The Fulham squad for 2024/25 has lofty ambitions, after two consolidatory seasons in the top flight.
Indeed, two seasons back in the Premier League and two seasons without any threat of relegation. The base is there to build on, and with Marco Silva at the helm this is what the club must do.
Aiming for a top-half finish should be the aim, and having reached the semi-finals of the League Cup last season, a run in either cup provide the club’s best chance of winning their first piece of major silverware.
Fulham have addressed their aging squad, replacing the likes of Tim Ream and Willian with Joachim Andersen and Reiss Nelson, though selling young prospects like Jay Stansfield to League One high-rollers Birmingham City won’t do much to further those aims.
Fulham opened last season with a 1-0 away victory at Everton, but then did not win on the road again until late February when they beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, who beat them at the same venue on the opening day this term. Their away form needs to improve – especially against teams in the bottom half of the table.
There have already been early signs that this issue may have carried through into the new season, with the new boys on the block, Ipswich Town, holding them to a draw at Portman Road.
Another area to learn from is improving the amount of goals from all areas of the pitch. Rodrigo Muniz ended the season as top scorer with nine in the league, despite not bagging his first until February, so the midfield and wide players need to contribute more in front of goal. Contributions from Adama Traore, Alex Iwobi and newcomer Emile Smith Rowe in the first three games make the future look bright in this regard.
Fulham squad for 2024/25
Fulham squad for 2024/25: Marco Silva's full team
- GK: Bernd Leno
- GK: Steven Benda
- DF: Kenny Tete
- DF: Calvin Bassey
- DF: Joachim Andersen
- DF: Jorge Cuenca
- DF: Timothy Castagne
- DF: Issa Diop
- DF: Antonee Robinson
- MF: Harrison Reed
- MF: Harry Wilson
- MF: Tom Cairney
- MF: Alex Iwobi
- MF: Sander Berge
- MF: Andreas Perreira
- MF: Sasa Lukic
- MF: Reiss Nelson
- MF: Ryan Sessegnon
- MF: Emile Smith Rowe
- FW: Raul Jimenez
- FW: Rodrigo Muniz
- FW: Adama Traore
Fulham squad numbers for 2024/25
Fulham manager
Marco Silva
Marco Silva is hailed as a genius by the Craven Cottage faithful. As he starts his fourth season, he will demand more from everyone at the club and be aiming to push it to places it has never been before. With the right backing there is no stopping him.
Fulham's key player
Timothy Castagne
Belgium international Timothy Castagne displaced the very popular Kenny Tete at right-back and didn’t put a foot wrong. The 28-year-old was one of the most consistent and reliable players in the Fulham squad last term and the same will be needed this time around.
One to watch
Emile Smith Rowe
After finding minutes hard to come by at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta, Smith Rowe needed a fresh start at a place where he'll be loved - Fulham seems like the perfect environment for the Hale End academy product, with his £34m move already being repaid as he scored on his home debut in a 2-1 win over Leicester City.
The mood
On the pitch the mood is good and has been since Silva took charge three years ago, securing promotion and back-to-back seasons in the top flight. Off the pitch there is less harmony between fans and club, with rising ticket costs pricing some supporters out.
Most likely to...
Score from outside the box: Harry Wilson. The Welsh winger doesn’t score tap-ins – in fact, he’s more likely to have his own goal of the season competition.
Least likely to...
Open on time: the new Riverside Stand. It’s been more than five years since work began on the state-of-the-art stand, which is due to fully open this season. Another hitch is likely to delay again.
View from the stands
Jack Stroudley (@J_Strudders)
Last season was pretty good. To deal with losing Aleksandar Mitrovic as well as we did is a testament to how good a manager Marco Silva is. Some historic wins over Arsenal and Manchester United, as well as a first ever League Cup semi-final, made it a fairly successful campaign.
This season will be different because we’ve started to re-establish ourselves as a Premier League side, so clubs will know areas of our game they can exploit.
I won’t be happy unless we steer clear of the relegation fight. Last season, we played well and were never really looking over our shoulder thanks to point deductions elsewhere. I fear the Premier League will be more competitive at the bottom this term.
Our key player will be Rodrigo Muniz – after a successful second half of last season, Fulham no longer need to look at reinforcements up front. His ability to hold the ball up, bring others into play and find the net make him ‘Mitrovic-esque’, and at just 23 he’s certainly got a bright future on his hands.
Our most underrated player is Bernd Leno. He’s been a tremendous goalkeeper for Fulham over the past two seasons, but I never see any fans outside of Fulham give him the credit he deserves, maybe down to his past at Arsenal?
Fans think our owner has a lot of questions to answer. Success on the pitch doesn’t always correlate to a happy club, and I fear that Silva’s magnificent job at Fulham is papering over cracks. Absurdly priced tickets, ignorance to large chunks of away fans in the home end and a somewhat questionable recruitment policy leaves Fulham fans very concerned. I fear that if Silva was to jump ship, it would all begin to unravel.
The opposition player I'd love here is Gustavo Hamer. Picking a player from a club who was relegated seems strange, but hear me out. Hamer was great for Coventry and brilliant for a Sheffield United side who really struggled. Four goals and six assists from midfield is a good showing.
The opposition player who grinds my gears is Bruno Fernandes. Not that he’s necessarily done anything wrong to Fulham, but he’s such a frustrating footballer to watch. He’s clearly got talent in abundance, but his continual diving and mentality is so annoying. The type of player you’d love to have but hate to play against.
The pantomime villain will be Harvey Elliott. The Liverpool midfielder always gets a terrible reception when he comes to Craven Cottage.
Our season ticket prices are a joke, and the club is going to force fans away. What happens if we get relegated – will they still charge £3,000 for a season ticket in the new stand? Will they expect people to pay £70 for a Tuesday night fixture against a newly-promoted League One side?
I'm least looking forward to playing Brentford. Despite being a local derby, they always beat us and it’s really getting under my skin!
The fans' opinion of the gaffer couldn’t be higher. For all that’s wrong off the field, Marco Silva is certainly what’s right on it, making Fulham fans believe that we can beat anyone and dream of a trip to Wembley playing positive, attacking football. Long may it continue!
We'll finish 12th – a standard season, taking some scalps and steering clear of the drop. I just hope things don’t become stale.
