Valiant defending earns Fulham first league points at Anfield

Liverpool held to 0-0 draw by Arbeloa’s men in much-improved performance at the back

A competent defensive performance! A clean sheet! A point! Fulham’s - and Arbeloa’s - league season gets its first positive result with a spirited draw at Anfield. 0-0 might not be the most attractive scoreline in the world but for this Fulham team it is crucial - we have lift-off in this new era, a huge achievement for a side facing a lot of pressure heading into the fixture. A few tweaks to our starting XI made a world of difference as we held our own against Andoni Iraola’s Champions League outfit, and if we can reproduce the resilience and fortitude shown in a testing second half, there’s no reason this season can’t take a happier forecast in the weeks to come.

First Half

Liverpool have a lot of star power on their team and heading into the game the stature and profile of Iraola’s side stood out alongside our winless troops. Many have said Anfield’s fortress status is overblown but there is something psychologically present when you watch Robinson concede an early corner and units like Isak, Gravenberch and van Dijk suddenly tower over your defenders in the set-piece. Fortunately Tsimikas’s low ball to Wirtz was cleared on this occasion, and similar grace was needed shortly afterwards; a rushed Affengruber clearance was intercepted by Tsimikas and moved to £100m man Barcola, who threaded a clever ball through our defence to Isak, narrowly fired wide by the striker.

But Fulham looked healthier than in the previous few games, and the opening nerves seemed to dissipate as we settled into our new formation. With Charles alongside Berge more rigour and dynamism was felt in midfield, keeping a healthier structure for the defence to operate and letting the team move into attack with greater fluidity. Iwobi had more attacking license and worked nicely with Robinson to target the left flank. He lifted the ball over a charging Araujo, letting Robinson chest it down and storm into the exposed territory; though his ball into the middle found King, van Dijk was alert to neutralise the danger, King’s scuffed effort rolling wide. Yet Liverpool were ruffled - Alisson’s goal kick was thoughtless, Gravenberch handed the ball with Berge breathing down his neck. The Norwegian caused a skirmish in the box, the ball bobbling to King for a chance to open the scoring - Alisson was fortunate that his last-ditch slide wasn’t deemed to take out our starlet as King moved it sideways, and may also be grateful Jacquet was on the goalline to spare the prone keeper having to watch Garcia’s (albeit tame) effort trickle into the net.

We were enjoying our football, and needed a killer touch in the final third to turn our positive strides into a real advantage. Robinson and Iwobi combined again to get the latter space away from Araujo, but Bobb was caught off-guard once picked out by the winger and miscontrolled the ball in a decent position. Charles cruised about the field, threading a delectable ball through the lines to a goal-bound Garcia, but Jacquet’s pace let him catch the galloping striker and time an exquisite slide-tackle to take the ball off the attacker. Yet the goal wasn’t coming, and a single Liverpool attack could undo our positive start. Nerves fluttered again when a corner won through a deflection saw Tsimikas’ kick hammered off the bar by Munoz, leaping higher than Garcia in the box, and a similarly languid move let Szoboszlai, taking the ball from Munoz’ run, play Wirtz into the box ahead of a napping Bassey - Affengruber’s attentiveness to get across put enough pressure on the German and he pumped his effort wide.

Regardless, it was Fulham playing the nicer football, and our confidence was evident across the pitch. Bassey, surging from defence, combined with Robinson to drive himself behind Araujo into the box - his cross needed putting out by Jacquet. The short corner routine was clever, Charles and Iwobi playing King into the box along the left, and as he slipped behind Szoboszlai and grounded the Hungarian with a dainty dink, a courageous block was needed from van Dijk to stop him blasting the ball into the net. Bobb picked Berge out from the second corner, but his header was tame and bounced into the nothingness before being cleared.

After Wirtz, collecting a pass from Gravenberch, dragged another shot wide, our improvements on the ball took us close again - Charles and Bobb combined to find King, but the shot was stopped by Alisson. We purred, smooth and cool on the ball, and the Norwegian winger glided past Tsimikas to lift the ball to the backpost, where Robinson soared above a hapless Munoz but couldn’t guide his header goalwards as it crashed wide. Liverpool’s control of the game wasn’t there, the good work of Charles and Berge combining with some wasteful passes dotted across the hosts’ play, and they weren’t able to sustain a period of serious pressure on our defence. Yet the danger of giving even the slightest chance to their players was still felt - a superb ball into the box from Szoboszlai, enjoying a pocket of space on the wide right, flew to Barcola, his fierce volley smacking into Castagne before Leno was needed to make a save. Despite the positive moves from both sides, it would be scoreless going into the break.

