The hole in the middle

Friday’s performance at Old Trafford was not one of Fulham’s best and brightest, but equally it wasn’t anything to terrify any of us either – a decent battle against an improving Manchester United, that we ended up on the wrong side of due to a late gut punch from Joshua Zirkzee. 

While frustrating, that’s just how it’s gone for us in recent times against United (March’s glorious riposte aside), and reading too deeply into the first game of the season is an exercise in futility. But there are some serious concerns I have with the balance of midfield ahead of the new season. 

First and foremost, I don’t mind Andreas Pereira playing in a deeper role – he occupied that space on the pitch for Flamengo when in Brazil, and his workrate and desire to get around the pitch are as impressive there as anywhere. With Rodrigo leading the line instead of Mitrovic now, there’s less need for our No 10 to lead the press, and that changes the dynamic of how the front line operates. 

Similarly, I thought Sasa Lukic had a pretty good game alongside Pereira, especially in possession, but given the struggles that United had in midfield towards the end of last season, it’s notable that we weren’t able to take the game by the scruff of the neck in those areas. 

When Lukic and Reed played together at Old Trafford in March, with Palhinha absent, Fulham were dynamic and snappy in the middle of the park, overwhelming the Red Devils with a swarming gameplan that involved Pereira dropping back into a trio to create overloads and refuse to allow United time and space on the ball. 

Things were different on Friday. There are mitigating factors – Casemiro looks nowhere near as leggy as he did in the back half of last season, and a fit Mason Mount adds some thrust to their trio, but there was no reason Fulham shouldn’t have been able to compete at a similar level. 

Emile Smith Rowe needs time to settle and to find fitness after a broken preseason, but one of Fulham’s best traits in recent years, especially against big teams, has been an insatiable work rate from the midfield three. With João now sadly departed, it’s even more crucial that whoever is playing at 10 gets back in to make sure we don’t lose that intensity. 

This might look different in a few weeks – I’d imagine there could be some stretches where ESR plays in the left channel, where that intensity is not quite as important and there is more room for a languid forward in the mould of Willian, with Iwobi moving centrally to add some more industry and bite in there. 

I have no doubt that Marco will figure this out, but Fulham need to be smart with how we make sure this balance is right going through this season – with some signings and some shuffles – or the middle of the park could go from our strongest asset to a potential chink in our armour.