It has only been five months, but the optimism of that May day when Fulham beat Aston Villa in the play-off final to win promotion to the Premier League is long gone. This 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth was their seventh of the league season, their 28th goal conceded and another day when Slavisa Jokanovic looked increasingly like a manager guessing his way through the season.
David Bowie famously sometimes used the cut-up technique to compose lyrics, slicing up phrases then piecing them back together at random. There is an element of that to Jokanovic’s team selection: this game saw the 10th different defence of the season and Sergio Rico replaced Marcus Bettinelli in goal, their third keeper in 10 games. It is worth noting none of those changes have been due to injury.
Shahid Khan, the club’s owner, was so keen to express his support for Jokanovic this week that he released his programme notes two days before the game. “I’m equal parts amused, astonished and disappointed,” he wrote about rumours that Jokanovic will be sacked, but one wonders how long his patience will last if this form continues.
Perhaps it is harsh to excessively criticise Fulham, who finished the game with 10 men after Kevin McDonald’s dismissal. They were beaten by a Bournemouth side who did not look in trouble at any stage of the 90 minutes, a brace from Callum Wilson (four goals in the last five games for him) and one from the thrilling David Brooks. “We were very good in most disciplines,” said the Bournemouth manager, Eddie Howe, a look of quiet satisfaction on his face. “Without the ball we were solid, we were good in possession, and good on the counterattack.”
Fulham started sparkily, if a little nervously, like someone trying to impress their in-laws, but that mood was punctured early on. Bournemouth took the lead in the 14th minute, when Wilson was clumsily knocked over in the box by Timothy Fosu-Mensah, and Wilson rolled home the penalty himself. “We made a mistake without needing to,” said Jokanovic, not mentioning Fosu-Mensah by name but expressing his frustration nonetheless. “The mistakes killed us.”
The mood in the stands shifted from tense but encouraging, to plain tense, through to downbeat and despondent by the final whistle. Jokanovic claimed after the game that he had tried to set his side up to be more solid, and to stop conceding easy goals, so it is even more concerning that they still did exactly that.
The second came with 20 minutes remaining, when Adam Smith whipped the ball off Jean Michaël Seri’s toes, fed the squat, busy Ryan Fraser who in turn slid a beautifully weighted pass through to Brooks. The young Welshman barely broke stride in nutmegging Rico for his third goal of a seriously impressive nascent Premier League career.
“We lost the first challenge, we lost the second challenge, we lost the third challenge,” was Jokanovic’s scathing review of how his side defended. “We have to be 100% concentrated to stop this kind of situation.”
The implausibly young and skinny-looking Brooks belied his age and girth with another superb performance. He was on his way to another goal when Kevin McDonald tripped him, and with his sending off went any loose hope of a Fulham recovery. Wilson killed that off entirely with four minutes left, slamming home with extreme prejudice when a huge chasm opened in the Fulham defence. Many home fans got up to leave, discouraged by the prospect of a long season ahead.
“Bournemouth won easily,” conceded Jokanovic afterwards. “They were always one step ahead of us, a bit stronger, a bit faster. At the end, the result is completely fair. They were more solid, and punished us when we weren’t at a good level.
“This is the Premier League – everything is faster, more powerful, stronger. We need to immediately adapt ourselves to this situation.”
