With
a break in Premiership fixtures this Saturday, Fulham take on French side
Monaco at Craven Cottage, in a friendly match designed to keep Jean Tigana's
side ticking over until normal Premiership service is resumed.
Once a fantasy fixture for Fulham, the Whites are now able to play sides
like Monaco in a casual encounter, such as Saturday's.
Fulham will be without record signing Steve Marlet who joins up with the
French national team in Santiago as the World Champions take on Chile.
Other absentees will be Bjarne Goldbaek,
Edwin van der Sar, Steve Finnan, Maik Taylor, Sean Davis, Andy Melville,
Kit Symons and Barry Hayles who are all on international duty for their
respective countries.
Monaco have made a slow start to their season, having lost four of their
first five games under new manager and former Chelsea player Didier Deschamps.
However, whilst results haven't been going Monaco's way of late, there are
few people who could question the quality of their squad.
Monaco have recently signed Oliver Bierhoff from AC Milan, a player who
the media heavily linked with a move to Fulham. However, the striker has
been called up to the German national squad to face England on Saturday
and will miss the match. Nonetheless, another big-name player, Florin Raducioiu,
is in line to fill Bierhoff's place in attack.
Lining up alongside Raducioiu is Italian hitman Marco Simone, yet another
player who is capable of turning a match with a single flash of brilliance.
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John Collins in Monaco days
Fulham |
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Fulham's former Monaco, midfielder John Collins
was looking ahead to the match against his old side. Speaking to Fulham
Today, Collins told of his time with the French side:
"I've got some great memories of the club. I had two fantastic years
in Monaco, on the pitch where I won the French Championship, got to the
semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and Champions League. And off the pitch, where
I had a fantastic lifestyle.
"My wife and kids enjoyed it, we learned French and made lots of nice
friends. I've got nothing but fond memories of my time with Monaco"
Looking ahead to the match, Collins was careful to point out that the French
side's disappointing league start could well work against Fulham's favour.
Deschamps will, no doubt see this match as an ideal opportunity to re-establish
his methods and bring about a reversal in Monaco's early-season fortunes:
"They'll have a few players away on international duty, but the they'll
still bring a strong team. They'll need to get some rhythm and get their
team pattern arranged so this will be an important game for them."
With Fulham's international call-ups taking a more considerable toll on
their starting eleven, the match will give some of the lesser-utilised players
in the squad the chance to issue a reminder to Tigana of their abilities
against top-class opposition.
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