Formation not the reason for Fulham woes, Parker insists

Fulham lined up with a new-look defence against Aston Villa – but little good it did them.

Scott Parker opted for three centre-halves augmented by wing-backs Kenny Tete and Joe Bryan in what was five at the back to shore up a leaking defence.

He was asked about this possibility by West London Sport on Friday, and admitted a change in shape was on the cards.

Fulham had conceded a goal in the first eight minutes twice in a row, at Leeds and Arsenal, and fell victim for a woeful hat-trick against Villa.

It was to get worse when Whites were 3-0 down with all but three minutes of the second half still to play.

But as Parker pointed out, you can change shape and formation, but there seems to little way of preventing individual mistakes.

He said: “We went with a back five (against Villa) and added another defender.

“It certainly didn’t work. Although I say it didn’t work, large parts of the game we were in possession.

“It was individual mistakes that cost us, not the formation”.

Parker also reckoned there was little mileage in heaving the ball out of defence for the first 10-15 minutes just to give his side a platform on which to build.

“It’s not about making a base, and I don’t think we’ve overplayed it out of defence,” he said.

“You know, when the ball is taken off us doing just that.

“It was the balls in behind us; and a goal that started with a throw-in; just individual mistakes that cost us.

“It’s not about making a base; it’s just cutting out individual errors.”

“You can get away with them mistakes in the Championship, you can’t in this division.

“It’s just so unforgiving”.

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