The Cottagers Best Ever XI: Who is Fulham's greatest ever Centre Forward

It feels a little bit like Christmas Eve, with Fulham back in Premier League action tomorrow.

The Cottagers take on Ipswich in their final match, but in the interim, we are here to complete what has been an ongoing series throughout the international break.

It is of course, naming our all-time Fulham Premier League XI.

It has been something that has kept us going for the last week and a half and now we can finally put an end to speculation and name the final name in the team.

In case you have not been following along, our Fulham all-time greatest Premier League XI has seen some iconic names included.

Edwin van der Sar was chosen as the goalkeeper, he was joined by 

Steve Finnan, Brede Hangeland, Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson in defence.

In midfield, we opted for Joao Palhinha to be joined by Danny Murphy and Bryan Ruiz in a midfield that you could argue is perfectly balanced.

And then on the wings, we have got Steed Malbranque at right wing and Clint Dempsey as left wing.

Now, if you know anything about football, you will of course know that the final position we are going to decide is the centre forward one.

And, as we are on our final player, we shall just get onto it, before Fulham are back in action finally.

There are very few players who you can call a ‘journeyman’ who have been as successful at Premier League level as Louis Saha.

The Frenchman was, quite frankly, an outstanding footballer for a number of years and he made his presence felt in the top flight.

Before he entered the Premier League with Fulham though, he first made a name for himself in the First Division with the Cottagers, scoring 27 goals in 43 matches.

That helped Fulham’s promotion push and in the top flight, he was important in keeping the Cottagers there.

He scored eight goals in 36 matches in his first season, before going on to score five in 17 and a hugely impressive 13 in 20 in the 2003-04 season, which saw him earn a move to Manchester United.

If this were a Championship XI, Mitrovic would be the first name on the teamsheet, he was that good in England’s second division.

The Serbian scored 12 goals in 17 matches in the 2017-18 season, 26 in 40 in the 2019-20 season and then an astonishing 43 in 44 in the 2021-22 season in the Championship.

In the Premier League, Mitrovic was not quite as prolific, but he still notched totals of 11 goals (in 37 matches), three (27) and 14 (24).

He was a nightmare of a striker to defend against, and is the exact profile the Cottagers have been missing since he departed to go to Saudi Arabia.

If you go back to the early-mid 2000s, you will of course talk about Brian McBride, another of Fulham’s excellent American contingent.

McBride never hit the heights in terms of numbers as Saha or Mitrovic did, or even Dimitar Berbatov who deserves an honorable mention.

But he was consistent and hugely important to Fulham’s early Premier League years.

He scored 32 goals in 140 Premier League appearances, assisting six, which is a total of 0.27 goal involvements per match.

That puts him second on the list, behind only compatriot Clint Dempsey.

Conclusion:

This was genuinely close as between the three you have three of Fulham’s all-time top goalscorers and also three players in the top 10 for goals per match.

In the end, for ability, his goals and his goals oer match ratio, the winner is Louis Saha, but this was by no means an easy decision.