Why Tosin is so important to Fulham

Following his return from injury, Jack Stroudley looks at the importance of Tosin.

What a week it’s been for Fulham. Two 5-0 victories in a row has left Fulham in the top-half of the table and comfortably clear of the bottom three. A lot of credit will understandably go to the attacking players in the side with the likes of Andreas Pereira and Raul Jimenez finally seeming to find a bit of form, but I want to give a nod to the defence and one man in particular. It was great to see Tosin back playing for Fulham and I think he could be so important to the development of this team, and here’s why.

Comfortable in the system

It’s evident the way that Marco Silva wants us to play allows Tosin to excel with maintaining possession and building out from the back so key to it. This allows the now 26-year-old to really shine. With an average of 4.87 progressive passes per 90 over the last year as well as pass accuracies of 87% against Nottingham Forest and 90% against West Ham United, he is certainly someone that now fit, Silva can use at his disposal.

As well as his strength on the ball, his ability to win the ball back is something that shouldn’t go unnoticed either. With 6.64 clearances per 90 he is in the top 1% of defenders for this, his stats over the last week for winning the ball back has been very impressive as well with six out of eight successful duels against Nottingham Forest and four out of five successful duels against West Ham.

Finally, in a more attacking sense, he is always a threat in the air. A goal against West Ham on Sunday, he’s shown his ability from set pieces in the past with goals against Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Reading. If Pereira can continue to improve on this purple patch we could add even more goals to our game.

Sign the ting

There is one obvious concern, Tosin’s future is still uncertain. He looked set to leave all summer with rumours of AS Monaco the ideal suitor alongside murmurings from Tottenham. His contract is up in the summer and he’s still yet to agree a deal, at 26 he is going to start to reach his peak and would be an ideal pickup for a lot of clubs. With his recent performances I’m sure there will be suitors taking an interest, I just hope we’re able to tie him down because he could be a mainstay in this Fulham side for years to come.