Author | Lightnews

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 1h

Four consecutive defeats leave us close to the relegation zone, but the largely competitive nature of those defeats and who they were against are enough to avoid panic for now

But with Wolves now a must win, there are some big big calls to be made before that one🤞

4

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 1h

For all the shouts to let off the handbrake, the other element of the subs this weekend which may go under acknowledged is how key the solidity of Iwobi, Lukic and Berge together was 💪

It’s no coincidence the withdrawal of Sasa and relocation of Iwobi was when this one got away

1 1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 1h

Seeing Smith-Rowe hooked at HT after another anonymous outing (last completed 90 mins in April '22 btw!) doesn’t help combat the idea he’s not the livewire who can save us

But the positives from Kevin’s arrival off the bench surely only intensify calls for him to start? 🇧🇷

1 1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 1h

Our attacking numbers this year are dreadful 📉

Yes it’s early, yes we’ve had injuries. But we barely get shots on target and struggle to finish moves other than with crosses which don’t connect

When that’s the case leaving record transfer fee attackers on the bench is bold!

1 1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 1h

Fulham undeniably got a grip of this game when Iwobi came inside to run the show and Kevin held width and stretched Newcastle with his direct dribbling threat inside and out

It was clear as day in our goal! But something Marco explicitly turned away from initially 🤷‍♂️

1 1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 1h

The ball playing quality under pressure in that back 4 (though Diop + Tete had good games generally) was simply not good enough vs a team whose punchy press pounce on such things 🥊

But has that tendency to stick with plan A for patterns and personnel become a wider issue?

1 1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 1h

More interesting is what Bassey’s selection over Cuenca signalled 🤔

Marco Silva, often lauded by me as the master of complementary partnerships (Ream + Robinson, AP + Mitro, Andersen + Bassey etc) picking on seniority and trust even though Cuenca's passing would help Diop more

1 2

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 1h

On errors, we need to talk about a horrendous day for reigning POTS Calvin Bassey

To get done once trying to be clever at SJP is bad, twice having worked so hard to draw level is criminal

The 1st error is the worst for me, the 2nd Leno will surely be v disappointed with too 🫠

1 1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 1h

Defensively there are now two worrying and growing tendencies:

1️⃣ Errors that gift high quality chances or goals seemingly out of nowhere

2️⃣ Poor managing of momentum/moments under pressure, leading to us presenting those chances after we’ve scored/conceded or late in games

1 1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 1h

In recent years I’ve touted Fulham as among the best teams around at everything up until the final third

But adding catastrophic errors in our own third to bluntness in our opponents is the recipe for a very nervy season 😬

What can #NEWFUL tell us? Let’s take a look👇

🧵 1/10

1 4

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

Sure sure, if you say so 😅

Don’t worry. I’ll convince myself he’s off somewhere else most months until a contract gets signed!

1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

Beyond learning the attacking patterns Marco Silva prides himself on drilling - at what point do the likes of Chukwueze and Kevin get trusted to deal with his heavy OOP requirements both mentally and physically?

Given how blunt we’ve looked going forward lately, hopefully soon!

1 6

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

Spotting this problem, for much of the game after this Castagne + Wilson communicate to switch interchangeably on Trossard + Calafiori when the ball came that side and do the job diligently

But this leaves a bigger question for #FFC’s balance ⚖️

1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

Again later in the game. Castagne being dragged out wide to engage Trossard in isolated space generates a huge gap outside our RCB for Calafiori to exploit

Wilson - responsible for pressure on Gabriel and marking Calafiori - is among our most engaged defensive personnel 🫡

1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

Here’s what happens when it goes wrong - for Arsenal’s disallowed goal

Wilson has pressured Gabriel. Iwobi (worried about Saka) fails to do the same to Timber

Calafiori is left to Berge, who is distracted by Arsenal’s overloaded right. The switch delivers a big chance 😬

1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

Wilson also had to decide when to jump out of the mid-block to put pressure on Gabriel at LCB ↕️

Failing to do so would let unpressured Arsenal CBs hit dangerous balls behind us, a dynamic that has already hurt us this season (eg. vs Villa)

1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

Wilson had to judge when to leave his man to double up deep on Arsenal’s winger and help a slightly vulnerable Castagne.

It’s worth bearing in mind leaving Calafiori on the edge of the area too early may have triggered our weakness against long shots 🤦‍♂️

1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

For much of the 1st half Wilson sat inside on the aggressively inverted Calafiori. Leaving Castagne out wider with Trossard. That’s a big responsibility given Calafiori’s quality and positivity ⭐️

But Wilson also had two other jumps to weigh up and make

1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

Take Harry Wilson vs Arsenal whose role went way beyond missing a few half chances

With Arsenal overloading their right with clusters in close proximity it was Wilson + Castagne who had responsibility for their isolated two players in space left, Trossard + Calafiori 🤝

1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

But Marco plays a simple 4-4-2 mid-block OOP right? So there can’t be that much for a new RW or LW to get drilled in off the ball?

Wrong. Firstly our RW this season has often been asked to drop into a situational back 5

And even when we play a purer 4, it gets complicated 🧐

1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

The rise of man-to-man marking schemes (or teams jumping into man-to-man from generic blocks) in PL football is a big part of the reason the playing field has levelled between the elite and the rest 🔒

Increasingly coaches have detailed plans to nullify their opponents

1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 3d

Why has Marco Silva been so cautious about chucking in new attacking firepower from the start of games? 🤔

I’ve asked the question a lot myself in recent weeks. So here’s a case study in why featuring our defensive lynchpin from #FULARS… Harry Wilson (yes really!) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

🧵 1/11

1 1 7

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 4d

Boney. Is. Back! 🙌

Get all our thoughts on #FULARS, Marco Silva, our growing injury crisis and the random VAR decision generator wheel here 👇

pod.fo/e/3422d2

1 1

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 6d

Looking back at #FULARS it was game that said a lot about where football is headed

Two teams more invested in what they do off the ball than the risks they’re willing to take on it

Will be back with some proper grabs, data and thoughts on Tuesday just as I’m working today 🙏

1 6

The Cottage Tactico @cottagetactico.bsky.social · 7d

Solid outing from Raul Jimenez in the box-to-box Sasa Lukić role today! 😅

In all seriousness a slightly threadbare #FFC looked solid enough tonight. Created v little but #FULARS not really the game to judge that overly

More analysis coming tomorrow 🔜

7