OPTION 5: Go hybrid 5ATB

Even when we play 4ATB this season our RW (often Wilson) works to make it 5 in our lower block

Would deploying Ryan Sessegnon in that role work and let Harry focus on being a wizard going the other way? 🪄

OPTION 4: Go pure 5ATB

New Morocco international Issa Diop has never let us down this season and some of our best form saw him aggressively defending outside Andersen at RCB in a 5

Even if out of sorts Liverpool do have the firepower to maybe justify calling on him here? 🇲🇦

OPTION 3: Unleash Lukic

There was a time when Liverpool (A) meant an automatic Sasa Lukic start providing grit and running cover from the right 8

Fitness and favour haven’t been kind to Sasa lately. But is this one for him and accommodating Iwobi (LW or 10) elsewhere? 🇷🇸

OPTION 2: Solidify without structural changes

This has moved about at times this season. But a simple decision to keep Berge right and Iwobi left OOP may offer more cover

Similarly would our more defensive LB in Jedi locking down Salah give more confidence across the back 4? 🔒

OPTION 1: Minimal Change

Liverpool are likely to play Gakpo LW and both ST options (Ekitike/Isak) like to exploit the LHS

Marco may well stick to plan A and trust Castagne + Andersen to deal with the threat

But I’m less sure about Joa defending the channel without Kenny 🤷‍♂️

HOW TO SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE NO TETE

With Marco’s #LIVFUL press conference confirming Kenny Tete is out for our trip to Anfield I think we have 5 main options to approach this one and shore up the right side of our defence

Which should we go for? Let me know below ✍️👇

🧵 1/6

Sure, you need cutting edge on the ball to beat sides like West Ham, Forest and Burnley with plenty of possession

But maybe in the modern PL you also just need to get in their faces, force errors and capitalise on them

Could we start with the press dialled up in #FULBUR? 🤞

The current setup there is nowhere near as imposing 🫥

We have recruited technical and creative quality to break sides down but in doing so have reduced our tenacity and physicality

It might be time to either tactically or in our selection rediscover some of that bite

Compare the front 5 pressing unit from that Liverpool match and last time out vs Forest. It’s a huge difference 😕

Muniz’s physicality. Iwobi an above average workhorse out wide. Andreas an elite OOP 10. Sess a RW strong enough to play LB. Lukic the 8 jumping to back them up

When you think of #FFC pressing under Marco Silva I think of Andreas. I loved him. Many hated him. But we can all agree he was an OOP menace

One of our best games last year was the 3-2 over Liverpool. Most of our chances came about because we were tenacious and got into them 💪

Why? Tactically we still have a decent 2+3 pressing structure 🔎

And whilst we do drop a winger back into a deeper 5ATB more often and perhaps a little earlier than previously I think our problem is not just tactical. It’s personnel

So what about 3️⃣, our press? Marco Silva likes a mid block that then occasionally steps out. We’ve never been a huge pressing team historically under him

But our lack of effectiveness in disrupting oppositions has gone from lower middle of the pack to being an outlier 🤨

On 1️⃣ Fulham used to counter loads. But teams are much more reluctant to give those opportunities up these days

We do 2️⃣ plenty. In fact fans (not me!) often bemoan our very deliberate build up playing out the back in the hope of cutting through into space with purpose

There are three key moments attacking sides can generally look to generate chaos and get at an unsettled defence

1️⃣ On a traditional counter attack
2️⃣ Via an ‘artificial transition’ playing out from the back
3️⃣ After winning the ball in the press

But I’ve spotted something else 🧐

On this week’s Fulham Focus pod I introduced the idea that our off ball weakness may be part of our seeming bluntness in attack

Why? Because oppositions are so well drilled defensively now, moments of ‘chaos’ are deciding PL football matches

When teams start to struggle in front of goal (none in our last 3 for #FFC) it’s natural to focus on what they’re doing on the ball

Too slow? Too safe? Too wide? Sure. All are criticisms of Fulham in settled possession at times this season 🥱

What has happened to the Fulham press? 🤔

This season we have forced our opponents into THE FEWEST dangerous losses of possession in the PL

What is that all about? Why does this OOP trend hurt us in attack? And could it matter in #FULBUR?

New analysis (finally!) 👇🧵 1/11

🎙️PREVIEW POD: Burnley (H)🎙️

🧠 Can Marco show us (and Parker) that he’s still a genius?

🤞 If Burnley’s season is over would a win here keep ours alive?

🇳🇴 Should Sander Berge start against his old club?

🇺🇸 And is Ricardo Pepi the answer to our recent bluntness?

Maybe I’m too soft. But I was surprised to see plenty of people say Marco lost them with the (disastrous) cup exit on Sunday

I discussed all of that and more on this week’s @fulhamfocus.bsky.social

I’m #MarcoIn but have you gone #MarcoOut?

🎧: pod.fo/e/3a35a7

If like me you are deeply annoyed that #FULTOT isn’t kicking off in 10 mins or so, fill the void until Sunday afternoon by listening to the @fulhamfocus.bsky.social Preview Pod 👇

🎧: pod.fo/e/3999b1

Did part of Fulham’s successful on ball gameplan in the first half of #FULEVE end up exposing a soft spot defensively in the second half? 🤔

More on that and other musings on what went wrong for us in this week’s match thread 👇

Bang on! You can see that in the data here too 👇

Pressed us a touch more. And in doing so turned it over a bit so they could attack an unset defence. Then when we went long they just bullied Raul aerially. Also seemed to spot our weak point down their left. But even then could and should have won or drawn 🤦‍♂️

That lack of pure physical presence means unless we batter teams and score multiple goals we’re always vulnerable. Not least from set pieces

A familiar tale of Leno weakness and not enough effort to protect him cost us and without a shakeup I worry the pattern will repeat 🤦‍♂️

Fulham over successive windows have tried to address a known weakness breaking sides down in settled possession, prioritising technical and creative quality

But it’s come at a cost exacerbated by our starting XI choices here. We lack physicality in a very physical PL 💪

I don’t like criticising players. But I called for three changes to the backline headed into this one. I got just one (Sess) 🤨

For all his on ball responsibility, Andersen needs freakish off ball help either side of him. Tete + Bassey suit that much more than Castagne + Cuenca

I’m generally baffled as to why we suddenly looked so shakey to start the 2nd half and why Marco didn’t make changes to address that earlier

Whilst Everton weren’t outstanding quality wise it’s clear they did up the press to unsettle us with their physicality 📈

Everton started to get real traction down that side (their left) 2nd half. They exposed Andersen for KDH's opener and the requirement for Castagne close to him got them 1v1 vs Wilson on other occassions

I’m astonished we didn’t see Tete on earlier to help lock this down 🔒

But structurally this has a downside. With Wilson often high and Iwobi skewed left there was space for Everton to target with passes in front of Castagne + Andersen down our right

Neither are overwhelmingly athletic or suited to being the point of stress for our backline 😬

Our positive left sided attack in the 1st half fascinated me. Having spoken pre-game about my desire to have Iwobi at LCM, Marco kept him RCM but let him float across to overload in possession when we attacked down the left

On the ball it helped us look hugely dangerous 🇳🇬