Fulham manager Marco Silva praised his Fulham team for fighting until the end in Tuesday’s narrow defeat at Arsenal, but felt the first half could have been better.
Goals in either half from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka ultimately proved the difference at the Emirates, but good chances came and went for Raúl Jiménez, Adama Traoré and Rodrigo Muniz as we pushed hard to get back into the game, with the latter grabbing a stoppage time consolation.
“Much better second half than the first,” our Head Coach said. “Our first half was not at a good level, probably too much respect for Arsenal.
“They pushed us a little bit more lower than we’d like to see, but we were not aggressive enough on the ball, to be honest.
“The two soft goals we conceded made an impact, really soft, soft goals that we conceded, but the way we tried always to keep the ball ourselves first half, and not really to be aggressive and to try to punish them, I think made an impact.
“Was one of the things that we changed clearly in the second half. And when you are more aggressive on the ball, trying to match them and trying to be aggressive, of course, we are able to create more chances.
“And that’s one of the reasons why second half we created four good chances – one with Raul, one with Adama, and two very good ones with Rodrigo, one of them that he scored.
“And when you are able to, second half, create four good chances to score, means that you did something different in the first half.
“We didn't have the ball really so much first half in our offensive half, but Arsenal was not creating enough as well. Okay, more on the ball, our organisation was there, but that first goal gave them the confidence and the calmness that they needed in that moment.”
Despite a disappointing few days for the Whites, there is still much to play for, with 24 points up for grabs.
Asked if attentions are still firmly focused on securing a European place, Silva replied: “Of course, we have to. It’s what we have been doing so far this season, why would we not be going to fight with eight games to play?
“Of course, we lost tonight, but we didn't lose the season. We lost three points, and we were not able to get points tonight. We are going to fight really hard, because we have another big game on Sunday to try to get it right again and to bounce back.”
https://twitter.com/i/status/1690468201891524608