The dead-ball wizard
Marco Silva’s set-piece routines have Fulham flying in the Premier League
LUIS BOA MORTE was on the pitch the last time Fulham beat Chelsea, scoring the winner at Craven Cottage in 2006. Tonight, he will be in the dugout alongside manager Marco Silva, the mastermind of Fulham’s thriving Premier League campaign, plotting a repeat victory as part of the home side’s coaching staff. Fulham sit proudly in seventh as the top team in west London, two points ahead of Brentford and three clear of Chelsea. There is genuine optimism about their chances of overcoming their big- spending neighbours tonight and also about their prospects for the rest of this season.
Silva is described as personable and popular with the players, and detailed in his approach. ‘ His work ethic is second to none,’ said one source.
That is encapsulated in Fulham’s set-piece prowess. No team has scored more than their 10 goals from dead balls this season. They spend hours in training working through their routines with a level of detail which is described by another source as ‘ to the millimetre’.
Despite this meticulous approach, Fulham have a relatively small repertoire of set-piece routines, and there is surprise within the club that few opposing teams seem able to stop them.
Southampton lost 2-1 at Fulham on New Year’s Eve after conceding two set-piece goals and manager Nathan Jones said: ‘We showed the players the exact same set-play 10 times. It is not something that has happened off the cuff as Fulham do it week in, week out.’
Silva is not getting carried away. Instead, he is a firm believer in the one-game-at-a-time mantra. Given the
chance to hold his press conference to discuss Sunday’s visit of newcastle immediately after the Chelsea match, Silva declined. He did not want anything to distract his attention from tonight’s London derby.
Appointed as Scott Parker’s successor in July 2021, Silva inherited a squad low on morale after a second Premier League relegation in three seasons. The tone was set in his first meeting with the players, targeting promotion back to the top flight as champions.
Belief, the feelgood factor and connection with their supporters began to return to fulham as positive results arrived and a record- breaking campaign — including a new second-tier high 43 goals for Aleksandar Mitrovic — led to that promotion. Unlike the previous two times fulham went up, the positive momentum has continued.
Silva was keen to ensure they built on last season and stuck to the principles he had instilled while maintaining the same attitude and hunger. Keeping as much of his squad together was another important factor for Silva and fulham’s recruitment on top of that has been key.
following their previous two promotions they got it wrong. in 2018, more than £100million was spent in a scattergun spree, predominantly on players without major Premier League experience and including a raft of arrivals in a frantic final week of the window.
Two years later, there were more loans than permanent signings and, once again, without significant top-flight experience.
This season has seen less upheaval. Knowing for a long time that fulham were going up they and Silva had more time to plan. He was forthright in the areas he wanted to strengthen his squad and worked willingly with chief executive Alistair Mackintosh and director of football operations Tony Khan to get players not just with the right qualities but character and price tag.
Their analytical model still shapes recruitment but, sources insist, it is not a deal breaker if all boxes are not ticked.
fulham opted to evolve rather than overhaul their team, with only a handful of summer signings emerging as regulars. Bernd Leno, issa diop, Joao Palhinha and Andreas Pereira have strengthened fulham’s spine. Willian has shown there is still Premier League life left in him after his ill-fated spell at Arsenal.
Goalkeeper Leno at £3m and midfielder Palhinha at £17m are examples of the value fulham have found. The new faces have complemented Silva’s existing squad, raising the level of his side and their team-mates.
Getting the best out of centre forward Mitrovic is another main focus. Persuaded to stay by Khan after an unhappy campaign in 2021, Mitrovic has thrived under Silva. in just 15 games, the striker has already equalled his best top-flight tally of 11 goals. it took him 37 games to hit that mark in 2018-19.
He is suspended for Chelsea’s visit, with Carlos Vinicius a likely replacement but ‘we have other solutions as well’ Silva teased yesterday. That should not be in doubt. The last 18 months and fulham’s eye-catching top-flight return have proved Silva is a man with a plan.