Claudio Ranieri can’t rely on Leicester blueprint to drag Fulham clear of relegation trouble

New tricks: Ranieri must settle on a new system to propel Fulham clear of the drop zone
Action Images via Reuters
James Benge22 November 2018

After the miracle of Leicester City reviving a talented but struggling Fulham squad ought to be a breeze for Claudio Ranieri but even on his 18th job the Italian is facing a new challenge.

Ranieri need only give the most cursory of glances to the table to understand his most important task at Craven Cottage: fix a defence that is on course to be the worst a 20-team Premier League has ever seen.

Though these projections are inevitably complicated by the fixture list Fulham’s current record of 31 goals conceded in 12 games threatens to obliterate the tally of arguably the worst team in Premier League history. The Derby County side of 2007-08 conceded 89. At their current rate the Cottagers are on course to let in 98.

Hammerings at the hands of Arsenal and Manchester City have made those numbers look worse but when Cardiff are running in four against you and sides you aspire to compete with – Everton, Bournemouth – are netting three without reply there is a clear issue.

Injuries and indecision scarcely aided Fulham’s troubles and 12 games into the season Slavisa Jokanovic did not manage to name an unchanged defence.

Ranieri certainly acknowledges the importance of fixing that ailing rearguard.

“Fulham conceded a lot of goals. I am an Italian manager, and for us Italians, it’s important to maintain the clean sheet.

“When you play the defensive way, from the strikers, it’s important everyone is involved.

“Now I have to choose players who show me fighting spirit. With quality, fighting spirit and unity, the players help each other.”

At least Jokanovic’s successor has previous – the promise of pizza taking Leicester from 55 goals conceded in the 2014-15 campaign to a title-winning 36 12 months later.

Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy took home individual honours at the end of the season but the final weeks of that remarkable title win were built on the backs of Wes Morgan, Robert Huth and a string of 1-0 wins that pushed them to glory.

Fulham fans would delight in seeing even a solitary 1-0 win over the coming weeks but Ranieri’s past methods of shoring up a defence, both at Leicester and Nantes, look ill-suited to the players he finds at Craven Cottage, a squad whose most effective means of keeping the ball out of the net is through keeping it in their possession.

Ranieri led Leicester to a stunning title win in 2016
Michael Regan/Getty Images

For Ranieri success has come through other methods. The average possession of his Leicester side during his one full season in charge – that season – was 42.5 per cent. Discount matches played against teams managed by Tony Pulis and you can take a further percentage point off that. On only five occasions did they have more of the ball than their opponents: West Brom, Bournemouth, Norwich and Sunderland.

The Fulham side he inherits are built in a thoroughly modern fashion and are used to monopolising the ball. On their way out of the Championship last season they averaged 57.6 per cent possession, even this term they have 50.9 per cent of it. It is a squad designed to dictate terms, its anchormen deep-lying conductors in Kevin McDonald and Jean-Michael Seri who do not even approximate the energy of N’Golo Kante.

Ranieri talks of a desire for his side to “play like pirates” but Aleksandar Mitrovic hardly offers the same buccaneering presence as Jamie Vardy whilst defenders such as Alfie Mawson, Tim Ream and Calum Chambers are more cerebral than ruffian.

The Italian says he will be given money in January to shape the squad more to his liking but £100m of summer investment cannot be easily cast off even if spending around £25m on Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa looked questionable from day one.

Ranieri will have to work with what director of football Tony Khan had provided for his predecessor: a squad that could scarcely be further from that which he had in his last spell in English football.

Owner Shahid Khan may be convinced that Ranieri is a “risk-free” appointment but if the 67-year-old is to pull Fulham clear of the drop zone he will need to show that he is still learning new tricks in the fourth decade of his managerial career.

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