How Do Fulham Play? A Tactical and Statistical Breakdown - Part 1 (In-Possession)

With the EFL Championship due to return on June 20th, now seems a sensible time to take a deep dive into the way Scott Parker orchestrates his Fulham side, highlighting the key competencies of his in-possession focus while revealing some crucial drawbacks of his patient, measured and occasionally lacklustre attacking approach...

The System

In essence, Scott Parker has opted to use the purest and most traditional form of possession-based football, sometimes referred to as tiki-taka, though its implementation has been far from perfect. When in possession, the entire system is built upon low-risk passing patterns, relying on ball retention and repetitive movements with the aim of eventually shifting the opposition out of position. Tim Ream, Harry Arter, Tom Cairney and Stefan Johansen illustrate the system's key focus on retaining the ball, with pass completion statistics among the highest in the Championship. Ream, in fact, has completed the most passes in the league, and Fulham have kept an average of 61.1% possession on average, the highest but for Leeds United.

Tim Ream: A crucial cog in Parker's possession-based game

Once a gap is exposed through repetitive passing, the attacking movement should be quick to exploit the space and get in behind. Width is the most useful and commonly used method to progress and penetrate in a possession-based system, and Fulham rely on the creative competencies of five key players in order to push forward: Joe Bryan (left-back), Ivan Cavaleiro (left-wing), Anthony Knockaert (right-wing), Denis Odoi (right-back) and Tom Cairney (attacking midfield). Bryan, Odoi and Cairney are given the task of threading in Cavaleiro or Knockaert, who are then solely responsible for creative output in the final third, unless the full back makes an overlapping run. Feeding the ball into the centrally positioned Cairney in order to play the ball wide is the most commonly utilised pattern to attack.

Once the ball is at the feet of Knockaert or Cavaleiro, Parker has given them two options to deliver a goal: a low cross or a shot. Both players have this season been utilised as inverted wingers, meaning that they play on the opposite side to their strongest foot. This facilitates an element of unpredictability in their creative output, as they can either cross to Mitrovic on their weaker foot, or cut inside and aim for the far corner on their more competent side. Cavaleiro's goals against Huddersfield and Millwall are the perfect evidence of this; 6 of his 7 league goals this season have come from an identical, sharp movement inside.

Finally, Aleksander Mitrovic makes up the tip of the in-possession system, as an out and out centre forward. His positional role is extremely simple for a striker of his calibre, as his predominant task is to latch onto crosses and provide a killer instinct in the six-yard box. With the entirety of the creative output dependent on those wide of him, Mitrovic can focus his game upon finishing with foot and head, dominating defenders and understanding the crossing habits of his teammates. It's no wonder that, in a system which is ultimately built to create chances for him, the Serb has delivered 23 league goals this season, 12 of which came inside the 6-yard box thanks to the delivery from wide positions.

The Position of Every Mitrovic League Goal 2019/20

The Problems

Despite being 3rd in the league, with a play-off position almost certainly clinched, many fans believe that Parker's system has not extracted the most success possible from the plethora of talent within the squad. Often, the playing style is deemed dull, due to its reliance on repetition and extremely slow attacking build up. Perhaps one of the biggest causes of this is Parker effectively 'playing the percentages' in terms of attacking build up, avoiding possession loss at the cost of potential chance creation. Having scored just 1 goal on the counter attack all season, among the lowest in the league, its understandable why fans feel frustrated; Knockaert and Cavaleiro are highly skilled in counter attacking situations having played for clubs who maintain a key focus on defensive solidarity in order to launch counter attacks (Brighton and Wolves, respectively). Further, title challengers Leeds United have achieved a considerably higher tally of 6 goals on the counter, despite having very similar average possession statistics (63%).

