Claudio Ranieri appointed Fulham manager: The changes he could make after Slavisa Jokanovic’s departure Having made a surprise managerial appointment in the form of Claudio Ranieri, here’s what Fulham need to do next

Fulham have announced the appointment of Claudio Ranieri as manager and the departure of head coach Slavisa Jokanovic, following a six game losing streak in the Premier League and a Carabao Cup exit to Manchester City’s second string.

Following supporter unrest at the team’s inability to keep a clean sheet so far in the league, and a poor return on a near-£100m summer transfer outlay, Jokanovic was sacked as head coach.

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The club confirmed in a statement on Wednesday morning that chairman Shahid Khan and his son Tony Khan, vice chairman and director of football operations, “considered and spoke with a number of potential candidates within the past week.”

It was notable that the statement announcing Jokanovic’s dismissal was headlined with the appointment of Ranieri as manager, a canny PR move by the club.

Why Slavisa Jokanovic was sacked

Fulham are bottom of the league with five points from 12 games and are out of the Carabao Cup. While their position in terms of relegation isn’t a disaster yet – Newcastle sit 14th on only four more points – there has been a deterioration of team identity and they seem to have lost some of the ethos with which they were promoted from the Championship.

Defensive issues have been the biggest problem. The decision to relieve Jokanovic of his duties was likely made after consecutive 4-2, 0-3 and 1-0 losses to Cardiff, Bournemouth and Huddersfield in the league – games in which Fulham really needed to pick up wins.

After their defensive shortcomings were exposed early season, with Fulham at one point on course to concede over 106 league goals, Jokanovic tried to tighten up at the back. At first he withdrew the wing-backs into deeper roles, more like traditional full-backs. Then he tried to play with five or even six defenders on the pitch. The tactical changes did not stop the team conceding goals, and Fulham have been goalless in the past four matches – unacceptable for a side with an established reputation for attacking football.

With primary goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrovic struggling owing to a lack of service, in part arising from a lack of width in attack thanks to the more defensive positioning of full-backs, Fulham no longer faced merely a goal drought and a leaky defence but a full-blown identity crisis.

What Claudio Ranieri will bring

In the club statement, Ranieri’s assessment of the situation was as follows: “The objective at Fulham should never be to merely survive in the Premier League. We must at all times be a difficult opponent and should expect to succeed.

“This Fulham squad has exceptional talent that is contrary to its position in the table. I know this team is very capable of better performances, which we will work on straight away as we prepare for Southampton at the Cottage.”

Ranieri is known for encouraging a happy dressing room and not overhauling club philosophies or making large-scale changes to a side overnight. He will likely tinker with the line-up a little but encourage existing personnel to adopt a certain shape – for instance, he’s not been known to rotate centre-backs with too much regularity and that’s an area Fulham could definitely do with some consistency.

Tactical and playing changes

Ranieri has consistently implemented a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1 formation. The former was famously adopted in the Leicester title winning season, the later at Nantes with some early success.

As a pragmatic manager, he may also lean on some of the existing talents in the squad and try to drum in some organisation. He’s been known to get more out of teams than, on paper, they warrant, mainly owing to tactical nous. This is a man who elevated Danny Drinkwater to a Premier League title, England caps and a £35m move to Chelsea.

He’ll likely try to use Fulham’s pace out wide and Mitrovic’s ability as a hold-up player and centre forward.

With Joe Bryan returning from injury, Ryan Sessegnon can play further forward and Andre Schurrle can be moved to the right wing.

A 4-2-3-1 with two defensive midfielders could work for Fulham, with an emphasis on attack and a stronger defensive backline.

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In terms of a January shopping list, a defensive midfielder who can screen for the centre backs and a left back of Premier League quality are both essential.

@LouisAlexDore