An afternoon club friendly by the Thames – this SBOTOP observer can certainly think of far worse ways to spend a summer Sunday.
Yet now this contest is over and August is upon us, it’s almost time for the real stuff to begin; for the club friendly 2022 highlights and betting odds to be consigned to history and the competitive action to start.
What did we learn from this?
Well, for a start, that Villarreal’s pedigree speaks for itself.
In the Europa Conference next season following a last-day success at Barcelona, the 2021 Europa League winners and semi-finalists in the Champions League last term – despatching Juventus and Bayern Munich en route to the semi-final – showed touches of class in this contest (their second in 24 hours following a 2-1 win at Southampton on Saturday) and were within four minutes of victory.
But despite the club friendly 2022 betting odds being against them, Fulham went toe-to-toe with the Yellow Submarine to round off their preparations for the new Premier League campaign.
This was also a good chance for home fans to take a closer look at some new faces.
Marco Silva has been relatively active during the summer transfer window, bringing in João Palhinha, Andreas Pereira and Kevin Mbabu on permanent deals, while Manor Solomon has arrived on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk, although the club did lose highly-rated teenager Fabio Carvalho to Liverpool.
In signing a defensive midfielder in Palhinha from Silva’s native Portugal, at least some of their soft underbelly may have been protected. Palhinha, as a leading light in a Sporting Lisbon team that won a first title in 19 years, has a reputation as an enforcer, with the powerful physique and classic tactical awareness of a Portuguese midfielder.
He showed glimpses of that at Craven Cottage alongside Pereira, with Mbabu on the bench following his recent arrival from Wolfsburg.
There is also a new look for the Yellow Submarine who defeated PSV Eindhoven, Borussia Dortmund and Reims before seeing off Southampton.
Unai Emery’s side, who finished seventh in La Liga last season, have brought in three new faces during the summer window (two of them with Premier League pedigree) in goalkeeper Pepe Reina, Jose Luis Morales and Kiko Femenia from Watford.
There have been a number of departures too with Moi Gomez, Sergio Asenjo, Serge Aurier and Mario Gaspar among those moving on.
As for the game itself, Villarreal went ahead after 34 minutes when Morales slid the ball to Dani Parejo on the edge of the area and he made no mistake, rifling the ball past Marek Rodák into the top right corner.
Fulham should have equalised seven minutes after the interval when Pereira found Bobby De Cordova-Reid who squared for Aleksandar Mitrovic whose powerful effort from close range cannoned off the crossbar.
The visitors did come close to doubling their lead but Fulham’s perseverance was rewarded when substitute Mbabu made an instant impact, finding Mitrovic with an excellent cross and the Serbian frontman did the rest with four minutes remaining.
That rounded off an enjoyable afternoon.
Last season was enjoyable too for the Cottagers, a breeze back-up, and despite selling Carvalho who was a main supplier of Mitrovic record haul of 43 Championship goals, they still have the Serbian frontman and Harry Wilson.
The key question now is can Silva make it third time lucky and keep them up? The club’s last two promotions to the Premier League were followed by immediate relegation and, while Fulham entertained last time, they were nowhere near staying up
Back in April, their supporters invaded the pitch after promotion was secured.
However, as a former colleague of mine eloquently pointed out, the celebrations were still pretty muted, and not just because the Cottagers fans’ genteel reputation precedes them. Finishing 17th or higher in 2022-23 would be viewed as a resounding success.
Now for the real business.
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