After scoring thirteen goals in two games and looking a cut above the competition going forward, it may strange to pose the question about whether Fulham need to strengthen to support their promotion push? But the best sides never stop seeking constant improvement and Marco Silva was clear in his press conference on Friday that the Whites are open to making a move in the market should the right player be available.
One area where an acquisition might prove valuable would be in the middle of the park. Seri has options such as Reed, Cairney, Chalobah and Francois while Seri is currently on AFCON duty. Reed is undoubtedly much better when he plays his defensive disruptive role for Fulham but a midfield enforcer focused on protecting the back four could be a shrewd signing. Someone who is a master of the dark arts: the like of which we haven’t seen since Stefan Johansen departed or Kevin McDonald, a slightly different type of player immediately, was laid low by his kidney problems.
We saw just yesterday against Bristol City that when the opposition broke at pace Fulham lacked the nous to take one for the team. Tom Cairney was badly caught out for the first goal as the Robins raced forward from a corner and both Tim Ream and Harrison Reed had the opportunity to stop Antoine Semenyo when he burst over the half way line. Neither brought him down, and whilst the striker finished before chances impressively, both goals felt avoidable.
It remains to be seen if Chalobah can step up to fill the void left by the lack of a genuinely defensively-minded midfielder. There’s no doubt the one-team England international has the pedigree to become a key player at Craven Cottage, but we’ve yet to see him demonstrate it in a Fulham shirt so far. Fulham were heavily linked with former West Brom man Okay Yokuslu earlier in the window but of late that rumour has gone cold with Celta preferring a permanent move for the Turkish international. He has however stated he’d like to return to England and there is no doubt he is the type of player that is in question here, in his short stay in the Midlands he showed his craft at breaking the game up but also composure to find the more creative players in the side.
The Whites might still need additional bodies in the wide positions. At present, Kebano and Wilson look formidable and are looking devastating down the flank but what happens if one or god forbid both got injured? It seems unlikely that Silva will turn to Knockaert, who has been told that he can leave the club, or Cavaleiro, who is some way from full fitness. Carvalho or Bobby Decordova-Reid might be able to fill in on account of their versatility and it would be interesting to see what Sylvester Jasper could do after his impressive performances at Colchester. The suggestion is that our new Bulgarian under-21 international is likely to go out on loan again however.
There haven’t been a lot of credible links to wide players but Josh Bowler is one that has popped up briefly, he has the most completed dribbles in the league this season and Fulham fans know first hand what he can do because he found the net when Blackpool beat the whites at Bloomfield Road earlier this season with one of his mazy runs and an assured finish.
That rumour has also gone quiet as of late, Fulham are also linked to Algerian attacking midfielder Angelino Fulgini but the asking price of 20m euro seems too step in January and especially with the club’s FFP status it would be too much of a risk at this stage.
So transfer rumours have been few and far between this window so far but as we know the window hots up towards its close however in another Pandemic affected year and with the whites performing as well as they are the hierarchy may feel that now is not the the time to add to the squad and the reason we haven’t seen many links is because Silva is more than happy with his squad.
Think the one key position is centre left back . Tim Ream has been a great Fulham servant both on and off the pitch but he as too many miles on clock and even he himself as talked about how knacked he gets . Lets get a good tall physical young replacement with some decent experience and lots of potential.
The priority is a replacement for Tim Ream who is still a good player on the ball but has no pace. Also possibly another. defensive holding midfield. We have some dead wood who I would like to see go
This lad Fulgini sounds interesting but I will say again, we badly need two strong central defenders. There is a good chance that we will finish in the top two (unless we ‘poo the bed’ again) and get promotion – unless we make changes to our defence, many of the teams we face in The Premiership will just see us as six points gained. With rose-tinted glasses I remember the Tigana era of Cookie and Kit Symons at the back – that is the solidity that we will need next season.
PS: Aleksandar Mitrovic, where would you like your statue!!!
I’m happy with Ream he reads the game very well and is calm on the ball,what we need is another tough tackling midfielder to protect the back four,if Reed gets injured we suffer without him so at the moment for me that’s the priority at the moment,if we do go up obviously we need to strengthen the back four, the way we attack is the best form of defence ,we will get caught out sometimes,pretty great watching our team at the moment!
If not this season we will require a tall fast central defender next season. To replace the aging Tim Ream who I love. We should get an established defensive mid field player in this window. I am not convinced that Chalobah is up to it or the man for the job. I will be pleased when Seri returns from international duty. He is a class act and offers something different. Finally I am still worried about the defensive ability of Robinson but he does possess exceptional pace.
I’ve been saying all along that we need another central defender with height and pace Reem will not be good enough for the premiership so we need to look forward and be ready for when we get promoted.We could also do with a midfielder who can score a few goals.
A very fast defensive midfielder, we were twice caught out yesterday. REAM love him, but unfortunately he will be outpaced next season. Up front: how about Bristol City’s Semenyo, who would be a really great addition to the squad
With respect to Ream in the PL, we will get a data point in a few weeks when we play Man City. In fact the whole team will get a preview of next year (hopefully). That game should be a “learning lab” for us.
What is very different this year is that we own all the team and the lack of loanees with Quina an irrelevance. The last 6 years had the common theme of half the team being loanees. So on the assumption we do go up, we have time for this existing group to grow together. Even Robinson improved on Saturday for one example. So hopefully just 2 or 3 super signings in the summer will plug the gaps we need to.
All that was written and not a mention of a new CB, which practically every fulham fan has been saying is the most urgent and clear to see…. Also Richard, I think we’ve seen enough of Ream (in the both the premier league and recently in the championship) to know he won’t hack it in the prem. Too slow and too many individual errors
I know Tim Team has made a good few mistakes over the last few years but no more than anybody else, outside of Mitro I feel he has been our best player this season as he is absolutely bossing the back line., we know his limitations but please don’t use it as a club to hit him with, I have always said give a genuine player every day as opposed to some ‘star’ who throws in one good performance every now and then.
Some really great points made by everyone so it is highly important that we keep Tosin and buy another Centre Back of Quality then Tosin himself can see what this club want to achieve,love Tim Ream Denis Odoi etc but we must have quality to replace people when injuries occur echo the thoughts of everyone else definitely a centreBack and a quality midfielder our second string fringe players are not good enough for the premiership what are people’s thoughts on Gazziniga we may need another guality goalkeeper for the premiership in case Marek gets injured
We should definitely get alphonse areola back at the end of the season on the proviso we get promoted as he is only on loan at West ham utd and only playing cup games. Also as stated before a CB to compliment Tosin is a must and a young defensive midfielder to boot.