Tips

News

Predictions

Blogs

Videos

Quizzes

Betting Sites

When Will Harry Wilson Get the Respect he Deserves?
Blogs

When Will Harry Wilson Get the Respect he Deserves?

05/11/24 13:10

Fulham trailed 1-0 to bitter rivals Brentford last night, until Harry Wilson entered play in the 82nd minute. The Cottagers managed to come away 2-1 winners thanks to a spectacular brace from Harry Wilson, with both goals arriving in injury time.

Despite the jubilations that followed Wilson’s impact, Fulham fans will admit they’d begun to write off the Wales international, and it would make sense given the limited playing time Wilson’s seen this campaign.

So when Harry Wilson wheeled away in celebration last night, it sent shockwaves to each and every Fulham fan who had lost faith in the 27-year-old.

Wilson was Marco Silva’s first signing after his appointment at Fulham, and it’s clear to see why the Portuguese gaffer turned to Wilson to snatch all three points.

Harry Wilson’s Special First Season at Craven Cottage

Harry Wilson’s arrival at Fulham marked the start of a new era in South-West London. Gone were the days of Scott Parker’s negative tactics, and in came the breath of fresh air Marco Silva’s side provided.

Not only was Wilson the first signing of Fulham’s Championship winning campaign, he’s also the last member of the Cottager’s attacking quartet from that season. Bobby De Cordova-Reid has joined Leicester as a free agent, Neeskens Kebano departed for UAE side Al-Jazira, and the record breaking Aleksandr Mitrovic joined Al-Hilal in a deal worth around £50 million.

Wilson also marked a change in transfer strategy for Fulham, as they moved away from the stat-based signings which saw plenty of failures pass through Motspur Park’s gates, names like Ibrahma Cisse will ring bells. Instead, Silva had been the one to push his new club to sign Liverpool’s cast-out winger, who had been successful in his series of loan spells.

There’s no denying the new strategy worked out, with Wilson bagging 10 goals and 19 assists in his maiden campaign at Fulham. The Welshman was a vital tool as Silva’s side scooped the Championship Title.

His link-up with Mitrovic in that campaign will never be forgotten, especially given his assist to provide the Serbian with his all important 43rd goal of the campaign, setting the record for the most goals in England’s second tier across a 46 game season.

An Underrated 2023/24 Campaign

Following his scintillating form in Fulham’s Championship winning season, many fans expected Wilson to be Marco Silva’s first choice winger in the following campaign.

What entailed was a complete shock to the system. Instead, Silva decided to entrust former Chelsea star Willian with a starting role, after his free arrival from Corinthians. Fans had written off the Brazilian, given his poor form at both Arsenal and back in his native Brazil, but Silva made a decision which certainly paid off.

Willian picked up five goals and five assists, but his creativity was irreplaceable for the Cottagers on their return to Premier League football. Fulham finished 10th with 52 points, and many would credit that to the influence Willian had on proceedings.

Wilson did get a fair few minutes to show his worth over the course of the season, following an injury which essentially ended Neeskens Kebano’s Fulham career. The Welshman managed to amount two goals and three assists, but never really recaptured his Championship form.

However, Wilson regained his lethal edge last year, despite often not being first choice. With Willian and De Cordova-Reid remaining in favour, along with new arrivals Alex Iwobi and Adama Traore adding more obstacles in Wilson’s path.

The Wales international knew his role, and often punished teams when being introduced to the fold from the bench. In fact, despite starting just 16 matches, Wilson finished with Fulham’s highest goal/assist tally across the campaign.

Of his four goals and six assists, the highlight for Wilson was certainly a 25-yard trademark screamer in the 5-0 demolition of West Ham United.

The Welsh Wizard Filling a Bale Shaped Hole

While he might be significantly shorter than Wales’ all time top scorer, as well as realistically being nowhere near the level of Gareth Bale, Harry Wilson has stepped up for his country when they’ve needed him most.

Many questions were asked of what would become of the Welsh national team once Gareth Bale hung up his boots, but they’ve done pretty well all things considered.

In October 2013, Wilson ironically replaced Bale as Wales’ youngest debutant, and since then has had his say in international proceedings. He’s scored ten goals for his country from midfield, and has certainly come into his own recently.

