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Club Focus - Fulham – Konchesky departure means Hughes is set for busy deadline day
With the transfer window coming to a close at the end of today, the Fulham final 25 could yet take on a very different shape to the one Mark Hughes currently has to work with. With Paul Konchesky a near-certainty to join Liverpool, and Mark Schwarzer looking increasingly likely to finally move to the Emirates, the loss of two members of the mean Fulham defence of recent years leaves work to be done on the busiest day of the footballing year.
Konchesky is undoubtedly missed when he doesn’t line up on the left. Matthew Briggs performed admirably against Port Vale, but in the league Stephen Kelly still leaves a lot to be desired. As a right footer on the left-hand side of defence, he is immediately at a disadvantage - his attacking threat limited to crosses from his weaker foot that are rarely effective. But even when trying to nullify the opposition, he does not appear to have the same understanding with his three colleagues as Konchesky has managed to drum up over the past two years. His positioning was punished twice by Blackpool at the weekend, mistakes that Konchesky did of course occasionally make himself, but far less frequently. The left-back position now looks to be a weak spot in the Fulham squad, unless Carlos Salcido can hit the ground running.
Coming from a league where players have often struggled to make the step up, Salcido, should Konchesky indeed leave, will be tasked with slotting into a watertight defence and learning the ropes of a high-paced league. With Kelly looking shaky, the Mexican could even be thrust into the starting line-up instead of being eased into action from the bench as new signings usually are. With his performances for Mexico at the World Cup in South Africa, and the immediate success of Hughes’ first Fulham signing, Moussa Dembele, there are few reasons why Salcido should not take to the Premier League like a duck to water. But is he an improvement on the ever-reliable Konchesky? The coming months will reveal all in that respect, and having been an excellent performer for PSV Eindhoven the signs look positive. Although Konchesky is decent going forward, Salcido is a recognised attacking full-back, which means Fulham are likely to see more goals, but might see more through their own net because of this.
Without seeing how he takes to his new teammates however, little more can be said, but if the Whites do indeed become more vulnerable at the back, which is not guaranteed as Salcido is also an able defender, then who is between the sticks could prove vital to the season. Hughes has made it clear he will not be letting Schwarzer leave without bringing in a replacement, so the No 1 spot is still very much up in the air. The deal to bring in Shay Given is either on or off, depending which newspaper you read, and talks are supposedly going on with Schwarzer’s Australian understudy, Reading’s Adam Federici. Few Fulham fans could argue a Given-David Stockdale goalkeeping set-up is not much, if any, worse than the current two, but Federici in for Schwarzer is a deal that would be in danger of weakening the squad - a situation Hughes has publically announced he would not let happen.
The manager has already strengthened two areas of the club that were weaker than others by bringing in Dembele to invigorate the attack from the left or centre and Rafik Halliche to provide genuine back-up for the always excellent Aaron Hughes and Brede Hangeland. Salcido appears to be in as a replacement rather than to strengthen a previous weak spot, and any goalkeeper who may come in will certainly be an alternative to the current No 1. On the evidence so far, Hughes’ transfer dealings have been shrewd to make sure all 11 positions have adequate cover, but he is also using the window to fight any attempts to poach the players he considers to be first teamers.
There are more indispensible members of the team to lose than Konchesky, for all his talents, and Salcido could turn out to be an improvement in that area. Schwarzer’s head, however, has been turned since the interest from Arsenal last season, which not a lot can be done about. If he does leave, and Given does not come in to replace him, then arguably the goalkeeping spot will be the only position that is any weaker than last season. And that, for a club like Fulham, is enough to make any transfer window a success.
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