Fulham, to stand a chance of winning their semi final against Chelsea, need
all their players to perform up to their full potential particularly French
midfielder Steed Malbranque.
A curious romance is in the air, suggesting that Chelsea hubris is being
set against Fulham humility at Villa Park this evening. It is misleading,
because under Claudio Ranieri, Chelsea are working harder by the month,
and because the spending power of the Mohamed al-Fayed purse has imported
£30m of French reinforcements for Fulham.
There is nothing humble in London’s West End. However, the Fulham fans
who once feared closure of their club travel with a freshness of hope that
would be lost on Chelsea.
Formed in 1879, and never a winner of anything as grand as the FA Cup, Fulham
last contested a semi-final 27 years ago. Chelsea are journeying to their
10th semi-final in nine years, and winning the Cup again is secondary to
the main target of qualifying through the Premiership for the Champions
League.
One splendid day in Cardiff in May, and the bonuses that go with it,
do not compare to Chelsea chairman Ken Bates’s craving to be among
the giants.
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Steed Malbranque epitomises
Fulham. He is strong and technically accomplished but he is young
and learning how to live in strange territory
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Cups are baubles, useful insurance for entry to Europe’s income streams,
but the real prize for Chelsea is to share in the Champions League riches
next year, and win England’s championship the year after.
Even so, the safe money is on Chelsea tonight. They have big-match temperament,
they have talent, know-how and no reason to be nervous on the pitch. Fulham
are first-timers in the Premiership, with a rhythm that is easy on the
eye, but a habit of not taking their chances.
They have run Chelsea close in two league games, but have only one point
to show for it. And perhaps Steed Malbranque epitomises where Fulham stand
in their development. He is a bull of a man, sturdy without having imposing
height, swift without covering the ground quite like Ryan Giggs, technically
accomplished without knowing how good he can be. “Steed can score
or make goals,” observes a coach who knows every nuance of his game,
“but he is just 22, and when you move to another country, you have
a human challenge, then the challenge to express yourself as a player.
He will do that. The ball to him is like his girlfriend, and he has the
capacity to change the facet of a game.” The speaker, obviously,
is not English. Christian Damiano, the experienced mind alongside Fulham’s
manager Jean Tigana, is steeped in the French system of grooming better
technique than we are yet achieving in England. He first saw Malbranque
when the boy was 13 and was, although born in Belgium, already under the
wing of Olympique Lyons.
The club, and for once not the famed academy at Clairefontaine, spent
years encouraging the close control of the growing Malbranque, widening
his vision to pass and shoot from greater distances. Lyons produced a
playmaker who progressed to captain France at under-18 level. In common
with all the French clubs, they could not hold on to such a talented player.
Tigana and Damiano soon arrived with £4.5m of Fayed’s fortune,
to take Malbranque to London. It was not the most expensive investment Fulham
have made, but Damiano believes it will produce bountiful dividends. “It’s
too early for Malbranque for the national team,” Damiano said last
week, “but he plays the No 10 position that (Zinedine) Zidane excels
at. He has the potential to one day replace Zidane.”
From such a thoughtful mentor to a still-blossoming talent, that is some
public statement. We may not see the quick feet of a Zidane, the awareness
bordering on genius tonight, because Malbranque is not ready for that
either, and Chelsea, with considerable French forces themselves, including
World Cup winners Marcel Desailly and Emmanuel Petit, would not allow
it.
There lies the difference between the clubs. Chelsea have scaled back the
ageing squad they had, but still there is a ripeness, a confidence that
comes with medals on the table, whereas Fulham are reaching up, growing
into Premiership status, learning along the way. How pleasing it has been
to see Tigana stick to his passing principles, how galling it would be if
the club went down, allowing those who think ability has to be laced with
aggression to make a mark at this level to believe they are right.
Fulham showed at Newcastle last Monday that they can, and should, survive.
Malbranque has shown the potential to compete and to surprise, and if
the forwards, Louis Saha and Steve Marlet, can believe in themselves more
and impose their speed and opportunism, there is, as always, the possibility
of a surprise in a one-off match such as a semi-final.
But one victory in 10 league and cup games tells you that there is a
struggle going on inside the heads of the Fulham players. And, without
a man who has experienced the tensions and the unique atmosphere of an
FA Cup semi-final — one made hellishly expensive for 38,000 Londoners
who will have to travel the motorways at the FA’s whim — there
remains the factor of the unknown.
Chelsea could think their name is on the Cup, or at least on an appearance
in the final, and be complacent. Fulham could be inspired, or cowed, by
what is the chance of a lifetime for most of them. Chelsea’s World
Cup contingent could have their minds on other things, while most of Fulham’s
players are a month away from the season’s end.
Source S. Times by Rob Hughes