Focus on Fulham - Peter Rutzler, The Athletic

Peter follows Fulham’s fortunes for The Athletic. Previously, he worked as sports journalist for MailOnline, the Scottish Daily Mail, the Independent and the i newspaper.

Form

Peter: “Fulham are five unbeaten and in a position where they are able to pick up results against pretty much any team. This form goes back quite a while. If you look at the game at Spurs (1-1 draw, 13 January) that was another key moment where Fulham showed they could come back and take a point against teams. The issue was always trying to turn some of the draws into wins and it just felt the accumulation of points was too slow, considering the gap, but the two wins against Everton (14 February) and Sheffield United (20 February) were huge. Last week was a huge, huge week.”

Style

Peter: “Scott Parker has changed things up a little, almost as if he had to make the switch knowing that we needed to start winning games. Fulham adopted a system where it was five at the back when they didn’t have the ball, and it would be more of a five than a four throughout the game. They’ve now very much switched to a four both in and out of possession, the thinking behind that just to get more attacking players on the field to try and change games and win games, and that’s the same home or away. It’s worked, it’s brought those two wins, which were so important. The other factor is taking chances. Fulham can create chances but have struggled to put them away. They’ve brought in Josh Maja, who has shown he can score goals. He scored twice against Everton and that made the difference. They’ve got other difference makers too who can get them over the line. Those couple of tweaks have helped turn those one points into three points, and now the gap is that bit lighter.”

Key player

Peter: “Joachim Andersen is probably the player who comes to mind. He’s come in on loan from Lyon and the team has improved immeasurably defensively. Andersen has worn the captain’s armband with Tom Cairney out injured for a little while now. He’s become a real source of inspiration for the team, he’s seen as a leader in the dressing room amongst the entire squad and to come in and do that has made a big difference. Also, the way he plays, his distribution from the back is also fantastic, switches of play, that’s really added a different dynamic to Fulham going forward. It’s not just him, whole of the defensive unit has improved, Alphonse Areola in goal, he’s been fantastic, brave as well, we saw that against Sheffield United when Jayden Bogle had a late chance, he put his body on the line there. There is no doubting the commitment of these players.”

Can they do it?

Peter: “Yes, absolutely. They are going to need to produce some shock results, a win where no-one expects them to. They have difficult games coming up, Spurs, Liverpool, Manchester City, quite a lot of the top 10 still to play. The bottom line is that Fulham need to be within three points of Newcastle (currently 17th) on the final day. If they do that, there is a chance. Right now, with the way they are playing and the momentum they have, it’s hard to say they couldn’t do that. It’s tough, but I believe they can, for sure.”