Josh King, man of the match and midfield options for Fulham
Oh, how we have missed the Premier League. Let’s be honest, it wasn’t a great game, was it? This Fulham team under Marco do, however, continue to give us these never-ending magical moments and we all absolutely love it!
In a game that will be largely forgotten, a piece of genius from our in-demand young striker will live long in the memory.
The away end erupted, the libs were flying, and our majestic number nine raised a Fulham scarf aloft with a look of a man who still bleeds black and white (or perhaps a bit of lime green on occasions). Atalanta have since moved on to other targets, and we are still left dreaming of a twenty-goal season from Money Muniz for the mighty FFC.
In what was a rather dull affair, the other shining light, aside from the big man up front, was the little magician just behind him.
Josh King’s man-of-the-match performance
I wanted Josh in the team as discussed in my ‘Why Josh King Should Start’ article last week, and my word, he did not disappoint.
Playing in a number ten role behind the striker, our academy graduate performed with a maturity beyond his youthful inexperience. Everything good that we did going forward ran through him.
The Brighton press is extremely good. Josh, with an unbelievable first touch, continually picked up the ball, used strength that shouldn’t exist in someone so small, and on the half turn drove away from flailing defenders.
The number of times he then put Iwobi away in space on the left as a result was crazy. Unfortunately, Iwobi, lacking the pace required, then constantly had to cut back inside rather than going to the by-line, and a couple of neat passes aside, our attacks fizzled out. That same combination with a rapid Kevin or Nelson off the left could work wonders, as you would feel.
King constantly attacked the box and had a number of ‘nearly’ moments for an assist. He was also brought down a few times and was denied a definite penalty when the defender went through the back of his heel rather than making contact with the ball. Considering exactly the same thing happened last year at the Amex, when Reed kicked the back of Pedro’s heel, and that was overturned on a VAR decision, it was incredibly poor that it was barely even reviewed.
As per Sky Sports stats, we can see the numbers that Josh put up in this game, and they are very impressive:
These stats show that it wasn’t just King’s ability on the ball to retain possession, drive the team forward and create danger in and around the box.
Being first for possessions won and ball recoveries also shows his all-around game and ability to do the dirty work off the ball for the team. He is an all-around midfielder, and it is exciting what he can bring to this team as he continues to progress.
To note as well, he did all of this up against one of the most highly rated and combative defensive midfielders in the country right now, in Carlos Baleba. This is a player whom Brighton have already turned down over 100 million for this summer.
Baleba won a couple of challenges, but overall, I think it is fair to say that our young whipper snapper got the better of what was an intriguing and incredibly well-fought battle.
Midfield options
I can’t quite believe I am writing this, but it is August 20th, and we still haven’t signed an outfield player. I am usually one to understand the club’s tactics in regards to better players often becoming available late, and value at the end of the window, but my god this is now getting ridiculous.
Numerous reliable sources have said that we are in for a central midfielder this summer. The rumours are, however, near non-existent at present for a CM for Fulham. With Fulham often doing a lot out of the public eye, it is not impossible that one comes out of the blue, of course, but at this point, it is certainly not looking promising.
To be fair, it could be argued that there has not been a huge amount of value out there. Kieran Dewsbury-Hall was muted as someone who, after a remarkable championship season, could perhaps bring goals and assists to our midfield, which is something that we desperately need. For someone who has never performed when it comes to these metrics in the Premier League, a fee of circa 30 million appeared incredibly steep. It was only one game, of course, and things may well change, but from observing his performance against Leeds, it could well be that Everton have massively overpaid.
Douglas Luiz has added yet another player to Forrest’s ranks as part of their never-ending spending spree (sigh, Fulham fans). Again, however, a very expensive option both in terms of salary and fee for a player hitting his late twenties.
With King’s emergence, and with him playing such a brilliant and, importantly, mature game on Saturday, there could potentially be an argument that we have already got a good option here that gives us the attacking flair that we so badly need from our number eight role. Let’s discuss why.
How do we get King and Emile Smith Rowe on the same team?
We have to get Emile Smith Rowe firing this year. A club of our size can’t afford that kind of outlay without it coming off. The club knows it, and Marco knows it. He does look fitter this year and scored a good handful of goals with some good performances pre-season. Post Brighton, Marco said this as per Jack Kelly’s reports:
“I’m going to push ESR more and more this season. He had a good pre-season. We are going to find a way to get both ESR & Josh in the same XI. Josh started because he had a great pre-season.”
I thought ESR should have started left against Brighton after playing well there pre-season. He had his best performances playing there for Arsenal, and I don’t think Marco has used him there enough.
If we get Kevin, however, the left side will be occupied by our new record signing. How then does Marco get both ESR and King in the same team, and if we don’t end up signing a new CM, how do we best use what we have got to get more goals and assists from midfield? As a potential answer, I think we can look back to how we started last season.
Before Berge signed last year, we played Lukic as a six and AP and ESR played more like two eighths, running a channel on each side with ESR left and AP right. When Berge came, we dropped this in the main, but this was largely, at least in my opinion, because AP just wasn’t very good in that role. ESR, on the other hand, had his best performances for us in the left eight channel. I think Josh could be perfect on the other side in the right eight channel, and he and ESR could work those roles with either Berge or Lukic sitting as the six.
King played more at eight for the U21, and in his interview after signing, said he has played six, eight and ten throughout the youth setup, but advised he is more of an eight/ten. My belief is that Marco has always used him exclusively at ten thus far as less of a risk having a young player deeper.
The maturity in the performance on Saturday, however, along with the strength and tenacity he showed for possession won and ball recoveries as per the Sky stats above, really makes me feel he could play that box-to-box role extremely well.
Conclusion
It was an absolutely superb performance from our young wonder kid last Saturday, having been thrown in at the deep end in a high-level and very difficult away game. He shone even with one of the most highly rated DM’s in the Premier League snapping at his heels.
I am still praying that we buy a box-to-box midfielder who can both defend and also create going the other way to really kick us on. If we don’t, however, I honestly think that Josh can perform that role brilliantly if he continues his upward trajectory.
If we do sign a top left winger, I can’t see another way that MS can get Josh and ESR on the same team as desired. The two eighths, in two channels left and right, could be a really good solution for this. It didn’t work with AP, as both his defensive and attacking output are poor. A midfield with a firing and confident ESR on one side, and a tenacious and creative King on the other, could be incredibly exciting and productive, and it is something that I would personally love to see. I wonder how we will line up in midfield on Sunday?!