Player Ratings: Everton 2-0 Fulham

The player ratings are in as Fulham fall to defeat in our first visit to The Hill Dickinson Stadium

Fulham’s first trip to the Hill Dickinson ended in a not-so- noteworthy performance, or result, to remember. While a handful of players took the game by the scruff of the neck, others fell aside woefully. Let’s take a look at who had an appetite for the challenge and who simply came stuck, much to the Toffees’ delight.

Bernd Leno

A rough one for Leno today, who had a strong first half, but was ultimately let down by the defence’s lack of response to second balls. As if the warning signs weren’t there with the several disallowed goals, Everton’s attack seemed far more hungry and determined to win the rebounds, ultimately leaving our keeper powerless to stop the first goal struck by Idrissa Gueye, with very little protection for Michael Keane’s headed second from close range. 6/10

Kenny Tete

One of the few positives of the day. The Tete vs Jack Grealish battle was always going to be a feisty one, and as I expected deep down, Tete came out on top. Grealish’s strength is his close touch and power but without explosive runs Tete was able to reduce him to a whining winger who chose to play it safe more often than not as he wasn’t getting through Tete’s brick wall. 6.5/10

Joachim Andersen

It was a poor outing from Joachim today, Andersen’s distribution from the back was sloppy, which is a quality we usually rely on so heavily, with wayward passes landing straight to Everton’s attackers who pressed us with a tenacity that we lacked. He seemed to be out-paced and out of his depth on this occasion and I hope it’s a one-off, but fear otherwise. 5/10

Calvin Bassey

Calvin Bassey was the standout player for Fulham today, rising to the occasion with strength, determination and a confidence on the ball that was lacking throughout the rest of the team. He threw his body on the line for the team, drove the play forward and was a force to be reckoned with. Great to see after some previously more questionable performances and I hope he continues to be our brightest asset at the back. 7/10 - man of the match

Ryan Sessegnon

Sess was class today making numerous interceptions and last ditch challenges, giving everything for the team. Whether his profile in terms of athleticism, stature and physicality is enough to be Fulham’s left back long-term remains to be seen, but you can’t deny he wears his heart on his sleeve and gives us fans everything, which was shown by his display today, with the highest amount of defensive contributions for Fulham (14). 6/10

Sander Berge

Failed in his key function today with some dire distribution, key passes in the final third falling short, long balls flying over the sidelines out of reach from our wingers, and a lack of defensive grit that made this outing far too soft for what we needed. There is an important place in this Fulham side for Berge but days like today still leave me questioning what exactly that looks like. 5/10

Sasa Lukic

Set himself up for failure by earning a cheap, albeit harsh, booking in the first 10 minutes. After stopping a counter around the 40-minute mark he was lucky not to see red, which forced Silva to take him off at half-time and he now misses the next game with a ban. There’s a time and a place to take the yellow but sometimes Sasa gives himself away too cheaply and that has impacted the rest of the team on this occasion. Games like today make the Palhinha-shaped hole feel a little more noticeable, and again, I feel Silva was let down in the transfer market in this respect. 5/10

Alex Iwobi

We certainly didn’t see a repeat of Iwobi’s glorious goal at Goodison Park from last season. After being initially excited to see Alex drafted into the middle of the pitch after his solid outing against Wolves, today the game was taken out wide and he never commanded the ball nor controlled the game creatively in the way we required. 5.5/10

Harry Wilson

Another one of those games where Harry Wilson simply went missing when we needed him to spark something the most. There’s really not much to say, he had one shot off target, one pass into the box and took a couple of corners, Taken off on 59. Probably the player with the most potential to produce something but was simply marked out of the game. 5/10

Kevin

Although much more involved than Wilson, Kevin lacks an intelligence about the game and experience that many other Fulham players posses, which leads to his bursts of brilliance never really ending up with that key pass being made, or shot rippling the back of the net. He has talent in abundance and I feel he will be one of Fulham’s greatest ever wingers in time, but right now it’s too early for him and I’d like to see Chukwueze or ESR get the nod for the time being. 5/10

Raul Jimenez

Sadly this season, our star Mexican man is now showing his age, and is relied on far too heavily. He was genuinely one of my favourite Fulham players for an 18-month period but since the end of last season he’s lost his killer edge and is unable to impact games the way we need. With Muniz’s injury-plagued campaign, our lack of plan B from the transfer market is glaringly obvious and is impacting our team for the worse. 5/10

Own Goal

Despite starting the season in scintillating form as Fulham’s top scorer with three goals to his name, it was a no-show for Own Goal today. Was dutifully replaced by Offside who did a great job stopping three of Everton’s goals. 0/10

Substitues

Josh King

Plays with a level of confidence that the rest of the team should take note of. His positive drive to create attacking opportunities and push for the high-risk options is admirable and nearly paid off today, with one notable bit of link up play with Muniz resulting in a fine strike that forced Jordan Pickford to make a save with his right foot. Lacks a certain physicality that will hopefully come in time. 6.5/10

Rodrigo Muniz

Surprised everyone when he walked off about 10 minutes after coming off the bench for Raul. Had one great bit of link up play with Iwobi and King to carve out a chance. Now we wait to see the news on his latest injury. 6/10

Samuel Chukwueze
Plays with a good level of confidence and genuinely tried to make things happen, with some successful take-ons. Let’s see how our results pan out when we start this man, I want to see it. 6/10

Adama Traore

Receives hoards of criticism, sometimes valid, but today he was excellent and showed what we were missing. He was able to draw two defenders onto him and pass play on, while getting crosses into the box and winning corners. A positive display from Adama, one that I hope we can see a little more of. 6/10

Emile Smith Rowe
What kind of statement it is, to have your record signing of last season and highest-profile player, being brought on as a token gesture to see out the final five minutes. It really is quite harrowing for a club of our size. I’m still holding onto hope that we’re missing something, maybe he just doesn’t fit in with Marco’s system or the best is yet to come. No notable actions today.

Marco Silva

There’s a lot of blame to throw at players, tactics and recruitment, but I have to apportion my discontent at the powers that be and the player-signing strategy. We needed a third striker with experience as a plan B and for legacy planning. We needed a strong central midfield unit. And while Sess is doing admirably, we’ve lost so much drive with Antonee Robinson being out that I feel we’re heavily exposed.

Marco made some good changes at half time to shake things up, and can’t be criticised for the misfortune of Muniz coming off injured. Tactically he didn’t shine today and we were weak in the first half and didn’t learn our lessons despite warning signs being thrown at us, but he can only work with the tools he has. Moyes out-managed Silva today and their pressing and tenacity overpowered our unfortunate subdued display.

I’m afraid I feel this really is the final season for Silva and Fulham, and we just have to enjoy the ride while it lasts… maybe with a League Cup to celebrate? COYW. 5/10