{"id":584402,"date":"2021-02-20T18:50:58","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T23:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=584402"},"modified":"2021-02-20T18:50:58","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T23:50:58","slug":"lookman-keeping-fulham-season-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/20\/lookman-keeping-fulham-season-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"Ademola Lookman: The Brght Spark Keeping the Fulham Season Alive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Many will be quick to dismiss Fulham&#8217;s chances of survival, and perhaps rightfully so. After all, they could be six points adrift of safety come the end of the current match day. Yet, one man refuses to concede safety, and that&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/fbref.com\/en\/players\/7c104bb7\/Ademola-Lookman\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ademola Lookman<\/a>: The guy keeping the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/01\/29\/west-bromwich-albion-sign-striker-mbaye-diagne-on-loan-from-galatasaray\/\" target=\"_self\">Fulham<\/a> season alive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In truth, he belongs at a higher level. In the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/12\/leipzig-sign-defender-angelino-man-city\/\" target=\"_self\">Bundesliga<\/a> at <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/09\/blame-borussia-dortmund-and-rb-leipzig-for-bayern-munich-bundesliga-dominance\/\" target=\"_self\">RB Leipzig<\/a>&#8211; where he is on loan from- Lookman played at a level he is destined to be. The free-flowing football suits his sharp-minded, skilful play down to the bone. So just how did that sharp mind end up in a relegation scrap?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That question is yet to be answered, but Scott Parker won&#8217;t mind as he sees Lookman continue to provide Fulham with a glimmer of hope.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Lookman: The Bright Spark Keeping the Fulham Season Alive<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Scott Parker&#8217;s Perfect Player<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A lot can be said about the Fulham season, but their attempt to consistently implement a modern, easy on the eye style of play cannot be slated. Scott Parker is a fantastic manager who, with limited resources, has implemented a tactic suited to the top teams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ultimately, with these limited resources, Fulham may face the drop. But, they won&#8217;t suffer like West Bromwich Albion will should they join them. Fulham&#8217;s style of play considers the long-term and a bounce back to the top flight.<\/span><br \/>\n[pickup_prop id=&#8221;4006&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/07\/steven-bergwijn-gareth-bale-key-underperformers-tottenham-hotspurs-forward-line\/\" target=\"_self\">West Brom<\/a> try to implement safe, scrappy, old-fashioned football to simply survive and not progress. In the long run, when relegation occurs, this same approach will not result in promotion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">And, as of right now, it is the bolder approach of Parker that is outdoing Allardyce&#8217;s tried and trusted &#8216;survival mode&#8217; football. And Ademola Lookman is at the heart of that for Fulham.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He is the constant figure driving them forward, the man with the golden touch when needed, the player to link the play, and Scott Parker&#8217;s match made in heaven.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Parker knows what it feels like to be a star in a struggling team. The former player won the PFA Player of the Year award in the season his side, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/01\/30\/premier-league-surprise-hits-mid-season-awards\/\" target=\"_self\">West Ham United<\/a> suffered relegation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Lookman, at 23, is in a similar position to the one his current manager found himself in all those years ago. And, it is the mark of a true player when, as the quality drops around them, their own light continues to shine brighter than ever.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Lookman Could Take Fulham to Safety<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When Fulham have needed a spark of life this season; a player to take their neat and tidy football and turn it into quick, progressive play, Lookman has stepped up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The loanee has been involved in goals against <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/01\/29\/barclays-womens-super-league-deadline-day-round-up\/\" target=\"_self\">Everton<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/01\/12\/premier-league-title-race-up-grabs\/\" target=\"_self\">Leicester City,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/01\/liverpool-complete-kabak-deal\/\" target=\"_self\">Liverpool,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/05\/manchester-city-good-enough-form-grab-first-league-win-anfield-since-2003\/\" target=\"_self\">Tottenham Hotspur<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/01\/19\/wonderkid-joao-pedro-verbally-commits-future-to-watford\/\" target=\"_self\">Manchester United<\/a> and, most importantly, relegation rivals <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/01\/22\/aston-villa-from-relegation-to-adoration\/\" target=\"_self\">Sheffield United.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">His winning strike against the Blades lifted Fulham to within three points of safety. Newcastle have a game in hand, yes, and could extend the gap. But, at the very least, Lookman&#8217;s strike has provided all involved at Fulham with some much-needed hope.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"sOMwfWgESaR58c8Ld412rQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.co.uk\/detail\/1231169708\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'sOMwfWgESaR58c8Ld412rQ',sig:'p_Yl03J6hVbnUnXLUWjvhdUFKScFt7kX9ipPdm_YmWk=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1231169708',caption: true ,tld:'co.uk',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many will be quick to dismiss Fulham&#8217;s chances of survival, and perhaps rightfully so. After all, they could be six points adrift of safety come the end of the current match day. Yet, one man refuses to concede safety, and that&#8217;s Ademola Lookman: The guy keeping the Fulham season alive. In truth, he belongs at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3402,"featured_media":584403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2,2511],"tags":[780,3711],"class_list":["post-584402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-premier-league","category-featured","category-fulham","tag-ademola-lookman","tag-scott-parker"],"modified_by":"Tom Cunningham, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3402"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}