Harrison Reed was left ruing Fulham’s failure to kill off Bristol City after the Robins roared back to claim a point at Ashton Gate.
The Fulham substitute made a real impact alongside Neeskens Kebano after coming off the bench at half time to perk up a lacklustre Fulham attack. The Whites went in front four minutes after the interval through Aleksandar Mitrovic but spurned numerous chances to extend their lead and paid the penalty when Kasey Palmer turned home an equaliser with ten minutes left.
Reed told FFC TV after the final whistle:
“We’re all disappointed with that one today. We came here, we needed to show a reaction again and the slow start probably cost us today. We got going in the second half, especially in the first fifteen or twenty minutes, found ourselves a goal ahead and then we needed to kill the game.
We needed to come on, bring the energy and lift the boys. I felt like we did that. We just needed to carry on. We needed to score two or three and kill the game.”
Thank God Silva made those changes at halftime. Our play was even worse than at Blackpool. What the hell is going on? This team was scything through defences earlier in the season but, yesterday, our midfield played as if they were wading through molasses.
Chalobah and Onomah were putting in turgid performances, playing as if they had lead weights tied to their ankles. But they were by no means the only Fulham players having difficulty passing to a teammate. Here’s a clue lads: our guys are the ones in the WHITE shirts -not the RED ones.
In fairness, Chalobah was, IMO, unlucky with the first booking but could so easily have got a second afterwards. Not that he would be missed if suspended. On this performance he showed why Watford were prepared to let him leave on a free.
Shout out to Marco Silva for making those changes and what a difference the two subs made as we finally started to play with real intent.
How Mitrovic and Wilson did not come away with 5 or 6 goals between them will remain a mystery forever; a profligacy that is unacceptable.
Two points thrown away but credit to Bristol City who never stopped fighting and, offside or not, deserved their goal.
Harrison Reed has to start if fit. He gives us so much more buzz and energy in the middle of the park and, hopefully, Carvalho will soon be back to add some subtlety to our play.
Final word: thank you, thank you, thank you to Marco Silva for not starting with Cavaleiro who, when coming on as a late sub, managed somehow to hit the floodlights with a shot from, literally, less than a yard from goal.
Midfield was a shambles with no creativity. Chalobah had a shocker. We should have had the game well wrapped up before the equaliser. Possible changes . I would like to see Mawson start. Harrison Reed is a must. Stansfield who is a natural goal scorer should be on the bench at least. I would not rule out playing Bryan on the left wing. I am sitting on the fence with Decova Reed, he has the ability but has missed a number of chances. We must get back to winning ways against Swansea
Some Key Takeaways – Play Kebano from the start on the left wing. Create consistency in the midfield . Alternate Bryan and Robinson more often . BTW Denis is doing a good job as left back !
Silva needs to get the midfield correct. The club have the best team on paper in the championship but picking the right team is the issue. D-Reed is too versatile for his own good and needs a period playing in one position. Cannot understand why Bryan is not in the team either ay full back or on the wing. I agree Stansfield should be on the bench he will score at every level, he has a real eye for goal. Mawson should be considered especially at the moment with matches coming thick and fast. Ream still a good player but he is no youngster and maybe could rested against Swansea returning for the next match. We really miss Carvalho.