CRAFTY CAIRNEY PLAYING AS GAZZA USED TO
RYAN Sessegnon may be stealing the limelight at Fulham, but nobody makes the Cottagers tick like Tom Cairney.
Unlucky to miss out on a Player of the Year nomination last season – and absurdly overlooked for the PFA team of the year – the 27-year-old is a joy to watch at his best.
Martin Ling, the former Leyton Orient boss, was once asked about facing Spurs-era Gazza. “The way he moved, it was like he had a forcefield around his body,” said Ling. “You could see the ball, but you couldn’t get near it.”
Against Derby last weekend, Cairney showed similar poise. No matter how tight the cul-de-sac, he always managed to wriggle free, to find an out ball.
Like Aaron Mooy at Huddersfield last term, the playmaker possesses an unhurried grace that, at times, can look rather unathletic.
But, instead of watching his legs, watch his head. It is constantly on a pivot, his brain composing a mental map of every friend and foe. He never receives a ball without knowing who’s in the neighbourhood, nor without a clear idea of where it will go next.
That kind of awareness is critical to Fulham’s blitzkrieg style and a hallmark of all great midfield players.
It may well be that Cairney’s talent takes the Cottagers up. If not, he is surely worth a Premier League punt.