Marco Silva unique interview: Fulham adapting to the Premier League with ‘top-quality’ Andreas Pereira and aim machine Aleksandar Mitrovic

Marco Silva struck a be aware of warning forward of the brand new Premier League season. Liverpool’s go to to Craven Cottage was quick approaching however Fulham’s recruitment was progressing slowly.

“The players that we have right now, I congratulate them for the work they have been doing,” mentioned Silva in his pre-match press convention. “But we, as a squad, are not ready.”

The feedback sounded ominous however they have been justified. Silva had solely 16 senior gamers accessible to him. Even now, with Bernd Leno, Shane Duffy and Issa Diop having adopted Andreas Pereira, Joao Palhinha, Kevin Mbabu and Manor Solomon via the door, Silva says “three or four” extra new recruits are required.

Tuesday’s Carabao Cup defeat to Crawley Town suggests he’s proper to be involved about their energy in depth. But it’s a testomony to the foundations put in place final season that they’ve come via their first three Premier League video games unbeaten.

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“It was not a surprise for me,” Silva tells Sky Sports of Fulham’s spectacular begin. “We had so many positions to fill, but the players who were here last season were ready and they showed it. I believe there is much more to come from the team.”

Silva guided Fulham again into the Premier League in exhilarating fashion final season, with 106 objectives scored on their approach to promotion, and whereas reinforcements are wanted to deal with the step up, there are not any plans to discard those that obtained them there.

“Chemistry is really important between the players, the staff, the fans, myself with the academy people as well,” says Silva. “We performed the primary two Premier League matches with 9 gamers from final yr and the final recreation with eight gamers from final yr.

“For me, it’s so simple. The new players who arrive have to show their quality, and prove that, right now, they are better solutions than the players already playing. No one arrives in this club 100 per cent sure that they will play straight away. That is everything I want.”

Helping Mitrovic thrive

One participant who is not going to be dislodged is Aleksandar Mitrovic.

The Serb fell out of favour underneath earlier head coach Scott Parker however Silva’s arrival final summer season modified the whole lot.

After a record-breaking 43-goal season within the second tier, Mitrovic has began the Premier League marketing campaign with one other three in three video games, tormenting Liverpool at Craven Cottage and heading Fulham’s dramatic winner in opposition to native rivals Brentford.

The 27-year-old has by no means scored greater than 11 occasions in a Premier League marketing campaign however the hope for Fulham is that this yr – underneath a supervisor who made it his mission to win his belief proper from the beginning of his tenure – which may change.

“I remember we had a conversation even before he started to work with me,” says Silva. “When I signed for the club, I rang him on the phone when he was on holiday.

“Everything was so clear between me and him. Straight away, he knew what could be the calls for, the plan, the philosophy. He felt from that second that I wished to get the most effective from him.

“I called him to make him feel good on the pitch, with a clear idea. He knows that he always has someone behind him, supporting him, but at the same time demanding a lot from him.”

Mitrovic has evidently relished Silva’s method to man administration and it helps, too, that he has matured mentally.

Against Brentford, and following a missed penalty in Fulham’s earlier recreation in opposition to Wolves, his decisive aim arrived after a string of dispiriting misses which could beforehand have induced him to lose focus.

Does he draw added motivation from proving his doubters unsuitable?

“I don’t think he needs this motivation, to be honest,” says Silva.

“He is in a good place and I hope he continues proving his qualities – as a player and professional but as a man as well – for me, for his team-mates, for his family and for the people who love him.

“That is the primary factor for me and the primary factor for him, for positive. The folks round who discuss soccer will carry on making their very own evaluation. But it does not matter what they are saying.”

Waiting to snap up Pereira

Silva’s side provided plenty of ammunition for Mitrovic last season and they have bolstered their creative options further this summer with the addition of Pereira, a £10m signing from Manchester United.

The 26-year-old spent the previous two campaigns on loan with Lazio, where he struggled for playing time, and Flamengo in Brazil, away from the European spotlight, but he has hit the ground running at Fulham, starting each of their Premier League games and proving a threat from open play and set pieces.

It is a minimum of his new head coach anticipated having monitored his progress – and deliberate for his doable arrival – for over a yr.

“I actually had a conversation with Andreas last season when I joined Fulham,” says Silva. “Of course, I knew it would be really difficult for him to come to the Championship because he is a top-quality player and he has to play in the best competitions.

“But I had a dialog with him about his scenario and, from that second, I had the sensation that, if issues went the way in which we wished at Fulham final season, we’d be capable of make one thing occur, relying on what was happening with Manchester United.”

Pereira described Silva as a “key issue” in his decision to join Fulham and, as with Mitrovic, the early evidence suggests the belief his new head coach has shown in him is helping him thrive.

