Fulham’s 3-0 defeat to Swansea City at Craven Cottage on Saturday raised fresh debate amongst Cottagers fans over manager Martin Jol’s decision to persist with Swiss centre-back Philippe Senderos as partner to Brede Hangeland ahead of the popular Aaron Hughes.
Join Football Burp in being really rather nosy as we scavenge the online Fulham communities for choice opinion..
Stands accused of…
Peck Haines, Cottage Corner:
“Jesus, how many times does Senderos have to screw up before he’s taken out of the starting lineup? Every game he makes shocking decisions or mistakes that either screw the team or has everyone breathing a sigh of relief when the team luckily avoids getting screwed by them. Today he gave the ball away, then, a few seconds later, fell over and let the player he was defending get past him which led to a goal…comical, amateur, school yard crap! Can anyone please tell me how Jol can in any way think he’s better than Hughes? I won’t hold my breath.”
Mr Fulham, Friends of Fulham:
“All the talk about him being the better passer was reduced to absurdity with that performance today. That 0-3 goal was some of the worst defending I’ve seen so far.”
Reznor., Cottage Corner:
“Anyone with even the smallest football knowledge knows the guy has terrible awareness and hopeless positioning.”
MJG, Friends of Fulham:
“He just never comes across as composed, it all seems a bit rushed and last second with him.”
Skatzoffc, Cottage Corner:
“The problem with Senderos is that he has totally de-stabilised the back 4. Since his arrival both Hangeland and MS have looked nervous. Nobody, (including Senderos himself), has a clue what he will do next. Christ, he almost headed past his own goalie on 2 occasions in a game recently. He went totally missing for the 1st goal against the Swans because he was ball watching. No attempt to stop the header at all. The third goal is the 3rd time he has given the ball to opposition forwards when he was the last defender. Once it cost us the game and yesterday it finished us off. Quite simply he is not PL quality. Bring back Hughes til the end of the season and hopefully Grygera will be back to take over from Kelly.”
In his defence…
Berserker, Friends of Fulham:
“Maybe Hangeland finds it difficult to concetrate on doing his role defending when he is trying to lead the team as the captain as well. It would be interesting if Hangelands other poor performances were when he had to wear the armband for part or all of a game.”
Status Vii, Cottage Corner:
“His problem is he has to play next to Kelly every week. Senderos has had only something like 20 appearances alongside Hangeland in the PL. I think it would be fair for anyone to say that it is probable that he will continue to get better and the partnership with Hangeland will get stronger as time goes on.”
The Moose, Friends of Fulham:
“What nonsense! He was our best defender today. Sure he made a dreadful error with the third goal but Hangeland, Kelly and Riise all made more errors. He is a good passer and I think he only gave the ball away once. He kept Graham quiet.”
Lighthouse, Friends of Fulham:
“Senderos has saved us with last ditch tackles more often than he has given the ball away. His passing is far superior to Hangeland. I started off not being a fan of his but his performances have impressed me. I presume that those that see him ‘live’ and not on a stream see a different animal.”
John Smith, Cottage Corner:
“His positioning is poor for a centre back, his awareness is fine. He is very good in the air, composed on the ball and strong in the tackle.”
MJG, Friends of Fulham:
“Hughes has struggled at times this year, be that injurys or having to play RB, he has not been the player of the last few years. Senderos has done ok most of this season and may well warrent starting in front of Hughes, but if it was a make or break game I would go with H&H. One thing not really being mentioned is that Senderos had that poor excuse of a right back(harsh but he was crap) next to him and I think Hughes would have looked poor plying with Kelly next to him on todays performance.”
So, how does Philippe Senderos measure up on the Boo-Boy-O-Meter?
Unpopularity rating…
52%
Derisive nicknames…
Blunderos, Return to Senderos, Grock
says…
It does seem odd that the defence which took Fulham to the UEFA Cup final, not to mention Premier League finishes of 7th under Roy Hodgson and 8th under Mark Hughes, should be broken up to include a player who’d been so long without a good run of form. Perhaps Aaron Hughes is not the player he was, perhaps Martin Jol is seeing something that others aren’t – either way, though, Fulham remain set for a comfortable mid-table position, and this is commendable consolidation for a club that’s onto its third manager in three years. Good club, Fulham, though you do wonder if they could sustain losing the likes of Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembélé.
Philippe Senderos – yay or nay? Have your say in the comments section below…