At the beginning of this campaign all of the Premier League betting that concerned Fulham focused on the possibility of relegation and this was hardly a surprise.
Despite greatly impressing last season in coming up from the Championship, the same was true of two years ago and four years ago when similarly they secured promotion. On each occasion they immediately dropped, becoming in effect a yo-yo club.
There was no compelling evidence that this time would be any different.
Soon enough though, indeed right from their tremendous opening-day display at home to Liverpool, it became apparent that Marco Silva’s side had serious designs on breaking this cycle, an inkling partly based on Aleksandar Mitrovic grabbing a brace that afternoon.
Having gained an unwanted reputation for being prolific in the second tier but shot-shy in the top-flight, two goals from the outset boded extremely well for both the burly Serb and Fulham.
The Cottagers were fearless, fluid and well-organised against the Reds, ceding most of the possession but little else. They looked like they meant business.
Losing just one of their first five games – and that to a late cruel blow at the Emirates – was a flag planted into the sand and even when gravity began to take hold and the defeats came Fulham continued to give a good account of themselves, scoring in each of their six losses leading in to the mid-season break.
By the time Qatar 2022 eventually honed into view, Fulham proudly resided in ninth. That’s not too shabby for a team widely tipped in the online betting to drop before a ball had even been kicked.
Once Premier League action resumed it got better and better for Silva’s men, winning four on the bounce, their latter victory coming at the expense of their neighbours and long-time superiors Chelsea and you would think at this juncture that praise would be widely lavished on the over-achievers from West London, a popular club at the best and worst of times.
Instead, for whatever reason, Fulham’s unexpected charge into the European spots has been somewhat overlooked, with Brentford and Brighton getting all the love.
Regardless, they play on, exceeding expectations on an almost weekly basis and doing so by virtue of attractive but carefully-orchestrated football.
At the back Tim Ream, their leader-in-chief, has been consistently superb, aided on either side by flying full-backs in Kenny Tete and Antonee Robinson who are both so criminally under-rated their general regard should be jailed with the key thrown in the Thames.
In midfield, summer signing Joao Palhinha has bossed many of the stats attributable to his position and ahead of the Portuguese tackling-machine Willian is enjoying a career renaissance, adding some genuine class to Fulham’s attacking mandate.
Then there’s Mitrovic, the king of Craven Cottage and adored by its faithful. To date, the 28-year-old has scored 0.57 goals per 90.
At some juncture it has to be properly recognized what Marco Silva and his well put-together collective are achieving this term and perhaps that starts here.
The Cottagers are fearless, fluid and well-organised, happy to cede possession but little else. They truly mean business.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
