With the oldest squad in the Premier League, Fulham's long-term strategy was to lower the squad age and become sustainable but it may not be easy as it sounds. Fulham's short-term plan is to cement a reasonable position in the Premier League table and ensure they don’t fall too behind the recent wise spenders of Swansea, Norwich, Sunderland and Southampton.
So what type of players does Fulham need? If you ask any fan, the answer will be a central-midfielder, specifically a deep-lying playmaker, who can form a midfield partnership with Derek Boateng and support Bryan Ruiz with Dimitar Berbatov. The increasing importance of this role, however, brings difficulties for any ambitious team to secure the signings of a midfield creator. Most teams will have no intention to sell unless they can make a nice profit or whether a release clause is matched. Which brings us onto Mousa Dembélé.
The Mousa Dembélé departure was frustrating for Martin Jol and Fulham fans for many reasons but particularly down to the timing. The transfer was late in August resulting in little time to enter the demanding market. Also Martin Jol spent that summer moving Dembélé in central-midfield which basically meant most of the pre-season tactics scrapped.
Fast-forward to July 2013 and Fulham are still in search for a creative central-midfielder. Firstly, Mousa Dembélé and Danny Murphy are two entirely different players but could fall into the same category. Murphy’s best years as a footballer was arguably at Fulham, in his early 30′s, to control the tempo and essentially make Fulham tick. Dembélé’s positions varied from an attacking-midfielder and second-striker but found his best role with the Belgium national team when he was fully utilized in central-midfield. Due to his tall, powerful, explosive and technical abilities he was ideal for a deeper position which gave Fulham fans an exciting early insight – evidently against Manchester United in the 3-2 defeat. Importantly he has the defensive work rate off the ball and allowed Fulham to counter-attack by quickly driving into space and overloading through the middle. As an attacking-midfielder Dembélé's release clause was a farily accurate, but as a central-midfielder he should've been worth double.
A similar development has been suggested to Bryan Ruiz, which allows Berbatov to play behind a direct number nine. While it’s a good option against lightweight teams, overall it’ll be an absolute disaster. In a two-man midfield Dembélé had two protectors – himself and Mahamadou Diarra which is a must in a 4-2-3-1. Same could be said about Murphy – who was in a strict counter-attacking system with wingers defending and two banks of four organized; ultimately there was protection for the ball-player.
Bryan Ruiz, however, hasn’t got the physical strength or endurance to consistently deliver in a two-man midfield. With most teams intending to develop a fast counter-attacking or a high-pressing team, Bryan Ruiz would fit neither in a deep-lying playmakers role and should remain closer to goal. With Dimitar Berbatov and Abel Taarabt in the squad, Fulham would need players to compensate for their low work rate and Martin Jol looks to stick with his 4-2-3-1 system. Andrea Pirlo, for example, has always needed a system based upon him with extra midfielders – Gattuso or Arturo Vidal and Seedorf or Marchisio – which gave him the protection and less running.
It would be impossible for Fulham to find another Dembéle. And while finding another Murphy, which could be Tom Huddlestone, would not solve all problems. Realistically Fulham need a modern midfielder who has a balance between pace, strength, passing ability and vision alongside Derek Boateng. Leroy Fer, now of Norwich City, would’ve fitted this template perfectly. Martin Jol surely has a player in his sight. Simple but effective is what Fulham need.