73% |
| Ave Tackles Won Per Game |
|
19 |
26 |
|
20 |
| Clean Sheets |
16 |
5 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
| DISCIPLINE |
| Fouls |
7 |
362 |
358 |
8 |
354 |
| Average fouls per game |
|
14 |
14 |
|
14 |
| Yellow Cards |
17 |
52 |
41 |
10 |
43 |
| Fouls per Yellows |
18 |
7.0 |
8.7 |
8 |
8.3 |
| Red Cards |
|
1 |
3 |
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| Figures in the Pos columns indicate position in League |
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Cipher stat flash
Fulham North to Wolverhampton on the weekend where they have failed to win since six games ago in 1985.
- Wolves are not only bottom of the Premiership they have also scored the least goals of any team in the Premiership. However in the last six weeks Wolves and Fulham have only scored 3.Both squads managing a similar number of shots although The Cottagers are slightly more accurate. Alex Rae is the Wolves top goal scorer but the Romanian Ganea is the man on fire at the moment with 3 goals in 4 games.
- In the middle of the park during the last 6 games Wolves are 6th best passers and 7th best crossers in the Premiership in comparison to Fulham's 16th and 15th!
- In defensive terms Wolves have conceded 51 goals more than any other squad but again in the last 6 games things are going Wolves way with the Midlanders having conceded 8 goals in comparison with Fulham's 6 and achieving 2 blank sheets to Fulham's 1. In terms of tackles Fulham still retain top spot since the start of the season however in the last 6 weeks Wolves have been top tacklers with Fulham dropping to 4th.
- There is not much between the two sides in terms of fouls but Wolves get hit harder than the Fulham so end up with more yellows than the Cottagers. Surprise, surprise Paul Ince has most yellows in the Wolves squad.
Overall Wolves are doing relatively better these days with their physical effort more than equalling Fulham. It will not be enough of course if the Fulham squad actually want to win.
Fulham
* The Cottagers have not won away in eight matches and nearly four months since their shock success at Old Trafford.
*
The Londoners have racked up 45 points from a possible 90 under Chris Coleman. They've won ten and lost ten in the League this season.
* Drawn the last two away games.
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If he plays, Steed MALBRAQUE will be making his 100th League appearance for Fulham.
*
If he takes his usual place between the sticks from the kick off, Edwin VAN DER SAR will be making his 100th appearance and 100th start for the Cottagers.
Wolves
*
Wolves have dropped 55 points so far in this campaign, have won only four matches and own the Premiership's most impotent attack (22 goals in 25 games) and leakiest defence (51 goals conceded at an average of 2.04 per game).
* Wolves have not lost a home League game to Fulham in 19 years.
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