After confirming the return to the Premier League after a gap of 1 year, Fulham finally ushered in the outbreak in this round, defeating Luton in the 7-0 round to lock in the Premier League title, this hearty victory also shows that the previous 2 league wins are just a relaxation of mentality after the promotion, facing the lack of top scorer Adebayor (this Adebayo is not Adebayo) Dark Horse Luton, Fulham did not let the champion fall at the last moment, the team after 21 years, once again won the second division of England.
Under the watchful eye of 19,538 fans at Craven Farm, Fulham scored their third Championship game 7-0 of the season, making Fulham the first team to score 50+ goals at home and away in England's top four leagues after Tottenham in 1960-61, and this season Fulham has scored a staggering 106 goals, second only to Manchester City in the 2001-02 championship (108 goals). Defensively, Fulham conceded 39 goals, second only to Nottingham Forest's 38 goals in the first round of the minor round. Although some people have long expected that Fulham will be able to return to the Premier League in the shortest possible time, it is still unexpected by many fans to establish such a big advantage.
Famous coach Parker leaves office Frustrated coach is in danger
This is Fulham's third upgrade in five years, and compared to the frustrated Premier League, the Championship is the arena that Fulham are best at. Last season, Fulham were third-to-last in the Premier League, but with as many as 11 points off burnley in relegation zone, the fate of relegation was determined early, and the then manager Parker was a famous Fulham, who had 128 appearances for Fulham, and after retiring, he also went from assistant coach to fire manager and finally corrected. Without thinking about the moment of crisis, the manager whose contract expires in 2023 chose to resign to coach in Bournemouth, who had been lost in the Championship for a year, and compared with reinforcements, the selection of the manager became the focus of Fulham's work last summer.
In the end, Fulham chose Marco Silva, a young coach over 40 years old, who has been idle at home since he left class at Everton in December 2019, and his appointment has caused many fans to question, but Fulham has finalized the new manager. Due to Parker's departure, Fulham missed 52 days of season preparations and the team could not afford to delay.
Under Marco Silva, Fulham played 4231, and in the Championship, where the strengths and weaknesses were more distinct, Fulham, who had the advantage of a squad, dominated the control of football. So far this season, the team's average possession rate is above 60%, and this tactic has somewhat avoided the unexpected loss of points against weak teams. Marco Silva also attaches great importance to attacking on the flanks, and with a strong centre-forward Mitrovic, the team is often able to penetrate the opponent's flank and pass the ball into the box to create a threat.
Another big change for Marco Silva to Fulham is the reinvention of many "rules" to increase the cohesion of the dressing room. Marco Silva did not want the players in the team to be divided into factions, and the players and all the staff needed to eat lunch together, he asked the staff to expand the room to ensure that all the players could get together, and each player had to celebrate the birthday of his teammates, when there was a player's birthday, the catering staff would also make a small cake for the team, and the players would form a tunnel, and the players who had a birthday had to pass through the tunnel made up of teammates and enjoy the "blows" of their teammates.
7-man Premier League loan army leaves the team to upgrade the hero to fight again in the Championship
Fulham seems to have long been prepared for relegation, last season they enhanced their immediate combat strength through a number of loan players in the Premier League, and when they were relegated, all 7 players who were on loan in the Premier League left the team. Most of the remaining players in the team have experienced the last promotion of Fulham, when the tide of the loan army faded, these two years ago promotion hero once again became the main force for Fulham to upgrade, Fulham did not suffer a large-scale loss of personnel due to relegation, only midfielder Anguiza was loaned to Napoli, and Serry, who returned to the team at the end of his loan period, just filled the vacancy he left.
Unable to gain a foothold in the Premier League last season, Kebano, who was loaned back to the Championship by Fulham, has once again become the absolute main force of Fulham, playing 39 Championship games so far this season, and is an indispensable main force for Fulham to upgrade this season. The 34-year-old American veteran Reem, who was almost full-time when Fulham was promoted two years ago (played all 47 league starts), made only seven appearances in the Premier League last season, and once again defended the team's defense this season with a full-time posture (so far, all 45 starts).
After a season of tempering in the Premier League, the ability of many players in Fulham has also been improved, and fabio Carvalho, who is only 19 years old, has become a future star who can stand alone from a fledgling teenager, and he has also been booked by Liverpool early with his excellent performance.
In the case of establishing the former promotion of the army as the bottom of the team, Fulham has also brought in a number of excellent players, Wales striker Harry Wilson, who played for Liverpool for 16 years, joined Fulham for £12 million last summer, and this season he also played 41 Championship games and 40 starts, handing over 10 goals and 19 assists, while Neico Williams, who was loaned from Liverpool in the winter window, also became an important member of Fulham's defence in the second half.
