RW Essen midfielder Thomas Eisfeld has admitted his spell at Fulham “was rather negative” for him and his career.
He has been speaking to Rot-Weiss in Germany about his career so far, which has seen him turn out for the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Fulham, VfL Bochum and now Essen.
He started his career with Osnabrück Youth before moving to Dortmund’s youth set up in 2005, where he worked his way up the ranks and caught Arsenal’s eye, who took him to London in January 2012.
He would remain with the Gunners for two years before moving across the capital to Fulham in a €1.5m deal in July 2014.
Things would not go well for him at Craven Cottage, though, as he managed just nine appearances in the first team, and four for the Under 21s, before being sent to Bochum on loan just six months after his arrival.
The following August he joined the German side on a permanent basis after Fulham let him leave on a free, bringing an end to a miserable time in England where he had managed less than 20 senior appearances for Arsenal and Fulham combined.
At 30-years-old he is now looking backwards and reflecting and admits his decision to join the Whites was not a good one.
“The time at Fulham FC was rather negative for me,” he added.
“The coach at the time, Felix Magath, had shown me a longer-term path in good discussions. In training, his focus was on high intensity.
“Unfortunately, he was dismissed after only the 7th matchday. His successor Kit Symons quickly made me understand that he would rather focus on other players.
“Therefore, it was foreseeable that my time at Fulham FC would end relatively early. In retrospect, however, that was also a valuable experience.”
