Player Ratings: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Fulham
Dan Goga-Cooke runs the rule over the Whites after a disappointing day in the Black Country.
I’ve been left with the unfortunate duties of the Quick Take and Player Ratings double after another abysmal Fulham performance. One that I think would be easier to stomach had it not been for the fact that every team around us did us a favour yesterday. However, as is tradition, we refused to capitalise as we shared the points with 20th-placed, long-time relegated, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Bernd Leno
I don’t think there’s much he can do about Mane’s rocket that saw Wolves take the lead. It was a game where I think his limited distribution hindered Fulham slightly. Wolves’ press allowed our back line a lot of time on the ball and Leno isn’t the type of goalkeeper who can find those line breaking passes.
Gets bonus points for the interplay with our fans before the penalty as the away end urged him to be the one to take the spot kick. Proper end of season vibes. Given there’s nothing to play for now, if we do get a penalty against Newcastle, he should absolutely take it.
Fulhamish Rating: 5.5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 59/100
Timothy Castagne
Another decent performance from one of the few players in this squad who seem to have upped their game towards the end of the season. It was hardly Cafu-esque, but he contributed going in both directions and did well to win the penalty.
Fulhamish Rating: 6.5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 65/100
Issa Diop
A game that highlighted one of the large reasons why Issa hasn’t featured much this year. Defensively, I think he’s very competent and brings a good aerial dominance and physicality. It’s his lack of confidence on the ball that, particularly in games where we have so much possession, limits us offensively. Wolves were happy for Issa to be on the ball because they knew he couldn’t hurt them.
Fulhamish Rating: 6/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 60/100
Calvin Bassey
Like Timo, a player who is not to blame for the dreadful team performances. I thought he was really good, highlights being a couple of vital last ditch tackles and blocks. He’s an all-action, full-hearted centre back and you can tell how frustrated he is by what’s going on around him.
Fulhamish Rating: 7/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 71/100
Antonee Robinson
One of the funniest moments of the season was being in that away end and hearing the collective reaction to Jedi standing over the penalty. To his credit, it was a very composed spot kick to get his first ever Premier League goal, a nice moment for him.
Unfortunate to slip for the goal and had a good battle with Rodrigo Gomes throughout. He’s still nowhere near the player he was last year
Fulhamish Rating: 5.5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 64/100
Sander Berge
This game didn’t require both Berge and Lukic. We were relying on Sander to provide a creative spark, which we all know is hardly a strength of his. I feel bad for him because he’s being misused, but he doesn’t help himself with his overly cautious approach. Capped off his performance with a woeful missed header. One of him or Lukic had to be dragged at half-time.
Fulhamish Rating: 4.5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 48/100
Sasa Lukic
Two games in a row where Sasa gradually starts to try and do everything in midfield, out of frustration. On several occasions he looked exasperated at the lack of options in front of him and tried embarking on mazy runs or attempted an incredibly ambitious pass. Whilst I appreciate the effort, I think it contributes to Fulham becoming more disjointed as he charges around the pitch just trying to make something happen.
Fulhamish Rating: 5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 54/100
Oscar Bobb
I was pleased to see him start after his performance against Bournemouth. A player that is showing glimpses of the talent that is there, but he’s not been the difference we hoped he be, yet. There’s a lovely fluidity to the way that he plays, able to sell a body feint brilliantly to get that extra yard on a defender. As with our entire team though, there’s just no end product at the moment.
Fulhamish Rating: 5.5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 56/100
Emile Smith Rowe
Patience is wearing thin with Emile. He demonstrates an infuriating lethargy, drifting about the pitch with little urgency or intent. It’s a gimmick that is reserved for the absolute best in the world, who can produce magic when they do get the ball, not a guy with three goals and zero assists in the league this season.
He gets into some nice pockets of space, but he just has no killer instinct and so little confidence in his own ability to make a difference.
Fulhamish Rating: 4/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 52/100
Alex Iwobi
Surprised at how quickly Alex has returned to fitness after his injury against Brentford. A good save from Sa denied him early on and he tried, as he always does, to be Fulham’s creative hub, but it just didn’t quite happen. There were good moments when he was out on the left, and similarly when he was in the middle, but he didn’t have a sustained impact on the game.
