René Meulensteen has advised Fulham manager Álvaro Arbeloa to stick to clear communication and dialogue to get his Craven Cottage spell back on track.
Arbeloa arrived at the Cottage in the summer as a replacement for Marco Silva. He elected to leave London for a return to Portugal with Benfica.
The appointment of the former Real Madrid boss raised eyebrows at the time, with many surprised Fulham went for a Premier League newcomer to lead a squad rebuild following the departures of several high-profile players.
Summer focus on youth
The Spanish coach spent the summer with a heavy focus on youth, particularly from Real Madrid. Gonzalo García (22), César Palacios (21) and Manuel Ángel (22) arrived from his former club.
Shea Charles (22), Hugo Larsson (22) and Jonah Kusi-Asare (18) arrives from Southampton, Frankfurt and Bayern Munich. David Affengruber (25) was the oldest signing.
They are yet to make much of an impact as Fulham have started their Premier League campaign with three defeats, to Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Chelsea. They did, though, enjoy a 3-0 win over AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup.
Those results have led to questions about Arbeloa and, reports of unrest among some of the senior players too.
Meulensteen advice
Meulensteen knows all about struggling at Fulham. He was assistant manager there in 2013 before being appointed manager in December that year. But his reign would last just 17 games – ending February 2014. He won just four of those games, losing ten and drawing three.
He, then, is well placed to offer Álvaro Arbeloa advice on how to turn things around at Craven Cottage.
“There is no better medicine in football than winning,” he told Sport Witness.
“My advice to him would be to focus heavily on clear communication with his players – being explicit about what you want and how you want to execute it.
“The players have to buy into the vision. If he senses that elements of his setup are making the players uncomfortable, he needs to address that immediately and convince them why it’s the right way forward.
“If that doesn’t work, he might need to tweak a few tactical things and make some changes.
“It all starts with good communication. Clear dialogue pulls a squad together; if communication breaks down, it creates divisions and players fall away, which is deadly for a manager.”
René was speaking to Sport Witness on behalf of BestBettingSites.
