I’ve been a big fan of a lot of what Dyche has done so far but I think he made some really bad calls today. Missing Onana and Doucoure should be all the more reason to put 3 in the middle of the pitch but he opted to go with just an aging Gueye and Garner who was making his first start. When we moved Iwobi in and put Gray out wide we were instantly better- but had given Fulham a goal start and run round like headless chickens for half an hour.
It was also clear Silva had watched our game last week and were constantly looking for the quick switch from right to left, just like Man Utd did. Fulham left us exposed in wide areas all game by moving the ball quickly. Full backs are one of this teams glaring weaknesses and other teams have got wise to this. Doesn’t bode well ahead of Palace and their pacy wingers next week.
I’m also a bit baffled with his Maupay/Simms decision making. Pickford hoofed the ball up to Maupay who was never going to win anything and didn’t anticipate/ throw himself at Grays flick at the end of the first half. Simms has been given starts away at old Trafford and Anfield, then on both occasions been dropped for the following game. Why not give him a start against a team where we would be able to create more for him, like today?
Think he’s being a bit deluded over Calvert-Lewin, he seems to believe he’s going to come back injury free and play to the end of the season. Experience tells us that is highly unlikely. He’s trained for 2 weeks so have him on the bench. We’re now waiting for the inevitable Thursday press conference when he will have ‘felt something’ and need another month on the sidelines.
Despite this, I hope he’s pragmatic enough to learn from this and hopefully put some of this right before next week. Fingers crossed.