Another problem with Fulham's in-possession output is the positional play of their wingers as well as the attacking capabilities of the full backs. The most obvious comparison one can draw is with Slaviša Jokanović's 2017/18 Fulham side, which produced 1.7 goals per game as opposed to Parker's 1.4 this season, utilising a similar but unidentical possession-based system, especially in the wide positions. Jokanović, unlike Parker, avoided the use of inverted wingers, with Ryan Sessegnon and Aboubakar Kamara making the most appearances out wide. This facilitated a stronger attacking output from wide positions, with a far lower reliance two things: an outstanding centre forward to finish chances, and unlikely finishes after cutting in. Subsequently, Sessegnon finished as top scorer on 16 goals, while Kamara finished the season with a healthy 7 goals. Deliveries were still possible on their stronger foot, and Mitrovic still scored 12 in just 20 appearances.

Furthermore, a distinct difference in attacking quality of Fulham's full backs has been evident this season, with Joe Bryan providing the greatest attacking output, despite dividing opinion with his defensive contributions. Jokanović's Fulham side was hugely successful in delivering output from the full backs, with Ryan Fredericks delivering 7 assists on the right hand side compared to just 1 from Denis Odoi and 1 from Cyrus Christie this season. This is partially down to the changed instructions to the width of the wingers; Jokanović allowed Sessegnon and Kamara to tuck inside a little, allowing Fredericks and Targett to progress into space, meanwhile Knockaert and Cavaleiro are generally glued to the touchline when off the ball. Despite this, a total of 14 assists from Joe Bryan and Ivan Cavaleiro demonstrate huge success on the left hand side. But the right flank has struggled, with Knockaert providing just 4 assists. This has manifested an element of predictability, with 40% of Fulham's attacks coming from the right, as opposed to 34% on the left; this 6% disparity puts Fulham's attacks in the top 5 most unbalanced in the Championship.

Joe Bryan: Defensively divisive but unquestionably effective going forward

As a result of these issues, there has been a distinct frustration in Fulham's ability to produce effective attacks, with Mitrovic often suffocated throughout games, shots being taken from distance and possession failing to translate into created chances. From the side's 22 crosses per 90, Mitrovic has averaged just 4 shots per game, demonstrating how incredible his conversion rate truly is. Meanwhile, Fulham have taken a relatively high 42% of their shots from outside the box, compared to 33% at Leeds and 37% at Brentford. No doubt this is somewhat down to impatience after sustained attacks, as well as Cavaleiro, Cairney and Knockaert being immensely confident in their ability to take shots from long range. As a result, Fulham's conversion is, remarkably, the 5th lowest in the league.

The Solutions and Conclusion

It's ultimately difficult to argue that Parker has failed in his first full season at Fulham with the club positioned so healthily in the league. His in-possession system is certainly preferred by the majority of fans as opposed to a more direct, defensive style of play, but the frustrating repetition in the build up has created a just, dissatisfied response. The reliance on Mitrovic is dangerous, and the use of inverted wingers is certainly questionable considering their relative lack of success, especially on the right hand side. It's therefore surprising that Parker was comfortable with the lack of depth at right back; Fulham have struggled for a couple of years to replace the offensive output of Ryan Fredericks.

The inclusion of Michael Hector has changed the playing style considerably; his pass completion rate is among the lowest in the squad (73.7%, 22nd) due to his focus on playing longer passes in order to accelerate the pace of the attack. Fulham can only regret not being able to include him before January, as he drastically reduces the predictability of the passing patterns. Perhaps he signals a change in the mentality, whereby pass completion can be sacrificed in situations where chance creation is likely. Parker's side certainly need to take more risks, and the ignorance of chance creation through the centre of the pitch needs to be rectified. Mitrovic is an invaluable tool for both finishing and creating chances, with a league-leading ability to hold the ball up in-and-around the penalty area. His 1 assist this season demonstrates an under-utilisation (on the creative side) of a player who has the ability to set up teammates in crucial positions. That said, his ability to finish is potentially keeping this side afloat.

With 9 games left to play, 4 of which will come against the top 10, Parker has a career defining few months ahead of him. If Fulham are to climb the 6 point gap to the automatic promotion spots, a remarkable transformation in chance creation will be required. The squad is solid, competitive and well-drilled, but one can't help but concur with the fans that there is plenty more ability than is shown on the pitch. With just weeks to go until kick off against Brentford, we can only wait to see whether Scott Parker has rectified his tactical mistakes in order to extract the greatest attacking potential from a gifted, composed and expensive Fulham squad...