Andreas Pereira described Fulham’s recent form in the top flight as “a wake up call,” and is targeting a response in our meeting with Arsenal on New Year’s Eve.
It’s not long ago that the Whites secured back-to-back 5-0 wins in the same week at Craven Cottage, but it’s been zero goals and zero points in the three Premier League fixtures that followed.
“As a team we have shown we can aim very high, but also we have to work hard in the moments like now where we’re suffering a little bit,” Andreas said. “We have to show character and bounce back.
“We were struggling a bit to find the goals at the beginning of the season. Then we had the two games where we scored 10 goals, which was a relief. It showed that we can do it. We found a way.
“We know we have to work hard, and every game give 100 per cent. It’s a wake up call for us now.
“We’ve spoken about the things we need to improve on. We need to get our heads straight and, like I said, it’s a wake up call for us now.
“We have to lose the complacency, we have to get more sharp as a team. Speaking for myself, I know I can give more and I will give more.
“We have a difficult spell now. We lost three games in a row. We want to respond straight away against Arsenal, but we have to take every game by itself. I think if we start to look too far, you can start to lose focus on the games coming up.
“We know where we can go. I don’t want to say we should finish in the top half and put that extra pressure on ourselves. I think we have a quality squad, we have a quality coach, so hopefully we should do well.”
Fulham became the first side to take points off Arsenal this season, when goals from Andreas and João Palhinha earned us a 2-2 draw at the Emirates at the end of August – a performance which our number 18 is hoping to replicate on Sunday.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” he admitted. “We know they’re a very good team, one of the best teams in the world right now, but we know how to play against them.
“We will try to stop them the best way we can.”