Second Half

What could Fulham offer after the break? We’d been better at the back, effective in midfield and dangerous going forward, with some promising set-pieces across the half (perhaps ignoring Iwobi’s rather miserable free kick right at the end of the half). Liverpool recognised this, swapping Tsimikas (fortunate not to be booked for foul on Bobb causing the aforementioned free-kick) for the attacking energy of Kerkez at left-back. It was Fulham who etched out the first real chance against Liverpool possession, Garcia dispatched in space behind a stumbling Araujo, but his lay-off to Iwobi was met by successive blocks from Jacquet.

We needed to be alert, as Liverpool’s team crept into our half in search of the opener. Isak reminded us of his talent as he received a pass from Wirtz, wriggling his way through Bassey, Robinson and Affengruber in a few touches before steering a low shot towards the far post - Leno was well-placed to smother the effort. Barcola had more to work with on the left, him and Kerkez combining to probe our right - Bobb, to his credit, put his energy towards tracking the danger and shielding us from their danger, and the team rose well to the rising stakes, moving as a cohesive unit, passing their way around Liverpool’s high press and holding off the set-pieces and crosses flying into the box. Iraola’s patience tired - Gravenberch and Munoz departed for Mac Allister and Gakpo to tighten the attacking lens, and consolidate Liverpool’s dominance in the game.

The move might have been advantaged by Fulham, as King had a moment or two with greater freedom behind the midfield - he took a sharp pass from Affengruber behind Mac Allister and darted towards the goal, sliding a pass to an open Robinson. Van Dijk was well-placed to boot away the cross, and a couple of corners from Iwobi could only produce a strong Bassey header straight to Alisson. But right before the set-pieces, Tete had arrived for Bobb, giving us a more defensive feel along our right-side. It was perhaps timely - Liverpool were starting to growl, pumping balls into the box and playing a little sharper to pin us into our final third. The danger was there - a tidy bit of interplay by Mac Allister and Szoboszlai drew our defence away from the latter, and a shot flashed at Leno needed an unwieldy punch to take the sting out of the move. Mac Allister was a man on a mission, and though we weren’t in a back five his dictating of the play forced players backwards to try and plug the gaps his passes were finding. Wirtz steered a pass from the Argentine around Tete, Barcola’s ball to Isak needing a great intervention from Affengruber to deny a likely goal. Frimpong and Ngumoha arrived to offer revitalised energy and greater speed along the right, almost to instant impact as a well-worked move along the right created a goalmouth scramble in the box, Mac Allister’s shot blocked from goal amidst a sea of bodies and VAR thankfully waving away a dive from its taker.

On many a day this would have signalled the end for Fulham, an inevitable collapse in the final phase of the game handing Liverpool three points. Arbeloa’s team were far from discouraged by Liverpool’s advancements though, and set about taking the game back to them. It was the effervescent Josh King on the move again, finding the ball in space and taking on the defence, cutting inside before whipping a zesty shot at Alisson that needed parrying out for a corner. Suddenly the mood was turned, and with Kevin, Muniz, Smith Rowe and Larsson all introduced to the action Fulham had sprightlier legs manning the front of the team. Though the Brazilian couldn’t steer the corners to goal their pressing around the Liverpool defence ate vital minutes out of the game, and came close to taking a goal of their own - pressure in the far-corner on Frimpong let the tireless Charles win the ball ahead of Szoboszlai, moving it through Larsson and Berge before Kevin dragged a fierce effort just wide of the post. Shortly afterwards, after Muniz caused some distress for Jacquet in the box, a Robinson throw-in made its way to Berge, who lifted the ball over the backline towards Kevin at the far-right post - Kerkez’s quick reactions took the ball out of the path of the winger’s eventual volley.

It was still 0-0 though, and a single goal would sour the day for us. Yet the effort made by the team was phenomenal, putting their bodies on the line to keep Liverpool at bay. Kerkez’s energy was tremendous, winning free-kicks through his rapid attacks deep in our half on the left - solid clearances, earnt through strong positional awareness, prevented Szoboszlai’s deliveries finding their way onto a Liverpool head. Gakpo’s quickfootedness gave Isak the ball in midfield, Robinson bodychecking him to produce another free-kick - the wall jumped well to lift the ball over the goal, and though Szoboslai’s corner was far sharper than his shot at goal Affengruber put enough pressure on Isak to make his header an awkward one, skewing at just enough of an angle to bounce wide of the post. The tenacity from the team carried all the way through to the final chance - Frimpong surged ahead of a tiring Robinson to power the ball into the box from the right, Szobozslai leapt over the ball for a dummy and Ngumoha had the chance to smack the ball into the net… yet Kevin, tracking back diligently, forced the winger into a rushed attempt, and the shot sailed over the bar. We’d done enough - the point was ours.

