Castagne heads Fulham home in solid win over Stuttgart

Arbeloa's pre-season draws to a winning conclusion with a 1-0 win at the Cottage

The final game of the pre-season has concluded in victory - Fulham took a solid 1-0 victory over German side VfB Stuttgart this afternoon, with a Castagne header from a corner completing a strong outing from the team. Alvaro Arbeloa’s competitive tenure at the club will begin with a tailwind heading into the new season - Fulham demonstrated their ability to play smart, fluid football over the course of the game, making a Champions League-bound opponent look second-best by some distance. Regardless of the casual nature of the game, there’s signs that the new season may yet hold some serious promise for our budding young side…

First Half

Considering Stuttgart finished 4th in the Bundesliga last season, Fulham looked quite decent in the first part of the game. We have amassed a talented set of footballers for Arbeloa to utilise, and their comfort on the ball made us the domineering force across the majority of the action. It was encouraging to see us play with a bit of energy, pinging the ball around coolly and trying to tire the Stuttgart backline with clever runs. The new signings really fit this approach - Gonzalo Garcia put his physicality into the defenders by charging into the box, winning corners through their late interventions, and Palacios’ hunger for the ball fit nicely with the passing play, linking moves together across their half. King moved smoothly, Bobb and Iwobi fizzed on the ball, fullbacks Robinson and Castagne had the energy from the deep and Berge had more license to roam the pitch to travel with the action.

All good signs, but a goal failed to materialise. Berge had the best of these chances, stabbing at an Iwobi corner without the power to beat Bredlow, and later on heading a knock-on from another corner towards the goal, stopped only by the keeper booting the ball away from the line. These corners were won by chances that might also have found the net, cutting long-balls daggered over the defence by deep passes from Iwobi and Cuenca. Robinson is not a prolific scorer but will rue wasting a good run ahead of Chabot to take strike in the box - we will have to hope Garcia’s sharpness develops further, as he gave Jeltsch and midfielder Nartey the time to recover the ball from his boxward runs.

Stuttgart didn’t enjoy much possession, but their quality wasn’t absent from the half. A looped ball from right-winger Bouanani deceived an idle Fulham defence, bouncing into the box for target-man Demirovic to volley; Leno’s alertness let him jump in front of the Bosnian to block the effort. He was in action shortly afterwards, stopping a cross from Fuhrich and diving to divert a deflected header following a Mittelstadt corner. Indeed, Stuttgart found ways to probe our defence, and Bassey and Cuenca were needed to ward away the danger, both picking up knocks that required treatment in the process. Berge did this well, tracking a long ball to stop Tomas from finishing his run into the box with a strong tackle. Such a solid platform let Fulham coast towards half-time, our football leaving us without serious concern but also depriving of a goal.

Second Half

If Arbeloa’s tactics continue as they did here, we will dominate many games this season. The second half started in even more encouraging fashion, Fulham’s forwards stepping up the tempo and pinning Stuttgart into their final third with a sustained high press and sharp, slick passing. Their versatility saw a quick move along the left, as King and Iwobi combined to let Palacios slip Bobb into a pocket of space in the box - Bredlow again used his feet to repel the Norwegian’s low effort.

Having so many bodies in Stuttgart territory proved an excellent tactic, letting the team stretch Stuttgart on the flanks and having the numbers to rotate attackers in and out of danger. Each of Bobb, Palacios, Garcia and King moved around the frontline, linking play and barrelling beyond the full-back to drill a ball into the box. Even when the shots didn’t quite find the net, the cumulative impact of so many clearances and set-pieces won started to tip the stability of the Stuttgart defence. Forlorn, their isolated attack were scrabbling around in an attempt to plug the gaps, leaving more space for our deeper players to instigate new passing sequences, in turn increasing the options for creative minds like Palacios and Iwobi.

The goal was coming. A long ball from Berge found Garcia, ceaseless in his determination to muscle away from Jeltsch and Chabot. His shot required a block, earning a couple of corners, and Iwobi’s consistent accuracy from the spotkicks was rewarded with a Castagne header on-target, looped perfectly over the crowded six-yard box and over the leap of Fuhrich on the line to bustle into the far corner. Fulham, at last, had an opener to match their dominant play.