I believe he’s a participant who has one thing to show however has the standard to do it. It has been a very good begin for him however I believe there’s rather more to come back.

“He is a player I wanted to get because he’s a player I knew really well,” provides Silva. “I know his qualities on the ball, off the ball, set pieces, everything.

“He’s a extremely good participant and he was actually hungry to have such a problem as properly, at a membership that trusts him and with folks round him who belief him and wish to get the most effective from him.

“I think he is a player who has something to prove but has the quality to do it. For me, it is so important when a player has the quality for me to get the best from them.

“It has been a very good begin for him however I believe there’s rather more to come back. He has the standard to do much more.”

Adapting to less possession

With Mitrovic and Pereira leading the charge, Fulham have shown plenty of attacking intent following their promotion, tearing into Liverpool on the opening day and showing the same willingness to bomb forward in the first half against Brentford.

“I like to see that and it’s what I work for,” says Silva with a smile.

The 45-year-old is adamant the step up to the Premier League will not prompt a departure from his side’s attacking philosophy.

“If people want to go a little bit back, they will understand I have used the same philosophy in all the clubs I have managed. It would not make sense to join a club and change everything I did in the past.

“We obtained promotion and gained the title final yr, so now, we’re not going to start out altering the whole lot simply because we’re taking part in in the most effective and most tough competitors on this planet.”

Silva does, however, acknowledge the need for certain adaptations. Fulham, so dominant in the second tier, have averaged just 39 per cent possession in their first three Premier League games.

“Of course, it’s a must to adapt some issues,” says Silva. “Last season, we obtained used to having 70 per cent possession in each single match and round 20 pictures in each match as properly.

“That will not happen in most of our games this season. We know that. We know we have to adapt certain things and be clever, sometimes to change a little bit the plan and the strategy.

“Some teams will obligate us to do things I don’t like, but that’s part of football. In some moments, if the opponent are on top of us, we have to be able to suffer together and to show togetherness and organisation with the ball and without the ball.”

The variations may be seen in the way in which wherein Fulham have sought to harm opponents this season – Opta’s superior metrics present solely Tottenham and Manchester United have made extra direct assaults – and likewise the way in which wherein Silva has sought to rebalance his aspect.

Indeed, whereas he hopes to extend Fulham’s common share of possession over the course of the marketing campaign – “we will achieve that, definitely” – he has already addressed the change of emphasis, partially, by changing Jean Michael Seri, a diminutive ball-playing midfielder, with Joao Palhinha, a bodily imposing ball-winner who excels at breaking apart play and successful aerial duels.

“Having a player like Joao as the six is a completely different profile to the player we had last season in that position, because we know what kind of competition we are now playing in,” says Silva.

“I loved Jean Michael Seri (who moved to Hull this summer). He understood clearly what I wanted from a player in that position. But in some moments, we knew what this season would be like, so we changed the profile of the player.

“In phrases of our philosophy, although, and the way in which we work on and off the ball, there usually are not many adjustments to our preparation every day. It’s extra the mindset and mentality that has to vary.

“Most of the players who have joined us this summer have more or less the same thing. They were used to having more possession than the opposition in their previous clubs.

“So, it’s one thing all of us should adapt to, however the philosophy does not change. We at all times wish to have extra possession, however we all know the opposition have the standard to have greater than us. It’s easy.”

Building in the direction of the long run

Silva’s earlier spells in England, answerable for Hull City, Watford and Everton, have all been short-lived however he has put Fulham on an upward trajectory and hopes it should proceed – even when taking a job within the second tier was not one thing he ever envisaged doing.

“If you had asked me when I left Everton that managing in the Championship was something I would do, I would have said in that moment no. But a club like Fulham, and the project they showed me, made me want to come back to England.

“The first season was a profitable one and the platform is now there. We wish to hold constructing from that success however in a totally completely different problem. We wish to embrace it and on the identical time make the membership higher in each single second.”

That applies to every level of the club, according to Silva.

“It isn’t just what folks see on the pitch however off the pitch. There is a lot work we’re doing with the board and with all departments of the membership to make it higher and to make higher situations to problem within the Premier League as we should always.

“I’m really enjoying the challenge with my staff and my players. I come in every single day with a big ambition and motivation to make the club and my players better.”

As for this season, and regardless of sitting seventh within the desk after three video games, Silva is pondering solely about what comes subsequent, beginning with Saturday’s journey throughout London to face leaders Arsenal.

“Everyone knows the target is to stay in the division, but whether we are successful or not will be a consequence of how we do our job in every single match,” he says.

“Our ambition is clear. My ambition is clear as well. I think the club will support us to do our maximum and get what we think will be a successful season. We will fight for it all together.”

Even if it means ready just a little longer for his squad to take form.

Watch Arsenal vs Fulham reside on Sky Sports Premier League from 4.30pm on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm