Fulham need to take more risks – and need more from Loftus-Cheek
Fulham were beaten once the second Leicester goal hit the back of the net.
They huffed and puffed the entire second half, but rarely looked like denting the visitors’ lead.
Too little cutting edge, too many deliberate passes, and too few shots, was clear to all.
Only a Tosin Adarabioyo header and a blocked effort from Aleksandar Mitrovic made Leicester hearts flutter.
That’s partially because Fulham don’t take enough gambles.
In the first half a terrific run from Antonee Robinson had him away and into the box. It looked easier to take a shot, but what did he do?
He tried to lay it off to Ademola Lookman, defenders were all over him like a rash, and the chance was gone.
Harrison Reed then got a chance on the edge of the box. Shoot!
Nope, he tried to find a team-mate in the box to no avail.
The direct running towards the box is a Fulham strength, and then they stop. They treat that final few yards like it was mined.
Lookman needs the ball more often and more accurately.
He makes runs off the shoulder, hovers ready to receive, but rarely gets played in.
The ball arrives too slowly for him to do anything significant.
Bad night for Anguissa
In contrast, what about the swiftness of the second Foxes goal?
Kelechi Iheanacho’s turn to sell Ola Aina and the pass to James Maddison was lightning.
That’s not in the Fulham armoury, and it’s why Lookman cuts a forlorn figure more often than he should.
The first Leicester goal came from a mistake by Andre-Frank Anguissa – actually two poor passes, and back-to-back.
The second was beyond Reed and City were away to cash in.
Anguissa has rightly earned the plaudits this season but he’s been found wanting in the last two matches by his standards.
For the next four minutes, he gave the ball away four times and then hoisted a deep penetrative pass – sadly, it was into the unbuilt Riverside Stand.
He gets through an immense amount of work does Frank, and maybe a tough season has him at full stretch.
Scott Parker appears to think the same way and withdrew the midfielder at half-time.
Loftus-Cheek flatters to deceive
Publicly, Fulham boss Parker stands by Ruben Loftus-Cheek. And sure, there is a powerful player just itching to show what he can do.
Sometimes the ball just doesn’t run for him, but most of the time his attempts at getting past a player run into a brick wall; his runs to receive are not quite right, or the ball bobbles at the wrong moment.
His chipped cross is just behind the goal, and so on.
Added up, he just doesn’t do enough.
A couple of goals for him would make a world of difference, but they don’t look on the horizon anytime soon.
They certainly won’t come if he gets hooked like he did with 20 minutes left.
More frustration for Mitro
No sooner does Mitrovic get praised than up go the exasperated arms.
He did well in the last two games, but was back to wondering how the referee could be so unfair as to not award him a penalty as he hit the deck at least twice in the second half. Clutching at straws came to mind.
How different it might have been had his first-time clip not caught the legs of Leicester’s James Justin in the first half.
