(Friendly:)
(Benfica – Fulham)
(Date: 2nd August, 2024)
Benfica was the first warm-up ahead of the new season for Fulham.
But ahead of the trip to Portugal to visit Benfica at ho, while the Fulham squad was yet to be complete, Coach Marco Silva presided over behind closed doors' gas against QPR and Watford.
QPR and Watford were not really opponents to gauge the level of his team, but they served as the perfect foils to see the fitness levels of his players.
And it was safe to say that ahead of the trip to Portugal, Marco Silva was highly impressed by the fitness levels of a number of his players, most especially his favorite in recent tis, Samuel Moses.
Fulham recorded a 4-0 trashing of QPR before drubbing Watford 6-1.
In both gas, Sam impressed in the less than 60 minutes that he played as he chipped in with his fair share of goals and assists.
Sam was not just happy with his performance, he was also glad with the level of his teammates. 'My strategy worked'.
'Most of them are already close to full fitness'.
'The 3 scheduled pre-season gas should do it'.
Against Benfica, Coach Marco Silva started with a strong lineup. The Portuguese giants were not scared of the English club though as they played their best football in this friendly ga.
For large swaths of the ga, it was even as Benfica played amazing football in the presence of their ho fans, but they just could not get the end product.
And in what they failed in; Fulham excelled in after second half started.
Sam dominated this ga as the stand-out player, torturing the Benfica defense again and again. Despite the departure of big nas like Palhinha and De Cordova-Reid, the impact was not being felt.
With Sam in the lineup, it felt like the team never changed.
After trying hard for the first 45 minutes to no avail, in the second half, Sam finally opened Benfica up with a defense-splitting pass for Muniz to run at and poke behind the goalkeeper into the net.
In the 72nd minute, Fulham got the first goal.
And 8 minutes later, in the 80th minute of this ga, Sam did it again, this ti playing Alex Iwobi in to score the second goal of this ga, sealing Benfica's defeat. It was a good warm-up ga.
At the end of the ga, Sam approached a certain player with a shy look of excitent on his face, asking for his jersey.
He approached the Argentine winger now plying his trade for Benfica, the legendary Angel Di Maria.
Sam felt a bit bad as Di Maria did not recognize him, but his feelings were abated when the Argentine winger obliged to swap jerseys with him. Di Maria also expressed his feelings that he played a great ga.
Well, that was enough to bring out Sam's fanboy side.
Afterall, this was a legend of football that he had admired for a long ti. The 2022 World Cup final performance alone was enough to turn him into the biggest fanboy, but beyond that, Di Maria was a legend of the ga.
Sam's face turned as red as a potato. 'H-h-he complinted ?!'
In the end, Di Maria patted him on the back before leaving.
Sam clutched this jersey tightly. 'Another legendary piece to my collection'.
His eyes glead excitedly. 'It's beca really big now. Kevin De Bruyne, Cole Palr, now Angel Di Maria,' he grinned. 'Hehe, now all I need is ssi'.
After Sam's performance against Benfica, excited Fulham fans flooded social dia, speculating about the likely midfield partnership that would be struck between Emile Smith Rowe and Sam.
"The premier league is not ready for this partnership yet!" They boasted.
Well, in Fulham's next pre-season ga against Sevilla on 5th August, excited Fulham fans finally got to see the partnership that they yearned for.
In this ga, the new signing got to showcase his talent as he combined with Sam to perfection, scoring a neat goal from an even neater pass from Sam.
Later in the ga, Smith Rowe returned the favor, setting Sam up to score an absolute rocket, finally opening his scoring account in the pre-season friendlies.
The ga ended in a 2-2 draw between Fulham and Sevilla.
One thing that beca apparent from these 2 gas was the level of this squad. For so reason, Fulham seed even more dangerous than last season, this was despite the long list of sales and departures.
This brought up a question on social dia; what could they do this season?
No one could tell until after the season started.
To most neutral and rival fans though, Fulham was just flattering to deceive. To them, their EFL Cup run and eventual win was just a fluke against Liverpool and Chelsea sides that underestimated the opposition.
According to these neutral fans, after knowing their threat now, big teams would know to neutralize them better.
Besides, they labelled Sam a one-season wonder.
Sam did not let all this negative news get to him though. 'Like dad would say, it's normal. Afterall, even Erling Haaland was criticized when he first made the switch to the premier league till he shut them up with his record-breaking goalscoring performances'.
'I'll just shut them up with my performances once the season start'.
In Fulham's last ga of pre-season, they took on Hoffenheim on 10th August and this ti, they simply blew their inferior opponents out of the window.
Fulham won 3-0 after a totally one-sided performance.
In this ga, Sam did not get a goal contribution but his influence was heavily felt in the middle of the pitch as he orchestrated play, playing a part in all 3 goals that downed Hoffenheim.
By now, it was clear that this team was already like a well-oiled machine churning with ruthless efficiency.
Fulham post-Sam era was truly a different beast on the pitch.
But then, after pre-season, the real test was finally about to begin.
All across England and the world, you could feel palpable excitent in the air among the male gender. Afterall, the premier league was starting.
After months of being deprived, matchday 1 was finally here.
(Premier league:)
(Matchday 1:) Your journey continues with empire
(Manchester United – Fulham)
(Date: 16th August, 2024)
The Fulham squad went on a trip to Old Trafford.
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