Alvaro Arbeloa’s first competitive game in charge of Fulham left us with the feeling that this is going to be far from a dull season.
Fulham pressed aggressively high during Monday night’s 3-2 defeat by Chelsea and produced some scintillating attacks – but the approach also left them incredibly vulnerable at the back.
Joao Pedro’s 32nd-second opener came after just a couple of simple passes freed the Brazilian, with the Whites committing men forward from the first whistle. Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer also profited from Chelsea’s ability to play through the press.
But there was another side to Fulham’s approach. Josh King’s equaliser came after a neat one-two with Timothy Castagne, following a slick team move, before he punished Robert Sanchez’s dire positioning.
Gonzalo Garcia’s debut goal came after Castagne bombed forward from right-back to latch on to Jorge Cuenca’s raking pass – an ambitious route Arbeloa’s side utilised throughout. And but for a tame finish from Antonee Robinson, it almost produced a dramatic late equaliser.
Arbeloa insisted that while winning is the number one priority, playing a brand of football that is entertaining and makes the supporters proud is essential.
“We have been talking about what is a successful season and obviously it is about winning games,” he said ahead of Fulham’s Carabao clash with AFC Wimbledon.
“It is about improving my players and improving my squad. But it is also about our fans enjoying watching us. For me, it is very important and I want to play in a way that they can enjoy with us.
“Also, I think they have to be proud of us, with our players, how they run, how they fight until the end. It was the first game of the season and you can see how we fought and how we ran throughout the game.
“It was an amazing effort from our players. It is something that I want to see every game. I am not going to say that it is easy to run in that way in a game against Chelsea, the first game of the season.
“I want to see it every week. It doesn’t matter if it is a London derby. I want to see that effort every week.”
After the opening round of Premier League fixtures, Fulham covered 121.1 km – the most of all 20 teams – illustrating the Spaniard’s point.
But amid suggestions that Fulham will concede a lot of goals this season and will have to rely on outscoring their opponents – something they look more than capable of, albeit based on one game – Arbeloa was quick to stress that a solid defence is paramount.
“I was a defender, (so) for me, as a manager, it is very important to defend very well,” he said.
“We need to attack and we need to create chances. But for us, first, defence is very important. We need to control the counter-attacks of our opponents.
“That is very important. We need to defend very well. You cannot win games if you don’t defend well.
“That is very clear. For sure, we need to improve in some areas. When we are attacking, of course, we are very, very open and we know that.
“But it is because of that that we want to press so high, as quickly as we can, because we need to avoid the counter-attacks. We need to improve, that is for sure.
“We know that we make mistakes and we need to make some adjustments. But we are on our way.”
Fulham are unlikely to face many attacks as potent and dynamic as Chelsea’s front three this season. Sunday’s trip to Sunderland should provide a clearer litmus test of where Arbeloa’s side really stands.
Some Fulham players got away with strolling around under Marco Silva. It will be very difficult for those to adapt to Arbeloa's constant movement, that's why ESR has not been utilised, and Bergen will suffer.
The Chelsea game was a picture of what's ahead, and fitness will be paramount to all Fulham players this season, so if you're not keen on putting in 100% effort then bye bye.
It was great to see us pressing our opponents, just like Bournemouth and Brentford do, and I really believe this is the way to go. Well done Arbeloa, stick to your guns and let's enjoy the ride together.
COYW