Fulhamish Rating: 5.5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 54/100
Rodrigo Muniz
The performances get more and more concerning as the weeks go by. Even when you ignore the fact that he doesn’t look even vaguely close to scoring, his overall contribution to the game is insignificant. He seems incapable of holding the ball up and never gets into dangerous positions to hurt the opposition. I concede that we are barely creating any chances for him, but he isn’t helping himself.
Fulhamish Rating: 4/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 46/100
Substitutions and manager
Kevin
I was excited to see him introduced so early. I was unfortunately less excited when it became apparent that we weren’t going to try and get him into the game at all. When we did get him on the ball, he caused Wolves problems with his directness and flair. His tricks won’t always come off, but given how bereft of ideas we look, you need wildcard players like Kev, who will just try and do something.
Fulhamish Rating: 5.5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 51/100
Josh King
Came on in a deeper role, which we haven’t often seen. I don’t think it quite worked as he played so high at times that we couldn’t progress the ball. Ended up looking a little bit lost, but the football became so abhorrent towards the end of that game that it was difficult for one young lad to fix it.
Fulhamish Rating: 5.5/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 55/100
Samuel Chukwueze
Had no impact whatsoever when he came on. He isn’t taking players on; he’s not picking out killer balls. I have no idea what’s happened to him, but he looks nothing like the Samu from earlier in the season.
Fulhamish Rating: 4/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 47/100
Harry Wilson and Raul Jimenez came on too late to be fairly rated. However, I thought they were both dreadful.
Marco Silva
It’s quite impressive that last week, as dreadful as it was, wasn’t the nadir of our run-in. This game against Wolves was probably up there with the worst Fulham have been under Marco. There was no intensity, no ambition, no belief that we were going to beat the worst team in the league, and that’s troubling.
I wouldn’t say that he made many decisions that I disagreed with. As mentioned, we didn’t need both Berge and Lukic, but that team was still more than good enough to win yesterday. The problem appears to be motivation. These players don’t look like they’re all giving 100% and that ultimately is Marco’s responsibility. He hasn’t been able to get these players sprinting towards the finish line and despite all the talk of every game being a cup-final, we’ve been abject for weeks.
Fulhamish Rating: 3/10
Fulham fans on Fanalysis: 40/100
Cannot disagree with anything you said Dan.
It's not just Fulham, it's the Premier League as a whole.
Apart from Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton and Sunderland, all the other teams
have suffered with the same lack of effort and motivation.
Why is this you may ask?
Well, my belief is that the managers' cannot be held totally responsible for their players
once they take to the field. Yes, they are set up in a particular formation, which can be
questioned at times, but once that whistle blows at the start of the 90 minutes, it is the
players who are responsible for their performance.
Jedi stated himself (being totally honest), that he and the other team members did not
really show up at Wolves. Their lack of effort has been noticeable for the majority of games
played in 2026, apart from maybe the match against Aston Villa at home when we won 1-0.
You could sense from the kick off that the team were up and ready for that match. The running,
the marking, the effort and belief was there for all to see. The question is, why just for that
game, and not for the others?
If the four teams I mentioned above seem to give 100% week in and week out, why can't we,
and the others do the same.
The answer is this;
There is too much money paid to players in the Premier League.
Come win, draw or lose, they get their fat salary cheques every week/month. What motivation is there when they know their bank accounts are not affected by their performances or effort?
Players that sit on the bench every game, those who don't even make the bench, all continue
to be paid ridiculous amounts of money for very little. They may score a few goals and they
believe they are super-human. Normally a goal-scoring run by most players are short-lived.
My suggestion is that players should be paid according to their performances on the pitch.
A group of loyal supporters should rate them after each game and their salaries should be
affected by these results. If a player plays a stinker, with very little effort shown, his wages should
be docked. Too much money paid for very little effort these days by many players.
We seem to be getting worse each game and we need a good clear out and maybe a new manager I don’t think Marco can do much more with the players we have and this is down to the recruitment team who consistently bring in below average players.