There might have been a second shortly afterwards, as Bobb strived to make his tricky play turn into goals. But Stuttgart were kicked into gear by our strike, and used the space along our right to start their own attack. A nice piece of play from Mittelstadt let Tomas charge down the space on the left, looping a ball over our depopulated defence for Bouanani cruising into the box unopposed. With a first-time strike he guided the ball towards the goal’s corner, but Leno was astute again, diving low to push the ball away with his hand. The momentum was lost, and after Chabot headed the ball wide, Fulham were able to get back on the ball again.

Substitutes started to disrupt our flow in the game. Shea Charles arrived for King, naturally shifting us to a more defensive output, and with Stuttgart throwing on their young players to pour energy into the comeback attempt, Fulham found themselves defending their own final third for the first sustained period of the half. Yet in the only real moment of strife, a Fuhrich run eluding Castagne down their left, Cuenca was alert, and slid to block the cross into the box. Nartey’s long distance shot following the rebound was the closest they ended up coming; indeed, even our counter-attack was a closer effort, as late-substitute Chibby Nwoko powered a fine ball into Robinson’s run into open grass that the left-back steered wide of goal. It all but drew a conclusion to the game - we’d settle for a comfortable 1-0 win.

There’s a lot to be proud about in today’s action. Alvaro Arbeloa is a man that spent his career at the summit of club and international football, and whilst it’s early days the commitment to a high standard of attack and defence was impressive, keeping Stuttgart second-best across the game and maintaining control when they tried to salvage an equaliser late into the game. 1-0 is a little deceptive - Bredlow made several fine stops to cover for his defence, which was successfully breached numerous times by penetrative runs from the forward-line. Garcia seems to have understood the assignment given to him very well - the goals will hopefully come soon for a man that used his pace to take the action to Stuttgart, and his presence gave Bobb, King and Palacios a lot to work with around him.

On that topic, I’m really liking what I’m seeing of our Spanish playmaker. The man plays with grace and elegance, but crucially has the vision and timing to connect his dainty passes and clever footwork to positive Fulham moves, cutting defensive lines and moving Fulham up the pitch. He had a quality that seemed to persist across the match - across a season, this may give us the edge in tight contests turned by a killer pass through a gridlocked defence.

Berge played with a little more life than we’ve been used to at the Cottage, and whilst it’s early days yet the increase in energy Arbeloa seems to be instilling will certainly benefit Fulham - he made forward passes, put himself into dangerous areas and reinforced Fulham’s presence at both ends of the pitch. Perhaps Norway’s World Cup run did him some good - he looked like an international player flexing his acumen over the opposition. Consequently, our defence was relaxed, removing the mistakes from their game. The Bassey-Cuenca partnership could be a really promising one - both like having the ball, both read the danger very well and importantly both took hefty knocks today and managed to power through, which fosters more resilience for future ties. Most pleasing was Castagne, who appears to have taken his solid form at the end of last season and combined it with his exploits at the World Cup to stake a claim for being starting right-back for Arbeloa. If he can make it last, we’ll have a much healthier situation at the back.

Weaknesses? We only managed a single goal today with the pressure essentially off. The natural response is to point to the fact it’s pre-season, but that’s also true for Stuttgart, and Premier League defences will not be as slow to react to the nippy dribbling of the forwards - not least Chelsea’s next week! Arguably the recruitment in defence needs to increase as well, as were our centre-back’s injuries more serious we’d be left with an incredibly thin back-line, staffed by more than a few make-shift defenders. Do we want to be chasing wingers, as Robinson and Castagne did a few times today, knowing our defenders can’t put their all into the chase lest they hurt themselves and leave the team even more barren?

But what can we really read from this game? Friendlies are often a poor barometer of the events to come. England once routed Jamaica 6-0 in a pre-World Cup friendly, and then proceeded to score as many goals across five middling games at the tournament proper. False dawns are nothing new, and reading too much into these matches risks the same effect as gazing into the clouds for an answer… Yet I think there’s a quiet comfort in the unknown. Much as uncertainty surrounds the new season, an excitement can be had at the chance to see our football club, ripe with gifted attacking players across the park, take flight in the Premier League under a manager with title-winning experience and a drive to prove his doubters back home wrong. The speculation is almost over - let’s take today’s win and step into the new campaign with confidence, just as Fulham did today.