It is taking place. It is genuinely taking place. Returning to the Cottage, our Sess will be donning the renowned black and white once more. Little game time, injury problems—who cares? One of our own, Ryan Sessegnon, is returning home. Why then have we chosen to have him return? examines…
His place in the squad
Sess is a sensible addition for Fulham given the holes in their current lineup, despite the sentimentality around the transaction. He played a large portion of his time on the left side of the defence both at Tottenham and on his loan at Hoffenheim in Germany. Granted, Silva was frequently used in a back three or five as a left wing back—a formation Silva is unlikely to ever become used to at Craven Cottage. But as long as we have Antonee Robinson as our first-choice left back, who is unlikely to be replaced anytime soon, Sess will be able to “fill in” as needed, especially with the departure of loanee Fode Ballo-Touren in that position.
At Fulham, though, Sessegnon is most likely to return to the position he played in primarily during his first spell at the club, on the left side of the front three. He was always a key contributor in the final third in his three seasons in the senior side, contributing eight times in 25 games in his breakout season in 2016/17, before scoring 15 times and adding six assists in our promotion winning campaign under Slavisa Jokanovic. Even the following season where Fulham were relegated, Sess managed six assists and scored twice in a poor Fulham side, which earned him his big move to Tottenham. Were Marco Silva to regenerate that attacking confidence in Sessegnon, he could be a key contributor straight away from the left hand side.
Sessegnon’s incredible football brain
Unlike fitness, form, strength, etc., Sessegnon won’t have lost that football brain that made him one of the nation’s most exciting wonderkids half a decade ago. If he gets fit again, his greatest asset is unquestionably his insane ability to read a football game.At just 16 or 17 years old, it was astounding to see his ability to anticipate the flow of a game or where the ball would end up on the pitch as he broke into the Fulham side.
On so many occasions in that promotion winning season under Jokanovic, Sessegnon poached a silly number of goals from being in the right place at the right time. Whether it be a knock on from a teammate (e.g. from Johansen in the play-off second leg against Derby), getting on the end of a cross (e.g. at Barnsley away in the dying seconds) or being the first player on the pitch to reach a rebound in front of goal (e.g. in the crucial win away to Millwall), Sessegnon always found himself in the right place at the right time. Sess’s ability to see the game better so much better than most others was evident on huge occasions too. Just take the play-off final at Wembley, where his defence-splitting pass took both Villa defenders in his vision out of the game (unlucky John Terry) and found Tom Cairney for the promotion-winning goal. His football brain is at an elite level, it’s just about keeping him fit and confident so that he is able to use it again on a weekly basis in the Premier League.
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