Fulham are flying (under the radar) – partly due to their clever passes behind

[Snibbo]

From The Athletic :

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7001790/2026/01/30/fulham-passes-in-behind/

Fulham are flying (under the radar) – partly due to their clever passes behind defences


Ahmed Walid
By Ahmed Walid
Jan. 30, 2026 5:03 am UTC


In the Premier League's game of musical chairs over the final European spots, Fulham have been going under the radar and find themselves in seventh place with 15 games to go.
Marco Silva's side mainly focus on attacking the wide areas or combining in central spaces through striker Raul Jimenez. Another attacking solution for them this season has been their runs in behind the defence.
Jimenez's link-up play dovetails with Harry Wilson's off-ball movements behind the opponents' defensive lines, as illustrated in the Welsh winger's goal in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool earlier this month.
One of the points Silva highlighted on that goal was Jimenez and Wilson making "opposite runs" to manipulate Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate.
Here, Wilson dashes forward as Jorge Cuenca finds Jimenez, who is retreating. The winger's movement delays Konate's forward jump because he knows his right-back colleague Conor Bradley is unable to track both Wilson and left-back Antonee Robinson at the same time.

This delay gives Jimenez an advantage, and he flicks one around the corner into Wilson's path, and he scores to give Fulham the lead.


Another example is Samuel Chukwueze's equaliser in the 2-1 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, this time with Wilson dropping to create the opposite movement.
Playing in a No 10 role, Wilson drops and drags Brighton's left centre-back, Lewis Dunk, out of position, isolating Chukwueze against Olivier Boscagli.
Joachim Andersen spots the right-winger's run and plays a ball behind the defence...

... which Chukwueze controls, before curling a shot into the bottom corner.

"The reality is that we scored a great goal for us — simple, but great," Silva told reporters after the match. "The pass from Joachim, the opposite run from Chukwu, and they know that we need it against teams that come to press so high. We need runs in-behind, we need players to chase them in-behind."
Andersen's long-range passing plays an important role in Fulham finding these runners.

The Denmark international, who mainly plays on the right side of central defence, is able to ping those passes in different directions, which allows Fulham to diversify their runs in behind the opponents' defence. However, Andersen favours the long diagonal switch towards the left wing, which is visible in his most common line-breaking passes. These are defined as passes that progress the ball through, over or around defensive blocks.
Using data from SkillCorner, Andersen's long passes to find an advancing Robinson or Ryan Sessegnon — or one of the forwards — behind the opposition defence has been one of his six most common line-breaking passes in the Premier League this season.

In this example, from the 3-1 victory against Brentford in September, Josh King is positioned between right centre-back Sepp van den Berg and Michael Kayode, the wing-back on that side, while Alex Iwobi drops in midfield and Sessegnon is in an advanced position down Fulham's left wing.

The positioning of King and Iwobi, in conjunction with Sessegnon's movement, forces Kayode to hold his position to maintain the compactness of the defensive line — if Kayode were to move wider to defend Sessegnon, King could attack the gap between him and Van den Berg, with the Fulham attacking midfielder being accessible directly by Andersen or a combination play through Iwobi.
This allows Sessegnon more time on the ball when Andersen plays it to him in the space behind Brentford's right wing-back.

Sessegnon then crosses the ball into the penalty area, and Ethan Pinnock mistakenly puts it into his own net.

In another example, from the 2-1 defeat against Newcastle United in December, Fulham's left-winger, Kevin, positions himself on the outside of Lewis Miley, with Robinson in an advanced position.
Kevin's position prevents Miley from defending Robinson's runs behind the defence because the Newcastle right-back is unable to shift markers due to the distance between Malick Thiaw, his closest centre-back, and Fulham's Brazilian wide man.
Meanwhile, Robinson times his run perfectly to evade Jacob Murphy and create the overload down that left side. As is customary, Andersen finds his left-back's run with a diagonal pass behind the opposition defence.

Miley thinks about defending Robinson, but Kevin's presence prevents him, allowing the American more time on the ball.
Robinson then crosses towards Sasa Lukic, who attacks the space in front of the six-yard area after Jimenez forces Newcastle's centre-backs deeper...

... and the Serbia midfielder heads the ball into the net.

There are many factors behind the effectiveness of Fulham's runs in-behind this season.
Andersen's accurate long-range passes deservedly grab the spotlight, but the timing of the runs by Sessegnon and Robinson — or one of the forwards — allows Silva's side to create an advantage before the opponents can react. In addition, the positioning of the other Fulham players and their opposite movements create more space for the runner or allow him more time on the ball once he receives it.
Fulham's next test is a trip to Old Trafford to face a revitalised Manchester United, currently fourth in the table, on Sunday — a game where their runs in-behind could be a handy attacking solution.
Silva's side may be going under the radar, but their long passes behind the defence are starting to gain attention.

Connections: Sports Edition Logo
Jan 30, 2026
The Athletic FC

[Hatch007]

A fascinating and insightful read.

Thanks for posting, Snibbo

[H4usuallysitting]

Is it a big behind