Under new manager Craig Bellamy, Harry Wilson became the first Welshman to score in three successive games for his country, since the aforementioned Bale at Euro 2016. Two of these goals came against Montenegro, and one against Iceland.

On the former Liverpool man’s 50th appearance for his country, he inspired as he converted a spectacular brace to secure a win over Croatia, sound familiar? He opened the scoring after controlling a looping ball forward and lifting the ball over the opposition ‘keeper, and doubled his tally with a backward glancing header into the far corner.

Harry the Hero Bests the Bees

So here we are, back to the present, and back to a magic evening at Craven Cottage. It’s always gorgeous by the Thames under the lights, but something felt even more special last night for the West London Derby.

Fulham had been pushing Brentford for the entirety of the match, in fact I would argue the Bees didn’t look like scoring even once until the 95th minute. Vitaly Janelt might have opened the scoring early, but with an xG of 0.03, I’d hardly call it a goalscoring chance.

Reiss Nelson had provided a spark, Emile Smith-Rowe was calm in possession, and Sander Berge had sweeped up behind the pair. Everything was going back, but the Cottagers just couldn’t best Brentford’s low block.

Thomas Frank, unable to deal with the constant pressure of Fulham’s attacking qualities, had resorted to parking even Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa behind the ball for 65 minutes. Whilst it may have been a negative approach, it almost worked for Brentford, until our Hero Harry Wilson was introduced to the action.

In the 82nd minute, Wilson entered the field of play, replacing the ever electric Reiss Nelson. Those Fulham fans mentioned earlier, yes the ones that had written the Welsh Wizard off, were made to eat humble pie.

Then in the 92nd minute Wilson finally scored the goal Fulham had been working toward the entire game, Adama Traore burst into a yard of space as per usual, and delivered a ball into a dangerous area of the Brentford box.

Thanks to a clever run, likely one designed to draw defenders away from Rodrigo Muniz in the area, Wilson managed to reach the near post just a millisecond before Brentford’s Ben Mee. That millisecond allowed Wilson to connect with Traore’s cross with his heel, and it was a crucial touch which sent the ball looping over Mark Flekken in the Brentford goal.

Time froze for what felt like an eternity, as the ball nestled into the top left corner of the Dutch stopper’s goal, and Wilson wheeled away in celebration, but the game wasn’t over yet.

After former Fulham man Fabio Carvalho came close with an attempt that would’ve shattered the hearts of Fulham fans everywhere, but thanks to an unbelievable Bernd Leno save, Fulham remained level.

What followed was nothing short of pandemonium. Fulham captain Tom Cairney, who scored the winner against the Bees on the same date eight years ago, carried the ball forward with what appeared to be the game's last attack. He played through Antonee Robinson, who burst forward with one of his trademark runs, and subsequently looped a ball toward Wilson in the Brentford area once more.

Whether he meant it or not, the Welshman in the mixer connected with the looping cross in the area, and the ball connected with both his head and shoulder. In another heart-stopping moment, Mark Flekken was unable to stop Wilson’s effort which once again found the top left corner.

Craven Cottage erupted, and Harry Wilson wrote his name in Fulham history forever. He joins Joe Bryan in the list of players to have scored a crucial brace over their bitter rivals. One things for sure, those people who doubted Wilson will never do so again.

Benji Kosartiyer
Journalist
Joe Southan

Lead Writer

Doubles
17/05/25 19:00
Premier League & FA Cup

Premier League & FA Cup

Manchester City

Manchester City

6/1
Manchester City to Win Premier League & FA Cup
Go To Details

Videos

See more
From Non-League to the AFCON Final - The Story of Kwesi Appiah
Listen to our full podcast with Kwesi Appiah as he discusses his sensational rise from non-league all the way to starting in the AFCON final.
Is it time for Luton Town to make THE DECISION?!
Watch out latest edition of EFL Hot Takes as the lads give their opinion on the Rob Edwards situation at Luton Town.
WHO is in our Championship TEAM OF THE SEASON so far?!
Find out how we would put in our Championship Team of the Season so far on YouTube as we approach the busy period.

Join our newsletter

Become a part of our community and never miss an update from Football Park.