For those of us at Craven Cottage, the first half of yesterday’s match was disheartening as Fulham dramatically improved from their performance against Chelsea on Monday.
Alex Iwobi, Carlos Vinicius, and Bobby De Cordova-Reid were all added to the lineup by Marco Silva.
After a difficult period in front of goal for the hosts, the Jamaican international did, in fact, open the scoring in the second half.
Willian was the lone player to beat goalkeeper Wes Foderingham with a shot that went wide of the post for Fulham.
In order to prevent wasting a golden chance to collect three points, Cairney has now revealed what Silva said to the Fulham players at halftime.
The message was definitely received since De Cordova-Reid also scored alongside Willian and an own goal by Foderingham that Cairney could find it difficult to claim.
Cairney shares Silva half-time message
When questioned about what the Portuguese coach told the team, Cairney responded, “He kept repeating you’re doing the right things, keep working hard and don’t worry about the goals because if you do the right things the goals will come.
His key message was to remain dynamic and forward-thinking, and, to be honest, I believe we did just that.
After Sheffield United’s equalizer, Cairney substituted Andreas Pereira and had a significant impact on the game.
The 32-year-old suddenly found time to fire from 25 yards after some superb work from fellow replacement Calvin Bassey to win the ball high up the field.
He slid as the ball was being struck with his typically magnificent left foot, which caught Foderingham off guard.
The ball blasted off the crossbar, landed on the Sheffield United goalkeeper’s back, and then found its way into the goal.
After striking the ball against his slipping standing foot, Cairney can theoretically add it to his extremely small collection of right-footed goals.
Cairney and his colleagues benefited from Silva’s motivational speech at halftime.
The team now has two days to prepare before taking on high-flying Tottenham in North London, who will be seeking retribution for their Carabao Cup exit, thanks to the international break.
