After last week’s late loss to Ipswich Town, the pressure is on Alvaro Arbeloa ahead of this must-win fixture against Hull City. The visitors have had an eye-catching start to the season, picking up wins against Manchester United and Coventry, whilst earning draws against Aston Villa, Chelsea and most recently, Everton.
In today’s press conference, we started with team news. Antonee Robinson was absent at Portman Road, but according to the Fulham head coach, everyone is fit and available, apart from Hugo Larsson.
“We have a small problem with Hugo - his groin. We will check today, but I'm not sure if he will be okay for tomorrow. Everyone else is available”, said Arbeloa.
There was another training session after the presser, but hopefully everyone else remains available for our first home game in almost a month.
The questions surrounding his future were inevitable. This week, there have been reports suggesting that Arbeloa could lose his job if he fails to win tomorrow. But, it wasn’t something that Arbeloa wanted to focus on, with the game higher up on his list of priorities.
“I’m focused on tomorrow’s game, on my players, on my team. For me, the most important thing is not about me. It’s about the club, it’s about the players, it’s about the supporters”, he said.
“We are waiting for the game where the performance turns into results. For me it’s been a normal week, we have been working hard.”
Despite reports of dressing room unrest, Arbeloa insists he has the backing of the players.
“Yes. You can see it over many minutes against Manchester United and against Liverpool.
“We need to try to keep that level for 90 minutes. I saw the commitment of the players this week, how they have been training, and they are so focused on tomorrow’s game. The most important thing is the performance of my players.”
Fulham have got into an unhealthy habit of conceding goals in the last 15 mins of games, which once again cost them last Saturday. Arbeloa wanted to see Fulham push for the second goal, but the players tried to defend their lead, which ended up with Fulham losing the game. Here’s what he said:
“I think when you feel that the first victory is so close, and you see the finish line, you don’t want to make any mistakes.
“We need to keep doing the things that we were doing before scoring a goal, because even if we changed the way that we were playing, we didn’t get the results.”
The mood within the fanbase is not good at the moment. A bad result at Craven Cottage tomorrow could result in a toxic atmosphere. On the flip side, a win will give the club and supporters a much needed boost.
There is much more to come from Arbeloa. More quotes regarding his subs last week and clapping the fans can be found on my Patreon and X pages.
Let’s hope we see Fulham get their first league win tomorrow, as we look to start turning things around.
COYW!