Jol bemoans midfield after Saints slip up
SOUTHAMPTON 2 vs FULHAM 2
FULHAM boss Martin Jol was left to rue his team’s lack of midfield spark after the west Londoners fought back from a difficult first half but could only draw against newly-promoted Southampton yesterday.
Saints defender Jose Fonte bookended the game with two headed goals at the beginning and end of the match. The latter denied Fulham all three points after a Jos Hooiveld own goal and Kieran Richardson strike had put the visitors 2-1 up.
“We didn’t play our football [in the first half] and normally you need a bit of quality,” Jol said. “The first pass was not good enough, we couldn’t turn and get the ball to our better players to the front four.”
Jol lost Clint Dempsey, Mousa Dembele and Danny Murphy during the summer’s transfer window.
Yet he praised new signings Richardson and Giorgos Karagounis and is still confident. “Although we lost our quality in midfield, I think we’re still good enough to do well.”