Of all the surprises through the first month and a half of the Premier League season, Fulham has been the biggest. Last year, the team finished 14th-they were also 14th in expected points-and they had a depth crisis. But Marco Silva not only managed to stop the plane from falling into the abyss but even brought it back on course.

In the off-season, Fulham sold Joao Palhinha to Bayern for €51 million. He carried the whole Cottagers midfield on his shoulders, just as the Ancient Greek Atlas took the whole sky upon himself, was the best in tackles in all top-5 leagues last season and for two seasons was among the best destroyers of the league. Fulham never found an equivalent replacement-newcomer Sander Berge is a player with a different set of qualities. And in general, they dragged out the transfers for a very long time.

It seemed that in such a situation, Fulham would fall into a fight for survival.

Yet, Silva fooled everybody. Fulham is in the eighth position. In terms of expected points, the team is even second-to none but Liverpool. Last seasons, Fulham played pretty closed counter-attacking football, but without dogmatism and sometimes with something included for fun. Now Silva has realized that the best defense is a guard, so the vector has moved a little bit.

Of all the surprises through the first month and a half of the Premier League season, Fulham has been the biggest. Last year, the team finished 14th-they were also 14th in expected points-and they had a depth crisis. But Marco Silva not only managed to stop the plane from falling into the abyss but even brought it back on course.

In the off-season, Fulham sold Joao Palhinha to Bayern for €51 million. He carried the whole Cottagers midfield on his shoulders, just as the Ancient Greek Atlas took the whole sky upon himself, was the best in tackles in all top-5 leagues last season and for two seasons was among the best destroyers of the league. Fulham never found an equivalent replacement-newcomer Sander Berge is a player with a different set of qualities. And in general, they dragged out the transfers for a very long time.

It seemed that in such a situation, Fulham would fall into a fight for survival.

Yet, Silva fooled everybody. Fulham is in the eighth position. In terms of expected points, the team is even second-to none but Liverpool. Last seasons, Fulham played pretty closed counter-attacking football, but without dogmatism and sometimes with something included for fun. Now Silva has realized that the best defense is a guard, so the vector has moved a little bit.