If you wanted an early illustration of what Marco Silva has introduced to SW6 in a few short weeks, you could find it in west Yorkshire yesterday afternoon. The Portuguese head coach purred after the final whistle at the St. John’s Stadium about Fulham’s flowing football delivering a deserved result but one of his remarks – discussing how his side had responded to adversity on a remarkable afternoon – demonstrated the change of mindset since Scott Parker’s departure. It would have been easy to sit on a two-goal cushion after Harry Wilson’s sending off, but that simply isn’t the Silva way. Instead, the visitors attacked with vigour and the results were glorious.

The signs were there from the starting line-up he picked to play Huddersfield. Fulham had surrendered a strong position on the opening weekend to only pick up a point against Middlesbrough and Silva’s reaction was to sacrifice any semblance of a holding midfielder. It might have been harsh on young Tyrese Francois, but the elevation of Jean-Michael Seri, a player the new boss has admired since his spell Paços de Ferreira, proved pivotal as the Ivorian distributed the ball deliciously from the middle of the park.

The selection of Bobby Decordova-Reid was even more inspired. The Jamaican international, a willing wing-back under Parker, shone as Fulham’s creative hub with the shackles removed on Saturday. He darted into dangerous positions from the left flank, ending up with three assists as he exploited the time and space afforded to him by a hapless Huddersfield defence. The flicked header that led to Josh Onomah nodding in from close range showed that Fulham might even be a threat from set plays this season but perhaps Decordova-Reid’s most telling moment came just after the hosts had sparked hopes of a revival with a set piece goal of their own.

Onomah was involved again here, pinching the ball from a throw in and driving towards the edge of the box, before Decordova-Reid – having sprinted from the halfway line to join the attack – produced some sublime footwork in the area to find a few yards of space and pick out Fabio Carvalho. His peach of a pass to release Ivan Cavaleiro allayed any fears of a nervous final few minutes after Wilson’s dismissal – and capped a complete display from the Bristol-born forward. He’ll be a serious asset to Fulham’s forward line this season.

Cavaleiro’s own introduction was something of a statement from Silva. The former Wolves winger might have underwhelmed as a lone forward in the top flight, but put him in the right position and he can be devastating in the Championship. That he appeared off the bench at all, given the fact that Fulham had just been reduced to ten men, underlined how much has changed since the summer. Had Parker not packed himself off to the south coast, you could have envisaged Alfie Mawson and Joe Bryan being sent on to try and keep Huddersfield at bay. Instead, Cavaleiro came on to hit the home side on the counter – and he took both of his goals brilliantly. Imagine what a confidence boost that will be.

Sterner tests will certainly follow, perhaps as soon as the trip to the New Den on Tuesday evening. Huddersfield – weakened by coivd and Carlos Corberan’s commitment to emulating Marcelo Bielsa’s ideals seemingly without a suitable set of players – never really recovered from a dreadful start that saw Sorba Thomas and Ryan Schofield comically combine to gift the Whites a ridiculous opening goal. Their defensive vulnerabilities were ruthlessly exploited by Fulham’s sense of adventure, epitomised by the brilliant break that led to that vital third goal. It would be sensible not to read too much into any August result, but seeing Fulham playing flowing football once again was simply superb.