Cottage POV

The last post I actually wrote here was about “Joao Me The Money” and it felt apt to keep the pretty woeful puns going.

The point of that previous post was how we should be demanding a lot more money out of Bayern than what was initially reporting in the dawn of the summer. Alas, news has broke this past afternoon that it will be a €51million (£43.1m, $54.9m) plus €5m in add-ons deal that sees our Portuguese defensive midfielder stay in Germany (where he is currently stationed representing the national team). A “lowly figure”, especially when compared to the extra £10m we had gotten out of them last year, but it is more than what Aston Villa received for Douglas Luiz’s move to Juventus.

Where do Fulham go from here? Nearly £100m in player sales from Aleksandar Mitrovic and Joao Palhinha in the previous two windows, you’d like to think that Marco Silva will be backed with some strong funds to retool a squad that has also lost Tosin this summer and as I type, Bobby Decordova-Reid and Willian are both free agents as well.

So how the club go about reinforcing the midfield area?

Do Fulham go “like-for-like?”

One thing that can not be overestimated is how freaky a ball winner Joao Palhinha is. His numbers are up there with prime N’Golo Kante (whilst also being 6ft 3) and he’s genuinely one of (if not the) top ‘destroyer’ in the world. To replace him ‘like-for-like’ is possible in role, but for the same dominance? These are massive shoes to fill. Someone like Morten Frendrup or Florentino Luis will likely set you back £30m, a Joris Chotard is a fascinating option and whilst you can scroll the stats pages for those who put up tackle numbers, to find someone who does it with the same authority is a struggle, let alone the support in both boxes on set pieces he provides as well as that warrior mindset that feeds on and off the pitch.

Seri style?

Part of reasonings Fulham’s cut-throat release of Jean Michel Seri was adjusting to being a newbie of the Premier League and swapping that deep lying playmaker 6 for the anchor of Joao Palhinha. Could Silva decide after a couple of years safe, they switch their style back to the one that tore the Championship apart. This where a return for Andre or Thiago Maia from Brazil may come as we prioritise possession and build up more than the ‘balance’ (lack of better terms) we’ve seen from the Premier League years under Marco Silva.

Conventional balance?

Gross, I used the word balance twice. But essentially, modern football is obsessed with this idea of 6s, 8s and 10s in midfield but what about old school and find you a midfielder (or two) that can do multiple things and well round your capabilities. Someone like Maxence Caqueret, Kalvin Phillips, Stephan Eustaquio and Mats Wieffer can adapt to what you need and the game plan with solid capabilities all round.

There’s plenty of names where that came from, but this wasn’t to be one of those “articles.” But I would be interesting in hearing how you would go about replacing the hole left by Joao Palhinha.

There’s a big job on our hands to retool this squad for our third consecutive Premier League season, this was the case before Tosin, Willian, Decordova-Reid and now Palhinha was set to leave, let alone now.

For now, a thanks to Joao Palhinha, a player who has been superb since arriving. A player who gets the crowd on their feet with a tackle is rare. He was the spiritual leader of this team and squad that Premier League safety has been built on. We part ways for now, and I’m sure its pretty amicable, between player and fans at least. It’ll be a joy to watch him succeed at Bayern and hopefully we see him back at the Cottage before too long. A “Forever Fulham” candidate for sure, and there can’t be many that make that list with just two seasons to their name.

Onwards and upwards, hopefully.