If one does not move forward in football, stagnation can quickly turn into regression. That is the fear of Marco Silva, whose substitutions seem inspired, but options are running thinner on the ground.
‘The plan didn’t go through’
A substitution stole the show once again for Fulham. Within two minutes of his entry off the bench, Emile Smith Rowe tucked away a cross from Alex Iwobi to level the score against the Red Devils.
“I'm very proud of the players that we have, the group, the togetherness in our in our squad. Again, this afternoon, the way the players they came in and they helped the team and they made a massive impact in the game. Last week was the same. The goal came from the bench.”
This is not a new phenomenon. Rodrigo Muniz rescued a point from the back post at a corner in injury time as the Cottagers clawed back a 1-1 draw against Brighton. They built the excellence of their previous campaign on contributions off the bench, and all the plaudits went to the players.
“Last season they were 17 goals from the bench. Speaks much more about themselves than about me. The character, the will they have always to go and to help the team. They are not happy to be on the bench for sure because if you are a professional, you want to be always there, but is unbelievable.”
Silva shall be wondering what might have happened this term if the transfer window went to plan.
For a fee of £500,000, Benjamin Lecomte has come into the dressing room as a deputy shot stopper to Bernd Leno. However, there have not been any incomings in terms of the outfield players, while **Willian**and **Carlos Vinicius**departed this summer as their contracts with the club have both expired.
“We lost two wingers, we lost one striker. Let's see what is going to happen with one of our midfielders as well. And we need and we have to sign. I think we don't have other solutions.”
Without any more wingers, the 48-year-old would have only Adama Traore and **Harry Wilson**as standard options for the position for up to a month in the most stressful section of the schedule.
“Of course, the plan didn't go through until now. The plan that we set and put on the table last May. We had now eight nine days to correct some things and to try to do our best definitely to sign.”
The Portuguese has portrayed his anger at the lack of work to evolve a squad that picked up a record-breaking 54 points last campaign. Especially as Iwobi will play with **Nigeria**in AFCON at the turn of the new year, it is essential that at least a couple of newcomers walk through the door this week.
“The players showed a great reaction. We all should be proud. Our fans they were fantastic as well but Premier League is much more than that. We are going to have a lot of games. We are going to have injuries, many things that they are involved in at level and in some positions we are short.”