Fulham have quickly become such a Premier League mainstay that the brilliant work of Marco Silva has largely been taken for granted.
With growing chatter about the division's high standard giving promoted teams no hope of survival, a Fulham side who finished 10th in their first year are battling for Champions League qualification and three wins from lifting a first FA Cup in their third season back.
Silva's biggest achievement hasn't been establishing the club in the Premier League, but refusing to accept safety was enough - even when faced with selling his best players.
So how has he kept Fulham dreaming big?
Impact off the bench
It’s no coincidence that the teams aiming to cash in on the ‘big six’ regression this season all score a lot from the bench, with the ability of their managers to impact games seemingly a huge differential.
Fulham top the list.
Thirteen goals have been scored by Silva’s substitutions.
Five from Rodrigo Muniz, who has needed just 27 minutes or fewer to score four of his goals from the bench.
Harry Wilson has scored four, with all but one of Fulham's remaining bench goals coming from a winger or full-back, emphasising their heavy reliance on creation from the wings - particularly the left.
Adaptable playing style
Silva’s impressive work at Fulham comes down to adaptation and finding a way to work with what he has.
Having lost Aleksandar Mitrovic, Fulham stopped targeting their striker as much and opted to push their wingers inside, leaving space wide to cross low and on the floor instead of in the air.
Having lost Joao Palhinha, Silva opted to pair Sander Berge with Sasa Lukic so Fulham could gain more control in midfield.
Palhinha was a destroyer at breaking attacks up and aggressively marshalling the midfield, but Lukic-Berge’s combined strength makes up for it while giving Silva steadier possession in the middle of the pitch.
Adapt the game plan according to the outgoings as much as the incomings.
Focus on your strengths
Every one of Silva's Fulham teams has been built around his best or most important player. Currently it is left-back Antonee Robinson.
Did you know that Antonee Robinson has more assists this season than Fernandes, Palmer and Odegaard? 🫨@jamesallcott analyses the @FulhamFC defender's incredible campaign on The Breakdown 👇
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 20, 2025
Taking that further, the most important relationship in this team is between Alex Iwobi and Robinson, with their left-wing chance creation vital.
The emphasis has been to overload the left wing, ensuring that Iwobi drags a player out from either the defence or midfield to free up and play Robinson in on the overlap for the full-back to cross.
Robinson’s delivery is the cutting edge to create chances.
Fulham utilise Robinson so well because they normally have three or four players attacking the box to try to get on the end of his delivery.
With the central midfielder, winger and striker darting into the box, another player has to stay with them meaning they can’t come over to double up on Robinson or close Iwobi down which gives them more space in the isolated areas on the left.
It's a dangerous pattern of play that Fulham constantly look for because it puts one of the best full-backs in the league 1v1 with a defender and a player has to close down Iwobi because otherwise he'll be left to dribble at the defence.
Similarly, Iwobi can opt to go wide and Robinson can come inside attacking the half-space, cutting the ball back into the box or vice versa.
Either way, a full-back is dragged out wide and the player who isn’t pulling the full-back can run into the space in between full-back and centre-back.
When teams figure you out, adapt again
As teams began to figure out Fulham's left-wing bias as the season progressed, the addition of Calvin Bassey bombing forward from defence became an added outlet as defenders weren’t sure whether to go or stay with him driving into the box.
Once again, it was about adding another player to progress the ball into attack and occupy others.
As you can see, Bassey is the one dribbling but the other Chelsea players are reluctant to come across as they’re marking four Fulham players who are joining the attack and Robinson is left one-on-one wide again.
There is so much of an emphasis on Fulham to build attacks on the left, against teams that sit deep, Fulham have tended to switch the ball quickly to the right as defences have been dragged over to Robinson’s side.
A switch of play to Adama Traore allows the powerful winger to run at his full-back with the right-hand side exposed.
Silva was always a highly-rated coach and after it didn’t work out for him at Everton, Fulham was the project; the Portuguese is showing his ability.
The same goes for players who needed a fresh lease of life and have thrived since arriving in west London, with Iwobi and Raul Jimenez the best examples.
Fulham have been far too good for too long for the footballing world to not sit up and take notice.
And finally, it seems, Silva is starting to get the credit he deserves.
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