Claudio Ranieri's in-tray at Fulham after Slavisa Jokanovic sacking: Fix the worst Premier League defence, get Aleksandar Mitrovic firing and more
The Italian has time to assess the challenge he faces at Craven Cottage, but plenty of problems to solve on the pitch
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Your support makes all the difference.Claudio Ranieri is back in the Premier League after Fulham owner Shahid Khan made the ruthless decision to announce his appointment on a “multi-year contract” at the same time as predecessor Slavisa Jokanovic’s sacking.
November’s international break offers Ranieri a chance to take stock of the situation at Craven Cottage ahead of a run of fixtures that includes a trip to Stamford Bridge to face former club Chelsea, as well as an emotional reunion with many of his Premier League title-winning players when Leicester City visit west London.
The Independent takes a closer look at the most pressing challenges facing Ranieri as he walks into the third Premier League job of his career:
Get some points on the board - and quickly
Fulham lie rock-bottom of the Premier League, having taken just five points and claimed one victory from their first 12 matches.
It need not have been this way, but Jokanovic paid the price for failing to convert promising performances into cold, hard points; his team sacrificed a 2-0 lead to draw away at Brighton in September and led before falling 4-2 to Cardiff City last month.
The match that immediately follows the November international break, at home against fellow strugglers Southampton, already looks crucial. Win, and Ranieri can begin building some momentum and confidence for the even tougher tests that lie ahead.
Fix the Premier League’s worst defence
Fulham have failed to keep a single clean sheet in their 12 matches and have conceded an eye-watering 31 goals – an average of 2.58 per game. Extend that out over a full Premier League season and it comes to 98 goals against. No team as leaky as that can hope to survive in the top flight.
Injuries played a part but Jokanovic did most to create the problem with his indecision. Fulham are yet to start the same defensive line in consecutive Premier League games, and have switched seemingly at random between a back three, a back four and a back five. Their defenders, while individually talented, have no collective chemistry, confidence or understanding.
Ranieri should not need a transfer window to solve this problem. He just needs to find a defence that works and stick to it.
Settle on a No.1 goalkeeper
Three different goalkeepers have started between the sticks in Fulham’s 12 games. Fabri has not been seen in the Premier League since shipping five goals in two matches against Crystal Palace and Tottenham to start the season, while fellow summer signing Sergio Rico was drafted in for Jokanovic’s final three games after Marcus Bettinelli had failed to stem the tide.
As with Ranieri’s defensive options, the talent is there. Rico was linked with Chelsea last summer and Bettinelli has a high-profile champion in Gareth Southgate, who has called him up to the last two England senior squads. Putting his faith in one or the other should help Fulham’s new manager to inject some certainty into his ailing back line.
Get Mitrovic firing again
For all of Fulham’s defensive woes, it was the sudden disintegration of their formidable attack that really sealed Jokanovic’s fate. After scoring 11 goals in their first nine Premier League games they failed to find the net in their last three and, worse still, they rarely threatened to.
Aleksandar Mitrovic is emblematic of their fortunes. His first six Premier League appearances yielded five goals, but he has not found the net for his club since September and has been left increasingly isolated as the remaining confidence drained from Fulham’s play. Ranieri’s success or failure at Craven Cottage will depend in part on whether or not he can get the Serb firing again.
Live up to your reputation
Khan described Ranieri as a “risk-free and ready-made” replacement for Jokanovic as well as an “extraordinary football man” as he announced the Italian’s appointment on Wednesday.
High praise, certainly, but the reality is that no matter how much credit or good will Ranieri earned for guiding Leicester City to a miraculous Premier League title triumph in the 2015-16 season, no managerial appointment can ever be regarded as “risk-free”.
It is worth remembering that Nigel Pearson, not Ranieri, was the man who staved off relegation at Leicester and by the time he was sacked nine months after winning the title, the club were staring into the abyss again. Fulham have a manager very capable of steering them clear of the current danger they find themselves in, but he also has something to prove.
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