A very respectable 13th place finish for Fulham in 2023/24. That’s not mid-table mediocrity, I think it’s mid-table good football. It’s been based on good entertainment this year. We’ve said it time and time again when we’ve done the column, that it’s front-foot football, and really good to watch. And barely does it change, even when we’re playing the best sides. I commentate all over the country and, I’m not saying this lightly, Fulham are one of the best watches around. I always say that if you had a season ticket at Fulham this year, I think you’ve let yourself in for some good entertainment week on week at the home games, against top opposition. It really doesn’t change, Marco Silva doesn’t change a lot tactically, he always has a go at teams, no matter who we play. I see so many teams just sit back and defend when they’re playing the big sides at home – it does my head in. But seeing Fulham go at it with a relish is brilliant, Spurs being a case in point, the 3-0 victory, and that could have been by more.
That was one of several highly impressive results this season. There’s also the four points off Arsenal, and that first win at Old Trafford in decades. Manchester United ain’t the Man United of old, admittedly, but so many teams have gone up there this season and treated them like they are. But not Fulham. It was a late goal that won the day, but anybody who went to the game will tell you that Fulham thoroughly deserved it. There were some real good highlights amongst that season. There were some annoying ones, obviously, some defeats that were avoidable. I was commentating on the Burnley game at the Cottage, and it was a game that I thought would suit us down to the ground, because they play out from the back and you can get at them. That’s the type of game that we can look back on as points dropped.
Marco has referenced that lack of consistency and how he’d like to improve on that next season, but it is very difficult to attain. Take the Spurs win, for instance, it would be very tricky to deliver a performance like that every week. It's hard to do it, playing the way that he does, because Fulham play with an edge. I love it. The biggest compliment I can pay, is that I would love to play in this Fulham team under Marco Silva. I consider myself a footballing type of central defender, and Marco gives players like that a licence to pass it out from the back, play it through the thirds, and it’s good to watch.
I was thinking about who’s been Fulham’s Player of the Season, and it's really difficult, because there have been so many excellent performances over the course of the year. People will go for Rodrigo Muniz, and rightly so because he’s come on bundles, but I tell you who’s really surprised me, someone who plays in my position – Calvin Bassey. I think he’s done really well. He had a bit of a tough start because he had to play on the right side of central defence because of injuries, and he’s a very left sided player. But the way he recovered from that tricky start, by the end of the season he was absolutely immense. His strength and ability on the ball has been very impressive, and I think we’ve got a defensive stalwart there for the foreseeable future.
In terms of Goal of the Season, the Muniz bicycle kick stands out, and that was a terrific finish, but I’m going to go for Harry Wilson against West Ham. I was doing the commentary, so I’m going to go for that one as I actually saw it live. Muniz’s was probably better but, for me, you can’t beat seeing a goal live. However, the best strike I saw all season was actually against Fulham, and that was Jeffrey Schlupp. I don’t think I saw anyone hit a ball that hard all year! It was in the goal before Leno could move. Even Fulham fans would have said ‘wow’ when that one hit the back of the net. If you’re a football fan, you can’t help but appreciate that quality.
We’ve got a few players off to the Euros this summer, and of them you’d expect perhaps Timothy Castagne and João Palhinha to go far, but I think it’s going to be England’s year, I really do. If we can get that back four sorted out and keep them fit, then I think we win it. That’s our only problem, because going forward we’ve got probably more options than anyone. We’ve got such an array of talent, I think we’re the envy of the Euros at the moment. I don’t think we need two holding midfield players, so I’d play Jude Bellingham slightly deeper as an eight with Declan Rice, put Phil Foden in front of him, and go from there. Those are three of the best midfielders in the world – Rice, Bellingham and Foden, corr blimey.
