Guardian writers’ predicted position: 15th (NB: this is not necessarily John Brewin’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips) Marco Silva cutting the cord after five years by the river came as little surprise. If his time at Craven Cottage was successful in re-establishing Fulham as a Premier League club, he rarely concealed his ambitions to manage in European competition. He was frequently explicit in his disappointment that the club’s ownership did not meet him halfway by funding a stronger squad.
Silva’s powers of rebadging and replenishing talent will be missed now that he has decamped to Benfica. Under him, Fulham played entertaining football, a collection of ugly ducklings showing their renewed worth for a club that, despite falling short of European qualification, looked upwards rather than downwards at the relegation battle. They were often a pleasure to watch, and ornery opposition for all-comers.
Álvaro Arbeloa is a very different type of appointment, with far less experience than his predecessor in frontline coaching terms, even if he arrives with Real Madrid on his CV. His arrival, though, has opened up a working relationship with the Spanish aristos, Gonzalo García and César Palacios arriving to work with a coach who helped them through the ranks in Madrid. By little coincidence, all three share the same agency as their representatives.
There have been links with Endrick and Thiago Pitarch, two further young Real jewels, leading to a sense of Fulham becoming some form of Madrileño nursery, a Santiago Bernabéu on Thames. Should that play out, it would represent another sea change. Silva preferred to work with hard-bitten pros.
A couple of his leading men, Raúl Jiménez and Harry Wilson, have departed. The latter played the best football of his career last season but, like his manager, got a better offer elsewhere, from Leeds. Fulham’s latest approach is to source young players and polish them up.
Can they have the same successes as mid-tier peers such as Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth, where the approach is far more data-driven? Will supporters be looking upwards rather than downwards? A previously enigmatic club just got more enigmatic.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
