Marco Silva admitted that his introduction of captain Tom Cairney in the second half of the SW6 derby ‘didn’t work’ after Fulham were stunned by a stirring Chelsea comeback at Craven Cottage.
The Portuguese boss revealed that he summoned for his skipper because the home side were struggling to keep possession midway through the second period. The Whites were under the cosh as they sought to protect the lead given to them by Alex Iwobi’s stunning strike. Cairney’s 350th appearance for Fulham won’t be the Scottish international will look back on fondly after teenager Tyrique George levelled with seven minutes go and Petro Neto snatched all three points in the third minute of added time.
Silva told his post-match press conference:
“The message at half time was to be on top and we weren’t. When you don’t have the ball, we are going to struggle. The build up was not at the same level [in the second half] … Tom Cairney came on because we weren’t able to keep the ball. It didn’t work out. Every time you lose, it’s a missed opportunity. We are playing finals every week. We have to be balanced in the way we analyse [this game]. We [still] have points to fight for.”
Fulham have now lost 25 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season – comfortably the highest in the top flight.
How on Earth does Silva think that TC is the answer to stop an energised Chelsea team buzzing around the pitch, he’s deluded. Cairney is slow and deliberate, ambles around and offers nothing. His days playing Premier League football are up and to think he’s been given a contract extension is mind blowing.
This team resembles the Martin Jol sides and can only play 70/80 minutes and it’s fitness must be questioned.
Our squad is very thin and options are limited(Vinicius come to mind), however that does not excuse Silva for for making the wrong calls at the wrong time.
I think it was the wrong call – he should have put on Harrison Reed and blocked up the midfield. I also don’t understand why Traore gets so little game time. Perhaps it is because he doesn’t do enough defensively. But, look, overall, Silva has done a great job and established us as a PL team. I think the greatest danger we know face bis wholesale managerial and laying staff change in the summer
We now face is wholesale managerial and playing staff change in the summer…. Can’t type!
Martin there was paper talk Cairney is getting another contract, same as Bobby Read last year. Don’t jump the Gun nothing done yet . As for Cairney was wrong player to come on. But at Bournemouth in ran the show when he came on
Silva once again made the wrong Subs and all too late, and why can’t our players last the full 90 minutes it seems they are not fit enough, we also need to give the captaincy to someone else.
We played a high pressing game for over 60 minutes and until their legs tired out, our lads were doing an excellent job. Pereira and Berge were a highlight with their particularly aggressive approach. However it was understandable that no player could last over ninety minutes of high tempo running. Our subs should have replaced the tired players and kept the high tempo and aggressive approach, however you can never expect that of our slow captain. Already last season Cairney was showing that he cannot keep up with the fast premier league pace. Having said this, i still believe we did enough to deserve something from the match.