Player Ratings: Fulham 2-3 Chelsea

The scores are in after the Whites fell in their SW6 derby season opener.

I’m really struggling to decipher how I feel after that game. Even now, 12 hours on, I’ve got lots of conflicting thoughts.

There were definitely positives. Arbeloa has spoken a lot about intensity and we absolutely saw that last night. It’s something we’ve lacked in recent times, so to see us go out there and press the full length of the pitch was very encouraging.

Going forward we looked more potent and while the decision making still leaves a lot to be desired at times, we caused that Chelsea defence problems. A goal and stellar performance from Josh King cements him as the star of this side and a goal for Gonzalo Garcia on debut cannot be understated in its importance for his confidence.

Then there are the negatives… Conceding after 30 seconds was catastrophic and the manner in which the goal came about was a perfect microcosm for Fulham’s issues in this game; gaping holes in the middle of the park, with centre-backs exposed to runs in behind. We’re going to concede a lot of goals this season, but it will be an unsustainable number if we continue to defend like that.

A derby day defeat is always tough to take but given the context, the overall narrative should be positive, although some of these ratings may not reflect that. In a game where we did a lot of good things, it felt like there were several individual performances that could be pinpointed as detrimental to the team. We’ll get there - and we won’t have to play against a £200m+ front three every week, which should help.

Bernd Leno

He made a couple of big saves in front of the Hammy end in that first half that really kept Fulham in the game. I don’t think there’s much he can do for the first two goals, but you’d argue he shouldn’t let Palmer squeeze one between his legs for the third.

With the ball, he’s clearly being asked to be braver and more proactive, which doesn’t really suit him. A couple of passes that felt hairy and put his defenders under pressure, but nothing cataclysmic. He’s going to be a busy man this season. 5.5/10

Timothy Castagne

Arbeloa is clearly a fan of Timmy and he continued his adventurous performances in pre-season with another marauding display last night. His remit is clearly to get right up the pitch and affect the game in the final third, which he did to great effect. His assist for Josh King is a nice one-two, and his second assist is testament to his attacking intent, making a great run in behind, showing great composure to get a shot away.

Hard to evaluate defensively because Chelsea certainly exploited the space that he left vacant, but given he’s being told to get that high up the pitch, that feels like more of a system fault, rather than a personal failing. 7/10

Calvin Bassey

I thought he looked like a captain today. That’s not to say it was a top-drawer performance, because it wasn’t, however he looked like a leader. He has the energy and passion of someone that you want to be setting the example to the rest of the team. There were a few moments where you could see him trying to inject something into the team and the fans, either through a big tackle or a bustling foray into the opposition half. We need a personality like that.

He’s guilty of ball watching for the second goal and he’s too rash in his decision making for the third, and he should be pulled up on that. However, I think Calvin is going to be pivotal this season and it’s an inspired choice from Arbeloa to give him the armband. That dive in the second half was absolutely honking though; less of that CB. 6/10

Jorge Cuenca

Yikes. Usually a serene Spanish sweeper, I thought Jorge looked frazzled yesterday. Perhaps overawed by the occasion, but more likely panicked into poor decision making as a result of how open we were, I thought he was at fault for all three goals. Getting spun by Maxence Lacroix is bad for the second goal, but the defending for the third is worse; a total lack of communication between him and Berge, quite astonishingly bad defending in the Premier League.

However, with the ball at his feet, he played a couple of defence-splitting passes that gave an insight into what he could bring to this team. Very interested to see who partners Calvin on Sunday. 4/10

Antonee Robinson

Has copped a lot of flack for his performance, especially how high he was caught up the pitch on a number of occasions. I think it’s the same as Castagne though: is that his fault, or is he following instructions and it’s someone else’s responsibility to cover the space? Personally, I think it’s the latter, so I’m going to cut him some slack. That being said, he was twisted in knots by Cole Palmer at times and could have done with some defensive support.

He wasn’t as effective as Timmy but conceptually he fits this system well, being given the freedom to make those trademark overlapping runs. He obviously should do better with his one-on-one, but I can’t be the only person who had no faith in him burying it anyway. 5/10

Sander Berge

I have spent a lot of time defending our Norwegian midfielder and he is still not repaying my faith in him. He’s built like a tree, but the kind that is the first to topple over in mildly blustery conditions.

