In the space of four days, Fulham’s season has begun to unravel, with two dispiriting defeats at Craven Cottage denting hopes of a memorable campaign.
A 1-0 loss to West Ham United on Wednesday night dealt a significant blow to the Whites’ push for European football. Victory would have moved them to within a point of Brentford in seventh; instead, they slipped to 10th and into a tightly packed chasing group with stronger recent form.
That result placed added importance on Sunday’s FA Cup tie at home to Southampton. A win would not only have lifted morale but also secured a place in the quarter-finals, leaving Fulham just three matches from Wembley and a genuine shot at silverware.
A first major trophy — and the automatic Europa League qualification that comes with it — felt far from impossible. Just look at Crystal Palace last season.
Instead, the Championship side produced the first upset of the round. Ross Stewart’s stoppage-time penalty sealed a deserved victory for Southampton and ended Fulham’s cup run in deflating fashion.
The mood inside Craven Cottage was flat throughout, and the performance matched it. But much of the post-match scrutiny has centred on head coach Marco Silva, who made nine changes to his starting XI, with only Tom Cairney and Samuel Chukwueze retaining their places.
So, how much responsibility should fall on Silva for Fulham’s sudden slump?
Silva defends changes
A downcast Silva trudged into the media room post-match, and after reflecting on a “very bad day” for “myself, the players, the club, and mainly for our fans,” the elephant in the room was addressed.
“Do you have any regrets about the starting lineup?” a reporter asked.
“I understand the question,” Silva started. “And of course, when you made nine changes – and was my decision – of course, I’m going to get it [criticism]. No worries about it.”
He then pointed out that despite changing the back four entirely, the backline he fielded – Ryan Sessegnon, Jorge Cuenca, Joachim Andersen and Timothy Castagne – have all played together this season when Fulham have beaten “top sides in the Premier League,” as Silva put it.
He continued: “And the two wingers that played, Chukwueze and Oscar Bobb, if (you think they) are not enough to win a cup tie, we have to look in a different way.
“The only two players that are probably not playing enough football so far this season, is the goalkeeper [Benjamin Lecomte]; is a decision from us in the cups (to) play a different goalkeeper. And was Harrison Reed, who was probably was one of the most consistent players throughout the game this afternoon.”
Silva didn’t start Alex Iwobi – one of Fulham’s most standout players this term – explaining that the Nigerian “is a starting XI player – always when he’s ready, 100% sure. But he cannot be playing well every single minute, every single match in Premier League and in cups as well.”
Does Silva have a point?
Yes and no.
Silva is absolutely correct that the team fielded was good enough to progress against Southampton – and comfortably at that.
The back four, as he pointed out, have played regularly this season. In attack, you wouldn’t bat an eyelid if Bobb, Chukwueze and Emile Smith Rowe started in the league behind Rodrigo Muniz as the latter works his way back from a serious injury. The same goes for Cairney in midfield.
As Silva alluded to, Reed and Lecomte were the starkest inclusions, as the pair are clearly not key starters. But these were two of the better players on Sunday (from an incredibly low bar), possibly justifying that particular decision.
However, a criticism of the changes is what it says about Silva’s approach to the game. Dropping the starting goalkeeper and best player in Iwobi (while Harry Wilson is out) does not scream a manager doing everything they possibly can to progress to the next round.
Silva justified rotation by mentioning that they’d played a three-game week, but with a full seven days to prepare for their next match against Nottingham Forest, while a few changes would be justified to preserve fitness, nine felt excessive and unnecessary.
The team’s individual quality was undoubtedly enough to overcome Championship opposition, regardless of how good form Saints were in (now 10 unbeaten). But when over 80% of the side is rotated, this disrupts rhythm and cohesion, in contrast to the visitors, who made four changes.
But the biggest frustration is the hypocrisy of Silva. The Portuguese has consistently preached about the significance of cup competitions; the importance of progressing as far as possible, and his ambition to deliver silverware to SW6.
His team selection did not reflect that sentiment.
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