by Fulham were widely expected to regress this season. Even though they tried to extend him, they lost the very public battle to retain João Palhinha, the important cog in their midfield who chose to sign for Bayern Munich this summer. To add to the challenges, they have not had a reliable goalscorer since the departure of Aleksandar Mitrovic a year earlier and lost several first-team players in the last transfer window. Yet early results have dispelled fears of a decline. Fulham sit sixth in the Premier League, up from 11th at this stage last season.
Palhinha’s departure posed a unique challenge: trying to replace an irreplaceable player or adapting without him. Marco Silva opted for the latter solution. Without his midfield destroyer, the manager pushed Fulham higher up the pitch, now deploying the fifth highest defensive line in the league, behind only Manchester City, Brighton, Tottenham and Arsenal (Fulham ranked 17th last season).
Former Crystal Palace centre-back Joachim Andersen has become the linchpin of the system overhaul. The Dane transformed Fulham’s build-up play, using his range of passing to pick out Alex Iwobi, Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore with long diagonals. His technical prowess also ensures that the opposition rarely disrupts the new high line.
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“We really pushed the board [to sign Andersen]”, says Silva. “The club made the effort and we are delighted to have him on board because of his leadership, maturity, understanding and knowledge of the Premier League. We need to build a team with certain types of attributes. Andersen has them all to be honest.
“The quality is there, the way we want to play, the way we want to build from the back with four defenders. He’s already a great tool for us, and I think he’s going to be a very important signing for us. He’s already shown it.
Rather than pairing a ball-winner like Palhinha with a traditional midfielder, Silva restructured the midfield to allow Sasa Lukic and Andreas Pereira, as well as Traore, Iwobi and Smith Rowe, to win the ball collectively , rather than relying solely on a single player to regain possession in deeper areas.
“When you don’t concede a goal, it’s not just because of the four defenders or the goalkeeper,” Silva explains. “It’s direct with the way our striker and attacking midfielder start to press. The organization of our midfielders is really important to help the back four. We have improved in this regard.
Having players who have played at other Premier League clubs, especially together, has made this change of system much smoother. “It took a little time for Adama to be at his best [after he first signed]. This season it’s completely different,” said Silva. “He had a good pre-season and now he has to try to maintain his level because he is not an easy player to stop when he is at his best.
“His partnership with Raúl [Jiménez] is special. We all know what they’ve had in the past at Wolves. So many assists from one to the other to score. They get along well, even off the pitch, and that will always be a big help to us.
Fulham are off to their best start in the Premier League for 20 years, with just one defeat, and that was against Manchester United on the opening night of the season. Although Silva has played down talk of European qualification, a place in the top half appears within his reach. However, a major test awaits him against Manchester City on Saturday. The champions have won their last 16 meetings with Fulham in all competitions – the longest streak by one English team against another. Fulham have not won at the Etihad Stadium since 2009 and last season they conceded nine goals in their two league meetings.
A defeat against City would certainly not derail Fulham’s progress or diminish the impact of Silva’s system overhaul. But their performance will be a crucial measure of whether the team is ready to take the next step. Although Pep Guardiola misses Rodri, the Fulham boss noted a new “unpredictability” in City’s play, particularly in the way they create chances for Erling Haaland.
“Any team in the world would be missing out if you lost a player like Rodri because he is a player where it is almost impossible to find another like him but, clearly, they have other solutions, and if anyone should have solutions, it’s City,” says Silva “Rodri is a special player, and of course it’s not good news for Pep. But that’s Pep’s problem. We have to look at ourselves and see how we are going to approach the game.
“With an attacker like [Haaland]they decide if they want to press a little more or attack directly with him from behind. They have the ability to not only start from the back, but they have a number 9 who can link them up and keep the ball long enough before others arrive. We are aware of that and hope we can play our game.”
