Fulham were a yo-yo team for much of the 2010s, suffering relegation from and earning promotion back to the Premier League three times across the decade before establishing themselves in the English topflight in 2022-23.
Since then, there hasn’t been much drama consistently finishing in mid-table, claiming a few scalps along the way, notably beating Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham last season, momentarily looking like they might qualify for European football.
Eleven games into this season, and they’re down in 15th, just one point off the relegation zone. So, is it time for Fulham fans to worry?
It all started in the summer
After an 11th placed finish in 2024-25, one position off their highest since returning to the Premier League, many fans had hoped and even expected the owners to back manager Marco Silva in the summer transfer window.
They did not, in fact, their first signing didn’t happen until the end of July, and that was a £500,000 deal for back-up goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte, who is unsurprisingly yet to feature in the Premier League.
As fan pressure started to become too much to take, Shahid Khan eventually put his hand in his pocket, forking out a reported fee of £35 million to sign Brazilian winger Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk.
What was said about their summer business?
Khan addressed frustrated fans in the club’s pre-match programme ahead of their game with Man United, insisting that the club were working on new signings after Silva publicly called the board out for their lack of business.
He wrote: “It was a summertime priority to protect the nucleus of the squad that set a Fulham record last year for most Premier League points, and we did by extending the stays of Kenny Tete and our longtime captain, Tom Cairney.
“We will continue – as we always do at this time of the year – to explore all options to strengthen our squad.”
He then pointed to the emergence of academy players Josh King and Seth Ridgeon.
“As important this offseason was keeping and rewarding the next generation of Fulham Academy talent that we feel will make a positive impact on our First Team today and in the years to come.
“That’s why we focused on and ultimately delivered long-term deals for three of our most promising youngsters who have progressed or are advancing through our Academy in Josh King, Luc De Fougerolles and Seth Ridgeon.
“As we saw Saturday at Brighton, Josh is already making a statement. In fact, his performance earned him Man of the Match honours from our supporters at fulhamfc.com, and deservedly so.”
Poor away form and a lack of goals
Fulham’s 2-0 defeat to Everton on Saturday (November 8) marked their fifth consecutive away league defeat, the second time such a record has happened under Silva having previously done so between November 2023 and January 2024.
In fact, their most recent away win was a 3-2 victory over local rivals Brentford in the second to last game of 2024-25, with neither side having anything to play for and Bryan Mbeumo missing a penalty.
Their home form is better, although the standard of opposition they’ve so far faced at Craven Cottage hasn’t been particularly challenging. Their three wins have come against sides they would expect to beat, newly promoted Leeds, Brentford, and bottom placed Wolves.
Defensively, they’re not too bad. Of the sides in the bottom five, they’ve conceded the fewest goals with 16, and defenders such as Joachim Andersen and Tete are having genuinely good seasons, it’s at the other end of the pitch where they’re suffering.
Harry Wilson is their joint top league goalscorer with two alongside left-back Ryan Sessegnon, while first choice striker, 34-year-old Raul Jiminez is starting to look like his best days are behind him, only scoring once.
What’s most worrying is that two of the sides below them, Burnley and West Ham, have scored more than Fulham, with 14 and 13 goals, respectively.
Is there a glimmer of hope?
Silva’s set-up so far has been incredibly rigid. With a midfield pivot of Sander Berge and Sasa Lukic, who have made 168 passes into the final third between them, they’re not getting the ball into the more creative, attacking players fast enough for a side that should be pushing for a Europa Conference League spot.
Alex Iwobi has been a stand-out, the Nigerian is far and away their most creative player having created 20 chances, had 30 successful long balls, and nine successful crosses. If they get him on the balls, things are more likely to get going in the final third.
Only Silva knows why Emile Smith-Rowe isn’t featuring as much as he probably should. The former Arsenal man has only started one of his 11 Premier League games yet has the highest xG + xA per 90 minutes with 0.48 along with the most shots on target per 90 with 0.8.
Verdict
Thankfully for Fulham, there are a few sides in the Premier League that are worse than them. Wolves look like a lost cause, Leeds probably won’t make it, and after a few good games, Burnley are starting to fall off.
A tricky festive period is far from ideal, but Fulham should be fine, although this season should be seen as a regression.