Fulham coach Marco Silva spoke of his frustration following Fulham’s 1-0 loss to West Ham at Craven Cottage. His side dominated with 77 per cent of possession, but weren’t able to break down a stubborn Hammers outfit.
Marco Silva said: “Yes, it was a frustrating afternoon for us to have almost 80% of possession. But just to have is not really what we want and is not important for us if you don’t use that possession to create. Our first-half I think was so static from ourselves, not dynamic on the ball. We arrived with the ball in certain areas that we like, but after we didn’t play with the dynamic to have shots on target, to create chances, and it was not really good enough.”
The only Fulham player able to get their name on the scoresheet was Harrison Reed, whose own goal proved decisive in the contest.
Marco Silva said: “Of course, they scored with an own goal that should be disallowed because it’s a clear handball from (Vladimír) Coufal in that moment, and it’s difficult to understand, again, why the goal was not disallowed, and why VAR didn’t check that moment.”
Tom Cairney and Manor Solomon were introduced as half-time substitutes as Fulham piled the pressure on in the second 45.
Marco Silva said: “We tried to change to give more creativity with Tom Cairney in the middle area and of course with Manor (Solomon) to try to get in some more 1v1 situations, to be more unpredictable for them. Better second-half but not at the level we needed to play to create more chances. We had two or three dangerous moments, a big chance for Andreas to equalise the game, it’s true, a good header from Tosin, but it was not enough for us to equalise.”
Had Tosin’s header found the back of the net, it would have marked a dream return to the side as he and Cédric Soares were recalled to the starting XI.
Marco Silva said: “We expected something from them: a low block, more players around their box. We tried, with Cédric, to be more dynamic in our right side – he’s more offensive than Kenny (Tete) – to try to give more offensive situations with our triangle out wide. And with Tosin, we know what we expect from him. Of course, quality on the ball in the first build-up, to find the players between the lines. Tosin had a good game and did what we expected.”
With nine games left of an impressive season, Fulham will be keen to put their losing run of four games to bed as the campaign winds down.
Marco Silva said: “Working hard is the only way that we can. We’ve had so many good performances this season so far in this way. Of course it’s a moment for everyone to pop up and show the personality that you need at this level to take good decisions on the pitch in every single moment, even if you are not so confident like before.”
