Marco Silva identifies key Fulham area for improvement after Leeds United defeat | OneFootball

Fulham manager Marco Silva had admitted his side needs to be clinical in front of goal after their goalless tie against Leeds United last night, speaking to Sky Sports last night.

The Cottagers will now be focusing on the Championship, where they currently sit second in the league after being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by the Whites on penalties.

They would be first if they had won their tie against Reading at the weekend, but missed chances proved to be costly as they fell to a 2-1 defeat via an Ovie Ejaria brace and now sit two points behind Scott Parker’s AFC Bournemouth.

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They hit both the post and the crossbar against Veljko Paunovic’s men on Saturday and were unlucky in stages, but had 25 shots in total, converting just one, and had a further 15 against Leeds United as they failed to make the breakthrough yesterday evening.

One goal in 40 shots is something they will be desperately wanting to improve – but considering they have the likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic, Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz at their disposal and hit Birmingham City for four at St Andrew’s last week – this lack of potency all of a sudden is something of a mystery.

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Marco Silva spoke about this in his post-match interview with Sky Sports, saying: “We have to be more clinical.

“Of course, creating so many attempts in two games, not just in two games, since the beginning of the season, being more clinical of course, some results [would have been] completely different.

“But again, last Saturday, off the post, crossbar, the balls are going in the same direction but in the future will come for us, I don’t have doubts.

“We just have to keep working, keep improving our players, improve our last decision definitely, our last pass, our finishing as well. Of course, we need to keep working on that.”

The Verdict:

They may be going through a bit of a tough time in attack right now, but there should be no doubts over how effective Aleksandar Mitrovic, Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz will be for the Cottagers this term as they return to the Championship.

Ivan Cavaleiro and Bobby Decordova-Reid were both disappointing on Saturday, but they are also likely to chip in at some point and no second-tier side would want to face the duo when they’re in top form.

It’s a shame the west London side don’t have the injured Tom Cairney at their disposal, because he would also be an important source of goals from midfield if he was fit.

They can’t afford to rely on Mitrovic, Wilson and Muniz all season though, so they will need to be dangerous from set-pieces with the midfield also needing to chip in. This is why getting the midfield selection right is vital.

Which two out of Jean Michael Seri, Nathaniel Chalobah, Josh Onomah and Harrison Reed will chip in with the most goals? Onomah could be a decent threat, but it remains to be seen whether the rest can contribute in a meaningful way going forward.

This lack of potency in front of goal will give Marco Silva a selection headache, but it only seems like a matter of time before they’re back and firing again.