Cottage POV

What is it about the Hammersmith End under the lights? As Harry Wilson’s audacious flick floats into that far corner, it drew patterns familiar to Clint Dempsey against Juventus and Denis Odoi v Derby County. Whilst those two goals sealed results on aggregate, who knew that Harry Wilson’s equaliser in the 92nd minute wouldn’t be the end of the drama at Craven Cottage. Antonee Robinson drove forward with Tom Cairney’s pass, to find the Welsh winger turned 10 with a header/shoulder (who cares) to take all three points and Craven Cottage erupted in a manner I’ve not experienced for a long time.

Marco Silva continues to stack memories in his tenure as Head Coach at Fulham Football Club. Fulham were floundering under the Khan ownership with a relegation followed by four years in the Championship and then four more of a yo-yo cycle. Marco Silva being in charge of the final get up and Fulham haven’t looked close to the drop in that time. As the Riverside Stand has been slowly, slowly built in the background of this all, last night was not a sell out for a Premier League local derby drawing further questions of the ticket price greed of those above. Thankfully, Silva continues to cover the executive side of the football club connecting the playing side to the fan base in a way the Khan’s and Mackintosh have not.

It was a terrific performance from Silva’s side against Thomas Frank’s team that arrived with zero intention to play football. Frank wished to discredit Wilson’s goal with his “he only scores from that position 1 in 100” with a straight face when Brentford took the lead with their first shot of the game in the 24th minute, and guess what? The chance had an xG of 0.1 (or one in 100). Fulham moved the ball excellently throughout the game and whilst Frank can rue Wilson’s fortune, he should thank goalkeeper Mark Flekken for denying Reiss Nelson early on whilst the ugliest centre halves you’ll ever see (I mean this as a compliment) cleared ball after ball as 85 minutes of the 90 were spent with Fulham bearing down on the Brentford box. I do think people forget sometimes that two teams play the game, Brentford came with an ugly game plan and did it well for the majority of the game, it required Fulham to be patient (and fortunate) to win the game. Does it belong in the Premier League? It’s not for any of us to say, they didn’t come to win the game and I think the beauty of the sport is different identities, strategies and ways to play the game. Some of the worst football I’ve watched at the top level has been robotic inverted-full back possession for possession sake stuff; the 0-0 between City and Arsenal made my eyes bleed but Sky will big it up as a clash between titans, get tae fuck.

Anyway, that was a load of extra curricular waffle. Let’s talk about a glowing performance from Fulham who may have dramatically “stolen” all three points but the performance was superb even had it finished 1-0 to the away side. Sander Berge’s growth in the ‘6’ has been remarkable since his last home game against Aston Villa. I said in my piece after that game that I will bide my time with new signings and that appears to be coming to fruition, he had a solid display at Goodison Park and was terrific last night stopping any Brentford attempts to get the ball up the field and keeping Fulham’s foot on the gas recycling the ball into positive areas. It’s his perfectly placed and weighted pass into Adama Traore that leads into the equaliser. Not only that, but between the equaliser and the winner, his monster block against Yehor Yarmoliuk a sure shot on goal was massive. Had it not been for Harry Wilson, the Norwegian would have been my man of the match; I typically hate the giving it to the fella who scored instead of the best all round performance but Wilson’s circumstances is an exception to that rule. Berge, Bassey and Andersen were pivotal in keeping Brentford penned in but more importantly, keeping the Fulham wave after wave of aggressive possession.

Every single player was good last night, I won’t discuss Andreas Pereira. It wasn’t his best game, he was the first player subbed for a reason, I think the fan base scapegoating has gone a tad too far. It requires its own conversation and it’d be a downer I don’t think last night deserves.

Reiss Nelson, electric in his first Premier League start for the club. A winger who is more than capable, and willing to do his full back; his directness is needed spice to a strong wing situation for the club. Nelson destroyed that bum Mads Roerslev, went close to scoring and was a thorn throughout his period on the pitch. Similarly, Emile Smith Rowe was effective carried the ball beautifully but perhaps more importantly his capability in tight spaces led to some lovely passing interchanges that weren’t far off breaking the Brentford barrier. It felt like the levelled up Fulham we knew we had; Alex Iwobi has been perhaps the most understated player in the league early on in this season. I hate the Hale End nonsense but they’ve been 3 very good recruits.

I could glaze the performance, the individuals, the team, the coaching forever. Sadly, I should probably get back to work. But what a night, and the joy of walking back through Bishop’s Park, for me getting home at gone midnight and not sleeping until gone 2 was what it’s all about. I don’t do drugs, but I do support Fulham.