It’s been a start to forget for everyone involved at Fulham Football Club.
That’s now three defeats from the opening three in fixtures, two of which we picked up six points from last season. There have been positives from an attacking point of view, but our defensive frailties resulted in tension boiling over at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
“What the f**king hell was that?” was the cry from the Fulham faithful at full-time. Most came to applaud the Hammersmith End, some didn’t, and a whole load of cryptic social media activity has emerged in the aftermath.
Kevin posted an Instagram story which said “no speak, no hear, no see”, Alex Iwobi and Emile Smith Rowe have deleted all of their Fulham posts from Instagram and Kenny Tete reportedly said “speak to that f**ing coach” when asked by a fan outside Craven Cottage why he’s not involved. But where does the blame lie for this frustration from some of the players?
Too much change?
Two camps appeared to have formed online following this fallout. Some blaming Arbeloa and some looking for the players to hold some accountability.
Alvaro Arbeloa’s made his opinions clear regarding our early performances, particularly after our 1-0 defeat to Sunderland. He questioned effort, fight, technical quality, the attitude of the players, character, mentality and ambition. This is understandably going to ruffle a few feathers so early into his tenure especially as it’s something we rarely saw from Marco Silva in the past.
Arbeloa’s comments after Crystal Palace also left some question marks with an unusually large amount of praise falling to his Real Madrid boys with a failure to mention anyone else (particularly Josh King who was once again remarkable).
“Palacios and Garcia had a terrific game, that’s the spirit I want from my players”, was the cry from Arbeloa after the 3-2 defeat and I may be jumping to conclusions here, but given the fall out, could there be a case of favoritism?
I’ll leave that to you whether that’s a jump or a leap on my behalf, but Arbeloa’s behavior in the media needs to change whether people like it or not. He’s new to management and maybe not as savvy as Marco Silva when it comes to the outside noise. Whatever camp you’re in on this, we cannot be in a position where a manager alienates a decent proportion of the squad.
Accountability
Another argument that’s been made is that the buck stops with those who are complaining. During pre-season, Joachim Andersen was interviewed by the club and spoke about a difference in training. Arbeloa was making them run a lot more and work a lot harder during those early pre-season moments compared to Marco Silva.
Arbeloa also came out prior to the AFC Wimbledon game and put pressure on Emile Smith Rowe and Kevin (interestingly two of the four involved in this fall out).
"I have so many players, all of them are very good players, but they will play if they deserve it. It's not about how much you cost, it's not about your salary, it's not about your name, it's about what you can do”, said Arbeloa.
Is the real question a lack of effort from some in the squad? Kevin, Smith Rowe and Alex Iwobi are three players who have been questioned in the past by Fulham fans under Marco Silva for a lack of effort and end product. Does the buck stop with them? Are they failing to match higher standards set by the former Real Madrid man?
Kenny Tete’s comments (whether they are true or not) are the one outlier in this as I think he has every right to be annoyed. Despite being adored by the Fulham faithful and proving under Silva just how good he can be, Tete appears to have been exiled by Arbeloa and a move to Everton fell through due to Fulham’s inability to bring a replacement in. Tete was not in the squad on Saturday and you’d imagine will now sit on the bench from now until January before getting a move elsewhere.
Both sides to blame
For me, this is six of one and half a dozen of the other. Alvaro Arbeloa obviously has new ways of doing things. Add into the mix the fact he’s a pretty inexperienced coach whose not yet got the full understanding of how to operate in the media and also within player relations, there is understandable friction. Think about what Marco Silva was known for before joining Fulham compared to how he operated under us, these things take time for managers as well as players.
Certain players need to take some accountability though. Kevin and Emile Smith Rowe have particularly flattered to deceive since their arrivals at the club. Kevin was brought off the bench for both the Chelsea and Sunderland game and failed to make an impact. Smith Rowe has yet to earn back even half of the fee we paid from Arsenal and ultimately while the pair can sit and make childish social media posts, the fact of the matter is they are two very well paid Premier League players and aren’t performing to the level that’s required.
You can't just excuse Arbeloa's faults as 'inexperience'. He's been in football long enough to know how this works, and some of it is just basic common sense. He is publically calling out players and showing blatant favouritism after just 3 games, it is outstandingly immature and petulant - it's Igor Tudor levels of incompetence. As a new, inexperienced manager, he really needs to get the most out of the players he's got, and to do that you have to take them on the journey with you, not just shovel out a load of non-negotiable demands. He hasn't earned that right, he has to earn the respect of the players before being so publically castigating. As it stands Arebloa's managerial acheivements amount to sweet f.a., so he needs to be very careful about how he conducts himself. I'm not saying he can't give players a good roasting, but there is the right way to do it, and this isn't it. Fulham is not a big or strong enough club to withstand a disenfranchised dressing room.
Also, players shouldn't just be measured by how much they run around, regardless of the style you are trying to play. Look back to last season and you'll see ESR actually ran his socks off employing a pretty effective press. OK, he hasn't lived up to the fee or expectations, and he is a quiet rather than demonstrative player, but I think it's a fallacy that he just swans about and doesn't work hard.
But ultimately this is Tony Khan's fault, he should never have employed Arbeloa in the first place, because he's simply not a good enough manager for Fulham.
Can’t believe AA would have been our choice had the naive assumption of Silva staying not been made. TK dazzled by the Madrid connection.
Also, social media… Smith Rowe hasn’t posted anything as such, IIRC. But he is being paid a king’s ransom so he should suck it up!