Gera: Defending’s helped boost my form

Zoltan Gera has revealed the reason for his drastically improved second season at Fulham. The Hungarian thinks he’s improved as a defensive player as he has got used to Roy Hodgson’s system.

I feel more comfortable now. Last season was difficult to settle down in a new club. And I think it was because there was a totally different system at West Brom, where I played before.

I had four very good years with West Brom. But there we played higher up the pitch – and the results were, well, sometimes not so good.

Here at Fulham we have four midfielders who defend as well as they attack, and this works for me and the team.

Gera’s outstanding performances of late might also have something to do with his use as an advanced midfielder, behind Bobby Zamora. In this role, he’s scored our crucial Europa League winners against CSKA Sofia and in Basel. But he makes a good point about our relatively deep midfield – something that we’ll return to in the future.