Fulham boss Marco Silva reveals Andreas Pereira demands that paid off in West Ham win

Fulham head coach Marco Silva admitted that he has been asking Andreas Pereira to take up better goalscoring positions following Sunday’s 2-0 win at West Ham United.

Pereira scored a goal in either half to seal the victory, notching just his second and third goals of the season in the process.

Silva said after the game that Pereira’s successful afternoon came from a combination of his specific role for the game as well as what he has been demanding from the former Manchester United midfielder in training.

“The plan was clear for him to never be behind the two West Ham midfielders, we wanted him to always be in the pockets and in between the lines,” he explained. “But for him to arrive in certain areas is something that we are demanding from him.

“Before he joined, Andreas was playing more as a second midfielder at Man United, and sometimes as a wide player as well. Also, in his spells around Europe and at Flamengo in Brazil, always a second midfielder.

“Since he joined, he is playing in a different line, much more as an offensive midfielder in the pocket areas and we have been working with him to arrive more in certain areas [to score].

“He’s been one of the players in this league with more assists and he is really strong in [taking] set pieces too. In our team he is a player with more assists.

“In that role in the team, you have to be more decisive, score more goals as well, and I’m really pleased to see him arrive in certain areas.”

Pereira opened the scoring at the London Stadium after just nine minutes when he capitalised on a poor clearance from Konstantinos Mavropanos to round Lukasz Fabianski and slot into an empty net.

The Brazilian doubled his tally for the afternoon in the final 20 minutes as he got on the end of an Alex Iwobi cross to finish off a devastating counterattack.

“The way he believed for the first goal, that the second ball can fall for him, the conclusion was really good,” said Silva.

“He believed in that moment. He had that chance because he believed the ball can fall for him. It was not the best clearance from Mavropanos but we score in that moment because Andreas believed the ball could fall for him.

“The way he arrived in the box for the second goal, I’m really pleased to see because it is something we demand from them [the players] and push them to do, but when it happens in the game it makes them believe more and it is going to happen for Andreas.”