Positives and Negatives: Leicester City 0-2 Fulham

Jack Stroudley looks back on Fulham’s trip to Leicester City.

Football seems to be coming thick and fast at the moment with Fulham playing for a second time on-the-road in five days, our outing to the East Midlands was much more enjoyable than the short journey to East London in midweek. Fulham ran out convincing winners in Leicester thanks to goals from Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore in the second half. I don’t think we were at our glamorous best, but three points isn’t anything to be sniffed at as Marco Silva piled the pressure on for Ruud van Nistelrooy. What are the takeaways for Fulham?

Positives

Berge is back

The main talking point from Saturday’s trip to the King Power was the return of Sander Berge. The Norwegian midfielder played for the first time since our 0-0 draw at home to Southampton before Christmas and boy, was he on it. Leicester weren’t great on Saturday and I think that Berge has a big part to play in putting out fires across the pitch with his eight successful duels and six tackles, it ended up being a relatively comfortable day for Fulham.

I didn’t quite realise the importance Berge has on the way we play but having him next to Sasa Lukic yesterday showcased just how strong our midfield is when fully fit. We are a far better side with him in the side, allowing the likes of Smith Rowe to have more creative freedom (of which he reaped those rewards on Saturday) and less impetus on covering the Sander shaped hole that was missed over the New Year, a Rolls Royce of a performance.

Leno, Leno, Leno

While it was a good win, there weren’t many standout performances in white, but one player who covered himself in glory following a disaster on Tuesday was Bernd Leno. I can’t say I’m necessarily surprised; Leno is a superb keeper and an absolute mainstay in this Fulham side. Leicester didn’t create an awful lot, but they weren’t completely devoid of ideas with a few chances created (especially in the first half) and the 32-year-old German was jolly on the spot when those chances presented themselves to deny the Foxes. A relatively composed performance from Leno and one that he definitely needed after West Ham.

Sigh of relief

There was a lot of negativity around the fanbase following Tuesday’s defeat at West Ham (present company included), so I think that Saturday just had to be a win, no matter the performance. That’s exactly what happened with a 6/10 performance from most, Fulham still managed to grind out three points in quite comfortable fashion. If we had gone to Leicester and failed to get three points I think the fanbase’s grumbles would’ve understandably rumbled on. It wasn’t pretty, but it was necessary and a real weight lifted off shoulders before we host Manchester United next weekend.

Negatives

Right-back worries

This wasn’t a complete performance by any stretch of the imagination, but I don’t want to come on here and berate and criticise when Fulham ground out a needed three points, more just raise something. Fulham’s lack of creativity in recent weeks has been a concern and I wonder if the lack of Kenny Tete is a reason for that. The Dutch defender is out injured for the foreseeable with Timothy Castagne now a mainstay in the side.

I don’t mind Castagne; I think he’s a solid Premier League footballer, but he’s no Tete – especially from an attacking point of view with zero successful crosses on Saturday. He is defensively sound with four tackles, two interceptions and three clearances but I just wonder if we might look to address this in the final stages of the window, especially given the question marks over Kenny Tete’s contract.

There have been slight murmurings online about Coventry City full-back Milan van Ewijk, an attack minded full-back who would certainly alleviate those concerns.