Marco Silva rated Fulham’s demolition of West Ham as even better than Wednesday’s 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest after his side moved into the top half of the Premier League with a peerless display at Craven Cottage.
West Ham never recovered from conceding three goals in eighteen first half minutes – with the rout sparked by Raul Jimenez’s header midway through the first half. A delighted Silva told his post-match press conference:
“It was a brilliant performance from us. A great one at a very, very good level. We were the best team on the pitch, not just because we won 5-0 but also the way we performed from the first minute and the players understood the plan and executed it so well. The way we did it was almost a perfect afternoon for us.
Apart from the goals it has been the best feeling, it was crucial this afternoon and I told them at half-time when we were winning 3-0 that the main goal was to keep playing in our way, score the fourth if you can but the clean sheet has to be the challenge for the second half. It is really important to create this mentality, try to win games but also try to be as solid as you can…I’m really pleased for it and it was one of the best feelings we got.
The Fulham head coach outlined a few of the tactical tweaks he has made that have had a dramatic difference in Fulham’s creativity and goalscoring – the Whites have found the net sixteen times in the last four matches.
We are not doing anything really different. Of course we have adjusted and changed some things. The trust in the players was always there, the process is not something new from the last four games.
Tom Cairney is having a huge impact since I brought him into the team, and we adjusted something when I decided to change the position of Andreas [Pereira]. Cairney always adds that extra quality for us in terms of build-up, it’s a big plus. The players are starting to get connections between them. Andreas is starting to connect better with Raul [Jimenez] and Alex [Iwobi]. The new players needed time. We almost didn’t have a pre-season so the team took time to learn how to win in the best competition in the world.
Confidence builds confidence. The best example is Raul. Since he scored against Aston Villa it has lifted his confidence. The first four or five league games this season he was giving much more to the team than we were giving him in terms of providing chances, after he lost a bit of confidence. It is part of the game when you have gone so long without a Premier League goal.”
As i said before about RAUL he is class am so glad for him he has his confidence back even when he was not scoring he was still playing well. COYW
Every player goes through a bad patch. Palhinha should keep this in mind as well when he leaves our club. Big teams will not allow you a prolonged period on the first team when you are out of form, at Fulham we can afford that. Let us give a good running to Newcastle away as we did at Anfield, our team is in ascendency.
I will be the first to admit that my deeper knowledge of football is non-existent. But I cannot see how Andreas brings much to the team
He very nearly scored with a brilliant free kick and had two assists, although technically one was Iwobi’s as he got a faint touch on Andrea’s cross. Marco Silva must think he is worth his place as he keeps picking him, even though Iwobi can play as a number 10.
For me Tom Cairney has made all the difference in our play and couldn’t understand why he wasn’t starting games a lot earlier he runs the show and is a brilliant player, i hope we renew his contract in the summer he still has a few good years ahead also I hope we can keep Tosin as I think he is coming into his prime and add’s a lot to the team.