Diary of a Fulham FC journo from the Algarve

JK is out in Portugal and gives us the lowdown on Fulham's pre-season friendly vs Al-Ahli.

When the club confirmed that Fulham were going to be playing in Portugal this summer, I was sinking pints ahead of England’s World Cup semi-final against Argentina.

I thought well, let’s look at getting that booked up in the next couple of days, but for now my focus is on watching England attempt to reach their first World Cup final since 1966.

England exited the tournament later on that evening and I’ll admit, my first thought was not ‘right, time to book pre-season.’ However, after a bit of soul searching and some much needed energy drinks, the idea did cross my mind once more.

Flights and accommodation booked, and it wasn’t long until Monday 27 July arrived - time to head to Portugal. One of the quickest journeys to Gatwick I’ve ever made. I practically spawned there.

I enjoy travelling Scott Alone - it’s a lot easier and peaceful. I was through security in a flash, had a quick bite to eat and played some frames of snooker on my phone whilst waiting for my flight’s gate to be revealed.

We took off at 15:30 and several Football Cliches podcasts later, we had landed in Faro.

I settled into the hotel before heading out for some dinner. Nothing too crazy - a pint and a pizza. Food reviews as always can be read on my Patreon.

Anyways onto match day - Al-Ahli vs Fulham, a free event open to the public. I went for an early lunch before talking to Emma Jones for BBC Radio London. By then, there were a couple of reports coming out. Fulham are looking to go ‘all out’ for Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Garcia - more on him later.

Alan Nixon reported Fulham were ‘getting closer’ to the signing of Jordan James. The Standard then stated those reports were wide of the mark. I’d heard nothing regarding JJ on my end, but was fairly moved by our apparent interest.

I turned up to the stadium around two hours before kick-off. It was a bit of an awkward one - West London Sport had got in touch with some people in order to acquire a press pass, but we didn’t hear back. I thought, well given it’s a free event, what’s the worst that can happen? If someone told me I shouldn’t be in the press box, I could just tweet from my phone from the stands.

However, I took the Simon Wilson approach. Just act like you’re meant to be there. After meeting some Fulham fans at the entrance and quickly realising people could just walk down the tunnel into the ground with no checks, I sauntered with confidence out towards the pitch. No issues. I located the press box, and headed towards there. It wasn’t as easy to find as I first thought. It was like a maze and I was trying to navigate my way up to the top of the stand.

I eventually landed in the right place, after walking through the bar. Anyways, I was in, seated and ready to go. Staff members from Fulham turned up shortly after I’d settled, followed by the players. There were plenty of Fulham fans who’d made the trip too.

As the players emerged from the tunnel for the first time, a few came over to speak with fans, take photos and thank them for their support.

Team news dropped and Fulham went with a fairly strong starting XI. Macaulay Zepa’s inclusion was interesting, starting over Kevin. Emile Smith Rowe and Josh King were also starting together. Tom Cairney was the only notable absentee. Luc De Fougerolles and Antonee Robinson were here, but not involved given they’d just returned from their extended holidays.

The game kicked off, and a first chance to see Alvaro Arbeloa’s Fulham in action. It was noticeable immediately that Fulham were aggressive in their press and direct in their attacking play. Ryan Sessegnon was involved right from the start, attacking high up on the left hand side. Smith Rowe was offering him support, but slightly more central, wanting to receive the ball.

King was also floating in that central attacking area. Making runs into the box and trying to get on the end of things. On the right, Zepa was hugging the touchline, while Kenny Tete was tucking inside, almost drifting into midfield at times. It was an interesting watch.

It became apparent that whenever Fulham lost the ball, it would leave the two centre-backs exposed, with Harrison Reed sitting just in front. A few times Reed had to sweep away the danger, but there were a couple of times the ball was given away.

That’s where Al-Ahli’s goal came from. The ball was loose, Sessegnon was very high up, which left space at left-back. Fulham got across to defend the attack, but conceded from the corner. The ball was floated in and Fulham lost the aerial duel as the side from Saudi took the lead. It was a little weak, and too easy.

Up to that pout, Fulham had been the better side. They’d controlled the game and created a couple of openings. The best, falling for Rodrigo Muniz, whose header was well saved.

But Fulham levelled up after a nice move. Alex Iwobi, who had been quiet in the final third up until that point, found some space and slid it forward for Sess who arrowed a finish into the corner. Smartly taken and a first Fulham goal under Arbeloa.

In the second half, the game wasn’t played quite at the same tempo. Benjamin Lecomte was called into action almost immediately with Fulham failing to deal with the danger at the back. He made a good save moments after coming on for Bernd Leno.

Fulham made around 11 changes in total. It was a great chance to see some U21s players play with the first-team. Farhaan Ali Wahid, Alfie White, Chibby Nwoko, Sam Amissah, Matt Dibley-Dias and Luke Harris all got some minutes.

Jonah Kusi-Asare impressed with his cameo. He showed tenacity and determination to chase down every ball. In doing so, he won a couple of free-kicks in good areas. Kevin failed to make much of an impact on the left, he had a free-kick effort sail wide.

It was a shame Fulham couldn’t push on and find a winning goal, but it was a good run-out on a dry looking pitch. Good news - no injuries. Cairney, Jedi and LDF were sat a few yards away from me, watching from the stands. TC took lots of photos with fans at HT, I never found out why he wasn’t involved, but he didn’t seem to be moving gingerly, which is good.

After the game, I made my way down to pitch side. The vibes were good, lots of fans asking for photos and autographs and the Fulham players were happy to thank the travelling support. Really lovely to see, and a good way to end the friendly!

I managed to grab a couple of players for some post-match reaction. It was good to get back into the swing of things. I also watched AA’s post-match interview with the club, and met the new head coach. He was very nice, and it was great to introduce myself. We will hear more from the Fulham manager soon I’m sure.

So, a very enjoyable evening, but time to get some dinner. I found a popular looking pizza restaurant/takeaway outlet and given it seemed the only option close by, went for another pizza. As I picked up my box, and headed out. I couldn’t get a Uber, due to high demand. No worries, I’ll go back into the restaurant and just tuck in.

However, suddenly the news was dropping. It was being reported from tier one journalist Mateo Moretto that Fulham and Real Madrid were close to an agreement for Cesar Palacios. A midfielder that Fulham have had their eye on for a while.

Moments later, more news emerged of a verbal offer from Fulham to Real Madrid for Gonzalo Garcia. We will see how this one materialises across the next couple of days, but Fulham seem to be attempting to accelerate these deals.

The Times have also reported that Fulham are interested in Toulouse centre-back Charlie Cresswell. But, in order to do the deal, Fulham may need to sell Joachim Andersen. Like always, plenty of rumours, will we see these deals get done?

Today, I’ll jump on stream at some point to talk about the game and the latest Fulham news, before packing up and heading back to London tomorrow. It’s been great fun out in Portugal and always one of the season’s highlights!