Fulham 2-1 Hamburg: technical quality shines through
A game literally ten times more enjoyable than the first leg, and probably a deserved result. Fulham, unbelievably, are in a European final, whilst Hamburg’s first game under their new manager resulted in a more spirited performance, but one that was no more cohesive.
Fulham’s side was unchanged from the first leg, with the exception of John Pantsil coming in for the suspended Chris Baird. The formation was the same – 4-4-2 with inverted wingers, and Zolan Gera playing close to Bobby Zamora, who was declared fit to start.
Ricardo Moniz’s first Hamburg teamsheet was as expected – the fit-again Mladen Petric was recalled at the expense of Paolo Guerrero, and the only other change was Robert Tesche replacing the suspended right-winger Piotr Trochowski.
The teams may have been similar to the first leg, but the approach of both was refreshingly different. Fulham were better than in the first leg simply because their passing was crisper and more accurate - they built up play well in the centre of midfield and through their full-backs, allowing Damien Duff and Simon Davies to advance up the pitch to assist the forwards, whereas in the first leg they had generally been marooned in defensive positions.
The notable feature of Hambug’s side was the fact that the central midfielders both had more license to get forward than in the first game. David Jarolim made a couple of unmarked advances into the box that caught Fulham’s defence out, and an attacking foray from Ze Roberto (rare in the first leg) resulted in Danny Murphy fouling him, and Petric smashing the free-kick into the top corner to give Hamburg the advantage.
Ze Roberto was also key to Hamburg defensively – he moved to the left to confront Duff whenever the Irishman picked up the ball, and he often found himself surrounded by Ze Roberto, Pitroipa and Aogo, and found little room to manoeuvre in the first half. Ze Roberto was leaving the centre of midfield slightly unguarded, but Tesche tucked in, and so the space resulting from Ze Roberto’s drift towards Duff was not in the centre of midfield, but in the left-back zone, where Paul Konchesky didn’t get forward as much as he might. Meanwhile, neither Danny Murphy nor Dickson Etuhu attempted many forward runs, instead sitting in front of the defence, so Tesche was not dragged out of position. Moniz instructed Petric to drop into midfield when Hamburg lost the ball, creating a vague 4-5-1 system that shut out Fulham well.
Fulham emerged after half looking quicker and more confident, and Murphy played further forward, helping Fulham try to play through Hambug, rather than playing around them, as they had in the first half. Zamora could not continue much longer, and was replaced by Clint Dempsey. As in the first leg, this seemed to improve Fulham – Zamora was clearly not fit and was effectively a passenger aside from winning the ball in the air – Dempsey’s introduction meant Fulham could press higher up the pitch, and the number of times they won the ball in the final third in the second half was very notable, and probably wouldn’t have been possible with Zamora on the pitch.
Moniz will probably feel, in hindsight, that he was too negative in the second half. Tesche was replaced with Tomas Rincon, often used as a right-back, but this prevented Hambug from launching counter-attacks as Fulham pressed forward.
Murphy was a bigger effect on the game in his more advanced position, and his ball over the top found Davies making a run, and the Welshman converted. Had Zamora still been on the pitch, Murphy’s ball may have gone into him, and Davies would have looked for a lay-off or a knock-down, but with Dempsey playing slightly deeper, the supporting cast were making more direct runs, and Hamburg seemed to be caught out by the slight switch in style, for Joris Mathijsen and Jerome Boateng had coped quite well with Zamora’s physical threat throughout.
Erik Nevland was introduced for John Pantsil, with Davies moving to an attacking right-back role, and it was Davies presence getting forward from that position (as Pantsil had struggled to do) that forced the corner leading to Gera’s excellent spin-and-shot winner.
And after that, Fulham were fairly comfortable – not that their fans would have felt that way. Hamburg looked clueless for what to do in the final quarter of an hour – perhaps understandable, given the fact that it was only those 15 minutes of the 180 in the tie when they were behind. Hamburg brought on centre-back David Rozenhal to play a Gerard Pique-style centre-back-up-front role late on, but then persisted with short passes across the back four on the halfway line, when they needed to be getting the ball into the box.
Fulham deserved to win the tie – Hamburg produced few genuine chances from open play in the two legs, and their only real threat was Jonathan Pitroipa cutting in from the left. Both sides were negative away from home, but Fulham were far more offensive in their home leg than Hamburg were in theirs. As noted in the first leg, the formation and tactics of both sides are actually quite similar, but Fulham were given instructions by a the excellent Roy Hodgson, where Hambug’s first leg was playing under a manager who had seemingly lost the dressing room, and the second was under a man taking charge of his first-ever top-level game.
