“Why do they keep running down that side and then booting it to the other side?”
The analysis of the roughly six-year-old Fulham fan in the seat in front of me in the Putney End of Craven Cottage on Saturday was astute. I glanced down at my notes in the 40th minute of what would end up an entertaining 2-2 draw and realised that, for all my tactical observations, the young lad had pretty much summed the game up. When Fulham emerged from the tunnel after half-time, it quickly became apparent that Marco Silva might have heard him too. This was truly the proverbial “game of two halves”, and Fulham’s failed but intriguing tactical approach to the first half centred around an unlikely player: the ever-hard-working Bobby Decordova-Reid.
The Reid Right-Back Experiment
This was the second game in succession that, in the absence of regular starting right-back Kenny Tete, Marco Silva opted for the unconventional option of Bobby Decordova-Reid to fill the right side of defence over Kevin Mbabu. This could be interpreted as a bad sign for Mbabu’s Fulham career – an indication that Silva really does not trust him, even when he’s the only available option in his natural position. But the way Fulham approached the game suggests this was not a decision made out of perceived necessity, but tactical manoeuvring.
Throughout the first half, Fulham were intentionally lopsided in attack. Whilst Antonee Robinson pushed forward, hugging the touchline on the left-hand side and overlapping Neeskens Kebano, Bobby Decordova-Reid occupied a very different attacking position. On the left, Fulham had two players in Robinson and Kebano who are very comfortable staying wide, and on the right Decordova-Reid and Dan James consistently cut inside, with James making attacking runs into the box while Decordova-Reid hung back in the half-space on the edge of the box. This is illustrated by Decordova-Reid’s first half touch map (with Fulham playing from left to right).
Decordova-Reid didn’t have a single first-half touch in the attacking quarter of the pitch that was further wide than the edge of the penalty area. And Dan James occupied similar positions. The idea was clearly to play almost exclusively down the left-hand side, then create half-space overloads for crosses into the box, where James and Decordova-Reid would theoretically be in position to take advantage of second balls from Aleksandar Mitrović or the Bournemouth defenders. Using the heat map of the entire Fulham team for the first half, we can see the gaping absence of any action in the bottom right-hand corner of the map.
Inverting one full-back in this way whilst the other continues to aggressively overlap is an intriguing tactical tweak. The problem is, it didn’t work.
Bournemouth set up in a low block looking to hit Fulham on the counter. This meant they tended to win the ball back deep, then move it up the pitch as quickly as possible. When this happened on the right-hand side (James gave the ball away several times), Decordova-Reid was consistently out of position defensively. This left Bournemouth huge open spaces to exploit (the heat map again shows Fulham’s defensive efforts were concentrated on their right). Harrison Reed, hard-working though he is, was being asked far too much of as he attempted to cover a huge amount of ground on his own. Bournemouth were able to progress the ball very quickly, almost at will, down the right flank, which contributed to both goals and Decordova-Reid’s yellow card (for a poor challenge preventing yet another counter-attack). At the half-time whistle, Fulham deservedly trailed 2-1.
Second half adjustments
Marco Silva did not wait to intervene, and his willingness to admit that his tactical approach wasn’t working probably saved Fulham a point. Willian and Tom Cairney were introduced at half-time for James and Reed. Willian started on the right before switching across to the left when Harry Wilson (who Fulham will be hoping is soon ready to return to the starting line-up) entered the game in the 62nd minute.
The Willian-for-James switch replaced a player who wanted to cut inside at every opportunity with one who was comfortable staying wide. But the more influential change was the introduction of Cairney. The Scotsman is a more offensively minded player than Reed. His ability to position himself comfortably in the edge-of-the-box positions Decordova-Reid was occupying in the first half allowed Silva to modify his makeshift right back’s responsibilities.
Decordova-Reid’s second half touch map is a stark contrast to the first half. Virtually all of his touches in the second half came outside the width of the penalty box. In fact, he was comfortable pushing right to the Bournemouth by-line, whipping in crosses from very attacking positions. Fulham dominated the ball in the second half, finishing with 68% possession. This ball dominance, combined with the removal of the defensive gaps their tactical approach created in the first half, made it much harder for Bournemouth to counter. Instead, Fulham provided constant offensive pressure throughout the second half and looked by far the more likely team to find a winner.
Marco Silva clearly learned his lesson. Decordova-Reid occupied more wide positions in Fulham’s 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Thursday night. The question remains though, why persist with Decordova-Reid if he’s going to be deployed as a traditional right back? Mbabu wasn’t even used from the bench against Villa and his situation will be an intriguing one to monitor going forward.
