Fulham fans are getting pretty excited after watching NUFC loanee Aleksandar Mitrovic make his full debut for the club in a 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, branding the Serbian as a ‘beast’ – also praising his work rate, footballing intelligence and ability to hold the ball up and bully centre halves.
Interestingly, his work rate and ability to dominate his opposing centre-back isn’t something we’ve seen from Mitrovic, especially during his stint in the Championship with ourselves.
He seems to have done exactly that in his opening few games for Fulham, however, with fans impressed with the way he bullied former England and Chelsea legend in their big win over Villa at Craven Cottage at the weekend.
Aleksander Mitrovic. That man kept John Terry in his back pocket, and kept pushing him over. That is my striker, how much money do you want for him Mike Ashley lad
— ?️usani. (@ChristianeCOYW) February 17, 2018
Here’s some comments we picked up from The Mag, taken from the Friends of Fulham message board.
‘Mitrovic is an utter beast!’
‘Villa couldn’t live with Mitrovic today, every challenge that presented itself to him he won , and through his ability to hold the ball up so well it gave the keeper the freedom and full license to do whatever he wanted to do with the ball,Today really showed how much we’ve missed a target man like Mitro , he’s going to be an important player for us for the remainder of the season,If we end up playing Villa at Wembley in May on a hot afternoon I really hope Terry plays.’
‘Mitrovic looked the best we had tried in that position all season and earned himself a game against City on Wednesday. A goal would now do him the world of good.’
‘I totally agree, he looked really good today.’
‘Good solid game and caused them trouble every time he had the ball and even when he didn’t,did some excellent tackling back and won the ball on numerous occasions.’
‘He will get fitter but I agree he had a good match today, I especially liked the tackling back. His goal will come and that should boost his confidence.’
‘Mitro was tremendous today. When he came off you could see he had given his all. Best ‘up top man we’ve had since the heady days of McBride & Bob.’
‘Mitrovic has a good work ethic, skill and vision..’
‘Moment that sticks out for me was him chasing a ball that looked like a impossible task before clattering the linesman.. most would have given up and the rest wouldn’t have chased the ball in the first place.’
‘Considering his lack of games he was outstanding!’
‘Mitrovic seems to be the player everyone hoped Chris Martin would be.’
‘So happy to see him show more today. I was concerned about pressure up high, but he did just fine and tracked back splendidly.Made some crucial tackles when Villa were trying to restart their attacks, and we were put in good positions as a result.He’s begging for the ball and congratulating + encouraging teammates, just have to love that. Very excited for more from this player!’
‘Make no mistake Mitovic is a really good player and is well above championship level. Pity we didn’t get him last January as we planned due to his injury putting him out.’
‘Yes, he was excellent. A constant thorn in the side of the Villa defence – he was great both on and off the ball and has a real footballing head. He looks physically intimidating, and his height and strength are a plus as we’ve often looked like a team of flyweights in a league of big lumps.’
‘Offers more options with the hold up play and he linked well with the team, he can pass a ball too!’
‘Best since Saha in my view.’
‘It’s been a long time coming, let’s hope we can keep him.’
‘What we have been lacking up front, played well but not as brilliantly as some are making out,not from where I was sitting.And the Football league paper had Fred 2 points above everyone which I agree with and Mitro and Kalas as our worst on 6 out of 10. But it’s all about opinions and we see things differently…Fred was man of the match by a mile, shackled Snodgrass.’
‘Agree very much that has been said regarding the link up and work ethic shown by Mitro.Also hope he is a good influence on Kamara. Was interesting to see how Kamara came on and picked right up where Mitro left off. His first touch was a beautiful piece of link up with Sess. He also bullied Onomah off the pitch for a throw in that showed some understanding I am not sure he has before with how to use his frame. Maybe the presence of Mitro on the training ground will influence his play positively as well.’
‘Mitro was my MOM, BY A MILE…Not to say Fred was anything other than great, but Mitro is that missing link and makes us a top team now.’
‘Was winning every (and I do mean every) high ball to him and having the touch and skill to hold it up and bring others into the game.Also he got well stuck into Terry which was lovely.’
‘Mtrovic played with huge quality, don’t think he gave the ball away at all. He massively occupied the Villa defence and allowed space for Ayite and Sess, this was seen for the first goal allowing Sess to use his amazing special qualities to ghost in and score. He won many headers, his control was fantastic. He seemed to know where other players were which surprised me given his short time at the club. Finally he worked his backsidee off and was a great influence with his attitude. Looked like a Premier League player playing below his level.’
‘Brilliant signing. Mitro could prove to be the difference.’