The key to Fulham’s win was probably not their manager’s tactical acumen, but the technical quality of the players he has brought into the club. Both goals Fulham scored were genuinely excellent – brilliant close control followed by a precise finish. Lesser players would have not shown Davies’ calmness when through on goal, or Gera’s first touch in a crowded penalty area.
That is essentially what Hodgson has done well – his side is well-organised and tactically sound, but he has created a side like this with top-quality players willing to work for the team, rather than disciplined but technically limited players. Many managers would look at Duff, Murphy, Gera and Davies and only find room for two of them, but Hodgson has accomodated all four in a very good side that has a very good chance of defeating Atletico, for what would be, let’s remember, Fulham’s first trophy whatsoever, never mind their first European trophy.
Fulham 2-1 Hamburg: technical quality shines through
(And no, the Intertoto Cup of 2003 doesn’t count)
Theeee Inter-toto, we won it one time.
Amazing whats happened to Gera. Played him out wide for his first season and a half at the club where he was very inconsistent. The only reason he started playing just off the striker was because of injuries to Kamara, Nevland, Dempsey and Andy Johnson at the start of the season. In fact his first game in this position was CSKA at home where he scored and was the best player on the pitch. Hodgson made it pretty clear that if Johnson was fit, he’d be a starter and I don’t think we’d have got anywhere near the final if he hadn’t got injured.
Of course the Intertoto Cup in 2003 doesn’t count. We won it in 2002!
Fulham did a great job.
But I want say something about the HSV. This team showed in only one game of the last month a great team performance: the one they played agains their coach (Labbadia). As a fan (and I’m not) you can be disappointed, but to lose against Fulham in a semi-final is not a big thing. Their performance in the Bundesliga is the problem. This team showed their charakter in the latest league game, and it was a horrifying picture.
I think your right that the team that attacked more in their home leg is the reason for our win. We have the ability to BLITZ teams at home!
It’s interesting you mention technical quality as Trochowski was a big miss. They had in all effect, too many functional players (i.e. limited to their roles) and not enough variation or unpredictability.
Trochowski would cut in and create chances as well as holding the width – you need that in a compact style and that’s what set Fulham apart also – Davies came off the flank to number up in the middle and scored a fantastic goal. Their movement off the flanks were very troubling all game for Hamoburg. While the Hamburg pair just hugged making it a very standard 4-4-2.
I think the most amazing thing about this game is that when Bobby came off they effectively switched to a 4-6-0.
This was evident in the first goal as you mentioned- it was a Davies run from deep that provided the opener and the change in formation seemed to confuse Hamburg.
When Nevland came on it switched back to a 4-4-1-1 but now Davies was bombing down the right and Fulham had comfidence.
At this level, technical quality should be the norm, not the exception. Hodgson knows this from his time on the continent. Have technical players and you can play almost any way you want, within reason. But to say this wasn’t a tactical victory is incorrect. Playing the wingers on the opposite side, as mentioned last week, is to force the other team into the middle – that is a tactical decision that Hamburg found no answers for two games in a row. Pushing Murphy further forward was also a tactical decision. It’s very hard to separate the technical, tactical, physical and psychological components from a victory, as they all play a part. But for sure, this game was won as much by tactics as it was by the technical qualities of the players involved.
There’s a mistake:
This guy on Hamburgs right wing is called Tesche not Pesche.
true, although he did look like a fish out of water. congratulations fulham, fantastic achievement.
Seems as though Dempsey has moved into the role of super-sub, especially for the European ties. I’d like to see him start more, but when Davies and Gera perform like that its hard to say where he should come in.
Davies goal is otherworldly, absolutely stunning.
…the better “team” won ….and there is Hamburg’s problem: it is not a team anymore wrt management, trainer and players (everything felt apart over the last months) and so the result was predictable and well deserved. Fulham is not superb, but at least they put their heart into it and played as a team.
That was a big chance for Hamburg to reach the final and with the quality (on paper and what they played the first half of the season) of the players it should have been not too difficult, but without team spirit they failed…. in a way good to see that team spirit still counts.
plenty of other teams in this competition had more “top-quality players ” and “technical quality”. as suggested elsewhere in the article, fulham’s maximisation and multiplication of [limited] qualities has much more explanatory power.
‘…the better “team” won ….and there is Hamburg’s problem: it is not a team anymore wrt management, trainer and players (everything felt apart over the last months) and so the result was predictable and well deserved.’
So true.
I don’t see Trochowski’s missing as a big problem. But it was of course a problem, because of the lack of alternatives. He’s a good man but not an intelligent player. Yes, he could cut in and create chances, but he needs too much chances. The injuries of Jansen and Elia were bigger problems.