Having not lost three consecutive Premier League games in all of 2024/25, Fulham have already squeezed that regrettable hat-trick into the first eight games of this season.

Two solid if frustrating draws, a defeat at Stamford Bridge and home victories over Leeds and Brentford was as par for the course a start imaginable for Fulham, who under Marco Silva have become one of the most reliably mid-table forces in Premier League history.

But defeats to Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Arsenal, dropping points from winning positions in the first two before being forgivably set-pieced into oblivion, represent a clear step back and struggle for positive momentum.

Fulham remain, along with Wolves, one of only two sides for whom no player has scored more than a single league goal this campaign. Beyond their biannual comeback win over Brentford, in none of their other nine games has more than one Fulham player scored, including in Carabao wins over Bristol City and Cambridge.

There is a possible solution but Marco Silva has already declared it “not easy” to implement. And it would be a shame to impinge on the development of Josh King by having him share the same spaces as a player who has not done quite enough to suggest the risk is worth taking.

Emile Smith Rowe is the only Premier League player to have been used as a substitute by his club in all eight games so far in 2025/26. That did reap a goal from the bench against Manchester United in August but those cameos have passed by almost entirely without incident since.

The 25-year-old has not had a shot in his last six league games, nor made a key pass in his last five. Fulham cannot establish consistency or forward motion and their former record signing’s drip feed of minutes has created a personal problem for Smith Rowe.

Silva offered a full and frank assessment of the erstwhile England international’s first season at Craven Cottage in March.

“I don’t have any doubts about his talent or quality but the Premier League demands so much from you,” he said.

“You have to be in very good shape. From a physical point of view you have to be at your top. This is something we have been working on with Emile. I would love to see him more consistent.

“If he can put everything together with the quality he has, the talent he has with the physical part of the game, the physical demands and intensity the Premier League demands from him, I really believe we will see much more consistency from him.

“When Emile was in his best moment, he was in the best shape possible. Next season has to be much better from him.”

There was no need to read between the lines, even if Silva had been diplomatic enough to avoid having to issue an apology for helping derail a player’s career. With the Premier League becoming an increasingly high wire balancing act between technique and physicality, it is a manager’s prerogative to place more emphasis on the latter.

Silva clearly trusts him to make an impact. Smith Rowe has the most league minutes of any player yet to start in the Premier League this season, just ahead of teammate Adama Traore, which hints at a coach simply trying to find the right balance of the myriad attacking ingredients at his disposal.

But Smith Rowe must do more to maximise his chances. The record for the most substitute appearances by one player in a single Premier League season is 29, set by Duncan Ferguson for Everton in 2004/05. These are early stages but that is on track to be smashed come May.

Ferguson scored five goals and set up three that season, netting winners against Norwich and Fulham and a late equaliser at home to Birmingham from the bench in a campaign which culminated in Champions League qualification.

Moyes admitted the Scot “found it very hard” and “doesn’t feel that he can make as big an impact” in a role which left him feeling “a bit down”, but the manager reiterated his importance throughout.

Perhaps Silva and Smith Rowe need a similar mutual understanding of what is expected, because the old Arsenal starboy has been brought crashing back down to earth.

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