This season at Hammyend.com we have a new feature for you. We have decided to launch our ‘Hammyend Player of the Month’ throughout the season. The Hammyend team will pick four players every month who have stood out and we will give you a run down of their impac that month, then it is down to YOU to vote.
The first month of the season is always going to be a strange one, with a new players around the squad. It can take a while for everyone to settle and for the manager to figure out what his best team is. Plus Fulham this year have to deal with a massive jump up in quality, so there is no surprise that Slavisa Jokanovic has made changes to his starting team every week. We have played three Premier League games, losing two and winning one, while we have progressed to the next stage of the Carabao Cup with a comfortable win over Exeter City. Performances have been good across the pitch and the Hammyend team have come up with our four nominations.
1. Joe Bryan
One of a host of players through the door on deadline day, Bryan made the headlines because of the nature of his move. Whether or not Steve Bruce chased Bryan down the motorway when he found out about his Villa snub remains a mystery, although I have my doubts. What we can be sure of, however, is that Bruce does have a reason to be frustrated at missing out on Joe Bryan’s services, because he looks every bit a Premier League player in the three matches he has played so far. He looks assured on the ball and loves getting forward. He is an upgrade on Matty Targett in my opinion, and if his inch perfect ball across the face of goal for our goal at Spurs is anything to go by, I think we are guaranteed assists from him this year.
2. Jean Michael Seri
Seri genuinely looks like the best player to have pulled on a Fulham shirt in years. I’m not surprised that he was interesting European giants Barcelona just last summer. With three games played Seri is the 6th best passer in the league and is has had the 6th most touches. He is also 11th in the league for interceptions and has scored one of the goals for the season so far. We have signed someone special here.
3. Maxime Le Marchand
Le Marchand was somewhat of an unknown package when he signed on the same day as Seri earlier on in the window, and I don’t think anyone really expected him to hold onto the centre back shirt for long but he looks to be a real catch from the recruitment team. Remarkably, Le Marchand one of three Fulham players who features in the top 20 passers in the league, and he is 4th in therms of clearances made, with 26 so far. He looks to fit very well into Jokanovic’s footballing philosophy, so I reckon other players in the centre back position due to come back from injury have their work cut out for them winning the shirt back off him.
4. Aleksandar Mitrovic
The Serbian is the only nominee who played for Fulham last year, showing just how good the recruitment has been at Fulham this summer, but there is no way you could leave him off this list. Mitrovic signed permanently in the summer after scoring Fulham to the Premier League during the last half of the 2017/18 season. So many Newcastle fans and even pundits have doubted whether he could make it in the PL but so far he has gone a long way to proving them all wrong. Three games, three goals and a player of the match award so far. He is the striker who Fulham have been missing for so long. He is loved at Fulham, and I fully believe that that makes a big difference in his productivity for us.
Now that you have the nominations, it’s time to vote. Click on the link below to select your August Player of the Month and we will announce the winner next week.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/JC9RQR8
#COYW
Jean Michael Seri will continue to show his outstanding ability, particularly now that Tom Cairney will be missing for a while. Therefore I’m voting for Aleksander Mitrovic, for his continuity from last season, while Maxime Le Marchand and Joe Bryan will continue to impress. MOTM v Burnley, Andre Schurrle, deserves a mention but then everyone brought something to the table in that one. A great “Transfer Window” and Slavisa Jokanovic and Team’s “Gelling” is showing great progress! THANK YOU F.F.C. and the Khan’s. “C.O.Y.W’s.”
Seri has made a terrific start to his Fulham career,and I believe he will be a real asset However,my vote goes to Mitrovic, not just for his goals, but for the spirit, enthusiasm and passion he shows for the team as a whole