16th place Tottenham, 18th place West Ham, Championship Southampton, 17th place Forest, and 19th place Burnley. Fulham play four of the bottom five and a fifth round cup tie that promises a good chance of a fourth consecutive cup run. It’s fair to say that the next five games will determine the fate of Fulham’s season.
Nine points and the quarter finals of the FA Cup is a must. Do that and you can begin to separate yourself from an extremely congested mid table and perhaps spark belief amongst the fanbase and players alike that maybe, just maybe, a top eight finish or a trophy really is possible.
Perhaps you can afford to lose away at a resurgent Nottingham Forest side, but at home games against Spurs, West Ham, and Burnley have to be three points if you’re a serious European chasing outfit.
Hosting is Southampton is probably a more difficult fixture than many give it credit for — the Saints have won the most points in the second tier since Tonda Eckert was appointed — but considering who Fulham could of got in the fifth round, if you can’t beat Southampton, do you really deserve to be on the cusp of Wembley way?
In past seasons, periods like this, where Fulham feel close to breaking that glass ceiling of mediocrity have been where Fulham falter and sucumb to our late season slump. This period of the season allows us a chance at proving this is a Fulham team with more Cojones that the ones we’ve seen in the past few years.
At points this season, we have shown we have the quality and ability to stay within tight games that could set ourselves apart from the mid table pack but we still lack an ability to see out games, and set pieces, that often seems to undo much of Fulham’s hard work. If Europe is the ambition, that cannot continue.
If Fulham continue were they left off at the Stadium of Light and continue to play at speed, tighten up our set piece organisation, defence of leads, and in turn allow our deep attacking arsenal (despite Kevin’s injury woes) to win Fulham close games and then Europe definitely is a red; possibility, especially if one of Raul or Rodrigo hits a purple patch between now and May.
These next five games provide Fulham an opportunity to let the Premier League know we mean business. Don’t waste it.
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