The season starts now for Fulham

It feels strange being so jubilant about a 0-0, but this point at Anfield could genuinely be the catalyst the team needs to swing into gear. Defensively the team were light years ahead of the efforts in the previous games, and Arbeloa’s tactical tweaks have to be credited for the improvement. Charles looks a class act, smooth on the ball, swift around the pitch, strong in combat, and though it’s early into his partnership with Berge the pair gave us actual structure and balance for the team to work with around the pitch. This by itself would be enough to ease the danger for our backline, but the arrival of David Affengruber has improved things also - one almost feels sorry for Andersen, because Affengruber demonstrated he is a fitter and more competent centre-back and in one game provided more defensive security than Andersen has managed in a very long time for the club. Bassey, for once, wasn’t rushing into danger to try and bail us out, and with functioning centre-backs we saw less error-strewn outings for the full-backs, who worked relentlessly along the flanks, and Leno, whose saves amongst the action quietly earnt a well-deserved clean-sheet. Praise also the work of Tete, our warrior, who arrived into a maelstrom and took a thump or two to keep the game scoreless - never let anyone claim a Szoboszlai strike to the head isn’t reason to take a moment to go down!

Iwobi reminded us of his versatility on the left, pairing well with Robinson in attack and drifting centrally to evade Araujo’s defending and thread balls into attacking areas. On another day, his crosses might have yielded an assist - though Bobb’s mistouch wasn’t the nicest, he still looks confident and enigmatic on the ball, and if we can find someone (Sessegnon?) to rotate with him at RW an increase in energy will make him a very dangerous player. Garcia had a quieter game and perhaps should have scored in the first half but his energy stretches defences, and is a valuable asset for our young attack. Once again though the highlight is Josh King, an explosion of talent at AM. Stood next to van Dijk he looks a child, but his youth betrays a deeply intelligent attacker, and his relentless energy put us into brilliant attacking positions across the game - to say nothing of the drive he shows in the press, a particular highlight being a barnstorming charge at Jacquet to force the Liverpool defender into punting the ball out of play.

The substitutes were nice to watch too - involved in the defensive rally, good on the ball and a touch unlucky in Kevin’s case not to have troubled Alisson a little more. Tete will surely earn some gametime in rotation with Castagne, Kevin demonstrated his own flair and speed across the final phase of the game, Larsson looks a handy player to trust with the ball and though Muniz and Smith Rowe are being kept out of the team at the moment there are plenty of moments across the season that will provide ample opportunity to send a message to Arbeloa. Indeed, it is our lack of a goal that sticks out today - is there a timeline where the opportunities Bobb, King and Garcia had are converted, and we claim a famous away victory at Anfield? An uncomfortable thought is that players of Araujo, van Dijk or Jacquet’s physical and technical acumen can dominate most of our attackers with relative ease, and our players need a higher standard to start converting more of the opportunities they earn across the games they play.

Lukewarm Liverpool

On the topic of our hosts, there’s a mixed bag for Iraola to contend with. One win and three draws is an underwhelming haul, particularly when two of those draws come at home to sides they would expect to be beating given the quality they boast. We were confident enough to play in Liverpool’s half for much of the first half, and organised to a high enough degree around the back to limit the opportunities Liverpool were able to craft. Their fluency and chance-creation will take time to forge, and the expensive parts they’ve assembled have to settle as a unit to enjoy the same chemistry previous teams have enjoyed, but given the frustration had with Slot last season Iraola may need some statement wins to settle the nerves around a still-forming unit.

Isak was shut out by Affengruber for much of the game and will need to be much better to start justifying the colossal fee forked out for him, as too will Barcola, who never truly shook Castagne or Tete away from him. Conversely, Wirtz was busy across the game, popping up around the pitch to link play together, Mac Allister brought the best out of his teammates with his insightful passing and Szoboszlai seems to be doing his best to morph into Steven Gerrard, a danger wherever he crops up around the attack. Though they couldn’t quite unlock our defence they gave us a few seriously nervy moments, and it is easy to imagine a timeline where they gel together and start generating a dozen major chances per game. It is also important to remember the team played in the Champions League this week for the first time - once embedded into their routine, the wins may be easier to prize.

It is Fulham’s draw to celebrate though, and Aston Villa’s tricky start ensures the foot of the table is not occupied by Arbeloa’s men. Hardly worth shouting about, of course, but given how many wrote us off for this fixture there’s a real reason to be proud of the team for bucking the expectations and taking the game to Liverpool today. If we can do this at Anfield, there’s no reason we can’t take the same attitude to Manchester United at home - and, once a tricky cup tie at West Ham is navigated, we have the proof to show that we are capable of playing a competent, sound game of football.