Fulham 2 : 3 Everton

Fulham conceded three goals at home for the third time this season and more troublingly, had achieved it by half time.

It wasn’t their only hat trick. They also missed a penalty for the third time, having missed one against Sheffield United and with a blaze of glory, one at West Ham.

Other media have focused on that but just like at West Ham, it wasn’t the main reason why Fulham lost the game. Those threesomes are troublesome enough but if you had to sum up this loss in numbers, I’d start elsewhere.

 “At times it was like watching a man wearing boxing gloves doing origami.”

One thing sadly didn’t’ end at three.

Fulham seemed often to be engaged in a training exercise where it was forbidden to score unless the move had strung more than 20 passes together. Well it may have been twenty, but it’s hard to tell as often pass number 16 was wayward or easily read by an increasingly attentive Everton midfield.

So reluctant were Fulham to put the ball into danger areas, that they managed to ludicrously get caught offside from a training ground move involving a corner. Tom Cairney took the corner. Rather than punt it into the Everton box where they had height waiting, he passed short to a nearby colleague who returned the ball, only for the assistant referee to give the easiest offside decision of his career.

Cairney can be grateful that there was no crowd inside Craven Cottage to give a massive collective audible groan, As it was on the other side of the pitch, he did not hear the one that came from the impartial press pack, just for the sheer amateurishness of the incident.

They had a second corner from the same side shortly after. That ended up with possession in their own half before it came anywhere near the Everton area. At times it was like watching a man wearing boxing gloves doing origami.

Despite having talent like Richarlison, Everton were still happy to put the ball into the penalty area at every opportunity
Photo: Fulham FC

Don’t take this the wrong way.

Fulham are trying to play the beautiful game beautifully. If they could make it work they should be applauded. But even the great teams knew to lump a corner into the box when your two six foot centre halves have bothered to run 50 yards to be there. Everton have far better players. They have Richarlison for heaven’s sake and still out corners and many many other crosses into the danger areas.

With Leicester away on Monday and then a trip to Manchester City, they will twice more come up against sides with more talented starting XIs.

On many occasions, the Everton players had alert enough football brains to eventually read the next pass. They will not be the only side able to do that. Often enough though, one of the passes was just sloppy and misplaced. Everton just had to wait.

When the visitors had the ball, they moved it around nimbly and were more than happy to find the effervescent Dominic Calvert-Lewin in dangerous areas. Although the Fulham defence was not bad, the numbers game told. The ball was just in dangerous areas so often that eventually Joachim Andersen and Tosin Aadarabioyo were not in the right place in the right time.

They will have tougher days when they have to make more goal chances out of less possession. If Fulham are to have easier days, they will have to start by making life easier for themselves.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt