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Sessegnon saves the day against The Saints
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Gavin looks back on Fulham's trip to Southampton as Marco Silva's men left it very late to come away with all three points from St Mary's.
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Transcript
Fulham's Crucial Win and European Aspirations
00:00:01
Speaker
Every club. Every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network. work What's up everybody, welcome back to the Daily Fulham Podcast, brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network, delivering you the latest news and views from across the Premier League, as well as women's football.
00:00:19
Speaker
My name is Gavin Ruffell, and today I'm looking back on the most recent instalment of the Late Late Show, courtesy of Fulham Football Club. For 91 minutes, it was looking like another disaster on the south coast, but Fulham, while they just about managed to save themselves in the nick of time, after capitulating later on last week, the shoe was well and truly on the other foot, and they secured the crucial three points in their fight for European football next season.
00:00:44
Speaker
So heading into the game, the plan was to arrest this slide, 4 defeats in 5 games, 3 straight defeats on a bounce away from home, it looks like the form is just teetering at the wrong time of the season, looks like they had been running out of steam potentially.
00:00:58
Speaker
So on the surface you feel like
Lineup Challenges and Key Replacements
00:01:00
Speaker
a game against Southampton, team that's been awful all season, collecting only 11 points. you feel this is the perfect opportunity to gain those three points in what could prove pivotal come the end of the season. But as we know with Fulham, games against the teams at the bottom end have proved to be far more difficult than they should be, really. Specifically looking at the game earlier on in the season, where they drew 0-0 with Southampton, which was one of only two clean sheets the Saints have managed to keep in the entirety of the campaign. So I think a lot Fulham fans would have been expecting win, but nobody...
00:01:32
Speaker
was guaranteeing a win based on what we've seen this season. So heading into this one, how would Fulham line up? Well, a little bit of a surprise on the team sheet. We knew Rodrigo Meniz was going to be out. Big blow for Fulham. And it's looking likely that he's going to be out for the remainder of the season. So that's a big loss for them to overcome.
00:01:50
Speaker
But the other surprise on the team sheet was to see Anthony Robinson out of the side, which meant that Ryan Sessignon filled in at left back. We've seen Ryan Sessignon obviously playing in more advanced role this season. So he was back playing at left-back where we've seen him a couple of times in the cup competitions this season and obviously at the start of his Fulham career.
00:02:06
Speaker
So we would have been interesting see how he would do. But you felt if there was ever a game for him to play at left-back in the Premier League, then this was probably one of those games. And the other interesting one was Sasa Lukic coming out of the team. We saw a first start for Harry Wilson since his injury.
First Half Struggles and Southampton's Lead
00:02:20
Speaker
And this is something I spoke about recently about that little midfield conundrum.
00:02:24
Speaker
in certain games how full them going to look to go about things because maybe with burger and lucas you don't get that attacking output necessarily as well as they do in other things maybe you want a bit more of an attacking mind in midfield so this was the game for that so it was interesting to see how they kind of fitted everyone in willian also coming back into the side as well and the early stages of the game they took on a pattern you kind of would have expected really with full them dominating the ball southampton happy content to just sit in put men behind the ball and look to counter fullham if they could possibly do so but despite that early possession fuller weren't creating too much for southampton to be concerned about a lot of the play was coming from the left-hand side with session you're on combining lot of interplay between him and william session you're often getting on the overlap
00:03:10
Speaker
A very advanced position despite playing at left back. Willian had the first opportunity for Fulham. It's a shot from about 20 yards. He's just to the left of the penalty area and he just puts it past Ramsdale's far post.
00:03:24
Speaker
Southampton not really causing much of a problem at this stage. But lo and behold, they are the team that go in front and it comes from a set piece. Andres Pereira foul about 25 yards out to the left of central.
00:03:37
Speaker
And Southampton score as a result. a great delivery from Ryan Manning, begging to be attacked. And it's Jack Stephens who does just that, who's able to head it home. Southampton going to the lead 1-0.
00:03:49
Speaker
And once again, Fulham are having to play catch-up, aren't they? This inability to keep clean sheets this season has reared its ugly head once again to the worst team in the league. They like to make things difficult for themselves. And...
00:04:01
Speaker
They have to come from behind this time around. So after the goal, so they do actually show some initiative. You wonder if after that goal, they are just going to just completely shut up shop and then just ask for them, what have you got to break us down? But they did actually show some intent going forward.
00:04:17
Speaker
There were some half-hearted claims for penalty as Ross Stewart goes tumbling in the box under pressure from Calvin Bassey. But those claims were quickly waved away. Another semi-decent chance to Southampton for Suleimane. It's a little bit of a collision inside the box with Joachim Andersson. You wonder if the player goes down. if There are claims for penalty but he stays on his feet and gets his shot away.
00:04:40
Speaker
And Bert Leno saves low down. Pretty comfortable. but it just wasn't happening for Fulham in the half a lot of possession but they weren't creating chances again the crossing was either straight in Ramsdale's hands or over hit I think the half was best summed up when Ramsdale under no real pressure missed kicks a clearance gifts it straight to Fulham straight to Harry Wilson and then they just keep the ball for about 30 40 seconds after that and they can't muster anything can't muster a shot on goal so it was very comfortable half of Southampton despite Fulham's possession there are a couple of chances later on in a half that fall to Jimenez. Fulham were having a lot of corners and we know how they struggle from set pieces this season but they did actually look quite dangerous from corners and they were having first contact a lot of them but they weren't coming to anything.
00:05:23
Speaker
Certainly Ramsdale wasn't pressurized into making a save but Jimenez does have a chance from a corner. It's a cross that goes over a lot of heads and Raul Jimenez he's just slightly leaning back hits an effort into the ground and goes harmlessly wide.
00:05:35
Speaker
He has another chance after that again from across, which he just volleys, balloons it over the bar, almost hits the moon. And Southampton go in 1-0 up, and it was just... It was an embarrassing half from Fulham, to be honest, against a side near the bottom of the table.
00:05:50
Speaker
They didn't really stretch them. They didn't make them work hard to be 1-0 up. Southampton got their goal camped inside their own half for the remainder of it, and it was just very comfortable. And you just thinking... At this stage of the season where you've still got something to play for. You are the team that's got something to play for. Southampton have been relegated for weeks now.
00:06:07
Speaker
You just wonder where is the desire. The players looked a bit half-hearted. seemed as if they were on the beach. And they were just going through the motions almost. And you want to grab them and say hang on a sec. What are you doing here? Come on. There's still something to play for. This is an important game. You've got to win this game.
00:06:23
Speaker
Let's be honest. If you can't beat Southampton, who are you going to beat? So... Yeah, not what the doctor ordered in that first half. Very similar limp display to what we saw the last time they were
Halftime Changes and Tactical Adjustments
00:06:34
Speaker
away from home against Bournemouth. it's quite frustrating that this is becoming a recurring problem.
00:06:39
Speaker
where they don't start on the front foot in games, they let games pass them by, and then they're almost playing catch-up, they're having to react to situations caused by their own undoing. So yeah I don't know what Marco Silva would have said at half-time, but he must have had stern words with him because it wasn't an acceptable enough performance.
00:06:58
Speaker
And I'll get on to the second half shortly after a few words about our sponsors. Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform.
00:07:09
Speaker
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00:07:21
Speaker
If you're ready to tell your story, check out the link in the show description to learn more about Zencastr. So we talked about Marco Silva there and the stern words he must have had in the dressing room at half time.
00:07:32
Speaker
Well, that's indicated by the changes he made at half time, which saw Pereira come off. We also saw Sander Berger come off as well. Lukic coming on as a replacement and Adama Traore coming on as a replacement and seeing Adama Traore come off the bench.
00:07:46
Speaker
It didn't fill me with great inspiration that he would make a massive difference just based on what i've seen from him lately. He came off the bench against Bournemouth and he came off the bench against Chelsea and he did nothing. So wasn't exactly pinning my hopes on him to spark the turnaround.
00:07:59
Speaker
The change saw Harry Wilson play in a more centralised position with Traore going out to the right. And Southampton, they started the second half very deep. They were inviting pressure and they were just asking for them, have you got Inja to break us down?
00:08:14
Speaker
I felt Iwobi's performance throughout the first half and continuing into the second half was very slack. Some very loose passes, many inaccurate crosses, and he just wasn't able to create anything even for himself or his teammates.
00:08:28
Speaker
Fulham were often getting first contact, as I said, from corners, but they just weren't doing anything with it. But they do come very close to a goal. Adama Traore cuts in from the right-hand side. Zafampton players can't get close to him, and he just lays it off to Willian, who's taken up a position right on the edge of the box.
00:08:45
Speaker
Gets a shot away quickly. Ramsdale's beaten, but it hits his post. And you're just wondering, is it going to be one of those days where it's not going to happen? You have plenty of possession, plenty of territory. but don't do enough to win the game. And this has been Fulham's problem this season, hasn't it?
00:09:01
Speaker
Breaking down teams who sit behind the ball, playing that low block. Fulham have just sometimes lacked the ideas, lacked the ingenuity, lacked the incisiveness to cut through these teams and find that telling factor that will make the difference when the space isn't always there. There's a little break in play. I think it's following a Fulham corner. Jack Stephens stays down. Just a little bit the gamesmanship for Southampton there.
00:09:22
Speaker
The dark arts, call it what you want. They needed it at that stage because it was relentless pressure from
Comeback Victory and Key Performances
00:09:27
Speaker
Fulham. So Fompton was struggling to get out of their half. So anything they could do just to break up play, break up the rhythm.
00:09:33
Speaker
They needed to do that to give themselves the best opportunity of getting the result. There is a rare foray forward for Fompton in the second half as Kyle Walker-Peters, he wriggles through.
00:09:44
Speaker
some fulham defenders gets a shot away in the box on his weaker left side but it's a comfortable save for leno but at least the fampton had worked the keeper because up until this point fulham still hadn't managed to engineer a shot on target i felt like willian was fulham's bright spark and if anything good in the game was going to happen then it was going to come through willian however he was replaced and i don't think that was Based on his performance, because if it was based on performance, I felt Iwobi certainly had a worse game than him.
00:10:14
Speaker
And obviously Harry Wilson as well hadn't managed to fashion anything, so to speak. And with him just coming back from injury, he could have easily been hooked as well. But probably the fact that William at his age can't complete 90 minutes was the reason he was taken off.
00:10:28
Speaker
And Emile Smithrow was brought on. Smithrow, of course, missing last game with injury. Archer comes on for Southampton and within moments almost makes an instant impact.
00:10:38
Speaker
From an acute angle, he hits Bernd Leno's upright. An attempted cross that he shanked, which has ended up hitting the post. So despite Fulham's constant pressure, there was still the odd danger sign.
00:10:49
Speaker
But for 95% of that second half, Southampton were tasked with being resilient and resolute, having good shape, being well organised. We know this interim manager, he's spoken in the week about how important it is to be organised and to look to keep clean sheets.
00:11:04
Speaker
which is where maybe he's varied from the other managers who have been guilty at times of maybe overplaying this manager or interim managers focus on being tougher to beat. And we saw that last week in the game against West Ham.
00:11:16
Speaker
We saw that earlier in the season when he was in charge for the game at Craven Cottage. So Fulham were going to have to do it themselves. They weren't going to be gifted opportunities by Sir Hampton to get themselves back into the game.
00:11:27
Speaker
And Emile Smith-Rowe, shortly after coming on, he does make an impact and he gets himself on the score sheet. He makes a good run into the box and the Wobies over on the left side. He lofts the ball over the top for him and his first touch is brilliant. Gets it out in front of him. It's fashion of shooting opportunity.
00:11:44
Speaker
No hesitation to get it shot off. and it deflects in off Bednarek goes past Ramsdale no luck there for Svampden that's the luck you kind of get when you're at the bottom of the table isn't it but for Emile Smithrow a massive goal in what's been a bit of a troubling time recently so with 20 minutes left in the game the onus now is on Fulham to turn this around and to get the three points Svampden points have been hard to come by haven't they so if they can hang on to a 1-1 then that's certainly a positive result in a season where there haven't been positive results more corners for Fulham still waiting for end product
00:12:15
Speaker
there is a chance for 2-1 a big save from aaron ramsdale it's a very similar opportunity to the one we saw from willian earlier on in half where adam atraro again he cuts in from the right hand side goes through a few bodies and he slides in emil smith rowe quick control set and strike looks like it's angling into the goal but ramsdale has to make a smart save to tip it behind for yet another fulham corner their umpteenth by this stage It's another big chance for Raul Jimenez. Again, it's good work from Adama Torre. This time, he goes on the outside, delivers across with his right foot, stands it up to the back post, and Raul Jimenez, it falls to him nicely. He can't wish for a better opportunity, but just can't guide his head either side of Ramsdale. Instead, it's straight of the goalkeeper.
00:13:00
Speaker
Time is running out. Six minutes added on. Can Fulham possibly get that winner to avenge the late defeat of last week? The answer that is yes.
00:13:11
Speaker
And the man who steps up, right place at the right time, cometh the hour, cometh Ryan Session. And once again, it's good wing play from Adama Traore. Gets a cross in on his right foot.
00:13:22
Speaker
There's Ryan Session, nine or ten yards out. He stoops low, heads it in, and Aaron Ramsdale's beaten as the ball goes in at his far post. And Ryan Session's away celebrating very important goal.
00:13:35
Speaker
One of a few he's had recently. And every time he's scored this season. Fulham have won. And this time it's no different. Fulham are able to see out the remainder of the game. To come away with the three points from the south coast.
00:13:47
Speaker
Massive three points for Fulham. And I'll be giving my closing thoughts. After this quick message. Your body is unique. And Global Sports Podcast Network has partnered with Bionique, the world's most personalized supplements.
00:14:02
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:14:24
Speaker
Don't settle for off-the-shelf solutions made for just anybody. Get what's right for you right now. On a day where Brighton came from behind to win late on, Fulham did likewise, and who knows how important that three points might be come the end of the season and in this race for European football, because if they hadn't had won, it would have been disaster. It was looking like a very likely scenario for 70 minutes, wasn't it? Because Sir Fampton were pretty comfortable.
00:14:49
Speaker
Okay, in the second half, there was a lot of backs to the wall, a lot defending they had to do. Fulham had more chances, although Aaron Ramsdale, he wasn't overworked. He had to make a couple of saves, one in particular from...
00:15:01
Speaker
Emile Smith Rowe at 1-0 but aside from that other saves he had to make were pretty comfortable so it was looking like worst case scenario and pushed a panic button if you're losing in at St Mary's to a side that don't win football games especially given the fact you hadn't beaten them earlier you on in the season. We know Southampton have only kept two clean sheets all season so it was ah a possibility in that second half looking at them keeping a third clean sheet in the second against Fulham thinking oh no what is going on but Credits to Fulham for showing that character to come back. Obviously, it was a tough, devastating defeat last time around to lose so late on against your rivals who overcame a deficit there. This time, Fulham, well...
00:15:39
Speaker
They managed to do it themselves and two absolutely massive goals in the context of the season because it just looked like the season was on the verge of breaking down, in all honesty. Five defeats in six would have been unthinkable, really. And with that result, they've managed to avoid the first straight defeat, something they haven't had this season. Hopefully, they don't manage that at all in the remaining games because they will definitely miss out on European football. But credit to Marco Silva for the changes he made at half-time.
00:16:07
Speaker
I wasn't that inspired seeing those changes, seeing Adama Traore come on, because I've seen him come on recently in games, trying to affect them, and he's had no effect at all. But Silva said afterwards that he wanted him on because he wanted to create 1v1 situations, and he made a difference. He had the assist for the winning goal for Sessignon, and...
00:16:25
Speaker
In that second half, he was he was a nuisance. He was a havoc for those Southampton defenders because because they didn't get close enough to him. Often he was drifting in from the right-hand side to create space, to create chances for other players.
00:16:37
Speaker
couple of good crosses on his right foot. So he certainly made an impact and affected this game in a positive way, something we've not seen from him. in a little while also emil smith row massive goal for emil smith row guy who's taken a lot of criticism recently and you've got to say rightly so because this is a guy who cost 35 million pound and you don't want to bring up the price tag but ultimately when things aren't going right that price tag is going to be brought up isn't it and i feel like he is a confidence player he's probably a player that needs an arm around his shoulder And he'll be the first to admit performances from him have not been great recently, have not been up to the mark.
00:17:11
Speaker
Had a little injury, little setback, missed the Chelsea game. So coming off the bench here and to score, it's absolutely huge for his confidence. And who knows what that can do for him for the rest of the season going forward from this point on. And i always say it when players are going through a bad run, confidence isn't there. It doesn't matter what part of your body, if it comes off your backside, your knee.
00:17:32
Speaker
Deflects in off you, deflects in off our position player. All you want to see is that ball nestled in the back of the net. Did for him and he could have added to his tally shortly after that if it wasn't for a fine Aaron Ramsdale save.
