Supporting Fulham is a love/hate relationship most of the time, and this week I am certainly in the hate camp. Yet another golden opportunity to have a run at a piece of silverware was thrown away after an inept performance on home turf.
There are so many statistics aligned to Palace’s win on Wednesday night, but 14 shots, nine corners and zero goals really do sum up how disappointing that game was.
Palace had lost three of their last four coming into the game and conceded 12 while doing so. There really is no justification for a performance like that – it feels like two small steps forward for Fulham, then an almighty step back. Truthfully, I am finding it hard to love anything about this Fulham side right now, and I have similar sentiment towards the manager.
This weekend our sights turn to Aston Villa away, where Fulham has lost on their last seven visits. Emery’s men sit in ninth, having turned a corner after a rocky start to their campaign. Three wins in their last four, including a deserved victory against Manchester City, Villa will be favourites going into this game.
So as we embark on a quest to bag some more Premier League points, here are five things to look out for.
1. Committing to being dangerous in wide areas
After the win against Coventry and the defeat to Palace, Arbeloa spoke to creating more chances from wide areas, and it’s somewhat of a recurring theme. That’s all well and good, but the tactical selections do not match the ambition. Oscar Bobb is frequently the only natural wide player selected, often matched on the left by Iwobi or Palacios. Both come inside. We’ve also seen substitutions effect the balance of the side too, namely against Palace
We saw again, against Palace, that Bobb’s width was counterbalanced by Palacios drifting into the half-space. Ideally, it’s to create pockets in semi-central areas, but with Fulham increasingly coming up against low blocks, the result is often predictable and leading the opposition to deal with one true wide player down the left: Antonee Robinson.
Villa like to play a compact game, and they’ll be more than happy to let Fulham have much of the ball. Most of their work is done on the counter, anyway. Introducing another true wide player into the mix could help pull apart Villa’s lower block andcreate space for others to be effective. Arbeloa lamented that Palace waited to pick us off with a mistake – it worked, so why not learn from that and try an new approach?
2. Dangerous Villa picking up steam
After a summer of departures Villa are beginning to look like themselves again. It took a while for the new faces to bed in, but our opponents are finding their groove. Nicolas Jackson looks every part the player Chelsea thought they were going to get, and his reunion with Emery (they worked together at Villarreal), has worked wonders. New boys Joao Gomes and Manzambi are also beginning to settle well, Manzambi, in particular, is finding the form that he showed at the World Cup.
Outside of Arteta, Emery might just be the best manager in the league. His formation often looks like a traditional 4-4-2 on paper, but there are so many intricacies that make this system so dangerous. They sit narrow and explode wide; they play great vertical football that isolates their opposition and they create premium chances. Villa are exceptionally good on the counter, and this will be a test of Fulham’s defence, which has improved markedly over the past three months.
Marking Jackson and Manzambi out of the game and managing the counter using Berge/Charles, is going to be a key part to getting something out of this game.
3. Unpicking the low block
Fulham passes vs. Crystal Palace: 789. Fulham passes vs. Coventry: 657. Fulham passes vs. Hull: 752. Two goals and 12 shots on target to show for it. Unpicking the low block has been a real challenge for Fulham, it often feels like possession for the sake of possession. The Whites must be far quicker moving the ball around and reducing the number of touches they’re taking in tight spaces.
There feels like a lack of instinct with Fulham at times, like the players are trying to walk it in. To beat this Villa side, Fulham are going to have to be far more aggressive and take more risks; hit the byline, add more interchanges and recycle the ball quicker. There has also been a sense that Fulham are reluctant to cross, but to truly get the best out of Gonzalo, Fulham are going to have to get in behind to at least let the Spaniard attack the box. That being said, it’d be great if Garcia could stop missing sitters too.
Perhaps it is time to open the draw, blow off the dust and use my favourite saying: is this a game for Tom Cairney? Tom has usually come on to act as the metronome to suffocate the other teams, but in a game where it’ll take a piece of brilliance to unlock the door, it feels like TC could be that person. There is the fear that he could get caught in the transitions, but if Fulham want the ball there feels like no better fit.
4. Looking better at the back
On the Thursday Club this week, Jack and Elizabeth discussed the victories over Hull and Coventry and noted both played awfully against us, but was it down to Fulham? Personally, I think both matches lacked a lot of quality in key areas. But, Fulham have improved markedly from their early season form and have the second-best defensive record in the Premier League over the last five games.
The back five definitely feels established at this point, and the full-backs have found balance when attacking and defending. The pace of Affengruber and Bassey does provide Fulham with a platform to play a higher line, which helps to implement the press further up the pitch. This has been key to Fulham reducing the number of shots on target against per game. The battle between Castagne and Tete has been an interesting watch; the consistency of Castagne is just edging the selection, although Tete did show some good vibes against Palace.
Arbeloa has also adapted the game-plan slightly, introducing a more conservative approach to his defensive midfielders – their gameplan has reduced to simply blocking passing lanes, regaining possession and progressing as quickly as possible. This has helped players understand their core roles, and bought balance to a midfield that previously looked confused and out of position. It was like when you chose all the fancy roles on Football Manager because they sound good.
5. Stop shoehorning in the Madrid boys
Ultimately, this is a small issue in comparison to others across the pitch but a persistent occurrence throughout this season. I believe that one of the three summers signings has featured in every game this season – I can understand wanting to select familiar players while in a new role, however, it has felt egregious at times.
The deployment of Gonzalo Garcia against Palace was strange; he ended up playing in a quasi-left-wing position and looked totally lost. It was a move that had completely undone the good work of the previous set of subs, and one that had to be remedied a few minutes later.
Palacios has also looked to be struggling with the physicality of the Premier League, and hasn’t looked anywhere near as assured in possession as he once was. He also didn’t have the best game against Palace, but then again nobody else did either.
It’d be nice to see Arbeloa use some other options off the bench this week.
Here is to undoing the hoodoo for another Fulhamish win. COYW
My CHAT AI prediction sates “Aston Villa 2–1 Fulham, “although Fulham’s recent defending gives them a decent chance of a draw.” Based on last 5 games and Squad Value ….
I would take that draw any day with this Villa squad playing at home . Gonzales needs a goal for us and for himself . COYW