Ruben Amorim has been the protagonist in the Manchester United soap opera over the past week. His words. Marco Silva featured too. His name continued to come up with that job. But Fulham fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing their head coach is staying.
Silva and Amorim’s journeys share some similarities. Their playing careers began at Portuguese club Belenenses and, of course, they both coached Sporting. The question was always going to be asked.
“We have a good relationship,” Silva tells Sky Sports, tucked away in a small room at Fulham’s training ground. “Not a relationship that we speak every week but a good relationship. He’s a very good manager and this is a moment to welcome him to the Premier League.
“His qualities speak for themselves. He’s been doing a very, very good job in Portugal and he’s going to enjoy, for sure, the task that he has in front of him.”
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Jamie Carragher gives his verdict on Manchester United’s decision to appoint Ruben Amorim
This is just the latest appointment of a coach without Premier League experience to one of the traditional ‘big six’. Liverpool chose Arne Slot, Chelsea chose Enzo Maresca, Tottenham chose Ange Postecoglou, Man Utd chose Amorim and before him Erik ten Hag.
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Premier League-proven coaches like Silva and Brentford’s Thomas Frank – whose sides play each other on Monday Night Football, live on Sky Sports – continue to be overlooked. Are the so-called bigger clubs underappreciating the talent right under their noses?
“I don’t know and it’s difficult to answer,” says Silva. “Each club has people in charge to take decisions, important decisions for them. You have your idea what you want to achieve or to sign. And, when you go for a manager, it’s more or less the same thing.
“It’s the decisions from the club that we have to respect. Each one has to do his own job. About the future, you never know what is going to happen.”
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Third in the XG table? Marco Silva says Fulham have deserved more points this season
Silva will undoubtedly continue to be linked with the top jobs but, in the meantime, it feels only right to shine a light on the fine work he has done at Fulham since taking charge in the summer of 2021.
The Portuguese has restored the west London club to Premier League regulars after yo-yoing up and down from the Championship five times in the years preceding his appointment.
“I remember the way people were speaking about this football club after we won the Championship, the predictions from everybody speaking about the Premier League, what is going to happen with Fulham again,” he said.
Into Silva’s fourth campaign, the longest he has spent at one club, and no one is talking about relegation at Craven Cottage anymore. They’re only looking up.
“You can see the transformation in this football club in the last three seasons. Everyone recognises us, the quality that we play with, and that we have been able to lose players and still be really competitive.
Silva has had to cope with the departures of Aleksandar Mitrovic to Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal and Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich for club-record transfers in consecutive summers, reinventing his side each time, while establishing Fulham as mid-table regulars.
Aleksandar Mitrovic was a big loss for Fulham
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Marco Silva says Fulham must move on from Joao Palhinha
“We are pleased but we want more,” he said. “Our ambition is bigger, at the same time realistic. Myself, as a manager, my staff, the players, we share this ambition between all of us and we are going to work really hard to achieve something special.”
Tenth and then 14th is not enough to qualify as special at Fulham, even if Silva’s return in his first season was just one shy of Roy Hodgson’s 53 points in the club’s best Premier League campaign, a seventh-placed finish in 2008/09.
Fulham have played at the level of a side ready to smash through that glass ceiling this season, although results have not matched performances at times. They approach Monday Night Football winless in their last three games, having led in all of them.
Dropped points at Manchester City, a 3-2 defeat, and Everton, a 1-1 draw, have been particularly frustrating for Fulham. Two games they could – and probably should – have won.
If the table was decided by expected goals, Fulham would be third – behind Liverpool and City – heading into the weekend. Silva does not pay too much attention to metrics like this but agrees that it tells a story of how well his side have started the season.
“That is a consequence of what we’ve been seeing on a matchday,” Silva said. “It reflects that we have been creating a lot of chances and been dominant during the matches. To be honest, we deserve much more points than we have right now.”
Silva is experienced enough to know that counts for nothing. Only Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta have been in their current position as a Premier League coach for longer. Going back further, he has those years with Hull, Watford and Everton, too.
“It [does not feel] so long but it’s been really long,” he admitted. “It’s a good feeling and when I say that, it’s a good sign. I’m not tired at all. I’m ready to go some more.
“Of course, right now I’m different than I was seven years ago when I first arrived.”
Perhaps it is these experiences, this overfamiliarity, that has kept Silva from making the next step. Slot’s appointment as Jurgen Klopp’s successor prompted similar thoughts.
Eddie Howe is probably the best example of a coach that experienced failure in the Premier League, as well as hugely overachieving, before being given the chance to prove himself at a higher level. He took it with both hands.
By no means does this diminish the merits of the coaches mentioned earlier, most of whom are proving their worth. It just raises the question of how we measure talents closer to home.