00:17:42
Speaker
Absolutely delighted for the player because the weight of the world's probably been lifted after that goal and especially seeing his team go on to win the game knowing that he's had a contribution, had a telling contribution to Fulham winning the game. So...
00:17:55
Speaker
Absolutely massive goal for him. And Ryan Session. I was pleased to see Ryan Session in this game playing at left back because he could have easily, Marco Silva, known one Anthony Robinson's injured. By
European Qualification Hopes and Strategic Success
00:18:05
Speaker
the way, he came out afterwards, Silva, to say that Robinson in the last five or six games actually been playing through pain. And maybe that's indicative of Fulham squad not having the backup if in that position. That's why he's almost been forced into playing when he's not feeling 100%. hopefully... for the next game he's ready he is 100% ready to go because we know how important a player Anthony Robinson has been for Fulham maybe the performances in recent times haven't been quite up to an arc maybe the fact that he has been playing through pain will will it help to explain that so I was happy to see Ryan Sessing on
00:18:36
Speaker
At left back for this game. I know there's other games, there's other opposition where if he was playing at left back, you'd have your doubts and Marco Silva could easily have played Castaner left back. But he went for the attacking option of Ryan Session, knowing that Fulham would have a lot of the ball and he'd be doing more attacking than defending.
00:18:54
Speaker
and he comes up with the goods right at the crucial time. and If you think back to the Bournemouth game a couple of weeks ago, he had a much simpler headed chance than this one, but with this goal it's instinctive.
00:19:06
Speaker
He doesn't have time to think about it. With this one the pace is on the delivery and he just guides his header beautifully as if he scored a ton of those sort of goals. Look, Fulham deserved to win the game, didn't they?
00:19:16
Speaker
If you look at every metric from this game, possession, shots, corners, XG, it was all heavily tilted in favour of Fulham. All that matters the final score and that's 2-1 to Fulham and it's a huge win after what's been a difficult few weeks and Fulham need to push on from here now.
00:19:34
Speaker
Whilst Fulham did win, I can't say it was necessarily a great team performance and everyone was 7 or 8 out of 10. There were one or two players that were below par. He could have made many changes at half-time and the players that went off Pereira and Sanderberger could have easily been two other players.
00:19:49
Speaker
given the way the first half went and Marco Silva, he lamented that first half performance. And as a manager, you get judged on those decisions and the changes you make. Probably easy in that situation to say, look, it's not been a good 45 minutes as a collective.
00:20:04
Speaker
I'll give you guys another 15 minutes and then we'll see what changes can make after that. But he knew at half time he needed to make changes to impact this game, to be that point of difference. The manager took some criticism for the subs against Chelsea but there's no doubt this time around that these substitutions and the timing of them against Southampton proved to be an undeniable success.
00:20:26
Speaker
A very much needed victory for Fulham. Wasn't as comfortable and convincing as many would have hoped for but they got the job done. Away form hasn't been good recently losing the previous three so any win no matter how they did it was always going to be a welcome relief.
00:20:44
Speaker
Okay, there would have been some disappointment in the Brighton result, the fact that they scored a late winner as well, but you can only look yourselves at this stage of the season. though Having said that, as a fan, you will automatically be drawn to the fixtures of all those teams, the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton and Brentford. Everyone will have their eyes set on those games and what they're doing and thinking, oh, they got a tough game here, they might drop points. doesn't always work out like that, does it? So you've just got to take care of business to yourselves and not worry too much about what's going on elsewhere because you don't have any control over that.
00:21:15
Speaker
Four games left to go and you start trotting out that old cliche, take one game at a time. I think Marco Silva said it's almost full cup finals now. Just one other quick side note.
00:21:26
Speaker
I mean, we're still talking about European qualification, thinking it goes down to wave. Of course, Crystal Palace are now in the e FA Cup final, so that could complicate matters even further. But again, we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there. You can't worry about hypotheticals at this stage.
00:21:41
Speaker
Just take care of business and see where that gets you. Fulham, they're through the 50-point barrier. One more win will secure their record points, Tali. Let's hope they can achieve that. Let's hope now they can carry some momentum going into the next game and do something which they've not really managed to do this season, which is string wins together back to back to back to back.
00:22:03
Speaker
Maybe. That'll just about do it for today's recap of all the events from St Mary's as Fulham just about managed to beat Southampton.
00:22:13
Speaker
Thank you all once again for listening. I'll catch you all very soon.
00:22:23
Speaker
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