“Fulham” head coach Marco Silva sits exclusively at the table Sky Sports to discuss how his side will cope with Arsenal’s strike, Alex Iwobi’s “incredible form” and Emil Smith Rowe’s “emotional” performance when facing his former side for the first time.
With Fulham just three points adrift of the European places, did your start surprise you?
“It’s not surprising to me. I’m not saying that at the beginning of the season I expected to be there, but the way we’re playing can’t be surprising to me, to our players and to everyone who follows the Premier League.
“I have to be honest with our players, we can’t be surprised because game-wise we’ve been playing really, really well. We’ve been one of the best teams on the pitch in most games and we deserve the points we got, or even more at times.
“Probably at the beginning of the season, after losing so many players in our football club and again so many changes in terms of the team, it was more difficult to expect such a fast and strong start from us, but the reality is. we signed a couple of players who fit in really well and they helped the others who were here to start the season as well as we did.”
Sunday, December 8 at 1:00 p.m
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What do you think of your opponents Arsenal on Sunday?
“It’s a really tough team. They’ve been there for the last two seasons. A great team with a great idea, and they’re really good strong team.
“They are physical from (Martin) to the top of the pitch. It is not easy for them to create many chances during the game. It is not the best week for us to prepare the game, simply rate players, recover them and spend less time preparing for the game.
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“In terms of freshness, they will probably be in a better place than us. They played on Wednesday (Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-0). We played on Thursday (Fulham beat Brighton 3-1). ): The difference is 24 hours, but that’s a big difference when you have such a short period, but it won’t be an excuse for us to fight for three points like last year. against them twice.”
How will you approach Arsenal’s goals?
“We have a way to defend the borders. We know what we are talking about. When a team like Arsenal has been so, so strong, everyone has noticed that they decide a lot of games at that point as well : We know what we’re going to face, not only with Arsenal, but with their fans, because it’s really important to trust the will and the desire for us to go at that moment. They’re great takers too.
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“But to give our players credit, we played against Arsenal twice last season. We even scored two goals against Arsenal last season and we didn’t concede the same type of thing we have to be focused, sure of ourselves, how are we going to be strong at that moment not only defensively but also offensively.
How impressed are you with Alex Iwobi’s form this season?
“What an incredible season he’s had. It honestly doesn’t surprise me. We felt as a staff, and so did his teammates. The way he started the season, first. – You start to feel the season matches, like the first matches of the Premier League. “Okay, he’s going to be better than last season” that he has inside, he’s going to put it all out there this season.
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“Firstly, he’s a really important player for me because he’s really versatile. I can move him around in one football game. Last night (against Brighton) was a good example. He played three different positions. He’s adding something to his game and he’s improving offensively and we’re happy about that.”
What did you make of Emil Smith Rowe’s start to life at Fulham?
“He is a really important player for us. We are happy to have the opportunity to sign him. We knew what we were going to sign. a talented player who hasn’t played football in the last two seasons. We know he’s going to get a little bit off in terms of consistency, but he needs to play more and train more.
Emil Smith Rowe joined Fulham from Arsenal last summer in a club record £34m deal.
“It’s important for him not to stop, to train every day and to be able to maintain more of the intensity and energy that the Premier League demands from you and in that position. And I’m really happy that he’s with us :
“I think he’s doing what we wanted him to do. And I’ll see more consistency in the future. My goal will be to push him forward and be more consistent in terms of performance throughout the game “.
Do you think there will be extra motivation for Smith Rowe and Iwobi when they face their former club on Sunday?
“I don’t know, really. I’ve been at Everton for a long time and now it’s my second season at Fulham. It will be the first time he’s faced his former club.
“It’s probably going to be an emotional game for Emil. I’m not talking about extra motivation, but it’s certainly going to be emotional for Emil. He’s going to face a club he loves. Of course , but now he’s also in love with Fulham and he’s going to fight and he’s going to do his best to help us win the game.”
Will you be looking to strengthen in the upcoming January transfer window?
“We have to be really careful to talk about it, first of all, because this group of players deserve all the credit and they deserve to be talked about and probably not about the new players that are coming in.
“That’s the first thing in terms of the quality of the togetherness, the camaraderie, the commitment they’ve made, they’ve been incredible.
“The second is about the quality of the players, because for us to add someone, they have to add extra quality, just to have a new face. I’d rather not, if they don’t add for our club, and that. the extra quality costs money, and let’s see if you have the budget for it.”
