Slavisa Jokanovic has warned his Fulham side that they won’t be able to survive in the Premier League if they continue to make the kind of sloppy starts that have gifted goals to the opposition over the past two weeks.
Fulham conceded a second-minute opener to Leroy Sane at Manchester City last weekend and a horrible defensive mix-up gave Andre Gray the opportunity to put high-flying Watford in front at Craven Cottage this afternoon. Jokanovic was heavily critical of his side’s disorganised start in his post-match press conference and is demanding an immediate improvement.
We started really sloppy and soft, and gave them so much space to do damage. We encouraged ourselves and in the second half we showed we can move the football, showed attitude and showed character. In the end, we must be satisfied with a point today, and push forward, be brave and improve.
There’s a huge gap for improvement. We must be available to work hard and improve. To start the game the way we started today, or how we started against City, it’s not easy to survive this situation. We must be focused, concentrate – this is the Premier League, the most competitive league in the world. These mistakes and sloppy starts can make it complicated to fix. We must be available to work. We must be available to step up. I need my players to be brave and confident.
The Fulham head coach admitted he still hasn’t settled on his best side but is confident that his summer signings are beginning to gel.
We must be satisfied with one point, but I’m not completely satisfied with our 90 minutes. The satisfaction comes from the second-half. There’s space for improvement, as the gap is huge. It’s my sixth game with 12 new players. Today’s situation is better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be better than today. We are in some kind of process and the players are gelling.
Jokanovic was full of praise for centre forward Aleksandar Mitrovic, who grabbed Fulham’s equaliser, and could have pinched all three points in the closing stages.
He’s great, he played well. It wasn’t easy for him, fighting against two Watford centre-backs – [but] he’s strong. He didn’t find the space for many chances, but in the end he had two chances and scored one and hit the crossbar. He did his job and we’re satisfied with his level. He’s a brave man and I know he’s never really satisfied.
