Why Chelsea FINALLY Turned A Corner.
Fulham defender Tim Ream was back to his imperious best against Luton Town yesterday at Craven Cottage.
Although Fulham only won the match 1-0, Ream was once again in control of the game from his defensive position.
The stats from SofaScore suggest there was no hangover from the break in domestic football for the veteran American international.
It’s been an interesting season so far for Marco Silva’s side after a brilliant campaign last year on their return to the Premier League.
There were no expectations on the team when they faced Arsenal and Manchester City and a point at the Emirates was a fantastic result.
A win over Everton was very welcome given their current predicament although they were indebted to Bernd Leno in goal.
A derby day defeat to Brentford was the low point but felt inevitable at that stage with question marks over Fulham’s summer activity in the transfer market.
Yesterday’s match against Luton Town was the first time there was any real expectation on Fulham and they controlled the game in familiar fashion through Tim Ream at the back.
It was reminiscent of a performance from their Championship winning season albeit with a very different scoreline to the last time Luton visited the Cottage.
They couldn’t replicate their 7-0 drubbing without Aleksandar Mitrovic, although Carlos Vinicius getting off the mark for the season will be a huge relief to many Fulham fans.
New signing Raul Jimenez was once again given the nod over the Brazilian to start but has to score his first competitive goal for the Whites.
Ream inspires Fulham to Luton win
As per SofaScore, Tim Ream put in a performance that was reminiscent of Fulham’s performances in the second tier.
He won seven of his 10 duels, but it was his in-possession stats that Fulham fans would be more familiar with.
He took 156 touches throughout the match and completed 140 of his 148 passes.
It’s an extremely high number and although Fulham didn’t create too many clear-cut opportunities, they didn’t allow Luton to take control of the game thanks to Ream.
The £30,000-a-week defender will be under pressure from Calvin Bassey for his place in the side this season.
The Nigerian international has started brightly at Fulham when called upon.
However, Ream’s experience and familiarity with Silva’s system makes him one of the first names on the team sheet right now.
