Alvaro Arbeloa has moved to dismiss suggestions of discontent inside his Fulham squad, insisting the mood at the club remains upbeat as they prepare to travel to Liverpool this weekend still searching for their first Premier League points of the season.
The Spaniard's start to life in English football management has been difficult, with Fulham losing all three of their opening top-flight fixtures. Saturday's trip to Anfield carries extra significance for Arbeloa personally, given he spent several years there as a player, racking up 98 appearances for Liverpool during his career.
Speculation about tension within the squad grew following last weekend's home defeat to Crystal Palace, a game in which Fulham conceded three goals at Craven Cottage. Winger Kevin, who did not feature, posted a cryptic message on his Instagram story afterwards reading "no speak, no hear, no see," fuelling talk of unhappiness among fringe players.
Adding to the intrigue, both Alex Iwobi and Emile Smith Rowe wiped their Instagram accounts clean of all posts, including football-related content, in the aftermath of the Palace loss. The gesture was interpreted by some supporters as evidence of friction following Arbeloa's summer appointment as successor to the long-serving Marco Silva.
Arbeloa arrived at Fulham after a spell in charge of Real Madrid last season and brought a trio of players from the Spanish giants' academy setup with him, including Gonzalo Garcia, Cesar Palacios and Manuel Angel.
Despite the noise surrounding his squad, the former Spain international defender was adamant that his players were responding well behind the scenes. "You can learn more about a group after a defeat than after a win, and I saw them work during the week with a very positive attitude, all of them," Arbeloa said.
He acknowledged that frustration was natural among those not getting regular minutes, framing it as a positive rather than a warning sign. "For sure when you are a player and you are not playing, you can't be happy. It is what I expect from the players that are not playing. I want that they should need to show me that they are not happy during the training session. For me, this is the most important thing," he explained.
Arbeloa added that a lack of playing time should sharpen a player's hunger to contribute. "Obviously, when you are not winning games and you are not helping your team, I think you have more desire to play games and to help their team-mates. But all of them, they have been working so hard and I have a very, very good group with a very good attitude," he said.
Fulham's task at Anfield will not be straightforward. Liverpool head into the fixture full of confidence under Andoni Iraola, having won their last two matches and scored twice in each outing since the Bournemouth-turned-Liverpool boss took charge.
Arbeloa conceded that his side must tighten up defensively but pointed to their attacking output as a source of encouragement. "We know we need to improve and we have to adjust some parts of our game, but we are focused on the game tomorrow," he said. "We can score goals against any team in the Premier League, that is the thing we are doing so well, creating so many chances and are aggressive without the ball."
Fulham will be hoping to translate that attacking promise into their first points of the campaign as they look to end a difficult opening spell under their new manager.
Based on reporting from The Independent.