Alvaro Arbeloa issues Liverpool warning as Fulham 'statement' promised after winless start | OneFootball

Spaniard already under pressure after taking zero points from first three Premier League outings

Alvaro Arbeloa insists he is not yet feeling the pressure despite Fulham’s winless start to the Premier League season, instead promising a statement performance at Liverpool.

The Spaniard’s appointment this summer as Marco Silva’s replacement was widely questioned, given his previous senior managerial experience amounted to just six turbulent months with Real Madrid, and the first weeks of his Fulham stint have been chastening.

The Cottagers are yet to win in the league under Arbeloa’s premiership, with their only victory coming against League One’s Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup, and already reports are beginning to proliferate of unrest in the squad.

Arbeloa, though, is adamant he will be able to right the ship before long, saying: "I haven't just come here for three games or a month in charge, I've come here because I wanted to improve this team. That's where my energy goes."

Alvaro Arbeloa has endured a tough start to life in west London

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Things will get no easier for Fulham, who must visit Anfield this weekend in a bid to pick up their first points of the season. The Spaniard has called on his disgruntled squad to put their best foot forward on Merseyside, with an opportunity to leave a grim opening month of the campaign in the past.

"I think we need to send a message tomorrow,” he continued.

“Tomorrow is where we have to send a message for us. We need to win games and that has to be our message.

"We know that we have zero points. Of course we did many things well, but it's not well enough. And we know that, and we need to do better and if we want to send a message, we need to start winning games and doing better."

Fulham face Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool next up

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Fulham will be boosted for the trip to the northwest by the availability of Deadline Day signing David Affengruber, who Arbeloa says is fit to start.

He added that a productive week on the training ground has him confident of picking up a result against Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool: "Every Monday, I like to talk with (my squad) about the game, especially when you are not winning.

“For me they are doing so many things well and we need to understand what we are doing wrong and why we are not winning games.

"And for me that is the most important thing. They understand that they are pressing well, running, we are very intense as a team and we need to become a team very difficult to win to beat. And for us, we need to control very well when we have the ball, don't be so exposed.

"Balance is the key, we will have to defend in a low block, medium block sometimes. It's very important, we need to be ready when we lose the ball, what we're going to do. That's what we've been working on."