Arbeloa: Difficult to Accept the Way We Lost the Game
Saturday, 10th Oct 2026 19:11
Fulham head coach Alvaro Arbeloa admitted it was difficult to accept the way his his still winless side were beaten 2-1 by the Blues at Portman Road, the Whites having been a goal in front until the 88th minute.
Ryan Sessegnon put the Cottagers in front in the 55th minute, before Abdoul Ouattara smashed home his first goal for the club with two minutes of scheduled time remaining and skipper Dara O’Shea bagged his first goal at Portman Road a minute into injury time to claim all three points.
“You know in the final moments, when you are winning away from home, the opposition will push you,” Arbeloa said. “They will try to put the ball into the box.
“I think when we scored the first goal, we needed to try to maintain what we were doing before we scored.
“We became very direct after taking the lead, but you need to try to keep doing the same things.
“It’s not easy because the opposition were playing well, but it is difficult to accept the way we lost this game.
“This is football, and when you don’t take your chances, your opponent will do so. It’s the same story. It’s another week. We must improve and we need points.”
Asked if mentality is the issue, he reflected: “I’m not sure if it is a mentality thing. When you are playing away from home and coming back from an international break, you can be a little bit tired, but it’s all about what you do after scoring the first goal.
“It’s similar to what we did against Manchester United \[when they drew 1-1, conceding a late leveller\]. It’s not easy, but we need to improve with the ball and maintain possession. We were a little bit unlucky, but we need to improve.
“It doesn’t matter if you concede in the first minute or the last. As a coach, I don’t like to concede goals.
“When you give the ball away so easily, the opposition will attack you, and we must change our mentality when we score.
“I am so happy with many things that my team are doing, and I know it is not easy for them.
“The most important thing is Fulham’s position, and we need points. It’s a massive game for us at home next week, and we need to be ready.”
Arbeloa, who took charge at Craven Cottage in the summer following Marco Silva’s departure after five years at the club, has had a difficult start to his tenure with the Whites second bottom of the Premier League on two points.
Quizzed on whether he finds it easy to block out pressure, Arbeloa, a player and manager with Real Madrid, added: “Me? Maybe you don’t know me, but I played for the best team in the world. I have coached the best team in the world. Maybe you didn’t know.
“But just to let you know that pressure is part of my life since I was a kid, so it’s normal in football, it’s normal for players, it’s normal for coaches, it’s normal for everybody that is around a team. Yes, I think pressure is something that is important for me and I like it.”
_Photo: TWTD_