Fulham kicked off their Premier League campaign in impressive fashion on Saturday with a 2-2 draw against Liverpool that silenced many of the doubters heading into the season. There were big question marks over whether Aleksandar Mitrović would be able to replicate his goalscoring form from the Championship last season, where he scored 43 goals in 44 games. Two goals yesterday, one of which involved him jinking the ball past Virgil van Dijk to win a penalty, will give Fulham fans hope that the big Serb is more than capable of producing his best in the top flight.
Though perhaps the most impressive Fulham performance yesterday was that of new boy João Palhinha. The Portuguese midfielder arrived in West London this summer from Sporting CP in a £18m transfer and that already looks like quite the coup. And Palhinha dominated the midfield on Saturday, successfully completing all six of his tackle attempts – the most on the pitch. His anticipation and energy at the heart of Fulham’s press was crucial in stopping Liverpool from being able to get the ball into the space between the lines and run at Tim Ream or Tosin Adarabioyo.
Marco Silva’s side deployed a 442 mid-block and pressed intensely throughout to force mistakes and stop Liverpool from being able to settle in possession. Both strikers went after the opposition centre-backs while the full-backs, starting from a very compact back four shape, sprinted out of defence to close down Díaz and Mohamed Salah any time they received the ball to feet.
Palhinha’s anchoring of the midfield as Reed buzzed around chasing things down was pivotal to the success of this approach. Committing to 25 pressures, the most on the field and eight more than Liverpool’s most active presser in Henderson, Palhinha timed his interventions to perfection and performed outstandingly.
The only real issue we saw with Palhinha in this game was a reluctance, or slowness, to turn in possession. He may just need time as he adjusts to the league but there were plenty of examples were Palhinha took a little too long to assess his options, and by the time he had made a decision the space was closed completely.
If Fulham intend on deploying a similar strategy throughout the season, it’s vital that they don’t switch off like they did for Liverpool’s first goal. While teams in the Championship may not punish you for taking a momentary breather, teams in the Premier League will absolutely pick you off.
Fulham’s intensity out of possession on Saturday was impressive. Enabled by the athleticism of their full-backs, application of the front-two, and the performance of Palhinha in midfield, this approach allows them to better support Mitrović at this level and stop him from being isolated as the team is forced to sit deep. It will likely allow the Serb to have a much more impactful season but Silva’s side will have to ensure that they can maintain concentration for 90 minutes to stop simple goals like this one and give themselves a good platform to pick up results.
