Player Ratings: Fulham 0-1 Southampton

The player ratings are in after a rubbish performance and defeat in the FA Cup.

Just like each of the previous three seasons, Fulham have seen themselves start to dream of either a run at the European spots or a day out at Wembley, before promptly turning those dreams into nightmares. The impressive thing this season was that they’ve managed to throw it all away in less than a week. Some things simply won’t change or progress unless someone else changes them; make of that what you will. This’ll be fun…

Benjamin Lecomte

Let us start nice and positively, because Lecomte stepped into the breach once more in the cups and performed admirably. His distribution seemed to be at the level of consistency we’d like more often from Leno. Southampton’s first shot on target came from Tom Fellows on the left, which Lecomte comfortably pushed away. The highlight of his game was still to come though, when Azaz’s deflected effort from close range looked to be spiralling over the Frenchman, who showed phenomenal athleticism to tip it over the bar. Hard to suggest he could’ve done more to stop the penalty. 7/10 – man of the match

Timothy Castagne

Played decent, probably because he’d found his level, but some praise feels due nonetheless. Defensively was absolutely fine, felt like him and Tom Fellows had a decent battle and Castagne was rarely troubled. Going forward was where he seemed strongest to my eyes, offering more dangerous overlapping runs than we’re used to seeing from him, with the only issue being the mixed bag of deliveries he produced into the box. Unlucky not to have a goal too, with Andersen drifting offside to have Timmy’s effort disallowed. 6.5/10

Joachim Andersen

As I say, it was Andersen’s fault we didn’t have a lead, carelessly and lazily running a yard offside in the build-up to Castagne’s disallowed goal. If that attacking play was lazy and careless, so was his challenge in stoppage time to give away the penalty to Southampton, which they duly dispatched. It summed up a slow and clumsy performance from a player that has become a frequent underperformer in the side, despite being seen as a reliable leader by the ‘genius’ Marco Silva. Just not good enough, he’s doing more harm than good on a regular basis. 3/10

Jorge Cuenca

Played an alright game, I thought, definitely nowhere near as poor as his centre-back partner. Felt that of the two, he was the one that struggled the most to cope with the physical presence provided by Canada’s Cyle Larin, whenever that battle arose, and it seemed to dent his confidence a bit in duals and on the ball. Cuenca did however make a couple of superb defensive contributions of note. 10 minutes in, a Finn Azaz cross looked destined to find a teammate and an empty net, were it not for a Cuenca sliding challenge. Furthermore, his tackle on Azaz in the second half turned into a crucial block which Lecomte eventually tipped over. 6/10

Ryan Sessegnon

For a lot of the game, it felt like he was the most dangerous goalscoring threat at both ends of the pitch. Going forward he constantly found himself arriving at the perfect time on the left side of the box, forcing a block from Harwood-Bellis early on and coming even closer with an effort just before we went behind. Our struggles did however arise from that, especially in the first half, as Southampton frequently targeted his side on the counter attack after he had got forward, causing us all sort of defensive issues. He got particularly lucky that his shoddy defending on the halfway line led to Scienza dragging the game’s best open play opportunity wide of Lecomte’s post. 5.5/10

Harrison Reed

He was okay, couldn’t find too much to fault with his game. Showed what good ball retention actually looks like for a number six, not misplacing a single pass in his own half. Screened the backline well, frequently dropping deep to pick up play and move it on. Bit disappointed with his corner taking, felt like missed opportunity after missed opportunity with how poor they were. Nothing too adventurous, but nothing notably bad to speak of. Solid if unspectacular. 6/10

Tom Cairney

Poorer than Reed, I thought, and just generally carried Wednesday’s poor performance against West Ham into this one. Didn’t necessarily look slow as in his legs are gone and he can’t keep up, but slow in the way he moved the ball on and looked to create when he was in the Southampton half, which is not what you’d expect from Cairney. His decision making in general was poor, missing opportunities for key passes in the final third and having a couple of completely rubbish efforts from range. 4.5/10

Oscar Bobb

Thought if we were ever going to make the breakthrough, it would inevitably have involved Bobb today. Some of the mazy dribbles he went on, showing the ability to use both feet to glide past players with an unbelievable level of balance and agility, were mesmerizing. They never quite led to a clear goalscoring chance, but that was more due to the lack of support than his lack of ability to find a final ball. More signs of just how good he can be. 7/10

Emile Smith Rowe

Interesting one to judge. For a lot of the game what I saw with my eyes was a player looking to make a difference, find space and show a lot of running. But that positivity can’t really be backed up by moments or statistics. Probably just suggests that everything was a bit safe. I feel he’s improving in terms of consistency and imposing himself in games, but his actual effectiveness in impacting games and contributing in the final third has taken a knock this season, and that was the case here. 5.5/10

Samuel Chukwueze

Don’t think his form is a massive worry as such, but since returning from AFCON disappointment where he missed a penalty, plus a couple of small knocks, he just doesn’t seem to quite have that same level of conviction or confidence in his game. He did force one good save in the first half with a drilled effort from range, and his dribbling often looked superb, just always lacking final product. What must be praised was his defensive contributions, constantly legging it back to help cover the space frequently left by Sessegnon. 6/10

Rodrigo Muniz

Another frustrating game for Muniz. I’m certainly not buying into this theory that we look stupid for rebuffing Atalanta’s attempts to buy him last summer. We have to consider the long-term injury he’s returning from and the fact he’s struggling for a run in the side and the fact that he’s shown on more than enough occasions in the past the quality he possesses. However you can’t ignore another laboured showing. He pressed well, got into good positions, but lacked a clinical edge in the box, with a decent header just after half time the closest he came. One that seriously needs a goal for a boost of confidence. 5.5/10

Substitutes

Alex Iwobi

Played the final half an hour in place of Cairney and certainly upped the tempo in the engine room. Seemed intent on making a difference, making 21 passes in Southampton’s half and getting a couple of shots away from just 38 touches. It didn’t help get us over the line, but he impacted the game better than the man he replaced, which is mostly what you ask of your subs in a game stuck at 0-0. 6.5/10

Josh King/Raul Jimenez, subbed on in the last couple of minutes, can’t be fairly assessed.

Marco Silva

How many seasons do we have to throw away massive opportunities before it becomes obvious a manager has hit a ceiling? Close to Europe? Put in an awful performance against a side in the bottom three. Dreams of Wembley? Forget it.

Nine changes after already rotating for a league game which we threw away was absurd management. His Premier League starting XIs frequently look devoid of invention or coherent attacking patterns this season, so why would it be any different for a completely different group of starters against a confident side in fantastic form, regardless of their position in the pyramid. It’s pure arrogance and an obvious sign of a complete lack of ability to be an adaptable manager.

The in-game management was piss poor too, every single fan, be it in the Cottage, which was as quiet as a funeral in three stands, or on (/behind) their sofas at home, knew changes were needed, and yet the second sub of the game didn’t come until the 89th minute of this cup tie.

He has so much to answer for because we have completely stagnated under his management and horrible bad habits continue to rear their ugly heads season after season and he needs holding accountable.

This was pathetic. 1/10 (and that’s generous)