Plus: Why Bernd Leno is one of Fulham's best signings under Marco Silva; How the Fulham manager is helping his side to create and score more goals; Watch Fulham vs Chelsea live on Monday Night Football from 6.30pm on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event
Monday 2 October 2023 19:58, UK
The number six seems to be intrinsically linked to Fulham manager Marco Silva as we sit down on a sunny autumn morning at the club's training base in south-west London.
It is the number of Premier League games the Cottagers have played so far this season, registering an equal share of wins, draws and losses. It was also the number of seasons Fulham had - until this year - yo-yoed between the Premier League and Championship.
Six too is the number of years Silva has been managing in England now, since first arriving at Hull in 2017. Then dubbed the 'new Mourinho' - as most fellow Portuguese are at one time or another - the 46-year-old has since carved out his own style, informed by spells on the continent with the likes of Sporting Lisbon and Olympiakos.
It is here that the buzzwords of 'ambition' and 'courage' offer an insight into how Silva works as a manager.
"I think my management style is based on some important things," he exclusively tells Sky Sports ahead of the Monday Night Football derby against Chelsea.
"The ambition, the bravery, and the courage to play football is the way I want to prepare my teams to play every time and I want to see that on a match-day. I like my teams to play good football because it's something that is one of my characteristics as a manager and I'm really demanding. I'm the first one to support them at everything.
"I started in the lower divisions in Portugal and afterwards, I grew and I went through different competitions with some games in the Europa League and Champions League with two clubs.
"Those scenarios gives you the experience, the maturity to play every single game, to win football matches and to demand from the people around you. I try to keep everything with me to keep improving myself and the players who work under me.
"I've also had different spells in the Premier League and Championship, spells when you have to adapt but one of the main things that is always in my teams - we have to be ambitious and competitive and try to win any football match when you go on the pitch.
"[The Premier League] is the most difficult and the best competition in the world. It is where there are the best players and managers and to be honest, I want to be where the best ones are.
"I want to challenge myself in every single match, I want to face the best players as well and [there is] the respect for the game. Everything I love in the Premier League, I knew before I came for the first time and I am still enjoying it. It is one of the main reasons why I'm still here.
"It's really tough when you are a foreign manager to be here for such a long time and for so many years in a row. But I love the pressure, it's something I really want for myself and my staff to keep challenging ourselves."
These qualities all contribute to Silva bringing stability to Fulham's stay in the Premier League, having also been promoted as Championship winners under the Portuguese manager in the 2021/22 campaign. Last season, they finished 10th - eight points and two places ahead of Monday's rivals, Chelsea.
While the now-departed Aleksandar Mitrovic is often credited with spearheading Fulham's recent successes, a large portion of the thanks for last season should go to goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
An arrival from Arsenal last summer, he had the highest numbers of any Premier League goalkeeper for xG prevented in the 2022/23 campaign. In fact, in the last 10 Premier League seasons, only three goalkeepers recorded a better record in the same area than Leno last season.
In the six league matches so far, the German stopper has kept three clean sheets - the same number as Manchester City's Ederson. It is not surprise then that Silva calls Leno one of the best signings he has made at Fulham.
"It's been a pleasure for me, I've really enjoyed having Bernd with us," the manager said. "We waited really long time to come, it was a longer process than we would have liked. Our board did a very good job, but we waited for him to come.
"And it was possible because Bernd really wanted to join Fulham and he is a top goalkeeper. He is proving that he is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, with no doubts about it.
"He's a key player for us, he's already in our captains group as well because he's so important. He is one of the best signings that we made. The way he performed last season showed that and the way he keeps performing.
"But more than that, the way he works every single day since he came here. He's so proud of his work, he's ambitious to keep improving, he is always in a good mood, always has a smile of his face and I love working with him."
While the goalkeeping position is secure, Fulham are facing a goals conundrum. Mitrovic's move to Al Hilal this summer saw him depart with four club top-scorer plaudits from five and a half years with the Cottagers, which included 43 goals in 44 games in the 2021/22 Championship season.
Fulham did go some way to replacing their former star striker, signing experienced Premier League forwards including Raul Jimenez, Adama Traore and Alex Iwobi. But they have still scored four fewer league goals than at the same stage last season, and Silva bemoaned the lack of finishing in a goalless draw with Crystal Palace last weekend.
However, despite scoring only five goals in six games - the same as Chelsea - they have made theirs count, with two of those goals coming in 1-0 wins against Everton and Luton. It actually gives them the best points-to-goal ratio (1.6) in the Premier League this season.
But ever chasing ambitious highs, Silva understandably wants more from his Fulham players.
"The first games of the season, we didn't create as many chances as I would like to see. I think in the last two, we have created enough to win, against Crystal Palace for example and we beat Norwich [2-1 in the Carabao Cup], but we could have scored more goals.
"The others before, we didn't score many, it's true, even though we were still able to get some important results for us, because we didn't create enough.
"Everything needs time and the players need time to gel. It's always important to have the right time with the players.
"Adama didn't have pre-season with any team, he was working alone with his own fitness coach. He is injured already and it will take more time for him to be able to help us. Alex was already playing in his team and needs time to gel, but he knows a lot about the Premier League and the adaptation is going to be quicker.
"Raul had enough time with us to start working with the team and because of that, he was in the first starting XI against Everton. It will take time for him to adapt, to see everything and know his team-mates. I think it is a normal process in this type of situation, but more than that, we have to create more for our side.
"What we have to do it keep working hard, keep giving the players the tools and parts for us to arrive in certain areas, giving them the confidence to keep creating chances and to be more effective in our counter-attack.
"We always want more, we will fight for more but we have to be realistic at the same time. I have to give credit to our players because our pre-season was really tough, it was probably one of the toughest I've had as a manager so far for many different reasons, from injuries and other things we faced.
"Even with that, when the pre-season started, we clicked and we were there to match and face the opposition sides. From that moment, it has been a process to improve every single time for any game that we are playing."
Fulham will have the chance to put their training ground work into practice once again when they face Chelsea on Monday Night Football from 6.30pm on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event.
Mauricio Pochettino's side are under intense pressure, having made their worst start to a top-flight season after the opening six games since 1978/79.
But Silva remains wary of Chelsea's quality, although it was only in January when Fulham were 2-1 winners in this exact Premier League fixture. The manager has called on the home fans to be a '12th man' when the Blues make the short trip to Craven Cottage.
"For us, it is the most important because it's the next one - it's always the way we approach it," he explained.
"Before the Norwich match, I haven't spoken with the players once about the Chelsea match. The game was Norwich, we had full focus on that. After a day off, from now, we are going to prepare for Chelsea on Monday.
"It's a derby which is always a special one, it's a special feeling for our fans. The good memories and good feelings we gave them last season makes us understand how important it is for them.
"We are going to prepare in the best way as always, we have respect for Chelsea. They haven't started in the way they would like, but they are Chelsea and we know that means - the induvial quality they have. But we want to match them and we are playing at home.
"I really want our fans to play their key part in this game, to support the team from the first minute until the last one. We are going to have some good moments in the game, I'm 100 per cent sure. In other moments, they are probably going to be for Chelsea and we need the support behind the team.
"We want to enjoy the match, we want to express ourselves, to face them and match them. The 12th man - the fans - are going to be key."
The signs are there that Fulham are on course for another strong season. With a few improvements, paired with Silva's strive for ambition and courage within his team, the Cottagers can be another dangerous prospect for any opponent.
Watch Fulham vs Chelsea live on Monday Night Football from 6.30pm on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event
