November international break: A review of the last five matches

The November international break has arrived, and with it, we are over a quarter of the way through the season.

When we were last at the end of a block of fixtures, we were heading into the October international break, and Fulham had just two points.

Things seemed bleak, and it seemed almost inevitable that the Cottagers were going to be in a relegation fight come the end of the season.

But there was one positive thing very much in mind: Fulham had matches against each of the newly promoted sides to come - as they prepared to take on Ipswich, Coventry and Hull.

So, now that we have reached the end of another block of fixtures and are preparing for the final break from domestic action until March 2027, it is time to review Fulham’s last five matches and look at where it has taken them, the progress made and a general prognosis for the remainder of the season.

The first game after the international break spelt disaster for the Cottagers, and it seemed as though they were in real trouble.

Leading 1-0 courtesy of Ryan Sessegnon’s strike, that looked set to be enough for Fulham to take all three points and finally end their winless start to the campaign.

But a second successive disappointing late collapse defensively saw Fulham concede not one but two goals, as Abdoul Ouattara’s magnificent strike levelled the scores in the 88th minute, before Dara O’Shea’s headed effort in stoppage time gave the Tractor Boys an all-important three points, at the expense of the Cottagers.

It brought about an almighty amount of pressure on Alvaro Arbeloa, and it seemed that his time as Fulham boss was coming to an end already.

Pressure, what pressure?

We had spent the whole previous week talking about how Alvaro Arbeloa was likely going to be sacked, and we were even lining up replacements to take his job at Craven Cottage.

But that was all dependent on whether or not he lost to Hull, who were up to this point impressive.

The Cottagers showed their best attacking performance under Arbeloa, with Alex Iwobi’s goal enough on the day to finally earn a win, on a day that Fulham will feel they should have won by four or five goals.

With the pressure partially off after the first win of the season, Fulham travelled to Coventry in conditions that were absolutely abhorrent.

It was a day of very few chances for either side; such was the weather, but then came a moment of magic.

Oscar Bobb picked up the ball on the right-hand side, cut inside three defenders and curled it into the far corner.

A truly special goal, and Bobb’s first in the Premier League for Fulham, was enough for The Cottagers to walk away with all three points once again and edge away from the relegation zone in the process.

The newly-promoted fun was over and Fulham had to make the spooky Halloween night trip to Birmingham to take on an Aston Villa side who had dispatched Manchester City only the week before.

Nicolas Jackson continued his run of excellent form with a well-taken goal in the first half but Fulham had once again created plenty of chances.

It seemed as though it was going to be another frustrating dropping of points, but a howler from Zion Suzuki in the Aston Villa goal handed Fulham an equaliser and they were able to continue their unbeaten streak.

In the final game before the international break, Fulham hosted a Newcastle side who were in a bit of dodgy form themselves.

This was once again another clash in which there were not a whole heap of chances for either side, and once again the score was 0-0 at the break.

Jacob Murphy capitalised on a wayward pass from Cesar Palacios 10 minutes from time to break the deadlock, but Fulham were able to equalise three minutes later through Rodrigo Muniz, who tapped in from close range.

Lewis Hall came close at the end for Newcastle, as did Sessegnon for Fulham but in the end it was another 1-1 draw for the Cottagers.

Well, the general consensus has to be that Fulham are in an overall much better spot than they were after five matches.

Eight points from this set of five, including eight from their last four is a far more impressive tally and now they have pushed into 15th place in the Premier League table.

Things are certainly not as bleak as they were but there are still two pretty clear concerns for Fulham.

Firstly, their inability to get onto the scoresheet on a regular basis is undeniably an issue, having failed to score more than once in the Premier League since gameweek three.

Second is the fact that Fulham have now faced all other sides in the bottom 10, other than Tottenham and Nottingham Forest.

That suggests that two wins and 10 points is perhaps not the most adequate total, especially with bottom-of-the-league Crystal Palace being only three points behind.