Whites verdict: Eze might have made all the difference had Fulham signed him
How did Fulham not beat Crystal Palace?
The game ended like it started, with Whites on the front foot but yet again coming up short.
Josh Maja thought he had earned the breakthrough with a fine second-half header, but keeper Vicente Guaita kept it goalless.
The 0-0 result, Fulham’s fifth of the season, comes under the acceptable banner. But a sixth, seventh and eighth won’t be enough for Scott Parker’s troops to avoid the drop.
The head coach has to carve out wins, and he knows it.
To underline the need, there was the intriguing prospect of Maja and Aleksandar Mitrovic on the pitch at the same time – at least for the last 20 minutes.
Two Fulham strikers on at the same time. Whatever next? Goals?
Actually, no, and just a couple of half-chances from the pair that kept Palace’s defence on its toes.
Mitro doesn’t look fit: that’s fit as in Premier League sharp. And although Parker has promised a good battle between the two, the Serb needs to step up his game if he’s to unseat the Bordeaux loanee, whose instinct in and around the box is excellent.
Eze might have been a Fulham hit
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was kept on a rein for most of the match against his old loan club, and when he did get a clear sight of goal, Luka Milivojević made sure a 20th yellow card in two seasons wasn’t going to stop him upending RLC.
It didn’t break for Ademola Lookman either, and Palace had clearly done their homework on nullifying potential threats.
In the world of what ifs. What if Fulham had made a real effort to get Ebere Eze in the summer, and what if the club had decided to shell out for Gary Cahill in January 2018?
Would Whites be better off?
Cahill is still a force for Palace, but the future is with Joachim Andersen and Tosin.
Parker’s defence has been the side’s strength so far.
Different players, but with different skill sets, and one of the reasons Fulham have a chance of escaping the drop as seen in this game.
But Eze for say, Bobby Decordova-Reid, both substituted it has to be said, might have been promising.
The latter is direct and gets beyond defences, but the former QPR man buys Palace time when he’s on the ball.
His languid deceptive style was always going to suit the Premier League, and one can only speculate how many incisive balls Eze would have threaded through to Fulham forwards by now.
First-half struggles
Fulham should ask the FA if they can do away with the first half of games.
If ever a side relishes the second 45 – it’s this one.
There hasn’t been a first-half goal scored by the Whites or their opponents in the past five games, and not a lot else to go with inactivity in the final third.
Andersen’s wayward headers from corners were the sum total of intended six-yard action in the first half.
His outstretched foot saw the ball spin into the arms of Alphonse Areola, and that was as close as Palace got to breaking the deadlock.
It’s almost as if the sides agreed a secret warm-up pact, with no one allowed out of third gear until it gets to the business end of the game.
The Whites moved up through the gears after an hour. The urgency and the intent were there for all to see. They need more though.
