Marco Silva says he learns from every setback as he prepares to lead Fulham into a huge FA Cup fifth round tie at Manchester United this weekend.
The Portuguese head coach was sent off at Old Trafford two years ago as the Whites surrendered a one-goal lead into the quarter final at Old Trafford, with Willian and Aleksandar Mitrovic also seeing red after contentious decisions from referee Chris Kavanagh. Silva insists Fulham won’t head to the Theatre of Dreams seeking revenge for a result that still rankles and believes his side are more mature than when they let that advantage unravel in the last twenty minutes.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference yesterday, Silva said:
“I am passionate, and I am not going to change. It’s impossible to change. I try and share that with my players. I know the limits, with the respect between managers, players and officials. Fulham is a passionate team on the pitch and to play against too. I learn from all the moments in my career so far. I try to always take something away when I analyse my team, analyse myself, my staff – all the moments are learning moments for me and for my players too.
Against United, we have always had tight games. They are really emotional games, always [with] late goals deciding it. We have to change it. These small details, we [still] need to work on. We are in a different stage of the development of this football club. Last time [Fulham faced Manchester United in the FA Cup], it was our first season after winning the Championship. We have had to re-build our squad, we are more mature as team.”
We want to fight hard to achieve something important to the club. We want to put all our faith, confidence, hard work and quality as well, because we like to do it with quality, to be in the next round of the competition. Yes, it will be [exceptional if Fulham were to win the FA Cup], but we are far [away from that]. It is the last sixteen, we have a long way to go. We just have to focus on the game against Manchester United.”
