Fulham head coach Marco Silva hailed an ‘important three points’ after watching the Whites cruise past bottom of the table Wolverhampton Wanderers at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
Silva told Match of the Day:
“It was a very important one for us. We were back home, where we have been very strong. We lost our last game against Arsenal by margins really. We want to make sure this place our fortress and we won again. It’s very important to get a clean sheet as well.
“Their red card made a massive impact. We kept ourselves in the game and we were better in the second half than in the first half. There was a bit of tension in the team so it was very important for us to win. We controlled the game much better in the second half.
“If you’re not consistent in terms of not conceding early goals, it’s going to be difficult to win games. Some of the bad results that we’ve had this season, we should’ve done much better. It’s up to us to defend those moments.
“These individual moments play a big part and you have to do much better. We spoke before the game about why it was going to be important to keep a clean sheet.”
A ten man Wolves is a woeful thing at the moment but nevertheless our boys did the job, 3 points, a clean sheet and hopefully no new injuries. Maybe just maybe this season’s nadir is behind us.
Kev on the left and Harry on the right gave us a good balance. Sammy looked lively when he came on. Tougher tests lie ahead but onwards and upwards COYW.
Nice to read this so soon after the game. Thanks! It was an important win and it wasn’t handed to us on a plate. Wolves tried till the end.
Seriously? That was the worst Wolves team I can ever recall seeing. Two of their “best” players omitted from the line-up. So many players below par, in particular the two that replaced them. A defensive stalwart pushed into midfield. A player dismissed who thought the decision was hilarious. At least, that’s why I assumed he was laughing. Maybe it was because he knew he would be the first in the showers.
Despite that, our final balls were so poor that Sam Johnstone had, arguably, his easiest 45 minutes of the season.
If Pereira had not then made wholesale changes before the second half started, causing even more confusion on the pitch, would our second half performance have been so improved? Possibly. But the clear lack of a playing philosophy most certainly helped us.
Finally, starting a Premier League for the first time, we had a REAL left winger; somebody able to take fullbacks on. Granted, still hit and miss, I will take the hits and suffer the misses because Kevin gives us something we have severely lacked for so long.
What happened to the guy who has been doing his best to look like he’s a left winger (and not succeeding)? Why, incredibly, he was moved inside, a position that Fulham fans have been arguing is his best position. Why incredibly? Because Marco Silva, himself, flatly refused to accept that the fans might be right, insisting, against all the obvious evidence, that Iwobi was a left winger.
Yet, today, thankfully, the manager had a change of heart and selected an attacking formation, even if he did, in the 72nd minute, briefly push Iwobi back out to the left.
The result? Second half, conversely, Sam Johnstone had one of his busier 45 minutes as Wolves were overrun.
Positives? the three points and clean sheet, naturally. But, also, great to see the captain back and, finally, we have a genuine captain. Kenny Tete had an excellent game and highlighted the glaring difference between himself and Castagne. To think that, next week, he could have actually been lining up against us. Ugh! Makes me shudder.
Sander Berge, given more responsibility without Lukic in the side, ran the midfield. He even had another crack at goal, in the build up to Harry Wilson’s sublime finish. Careful Sander, we might get used to it. We know he has it in his locker from his International appearances and his dozen or more goals in his last season at Sheffield United.
Josh King continues to highlight his ability to turn players, twice his size, on a sixpence-and he only knows one direction: forward.
And a deserved word for a much maligned player: Emile Smith Rowe. In contrast to his usual cameos, he seemed charged up when replacing King and had, I thought, a great twenty minutes or so.
We just need to make this victory count by securing three more points before yet another International break disrupts, in a negative fashion, the Premier fixtures.