Player Ratings: Brentford 0-0 Fulham
Ratings from that drab draw against the Bees
It was a tough old afternoon for all at the G-Tech, having to watch that match of football. I imagine that TNT’s viewing figures by the 80th minute were about the same as GB News’s overnight viewership.
I asked on my X account whether it was the worst Premier League game of the season. Many agreed, although two other Brentford matches (Spurs and Leeds) were also put into consideration, so I’m wondering if there is a common theme here?
Anyway, here are my ratings after that snoozefest in Kew. Once again, for these Player Ratings, we’re also giving you the scores voted by Fulham Fanalyists on the excellent Fanalysis app.
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Bernd Leno
Probably the most obvious man of the match award of the season. That save in the 90th minute is one of the best saves I’ve seen in a long time. The German has come in for stick, including from myself, for some of his poor save stats this season, but he must have lifted himself out of the relegation zone and into mid-table stats-wise with that incredible paw over the bar in stoppage time. For me though, Bernd also dealt very well with Brentford’s set-piece threat, tipping numerous dangerous shots and crosses out to safety.
Fulhamish Rating: 9/10 (MOTM)
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 86/100
Timothy Castagne
I thought Timmy was really solid in this game, handled the threat of Kevin Schade well, and was generally pretty tidy in possession. In all honesty, I can’t remember an awful lot he did, but that’s probably a sign that it was a steady performance from the Belgian.
Fulhamish Rating: 7/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 63/100
Joachim Andersen
I’m really torn about how to rate Joachim Andersen. My personal opinion from the stands is that he had a poor game. Some of his passing was woeful, and very few of his long balls came off at all. He then was responsible for that Outtara chance that Bernd Leno saved in the 90th minute.
I was then surprised to hear from friends watching on TV that the TNT commentators were lauding Joachim Andersen’s performance. With a bit of hindsight, I can acknowledge that he dealt with the threat of Tiago well; however, I still can’t rate him highly for this performance. It felt like he put us into trouble too much, and were it not for Bernd’s heroics, he would have cost us a valuable point at the death.
Fulhamish Rating: 5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 63/100
Calvin Bassey
I thought it was just pretty standard Calvin to be honest. Defensively strong on the ball, got us moving forward well, but also didn’t set the world alight.
Fulhamish Rating: 6/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 72/100
Ryan Sessegnon
Definitely the right decision to bring in Ryan Sessegnon for this game, and I feel like Ryan vindicated his selection. Got into dangerous spaces well and was just a little bit unlucky that none of his chances fell slightly better for him.
Made one error of note in the first half when he fell asleep from a quick Brentford free kick, but he was able to recover and only give away a corner. Thought Ryan linked up particularly well in the second half with Samu Chukweze.
Fulhamish Rating: 7/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 65/100
Sasa Lukic
Good performance from Sasa; it was great to see him back in the starting eleven. It was a little bit silly to get himself yellow carded after 5 minutes, but it didn’t hold him back too much. He partnered quite nicely with Tom Cairney and did well at progressing the ball forward. After a few months of Sander, it was a nice tonic to have Sasa in the middle of our pitch instead.
Fulhamish Rating: 7/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 73/100
Tom Cairney
Similar to Sasa, I thought it was a good performance from Tom Cairney, which is extra impressive given that TC hasn’t been given the nod to start in a league game for quite a while.
As ever, he displayed crisp, incisive passing, he controlled the ball well and he was always very aware of his surroundings. It was the right decision to take him off when we did however, because you could tell he was getting knackered and his influence on the game was starting to wane.
Fulhamish Rating: 6.5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 69/100
Harry Wilson
If that is to be Harry Wilson’s last game for Fulham against Brentford, it was not how he’d have wanted to bow out from his fixture. Very little of note from our top scorer on Saturday. He always looked like he wanted to try and bend it top bins from 30 yards, but unsurprisingly, Keith Andrews and his team had done enough homework to know that letting him shoot on his left foot is not an option.
I personally felt like the chance he had near the hour mark, when played through deliciously by Sasa Lukic, was one that somebody of Harry’s quality should have done a lot better with.
Fulhamish Rating: 5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 58/100
Alex Iwobi
There are some games where Alex’s languid style suits the occasion. This match was definitely not one of them.
He made several mistakes in the first half, including one notable moment where afterwards he valiantly recovered to win the ball in the right-back position, only then to immediately give the ball away again, leading to a potentially dangerous Brentford opportunity.
I would say that I’d like him to return to a central position next weekend, but I fear his hamstring injury may see him out for a few weeks.
Fulhamish Rating: 4/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 52/100
Emile Smith Rowe
There seems to be a little bit of a curse at the moment with whoever starts in the number 10 position not impressing, but then whoever comes off the bench looking quite good.
This time around, it was ESR’s turn to start, and once again he didn’t really take that opportunity. Some nice touches, but ultimately he offers zero goal threat. We’ve scored in only one of our last six games, and whilst the strikers will no doubt take most of the heat, it’s incredibly frustrating the Emile doesn’t ever look likely to either score himself or set up a dangerous opportunity.
Fulhamish Rating: 5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 53/100
Rodrigo Muniz
I am so desperate for Rodrigo to re-find his form, but it’s really not working at the moment. I will stand by what I’ve said in recent weeks that I do believe his hold-up play and touches are better than Raul’s, but he looks so far away from scoring a goal, and our lack of threat is really what is costing us any chance of doing something special this season.
Fulhamish Rating: 4/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 52/100
Subs and Manager
Samu Chukwueze
Started brightly in the second half but really faded after 15 minutes, and I don’t really remember him doing too much else after that. Not sure where early-season Samu has gone, but it doesn’t feel like we’re watching the same player.
Fulhamish Rating: 6/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 52/100
Josh King
Nice to see Josh King get a run out towards the end in a deeper lying midfield role, where I personally think he is more likely to end up in his career. Didn’t really do too much in this game, not helped by the fact that by the time Josh came on, Fulham’s main strategy was just to boot it long.
Fulhamish Rating: 5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 57/100
Raul Jimenez
Rodrigo wasn’t playing well, but we looked considerably weaker up top when Raul came on. In fairness, he was effectively playing rugby, just trying to bring down long balls that were hit aimlessly in his direction.
Fulhamish Rating: 4/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 55/100
Oscar Bobb and Antonee Robinson came on too late to fairly judge.
Marco Silva
You know what, I don’t really have anything to say here. Just either sign the contract or announce you’re going like Andoni Iraola has. I don’t think he got anything majorly wrong line-up wise, but failing to score in 5 of our last 6 is just not good enough. It’s all getting desperately boring.
Fulhamish Rating: 5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 57/100
Fair assessment. My only gripe would be that (being a Kew resident) Brentford don’t play in Kew! If not Brentford - then Chiswick. Glad you escaped the Kew ghetto in one piece.