Mitrovic suffered with a co-championship Levan angrily brushed the record
The foregoing deliberately avoids Mitrovic, but because its role is too prominent, it has to be emphasized. Relegated to the Championship three years ago, Mitrovic not only did not leave the team, but also renewed a five-year contract with Fulham in one go. The Serbian striker, who was in the same year, showed his sense of solidarity with the club, and this season he also ushered in the peak of his career under the tireless artillery fire of the entire Fulham team.
Admittedly, Mitrovic, who was reduced to a substitute in the Premier League last season, and former manager Parker were in a lot of trouble, and last summer's window had reached the point where Parker would leave the team if he stayed. In the end, Parker left the team, Marco Silva's first task was to appease Mitrovic's military heart, when Mitrovic received three consecutive offers from Dynamo Moscow, but Mitrovic was not moved by the judging of the situation, and before Fulham took office, Marco Silva explained his coaching philosophy and his importance to Mitrovic through telephone communication, and Fulham's football director Tony Khan also came forward in time to send a new contract of 5 years to Mitrovic. Finally, with the joint efforts of both sides, only 2 years after the last contract extension, Mitrovic signed a 5-year contract with the team when Fulham was relegated to the Championship.
The story goes without saying, the stats are enough to prove Mitrovic's excellent form this season and the importance of his promotion to Fulham, Mitrovic has scored 43 Championship goals so far this season, and he has also surpassed Portsmouth player WhitingHam, who scored 42 goals in 1992-93, to become the player who has scored the most goals in a single season in England's second division since the 1992-93 Premier League restructuring. In addition, Mitrovic also delivered 7 assists in a single season, as a pure center, which is also the most assisted statistics in a single season of his career.
Although the Championship season is not yet fully over, the Championship best of the season has been released, and Mitrovic has not given in, beating teammate Harry Wilson and Bournemouth striker Sorank to be elected the best player in the Championship. He also brought excellent competitive form to the national team, and Serbia pushed Portugal straight to the World Cup, which was due to his decisive goal.
Final question: 5 years and 5 degrees of rise and fall What is the prospect of Fulham Premier League?
Not long after Norwich was relegated, Fulham locked up the Championship title in advance, and the two lifts of English football, like the two ends of the pulley, have become the norm in the Premier League and the Championship. Since the promotion from the Championship to the Premier League in the 17-18 season, Fulham have been promoted and demoted in 5 years in the past 5 seasons, so after returning to the Premier League, what are Fulham's relegation prospects for next season?
It is true that we have no way of knowing what the reinforcement movement of Fulham after being upgraded to the Premier League is, and naturally we cannot make the most objective and accurate judgment, but at least from the current situation, although it has risen to a more obvious advantage and returned to the Premier League, Fulham has not yet reached the level of foothold in the Premier League.
As mentioned earlier, Fulham is a team that controls the flow, although in the face of most Championship teams, Fulham can control the game more stably to score points, but in the strong dialogue, Fulham's results are difficult to say ideal, this season against the other two teams also relegated to Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion, Fulham have lost the game, facing the current league second former Parker led by Bournemouth, Fulham is also difficult to win. Even derby County, which faced the storm of youth under Wayne Rooney, Fulham were reduced to points boys on the road to relegation in the two rounds with 1 draw and 1 loss. Admittedly, the last time Fulham was relegated from the Premier League, a big reason was that they tried to learn Manchester City's style of play, which eventually led to a lot of holes in the defense.
In terms of squad, Fabio Carvalho has confirmed a transfer to Liverpool, and at the end of the season, Fulham will have as many as 10 first-team players who have expired their contracts, including american veterans Such as Reem, Serry, Kaibano and other main players, and Neko Williams has determined to return to Liverpool at the end of the season. And many good young players, such as Harry Wilson and US international guard Robinson, may also be chased by other strong teams this summer.
Last weekend, Marco Silva and Fulham chairman Shahid Khan, vice-chairman and director Tony Khan and others met to discuss the club's summer window, Marco Silva revealed that he told the chairman that last summer was an easy transfer market because it does not need much change after relegation, but everything will be different after the promotion.
Fulham's boss Shahid Khan is an avid fan, Fulham has not spared any effort in the transfer market, the first two promotions to the Premier League, Fulham have carried out a large-scale reinforcement of the squad, in 2018 even spent hundreds of millions of dollars to bring in 15 players including Schuler, Babel, and in 2020, after the promotion, it also invested more than 50 million euros to sign as many as 12 players. With high input and low output, with the lessons of the previous two times, Fulham's premier league relegation road next season may be full of thorns. (Back-ups/MIKU)