Cottage POV

What a week for Marco Silva’s Fulham. After an unbelievable win at home to Brentford, Fulham channelled that same energy to Selhurst Park with an excellent performance from start to finish. Whilst Palace had their periods and moments of danger, Fulham were the better team from start to finish, stamping their authority on the game and having real control of the game in. Harry Wilson, Fulham’s new fan favourite, was serenaded with “who put the ball in the Brentford net?” with the lyrics quickly switched to “Palace” when he netted 39 seconds after coming on as a substitute to secure the three points for Fulham.

Wilson amongst many others will now be off on international duty, the last break for internationals until March. That period feels like the real start of the season, the games come quickly with Fulham playing seven games in the month of December whilst the club will play nine between the international break and the FA Cup Third Round the weekend of the 11th January. As I type, Fulham sit 6th in the table and may rue missed opportunities, namely last minute equalisers for West Ham and Everton, which would see them sit above Nottingham Forest in 3rd place which is bizarre sentence to write in general given both clubs were promoted together in 2022.

Palace are in the midst of a bit of an injury crisis, giving a Premier League debut to 21 year old Justin Devenny in midfield alongside Marc Guehi who had to deputise with Will Hughes suspended plus injuries for Adam Wharton and Jefferson Lerma. Nonetheless, you play what’s in front of you and Fulham controlled the park with the trio of Joachim Andersen, Sander Berge and Calvin Bassey the base of everything. Impetus in attacking areas was provided by the irresistable Emile Smith Rowe and Alex Iwobi whilst Reiss Nelson has quickly adjusted to a starting role, combining beautifully with Antonee Robinson and the aforementioned Smith Rowe. The reliable Kenny Tete was solid (and then some) again today, whilst Andreas Pereira put in a very nice display following a disappointing Monday night. To wrap up what was an strong display as a team and individually, Raul plugged away beautifully up top, dropping in and linking play with gave room for his supporting cast to take advantage of plus Bernd Leno making big saves when called into action.

Marco Silva’s Fulham are in their third evolution under his guidance, though this phase is somewhat familiar to the Championship winning football except being executed at the very top. With promotion, Fulham adapted to see a little less of the ball whilst Joao Palhinha was brought in to provide a presence and Andreas Pereira’s work rate and delivery gave Fulham a strong base to pick up results and stay up. In the three summers since promotion, Fulham have lost Fabio Carvalho, moved on from Jean Michel Seri, sold Aleksandar Mitrovic and Joao Palhinha as well as Willian and Tosin choosing not to stay at Fulham. With Tim Ream wanting to move back to the US, big players within the system and club have moved elsewhere but Fulham have kept plugging forward, reinvesting the Mitrovic and Palhinha cash into Silvaball 3.0.

Alex Iwobi, personally my player of the season so far, has been fantastic in year two since his move from Fulham. Capable of playing on the left where he’s made Willian feel like a relic or today where he starred off of the right. I’ve made a note to give him a full piece over the international break even before today but a man of the match performance just turned that pencilled idea to a more permanent pen. He said in the week that he’s “human first” as we all are, he’s just an exceptional human who’s bloody good at football, playing some of the best stuff of his career in his prime at Fulham. His weight of pass in and around the penalty box is exceptional, creating four chances today playing in Harry Wilson for the second whilst he had another assist chalked off by an Emile Smith Rowe offside. He’s creating chances, contributing to goals and being an all round thorn to opposition sides with his excellent carrying of the ball, ability to play in tight spaces and the infrequency of which he loses possession. I can’t wait to dig into the person behind the player more, but from the surface you can see he’s a wonderful human as well as a wonderful footballer and more than home at Craven Cottage.

Unsurprisingly, an unchanged XI was named though many would have expected a start for Harry Wilson; Reiss Nelson had an terrific game against Brentford and again today at Selhurst Park. He knows he should have opened the scoring today, firing straight at Dean Henderson instead of either side but he’s another who was a threat throughout. His ability to run directly at you, connect play whether to play in a fellow attacker, peel off his marker or cut in for an opportunity to shoot, Marco Silva is rich for options out wide and though Harry Wilson’s goal may again have him looking for a spot on the starting sheet, he may have to settle for his role as a finisher for a little longer.

Emile Smith Rowe is growing week on week. He was another superb in both fixtures this week, his carrying of the ball is dangerous, his pressing from the front gifted him his goal today, centimetres from having a second and is looking closer and closer to his old self buzzing around midfield and getting involved in goals. By the end of the season, we’ll have Smith Rowe in full flow and that is something every team in the league will have to be wary of. We’re a little while away yet but despite excellent attacking midfield options, Thomas Tuchel should be keeping an eye out. The thing I liked about the £35m (inc add-ons) deal with Arsenal was at his age, the potential of profit is there. A seriously talented player who made his England debut at 21 and was the player – alongside Bukayo Saka – who sparked the turnaround of Arsenal under Mikel Arteta. If Smith Rowe continues to grow as he has done and sees his potential and then some, he will be a club-record sale, I have no doubt about that.

Since Marco Silva has arrived at Fulham, we’ve seen a number of players develop and perform at career high levels. It earned the club big money income when Aleksandar Mitrovic moved to Saudi, Joao Palhinha got a move to German giants Bayern Munich and Antonee Robinson may be the next to follow with a big sale to a big club. Raul Jimenez is back at the age of 33, Andreas Pereira was used on year loan cycles across the globe before being given the platform and system to be a Premier League starter. Calvin Bassey is turning into a tremendous footballer and we’ve seen Sasa Lukic come on leaps and bounds since arriving at Craven Cottage. Sander Berge continues to settle into his role at the club and could begin to fulfil the promise that saw him named in the Champions League Breakthrough Team of 2019. And on that note, a message to Tony Khan, Shahid Khan and Alistair Mackintosh, Marco Silva is the most important element in this football club. Extend that contract, increase his salary, increase the compensation required to release him from his deal and give him the keys to the Cottage. He’s a genius and deserves more rope than a contract expiring in 2026.

This inter period between international breaks started with a fairly demoralising loss to Aston Villa, followed by two points dropped at the death against Everton but consecutive wins sees us on 18 points after 11 games and actually drop out of the top six thanks to a Brighton winner by Fulham academy graduate Matt O’Riley. I’m not particularly aiming for Europe or positions, I’m going to enjoy this ride, the emotions of footballer is a rollercoaster but this one is only pointing upwards. Up the Fulham.