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One To Watch: Ryan Fredericks

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Fulham are 6 points ahead of Birmingam City in the league coming into the fixture tomorrow. This doesn’t tell the whole picture as Fulham seem to be one of the most inconsistent teams in the league whereas Birmingham City’s results unfortunately are quite predictable as of late. The cottagers will come into the game with a sense of optimism considering the Blues’ poor form but also after a mid-week victory and a win against Premier League Hull City in the FA Cup a couple of weeks ago.

Slavi?a Jokanović is doing a superb job at Fulham and it seems as though he has them playing attacking football whilst also bringing talented youngsters into the fold. I really do rate him as a manager and considering we are playing so poorly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fulham come out of the traps all guns blazing especially to try and get an early goal. The front men of Chris Martin and Sone Aluko will cause us problems with their movement and all round clever play but it is the wider players that I think will give them a distinct advantage. Slavi?a Jokanović uses his wingbacks to great effect and our wingers don’t tend to track back leaving our fullbacks very much exposed to a two v one situation.

One of these wingbacks and my one to watch for tomorrow is Ryan Fredericks. I remember when he came on as a substitute in the Europa League for Tottenham Hotspur and a lot of fans were eagerly anticipating his break into the first team which didn’t really materialise. As a school boy he was a track athlete; a sprint specialist. This tells you all that you need to know about this boys pace down the flanks. You can’t just man mark him as he will speed past. You have to always be a few yards ahead just in case a chase is on and so we cannot switch off against him even just for a second.

The thing that Fredericks has added to his game recently is his ability to always appear calm. Previously he has rushed the ball down the line or played the ball out when better options are available. However now he calmly plays the ball inside or even down the line but it’s all very controlled and it seems as though he has confidence in his ability now. No doubt Slavi?a Jokanović has had words with him about it as he is a good man manager with his players.

Defensively, Fredericks is all good. He is very rarely caught square on and he is always looking to try and cut out crosses. It may seem obvious, but quite a lot of players stand back from crosses now maybe because they’re too scared to get a ball in the face or just that they haven’t got into position fast enough to close the player down. Fredericks does seem to put his body on the line so our crosses will have to be low and hard or just played with a quicker tempo than we are used to.

Overall, it will be hard to predict how the game will go but they have the attacking power to capitalise on our weak defence that is for sure. I have heard reports that both Shotton and Morrison are doubts for the game and this would just cap off the spell that we are in. Positive mindsets are being eroded at the Blues’ as of late and I hate to say it, but I can’t see that changing anytime soon.

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