Goal of the week
Rodrigo Muniz continued his brilliant form in Fulham’s 3-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday. The Brazilian forward has scored twice, taking his tally to seven goals and an assist in his last seven games.
Muniz has developed into a clinical finisher. “When he came, 20 years old and not speaking a word of English, he wasn’t even a starter in Brazil,” Fulham manager Marco Silva said after the match.
But Muniz has been busy scoring goals since the turn of the year. He has made his game clearer, has become more decisive in the penalty area and makes better decisions. He has linked up with left-back Antonee Robinson, who created Fulham’s opener with another trademark delivery from the left.
Transfer oddity of the week
The biggest losers in Muniz’s recent form: Chelsea.
Chelsea tried to sell Armando Broja in the January transfer window to allay FFP concerns, by a reported a figure of £50 million at the peak. Clubs across Europe laughed (rightly) at Chelsea’s asking price. And so the club did the only sensible thing: they loaned Broja to Fulham, hoping that a run of mid-season games would boost his value heading into the summer transfer window.
Not so fast. Muniz’s form has kept Broja out of Fulham’s starting line-up. As a result of Broja not play, Fulham were forced to do so hands over £4 million to Chelsea – an insurance policy the club has taken out in case Broja cannot crack Silva’s starting lineup.
Adding £4m to the coffers for nothing sounds like a good deal in theory, but it has had the unintended effect of detonating Broja’s value this summer. Who is going to shell out £50m for a striker who couldn’t make it into Fulham’s starting position?
And then there’s this. Chelsea’s ‘transfer strategy’, they would tell you, is multi-faceted. One of those tentacles is supporting the Brinks trucks in Brazil and signing young players, as if Clearlake Capital were the first people to ever play Football Manager. In total, the club paid £44 million for Deivid Washington, Ângelo and Andrey Santos. The trio played sixteen minutes together for the club in the Premier League this season.
Oh, and when Clearlake inevitably pursues Muniz’s signature this summer, it will likely cost them more than they could recoup with a Broja sale.
Player of the week
Want to see the most fearless performance in the Premier League this season? Come on Antonee Robinson against Spurs.
The USMNT left back has long been a standout defensive player, capable of holding his own in a one-on-one duel and carefully matched to the team’s defensive frequency. But he has become the creative lynchpin of Silva’s side this season.
Robinson’s underlying numbers don’t match his raw performance, but he’s making a (long-awaited) mini-leap as a playmaker. As a young player, Robinson’s game was based on surging runs and breakaway speed. Now that he’s turning 26, all of that is still there, but it comes with a new maturity. He moves the ball faster. He no longer puts his head down and drives into crowded hallways. He is smarter with his movements and more subtle in the final third.
Robinson’s tremendous speed and touch have always overshadowed the fact that he is a smart player, with an elite feel for the game. But speed strengthens other skills. The energy from Robinson’s fastbreaks flows through the rest of the court, creating space for his teammates and collapsing the opponent’s carefully constructed defensive formation.
Tottenham had no answer for Robinson. His pace scared the Tottenham players. Give him room to roam, and he’ll take to it. Double or triple and he has the smarts to get rid of the ball quickly.
This is how Tottenham lined up against Aston Villa last week when they beat Aston Villa 4-0:
This is against Robinson’s Fulham:
Discover the differences? Robinson’s threat on the left had a knock-on effect for everyone in a Tottenham shirt: Pedro Porro was pinned further back and started attacks in his own half; Pape Matar Sarr was drawn further wide, with Dejan Kulusevski dropping back in an attempt to triple Robinson; Son Heung-min, who prefers to start on the left before drifting towards the center of the field, took a step back and to the right, trying to bring some balance to the proceedings.
Few full-backs can change the geometry of the pitch so radically. If Robinson was just a winger masquerading as a fullback, that would be one thing. But he is better defensive than he goes forward.
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Robinson masters ways to exploit the attention he’s starting to attract. He has led the league in mixed play situations over the past three months, tempting teams to shuffle to the other side of the field to slow down his runs before quickly switching plays to the other side of the field. During that period, Fulham thrived on home turf, beating Brighton, Manchester United, Bournemouth, Tottenham and Arsenal by an aggregate score of 13–3.
Disallowed goal of the week
West Ham were denied the winner in the 97th minute in a 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa on Sunday. After a VAR inspection, referee Jarred Gillett ruled that the ball had been hit Tomáš Soucekhis arm on the way to the net.
David Moyes was furious after the match… despite the evidence from his eyes and ears. “We’ve seen two angles and it’s impossible to see,” Moyes said. “The mail is in the way.” Even Souček seemed confused as it took the officials six minutes to figure out that he had dunked the ball into the net.
However, Moyes’ frustration was understandable. It was the second goal disallowed for West Ham, who had Michail Antonio’s second-half effort ruled out due to another handball.
Replacement of the week
Aston Villa escaped London with a draw, despite a mediocre performance. West Ham were the better team for an hour before Unai Emery turned to his bench for an injection of energy.
Villa came alive on the hour mark, after Matty Cash, Moussa Diaby and Nicolò Zaniolo had been introduced. And it was Diaby and Zaniolo who combined for Villa’s only goal of the match.
Emery has shown a knack for switching up games with his moves off the bench. Zaniolo’s goal marked the 18th time this season that one of Emery’s substitutes has been involved in a goal, the third best in the league.
It was an ugly point in the end. But it was a point nonetheless, and one that increased Villa’s lead over Tottenham in the Champions League.
The Spurs Award for Ultimate Spursy-ness
Beating Aston Villa 4-0 in what was billed as a ‘Champions League decider’ and then losing 3-0 to Fulham on the road is the highlight Spursy-ness.
Ange Postecoglou has refused in recent weeks to acknowledge that Tottenham are in the race for the Champions League. “Fourth place is not my final goal,” Postecoglou said after the defeat at Fulham. “I don’t want to finish fourth if we haven’t grown as a team. If no one believes me, that’s fine.”
Postecoglou wants his side to show they have teeth in the latter part of the season, regardless of where they finish. That mentality is admirable. He’s talking about the bigger picture, about trying to build a championship culture. But the defeat at Fulham blew a hole in his logic. It was a clumsy performance, lacking the trademark spark of a Postecoglou team or the appetite of an upstart contender.
“It wasn’t good enough,” Son said after the match. “We didn’t put in the effort we put into this season. The performance, the attitude was not good enough. Everyone needs a big wake-up call.”
And that’s what will sting Postecoglou the most: the lack of intensity. Pressure is ingrained in the Australian’s style, but Fulham outwitted Spurs for 90 minutes. Eight Fulham players finished with 15 or more pressures. Only Kulusevski and Son registered fifteen or more pressures for Tottenham.
Fourth place may not be the ultimate goal, but it is a way station in Postecoglou’s bid to put an end to the club’s Spursy ways. Saturday was a chance for Spurs to draw level with Aston Villa with a game in hand. They dropped the ball.