English Premier League: A Dozen Facts and Figures in EPL till the 6th week (Part 7)
12. 13 - Mark Hughes, the legendary Manchester United player, started his career as just that, but is now coaching and season before last he was managing at the money loaded Manchester City club, but after failing
to improve, he was replaced by the Italian manger Roberto Mancini.
Now he has been hired by Fulham chairman Muhamed Al-Fayed to replace their old manager Roy Hodgson who has left Craven Cottage to manage at Anfield, in order to help out Liverpool in troubled times.
Last season Hodgson took the English club to an amazing campaign in which the team finished in the finals of the Europa League; in the end losing only to Spanish giants Atletico Madrid. Even more, that happened in the last minutes
of the game as Atletico scored in extra time to win the match.
Now Fulham has already drawn their match against Manchester United and it seems that they are performing better this season but despite a good and capable manager they have had too many draws.
However on a closer look it is revealed that this is not the fault of the team but their new manager Mark Hughes who seemingly is an expert at being undefeated. But in his effort to keep his team from losing, he is helping them
draw their matches.
The Welsh, Hughes has been able to draw the last
13 of his 17 matches in the English Premier League as a manager.
Fulham’s last match was against Everton which resulted in a disappointing 0-0 draw. Fulham had gelled together and shown better chemistry though, but their lack of finishing ability up front has took them down.
This season they have drawn their first 3 matches and won one, but then they were once again back on their match drawing form as they drew the next two.
Their next match is against West Ham United who are at the 19th position and therefore in contention of being relegated. It should be an easy victory for them, if they manage to score a winning goal. But in their defence
they have lost their prized forward Bobby Zamora who is out for the season after he broke his leg.
While last season they concentrated more on European competitions they are suffered in the English league. This year they will have to concentrate in England again, if they hope to make a comeback in European fixtures.
At the moment they are at the 7th position having scored 8 points in 6 matches. Mark Hughes will have to think out of the box. Drawing all the matches will keep the team safe but it will also make them loose valuable
points which could have took them upper in the echelons of performance.
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