Rotation, rotation, rotation.
That’s what Fulham boss Scott Parker has had to do quite a lot this season, possibly because he’s still trying to work out his best side given he didn’t have the most ideal of pre-seasons given the turnaround time from winning the playoff final.
But when he does work out his best eleven, and lets’ face it he’s got plenty of options, he’s going to have a hard job working out which roles to put them in.
Responding to a fan’s question on a Q&A ahead of the game about the possibility of captain Tom Cairney playing a much deeper role, Athletic journalist Peter Rutzler gave his thoughts on where best to fit just two of the more prominent players in the Fulham line-up going forward:
“RLC [Ruben Loftus-Cheek] sees his best position as a box-to-box, as you say, and I don’t think playing him as a No 10 suits him. Likewise, I don’t think Cairney quite has the nous to be a holding player at this level. Think it would free Cairney up a bit to have that insurance behind him, and maybe Fulham will get more joy out of him.”
Is Tom Cairney our most important player?
Yes
No
I think the West Brom gam showed to us just how effective Cairney can be when played in that role, a 95% pass success rate, 6 dribbles, 2 shots and a key pass to boot. And whilst he hasn’t had the best of starts to the season in terms of performances, it does just show what he can do, and how much we’d have to sacrifice if we were to move him a step back.
It must be stated, as I did yesterday, that this was against a poor West Bromwich Albion side, but if he can play like that against the teams around us in the division (taking games against the Big 6 for instance as a ‘free hit’), then we should hopefully be able to pick up enough points to stay in the division.
What about you? What do you make of Cairney’s role within the team?