Slavisa Jokanovic is under fire after Fulham fell bottom of the Premier League table following a 1-0 loss to Huddersfield Town.
Fulham fell to its sixth straight defeat across all competitions, failing to score for 326 straight minutes. In addition, the club has conceded 29 goals through 11 matches this season, the most goals conceded among all of the Top 5 European leagues. The goal conceded against Huddersfield was the first home goal the Terriers had scored in 659 straight minutes.
Jokanovic, who led Fulham to a 29-match winning streak last season in the Championship, slammed his players’ attitude in the Huddersfield loss, as it was evident the opponent was clearly more motivated throughout the match.
“I don’t know if it’s preparation of the game wasn’t good enough or if they didn’t understand how important this game was, like all the games are in the Premier League,” Jokanovic said in the post-match press conference. “At the end we were confused, I don’t know if some players were a bit scared of this kind of responsibility that was in front of us, and we didn’t perform enough. But to perform, you don’t need to be so talented to fight and show energy where we are competing in Premier League game.”
However, Jokanovic singled out young winger Ryan Sessegnon for his spirit during the defeat. “This is my sensation that many responsibilities are in front of youngest man in my team, Ryan Sessegnon tried push and tried forcing the situation,” Jokanovic said. “Other people need to offer more fight, personality, more quality and more work. If players have some kind of words after the game between them, but it’s a bit late.”
Sessegnon, still just 18 years old and coming off a season where he scored 15 Championship goals, was dangerous down the left despite playing from a position along the defensive line. Meanwhile, the midfield failed to make any sort of impact on the game, and with Huddersfield pinching Fulham to force the Whites into their weak central area. Andre-Zambo Anguissa struggled to win balls back in midfield, while captain Tom Cairney and expensive signing Jean-Michael Seri failed to prove influential.
Overall, the team that led the Championship in possession last season managed just a single shot on target the entire match. “If players have some kind of words after the game between them, but it’s a bit late,” Jokanovic said about the ability for the players to hold each other accountable. “We have opportunity to talk between 8 and 10 [PM GMT] and we didn’t talk enough with enough personality or power or with quality. At the end, we are hurt, we didn’t satisfy our level and the situation is in our hands for working hard and for improvement.”
