Marco Silva rarely gives his players a hard time, but yesterday at Craven Cottage, the Fulham manager was very critical of the defense’s generosity, which allowed Aston Villa to win. He was correct when he said that the Whites’ surrender of two disappointing goals was intolerable; the errors were made all the more frustrating because the Whites were playing well overall against one of the nation’s most reliable teams this year.
Although Fulham has shown to be far more competitive in the top division than even our most ardent fan could have imagined, Antonee Robinson has had a great couple of seasons. However, however there was no accounting for the American’s brain fog. Ollie Watkins’ quickness had caused the home team some early problems, but they had recovered when the England international had a fantastic sight of goal thanks to an odd throw-in. The hosts were quickly placed on the defensive as Robinson threw the ball, neither into space for Willian nor to the feet of either centre half.
For a while, Robinson’s confidence also appeared to be affected by the mistake. The effect was evident as Leon Bailey outmuscled him and bent a shot onto the goal frame. His crossing only got back when he took advantage of Matty Cash’s substitution to set up another goal for Rodrigo Muniz with a deft touch before the ball crossed the byline. Naturally, Fulham had already fallen down 2-0 after giving the highly effective Watkins another chance to show off his goal-scoring abilities.
For the second goal, the Whites were disorganised, with a sluggish Issa Diop primarily to blame for demanding more time on the ball in his own final third. Since Silva took over the team three seasons ago, the philosophy of playing out from the back has paid off handsomely, but even with a possession-based strategy, central defenders must weigh the dangers before making a move. The Frenchman then made the additional error of being overly close to Watkins, and it seemed as though that was the end of it.
The true silver lining of the afternoon was that Fulham created a game out of it rather than wilt in the face of difficulty. Muniz has transformed into the kind of penalty box predator we’ve been looking for all of a sudden—and a little bit unbelievably, in my opinion. He deserves a lot of credit for increasing his performance, along with Silva and the coaching staff who have undoubtedly worked hard to maximise his potential at Motspur Park. The Whites may have managed a point on a different day, especially with Adama Traore and Alex Iwobi coming close in the closing moments.
After their AFCON efforts, Calvin Bassey and Iwobi made a welcome comeback from the bench. Regardless of the concerns raised by Nigerian keyboard warriors, both contributed significantly to the Super Eagles’ journey to the Ivory Coast final and were essential to Fulham’s finest play of the year. Iwobi improved Fulham’s play yesterday, especially in the second half, and he may have scored when he broke free in the area. Sasa Lukic even made an encouraging cameo, as the Serbian’s driving run and Muniz’s brilliant pass set up Traore for an opportunity the replacement ought to have taken better.
The fact that Fulham’s ragged team shouldn’t be overextended for the whole of the season gives Silva hope. The positive aspect of this setback is that Fulham kept up the pressure on Unai Emery’s team despite twice shooting themselves in the foot. The head coach will have choices off the bench that have been lacking in the past with players like Bassey, Iwobi, and Traore available. Once Armando Broja recovers from the sickness that kept him out of contention yesterday, there will also be more options in attack. Even if the main feeling right after the final whistle was one of extreme disappointment, there are reasons to be happy.
One cannot wrap up a discussion of yesterday’s game with a critique of the referee. This season, Lewis Smith officiated three Premier League matches for Fulham, and he was by far the worst. The time he did not condemn Emi Martinez for clearing handling a backpass early in the second half was puzzling, but it was overshadowed by the absurd decision to award a goalkick after Muniz’s shot bounced off a Villa defender. Unfortunately, Martinez was getting away with timewasting despite several warnings for taking over goal kicks, and the referee had already lost control of the match when he booked five Fulham players in the last eight minutes.
Smith was obviously not the reason Fulham lost this match, but if the PGMOL wants to improve officiating in this nation and not just become into a cartel for subpar officials, they must examine how they assign top tier matches. The Premier League is the greatest league in the world, as we are often told. Should the Premier League be the highest level in English football, how do eight EFL matches constitute a suitable apprenticeship? Seeing new officials falter on the big stage is not good for anyone, least of all Smith.
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