Fulham Coach Explains Why He Substituted Iwobi, Two Others In 33rd Minute

Fulham coach, Marco Silva, has insisted that the three players he substituted in the first half of their league game against Nottingham Forest weren’t the worst players on his team during the game.

The Fulham coach showed how unsatisfied he was with his team when he decided to substitute three players including Super Eagles of Nigeria midfielder, Alex Iwobi, in the 33rd minute of their game against Forest on Sunday, April 2.

Coach Silva brought out midfielder, Saša Lukić for Tom Cairney, Alex Iwobi for Adama Traore, and Harry Wilson for Willian.

Before he made the unexpected mass substitutions, Nottingham Forest had already scored two goals, in the 9th-minute courtesy of Callum Hudson-Odoi, and in the 19th minute courtesy of Chris Wood.

“I wanted to see a reaction. I want to be clear it was not the fault of the players who came off,” the Fulham coach told a post-game press conference.

“In that moment, if I could have changed more, I would have. I don’t want to highlight those three players, it was not their fault.

“At that moment, I wanted to keep more of the ball and with Tom Cairney and Willian, they were able to do that.

“I wanted to create someone v ones on the right-hand side and Adama can do that.”

Despite the early mass substitutions, Morgan Gibbs-White made it 3-0 for Nottingham Forest in injury time of the first half.

Fulham waited until the second half before they were able to score their consolation goal courtesy of Nigerian-born English footballer Tosin Adarabioyo in the 49th minute.

The 3-1 win left Nottingham Forest in the 17th spot on the league table with 25 points in 31 games, three points away from the relegation zone. As for Fulham, they are currently sitting in the 13th spot with 39 points in 31 games.