Cottage POV

Another well navigated fixture, a much changed eleven went and got the job done at St Andrews on Tuesday night as minutes in the legs and the club being in the hat for the next round was the priority. 5 debuts (2 returns, 1 senior) seems apt for 5 takeaways on the fixture.

Our Sess is a left back, but he needs time

Ryan Sessegnon has always had the question of whether he should play at left back or further forward. I have always been flexible to the situation, it was a pleasure to have a player that can do both. But Ryan has been without regular football for so long, I’ve broken down some landmark periods below which hopefully highlights how long it truly has been since playing football. Unfortunately for Sess, his move to Tottenham was rife with injuries, managerial changes, positional tweaks was never going to help him develop as a player.

Under Marco Silva, Ryan Sessegnon will work under a coach who has regularly developed players to play at their absolute peak at Fulham let alone his jobs prior to arriving at Craven Cottage. It starts with one spot, you will play left back, we will see you as a left back and all of your work in the week and for a season will be focused on left back. Keep it simple, stupid. Don’t overload the kid with multiple ideas, get fit and develop.

Also a note, the modern left back is the old school winger. For Sessegnon to line up in the front line, it’d likely be wide right to suit the system but at left back he can do Antonee Robinson stuff. When fully fit he can see ball, get ball, we ask so much of Robinson and the standard is high but I think it will suit Sessegnon long term. He’s a nice little footballer, does the simple things well and once fully fit and playing with some confidence, I’m certain he will begin to thrive as understudy to Jedi.

• Last senior minutes:
  January 5th 2024 – Burnley at home for Spurs (7 minutes)

• Last senior 90:
  11th September 2022 – Away at Forest for Spurs in the EFL Cup

• Last senior hour:
  15th January 2023 – Arsenal at home for Spurs (76 minutes)

Joachim Andersen will be massive

We were already familiar with the big Dane at the back from his lockdown loan spell for Scott Parker’s relegated side but seeing his assured distribution (including a stunning pass to assist Jay Stansfield) on top of his confident leadership at the back it’s salivating to think of him finding Adama Traore over the top, fizzing some into Muniz and the three in behind on top of the dominant box defending he provides.

Of course its a big outlay for the club, but it’s hard to argue against him being an upgrade on Tosin and it is a joy to have him back in a Fulham shirt. He, Lookman, Areola, a few players that didn’t quite sit right that Scott Parker’s awful management saw these players leave the club following their loans when safety likely would have seen them stay at the club. Did a coach benefit from behind closed doors football more than him? He’d have been booed out of Craven Cottage so much the Khan’s couldn’t have ignored sacking him.

But what happened, happened. It led us to Marco Silva and this fun period of Fulham we have now and it’s great to have Joachim Andersen back for the ride.

Steven Benda surprised me

One of the narratives I’ve run with towards the end of this window is – how comfortable are we with the idea that Steven Benda replaces Bernd Leno should injury hit? I thought Benda showed excellent composure yesterday, distributed the ball nicely, made every save he had to and generally looked comfortable between the sticks.

Whether its an upgrade on Marek Rodak or not feels like a pointless conversation but Steven Benda’s debut for Fulham did feel me with some assurance that he can fill in if/when required and at 25, is a quietly interesting development option for the football club.

Fulham Academy conveyor belt continues

It’s always a proud day to see an academy graduate debut for the first team and 17 year old Josh King became the latest to pass through Motspur Park as he came off the bench to replace £20m man Sander Berge. A small cameo with a couple of encouraging movements on the ball was encouraging as he looks to get his name added to the board at the Fulham training ground (which I believe requires 10 appearances, so I’m confident for him).

When King came off the bench, he joined Jay Stansfield (a recruit from the Exeter academy at 16) but played for Fulham academy sides for 3 years, earning his first professional deal in that time before starting his loan journey at 19 with a year at Exeter and his most recent loan to Birmingham. Probably deserving of his own takeaway but Stansfield’s composed finish helped Fulham get into the hat for the next round having not gotten out of first gear.

And we’ve spoken about him already, Ryan Sessegnon is the first Fulham player to come through the academy, make his debut, leave and come back for a second debut (unverified fact, I can’t be bothered to look that up but it feels right lol). His first 90 minutes in 23 months and it seeing Sessegnon in Fulham white feels like home for all involved.

Those three, Luke Harris out on loan at Birmingham (ineligible to face his parent club) and a number of others. The future of the club is in good hands and the conveyor belt doesn’t stop there with some impressive kids turning out for the U18s and U21s this season.

Raul has a role

I could have written a full piece on the beauty of our squad strength but I wanted to highlight Jimenez up front. Namely his difference to Muniz, a mobile (though not a real in behind threat), Jimenez has some lovely aspects dropping into midfield, playing quick bounce passes off and being a general focal point to work from. Didn’t have much in the way of chances (if at all) but led the line well albeit against Championship opposition (I’ll show Birmingham the respect they deserve as better than the standard League One opposition).

Muniz feels like he needs a goal whilst plugging away well up top, I do think he gets a little while yet leading the line but these Carabao Cup fixtures will be an excellent way for Raul to keep the pressure on and stake his claims. He has more gas left in the tank, especially in this sort of squad role and his back up story will be an underlying narrative I’m keen to watch with Rodrigo Muniz’s development as a Premier League 9 and the clubs’ intentions to go on another cup run (or two).

All in all, a decent evening. Minutes in the legs. Onto Ipswich away.