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| Fulham’s reserve
team fixtures, in the Premier Reserve League Southern Section, were
announced today and show Fulham reserves playing against a number of Premiership
teams.
With the reserves now facing a higher quality of opposition to that of the
Combination League, Academy Director Steve Kean spoke on his hopes for the
forthcoming season.
Having won the Combination League title last season, the reserve team, managed
by Kean, racked up some impressive score lines along the way. However, Kean
is under no illusions that next season will be the same:
“With no disrespect to the Combination League teams, our squad will
benefit from the better opposition next season. “If we play against
sides like Chelsea, West Ham and Arsenal, they’ll probably have their
squad players out on the pitch. Which means we could well be playing against
£25m worth of players. The games will be much tougher and more beneficial
for us.” Said Kean.
There’s no doubt that such a jump in the quality of opposition will
make some of the score lines of last season harder to achieve. Yet Kean
is aware that in order to prepare players for life in the top-flight, they
have to play in a technical environment.
Whilst the younger players may have gained confidence from some of last
season’s results, there is a fine line between comfortably beating
the opposition and progressing technically. One of the benefits of next
season will be to enable the reserves to progress, as Kean points out:
“You can take results with a pinch of salt if your playing against
a lower league club and beat them by six goals. “No doubt such a result
will give you some confidence but in that respect, you can gain just as
much, if not more confidence from beating Arsenal 1-0, after they fielded
£20m worth of players. “The saying is that you’re only as
good as the players you play with - in this situation you’re only as
good as the teams you play against. “This is why you see some clubs
struggling once they get into Europe, because their domestic competitions
aren’t as good as they should be.”
It could be said that last season, Fulham were training at one level and
playing at another. Results from the First Division and Combination League
would certainly add credence to that theory. Yet now that both the first
team and reserves will be playing at a higher level, how does Kean feel
it will affect his training regimes:
“It’s not going to change the coaching programme in any way, it
just means that each time we go out there, we’re not going to be looking
at a 5-0 score line. “When you’re possibly playing against the
likes of Kanu and Bergkamp, who can’t get into the Arsenal first team
at the moment, it can only be of benefit to our defenders.” “Playing
in this division will bring the whole reserve squad up a level, so everyone’s
going to have to do everything quicker, make better decisions and their
retention of the ball will have to be better.” Kean explained.
Fulham’s emphasis on youth development along with the tight link between
the Academy and the reserves will mean that the reserve team will be carry
a healthy contingent of Academy players. Surely as good sign as Fulham look
to bring through the next generation of players.
| 1 |
Wed |
Aug 29 |
H |
Derby |
ful |
14 |
Wed |
Jan 9 |
H |
Leicester |
| 2 |
Wed |
Sep 5 |
A |
Ipswich |
ham |
15 |
Tue |
Jan 15 |
A |
Derby |
| 3 |
Wed |
Sep 26 |
H |
Wimbledon |
res |
16 |
Wed |
Jan 23 |
H |
Ipswich |
| 4 |
Mon |
Oct 1 |
A |
Leicester |
erv |
17 |
Mon |
Feb 4 |
A |
Wimbledon |
| 5 |
Wed |
Oct 17 |
H |
Chelsea |
es |
18 |
Wed |
Feb 13 |
H |
Southampton |
| 6 |
Mon |
Oct 22 |
A |
Nottm Forest |
|
19 |
Wed |
Feb 20 |
H |
Nottm Forest |
| 7 |
Wed |
Oct 31 |
A |
Charlton |
|
20 |
Mon |
Feb 25 |
A |
Chelsea |
| 8 |
Wed |
Nov 7 |
H |
Coventry |
|
21 |
Wed |
Mar 13 |
H |
Arsenal |
| 9 |
Wed |
Nov 14 |
H |
West Ham |
|
22 |
Wed |
Mar 20 |
A |
Watford |
| 10 |
Mon |
Nov 19 |
A |
Tottenham |
|
23 |
Wed |
Mar 27 |
H |
Charlton |
| 11 |
Tue |
Dec 4 |
A |
Arsenal |
|
24 |
Wed |
Apr 3 |
A |
Coventry |
| 12 |
Wed |
Dec 12 |
H |
Watford |
|
25 |
Wed |
Apr 10 |
H |
Tottenham |
| 13 |
Mon |
Dec 17 |
A |
Southampton |
|
26 |
Tue |
Apr 16 |
A |
West Ham |
|
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