Total Fallback: A major injury suffered by another important Fulham player will prevent him from playing against Brighton today.

Total Fallback: A major injury suffered by another important Fulham player will prevent him from playing against Brighton today.

When former England cricketer Jack Russell painted in front of the Hammersmith End during Everton’s visit on Tuesday, few people noticed. Fulham is used to oddities on matchdays.

Russell, who was formerly well-known for his wicketkeeping and eccentricities (such always having soggy Weetabix cereal at lunch), has made a career out of his artistic abilities. When Everton arrived, he was seated on a stool, a little canvas in front of him to record the evening’s activities, and a purple high-vis jacket belonging to a photographer. all close to the corner flag, behind the byline.

Russell would not have the opportunity to depict the expanding net at Craven Cottage. The phrase “a picture paints a thousand words” may be true, but at Fulham, the scoreboard says more than enough. Due to a scoreless tie, Marco Silva’s team has now failed to score in ten Premier League games this year—a statistic that no other elite club can duplicate. The worst type of blank canvas.

There was always the risk of trying to play a season without Aleksandar Mitrovic, as demonstrated by games like this one where Fulham displayed creative flair to create 25 attempts on goal but failed to take any of them. The leading scorer from the previous season has clouded the campaign since leaving for Al Hilal, so whenever Fulham fails to score, memories of the prolific target man unhelpfully come to mind.

Signed before to Mitrovic’s departure, Raul Jimenez was brought in to supplement Mitrovic, not take his place. A capable deputy was required because Mitrovic missed a third of the previous season due to suspension and injuries, and Jimenez has performed admirably. But instead of being the rival, he is now the main man.

Jimenez overcame an 18-month goal drought in November, and he has five goals in his last nine league appearances after a difficult start. There have been indications that he may be regaining some of the form he had at Wolves. However, he had to be replaced on Tuesday after leaving the game at halftime while clutching his left hamstring.

Marco Silva remarked, “Let’s see how he will be in the coming hours—the medical department will be assessing him.” It is not a good indicator if you have a hamstring problem. There’s always a risk when you play three hard games in seven days. Rotating has not been simple. We will now be shorter than we were before the game, if we were short in numbers.

Although hamstring strains can range widely in severity, Jimenez’s absence will once more highlight Fulham’s striker shortage. It reveals a wound that was only temporarily covered with a plaster. The ensemble of Jimenez’s backers hasn’t quite sold me. Although Rodrigo Muniz, 22, the current chosen number two, has yet to record a Premier League goal from 10 games despite his sincere attempts, Carlos Vinicius, 28, has slid down the pecking order and only scored two goals from 13 league appearances. He came on the field at halftime against Everton, but Fulham’s superiority prevented him from making a difference.

Will Jimenez’s absence therefore alter the transfer market landscape? While there were two places Silva wants to bolster, he downplayed the likelihood of additions during the window, stating that money may be a sticking point.

Silva responded, “If you’re asking if I’m expecting very many things before the end of the market, no.” “I was upfront with you right from the start about the window.

“We had a semi-final to play, the FA Cup, and everything, so if there was anything we could have done, we should have done it from the start of the window. The board is making every effort. However, I wouldn’t say I have a lot of expectations before the market closes.

Silva has stated that establishing Fulham as a Premier League team is his first aim for this season, which essentially means keeping the team in the top division. If Fulham wins five of their next sixteen games, they will surpass 40 points and will nearly certainly be safe. Whether that is possible with this squad is the question.

Waiting until the summer would undoubtedly be the best course of action for Fulham, as opposed to trying to close a deal within the last few days of a January transfer season that is notorious for its lack of activity. Preventing a hasty decision is crucial from a financial standpoint. On that basis, it felt hilariously relevant to watch Everton’s €30 million (£25.6 million, $32.5 million) summer acquisition Beto miss from two yards out on Tuesday with the goal gaping. It’s also important to keep in mind that Jay Stansfield, a 21-year-old who is playing well on loan at Birmingham City, might have a better chance of breaking into the starting lineup in the summer.

Silva has stated in the past several weeks that he dislikes loan agreements as well as signing players in January. Although Armando Broja has been connected, Fulham has maintained a “one out, one in” policy throughout this season. With time running out, there would be little opportunity to acquire either Vinicius or Muniz.

Fulham must, however, do better in front of the net. This season, they are less of a clinical team; their conversion percentage decreased from 12.8% to 10.4% from the previous year. They are also at a standstill; in six league games since their goal-scoring explosion in early December, when they won five goals in a row against Nottingham Forest and West Ham United, Fulham has managed to score two goals from 87 shots. Jimenez was suspended for the first two of those matches, which Fulham subsequently faced and lost 2-0 and 3-0 against Burnley and Bournemouth.

Other absences do not help Fulham and will make it more difficult for them to rotate in offensive areas. Harry Wilson’s shoulder injury, which will keep him out for at least two weeks, increases the strain, particularly since Alex Iwobi will be playing for the Africa Cup of Nations in the near future. Adama Traore joined the team in the summer on a free transfer, but he hasn’t shown any evidence of regular fitness. His hamstring injury caused a setback, and his troubles have been attributed to inadequate pre-season training.

However, a Jimenez injury might alter Fulham’s transfer landscape, contingent on its severity. He turns 33 in May, so it is a problem that will eventually need to be resolved, but in the coming days, time is not on their side.