In Focus: Cottagers have foundations to enjoy long-term stay in top flight

For the third time in the past five seasons, Fulham have secured promotion to the Premier League.

After play-off successes in 2017-18 and 2019-20, the Cottagers have secured an automatic spot with four games to spare this time around.

But having dropped straight back into the second tier in each of their last two campaigns in the top flight, how can Marco Silva buck that trend and help Fulham avoid that fate this time around?

Keep Mitro firing

It is often said that 40-goal striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is too good for the Championship and not good enough for the Premier League.

But that is not necessarily true. He scored just three times in 27 appearances in the 2020-21 campaign but prior to that had 21 goals in 77 top-flight games.

That includes 11 for Fulham when they were relegated two years earlier. If he gets service, Mitrovic knows where the back of the net is.

American defender Tim Ream, 34, said: “We all believe he can [score goals] and that’s all that matters.

“He believes he can and Marco [Silva] believes he can — when you have the belief of your manager anything is possible.

“We know what makes him score goals and the service he gets so let’s see — he did it in the first year, he had 11 goals in a team that got relegated which is pretty good.”

Smart business

It is safe to say that Fulham’s business in the transfer market has not been great when preparing for Premier League seasons.

Ahead of the 2018-19 season they spent £100million on 12 players, including Mitrovic. It did not go to plan.

A quick turnaround due to coronavirus meant preparing for their last top-flight campaign was difficult but they still added 13 new faces to the squad two years ago.

This time around, securing promotion in mid-April should give them the time to plan properly.

Silva said: “It will be a huge challenge for us but we have to do the right things to prepare.

“When you achieve something so important early in the season, that gives you time to prepare in the right way and we have to do that.”

Safe stopper between the sticks

Silva and Fulham need to sign a Premier League No1 — and they need to do it quickly.

Loanee Alphonse Areola performed that role last time round after Marek Rodak started the first couple of games of the season.

In 2018-19, their keeper situation was nothing short of a farce as Marcus Bettinelli, Fabri and Sergio Rico all started games.

Rodak won the starting spot back from Paulo Gazzaniga back in October but it would not be a surprise to see another manager decide the top flight is a step too far for the 25-year-old Slovakia international.

Stick with Silva

Fulham need not panic if they start the season poorly under Silva — they must stick with their boss.

They had three separate managers in 2018-19, while they kept with Scott Parker last time around.

But the Englishman had far less experience than Silva and there were plenty of fans unsure he had the ability to keep a team in the top division.

From the outside, it looks like Silva has built a good relationship with the Craven Cottage faithful.

Sacking him after a few poor results may not be the answer — some longer-term thinking is needed.

Ignore the noise

As soon as the Cottagers’ promotion was confirmed, plenty of fans ironically welcomed them back to the Championship for the 2023-24 season.

There is an expectation that they will continue their yo-yo existence and drop straight back down.

But Fulham have to cut out the noise and focus on themselves, they cannot afford a mentality to creep into the squad that 17th is acceptable.

Silva said: “You cannot go for a season with this concern [relegation] on our mind, you have to go with full desire and ambition.

“Sometimes it’s very difficult for teams going up to achieve what they want the season after, but it’s part of our job.