Slavisa Jokanovic deserves "a little bit of sympathy" after big-money summer recruitment drive failed to deliver results, says Sky Sports expert Danny Higginbotham
Thursday 15 November 2018 14:44, UK
Fulham regressed under Slavisa Jokanovic after promotion despite spending over £100m on new players, says Danny Higginbotham.
The club sacked the Serb on Wednesday and replaced him with Claudio Ranieri with the team languishing at the bottom of the Premier League table, having earned just five points from their first 12 games.
The Cottagers finished third in the Sky Bet Championship last season and gained promotion via the play-offs. Despite spending over £100m in the summer transfer window, they now have the worst defensive record in England's top division.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Higginbotham believes Fulham have gone backwards under Jokanovic this season and were actually a better side six months ago than they are now.
He said: "I would probably say that the team they had in the Championship is better than the team they've actually been playing at the moment.
"There's been a lot of money spent in the summer and a lot of people have said it was nothing to do with Jokanovic, so you do have to give him a little bit of sympathy there.
"But the one thing I would say is that more often than not when you're at a football club as a player, the people who get the biggest money are the attacking players, and that's because the hardest thing to do in a football match is to create and score a goal. Therefore defending is easier, so that's why you always build from the back."
Fulham have conceded 31 goals in their first 12 Premier League games this season, conceding twice in 10 of those fixtures. They have also made 33 changes to their starting XI, the most of any other side, something Higginbotham feels must change in order to turn their fortunes around.
He added: "The simple fact is that Jokanovic didn't have a clean sheet this season and never played the same back five in consecutive games. You will not have anything defensively if you don't have consistency and if you don't have continuity.
"From Ranieri's perspective, he'll look at this and think this is something which can be solved quite quickly.
"I look at Fulham and think 'have they got a good squad and have they got good players? Yes, 100 per cent.' So I've always thought if a manager comes in, gets them set up better defensively - not just as a back four but as a whole unit - then they will be stronger.
"That's the biggest thing they've got to overcome at Fulham - making sure that they're set when they're in possession and when they're attacking so they can't get done on the counter attack like they have been."
