Marco Silva was pleased with Fulham’s performance as his side won their final pre-season friendly against Hoffenheim at Craven Cottage this afternoon thanks to goals from summer signings Raul Jimenez and Calvin Bassey.
The Fulham head coach insisted he had no worries about the future of Aleksandar Mitrovic, who made an immediate impact as a second half substitute, or Willian, who had been included in the starting line-up, despite a summer of intense speculation linking them with moves to Saudi Arabia.
On the Serbian striker, Silva said:
“Mitrovic is training with the team and is ready to play. If this wasn’t the case he wouldn’t be on the bench and he wouldn’t be playing in the second half. I think for me and for all the managers, it’s impossible for me to guarantee that any player is going to stay. As you know, and I told you last season, we are happy and pleased with the squad we kept from last season and we are looking to strengthen and reinforce our squad, not the opposite. We cannot control the market. Of course, some of our players have received offers which is a consequence of our great season last year and we have to be ready for that.”
The Portuguese boss told his post-match conference that there was a lot to like about Fulham’s gutsy victory over Bundesliga opposition.
“We had some good moments, but of course there are always moments to improve. Overall, I felt it was a good game. Raúl knows everything about the Premier League but they both need time to adapt and understand what we expect from them. Raúl is going to give us different things and get into different positions. We need to give him the conditions to be at his best from a physical point of view and he is going to help us like he showed this afternoon. Even against Chelsea last week, in the 45 minutes he did the role well.
It will be different for Calvin as it will be his first time in the Premier League. Even though he’s a London boy, it’s a new league and he will soon understand better how we defend. We knew what type of player we were signing and the skills he has.”
Fair enough but the squard need numbers !! Need a left back,acreative mid,two wingers .If tosin and mitro leaves they need to be replaced !!.
Bassey’s 2nd half performance against “them” and today’s against Hoffenheim I thought he did very well. It’s great to see a Fulham defender score, a rare occurrence. I think he will do OK with us. Jimenez is no Mitro, but he is much faster, which will give us another option.
I am a ajax supporter and Fulham supporter and
saw Calvin play every week and i am very happy
for him and Fulham he plays now in his strengh he
is a marvallous defender special with Marco Silva
who gives him self belief.Sorry for my .Much success
for Calvin and Fulham.
A bit of a surprise to see Willian start and Mitro come of the bench. It will be interesting to see how they perform if they do not move on. I am confident that Willian will get on with the job but have no idea about Mitro. Bassey looked very good but thought Diop made a few mistakes. Lets hope for some signing before next Saturday. I cannot see Everton releasing Gray until after then as they will not want him playing against them
Mitro could barely give a wave to the chanting fans as he did a warm up, and on the turn he thought about it and gave a half hearted clap. It not our fault you want away. The fans showed their avid support of you yesterday and that was your response.