If he’s going to be entrusted with protecting us against transitions he is going to have to start being a bully. He’s far too passive; his “defending” for the second and third goals are testament to that, watching players run past him rather than stopping them. I need to see him just poleaxe someone, take the yellow card, I don’t care, just wipe someone out and become the midfield enforcer that we need. 3/10

Alex Iwobi

When one of your central midfielders plays like Berge, you really need the other one to step up and unfortunately Alex did not do that. He tried, and he was marginally better than Sander, but he was unusually sloppy in possession, and this tendency he’s developing to give the ball away on the edge of our area needs to stop.

I fear that he might not have the legs to play that deep in this Arbeloa side, certainly not against an attack as potent as Chelsea’s anyway. 4/10

Oscar Bobb

Effective yet ineffective? He’s clearly supremely technically gifted, with a lovely touch and ability to sell a dummy and gain a yard of space. He needs to speed up his decision making though. Too often instead of a shot or an incisive final ball, he takes an extra touch, sometimes four extra touches, and the moment is gone.

I actually think he’s a better footballer than Harry Wilson, and has the potential to be an upgrade, but he needs to develop Harry’s penchant for game-changing moments of brilliance. 6/10

Josh King

What. A. Star. I could go on for hours about this Josh King performance. Sammy and I waxed lyrical on the Quick Take about him, and I will do so again in the ratings. He is simply delightful to watch, the way he fizzes about the pitch, drifting past defenders, refusing to be bullied, it’s just incredible.

There is no ceiling to what this boy can achieve and the fact that he does it all with an undying passion for being a Fulham player makes me so happy. An early goal for him will only lift his confidence, and while it is woeful keeping from Sanchez, the movement and execution from Josh is A*. So unlucky not to get an equaliser as he dragged his shot wide, but the work he does to create the space in the first place is sublime. 9/10 - man of the match

Cesar Palacios

After a dazzling performance in preseason, I thought Cesar struggled today. Personally, I thought he looked a bit lost out there and spent most of the game chasing the ball and blue shirts. His effort can’t be faulted, but he looked a bit lightweight and defensively didn’t offer enough support to Robinson. It just felt like the game happened a bit too quick for him, which is understandable, it was high octane stuff.

Better performances to come and while I was calling for Kevin to come on earlier than he did, he actually didn’t make a positive difference. 4.5/10

Gonzalo Garcia

The most important thing for Gonzalo is he got a goal. The last thing you want from your new talisman is a long wait for that first goal. It’s nice to have someone leading the line who will chase down lost causes and press relentlessly, that energy will be important. The fact that covered the most ground through high-intensity sprints speaks volumes.

There’s work to be done on his hold-up play, but if he’s going to make a knack of being in the right place at the right time, then that’s exactly what we need. 7/10

Substitutes

Shea Charles

A positive debut from a player who I have perhaps roguely tipped to be our player of the season. He looked very composed on the ball and I think he will quickly muscle his way into the midfield pair quite quickly. 6/10

Kevin

I was calling for Kevin from about the 60th minute; I thought his pace and directness could cause problems. Unfortunately, it just didn’t click. Rarely afforded the opportunity to isolate a defender one-on-one as Chelsea sat deeper, he provided little in the way of spark and was handled with relative ease. 4/10

Ryan Sessegnon

Spent 10 minutes playing on the right wing, then 10 minutes playing at left-back, which shows the importance that his versatility will provide. I thought it was a solid, if unremarkable, cameo. His exploits in preseason make me think that he’s really not far behind Robinson in the pecking order, and if our full-backs are allowed to get that far forward, Sess arrive late into the penalty box of that left flank could be a good source of goals. 5.5/10

Rodrigo Muniz came on too late to be fairly assessed, but I’m not sure I’m a fan of his new hair.

Manager

Alvaro Arbeloa

It was always going to be a baptism of fire and after the start we had, he could’ve been staring down the barrel of an unredeemable first game in charge. However, he and the team deserve credit for being able to stick to the gameplan, show courage, and try to go toe-to-toe against a team that has spent both a sickening and pathetic amount of money.

He needs to quickly work out how we are going to play such expansive football without conceding three every game - because that wasn’t acceptable - but we’ll get there.

His biggest issue might be how can he get some of these players fit enough to play such physically demanding football, because we were gassed by the 75th minute, and currently the squad is looking a bit thin.

Overall, last night is not the way any manager wants to start a new job, but I think he’s got the fans on his side as a result of what we saw and we’re hopefully going to see some exciting stuff this season. 5.5/10