The Athletic’s Peter Rutzler brings us a great interview with Harry Wilson the eve of Fulham’s first game of the new Premier League season at Everton tomorrow.
The Welsh winger is an illuminating interviewee on several subjects – ranging from his recovery from the what he describes as the first serious injury of his career last summer, busting the myth that his new hairdo is anything to do with Barbie and how the Whites’ new signings have settled in over the summer. But the most interesting part of the interview, for me, comes in the concluding paragraphs where Wilson shares a steely determination to ensure the standards set by Marco Silva’s side down slip during their second season in the top flight.
“That’s up to us to avoid. We’ve got a really good squad here. I don’t think many people predicted [Fulham to finish in tenth place last season], although we knew the quality we had and what we were capable of. Last year the aim was survival because the club for the past few years has been up and down, but we surpassed all expectations. Maybe that’s added a bit of pressure. But we accept that pressure. We want it.
We know that teams have a lot of money to spend. Chelsea did not have a great year and they’ll be wanting to get back to where they’ve been for the past 10-to-15 years. But there’s Newcastle and teams that have European football for the first time in a while, and they have to cope with that. We just have to focus on ourselves.”
