Where are they now? The insanely good Fulham XI Scott Parker got relegated in 2021

The Premier League’s standard has risen over the years and the quality across the entire league has grown but it has meant some quality sides have faced relegation.

Take Leicester or Leeds in the 2022-23 as prime examples or you can even stretch as far back as West Ham in the 2002-03 campaign who had Paolo Di Canio, Michael Carrick and Joe Cole, to name a few. Contrary to popular belief: you can be ‘too good to go down’.

With that in mind, we’ve decided to look back at another side that deserves to be mentioned in that category; Scott Parker’s Fulham side from the 2020-21 season who lost 20 times and won on just five occasions. On paper, it never should have happened.

GK: Alphonse Areola

The French keeper came through PSG’s academy and remained at the club until 2022 but enjoyed loans at multiple clubs before leaving, including Fulham.

He had previous experience in France and Spain before coming to the Premier League and he was arguably one of their best players, if not their best, producing a 74% save percentage and outperforming his expected saves.

After returning to PSG, he was then granted a loan with West Ham where he had to bide his time as a cup keeper behind the experienced Lukasz Fabianski.

But he was key in their Conference League triumph under David Moyes, starting every game and while that earned him the number one spot last season, he has had to share his game time with Fabianski this season.

RCB: Ola Aina

The former Chelsea graduate was a highly rated defender from his time in their academy and with the England youth teams – and he had impressed at Hull City and Torino on loan.

He arrived at Fulham in a loan deal a year after joining Torino but was caught between a few positions as part of the back three.

Since then, he left Italy to return to England, linking up with Nottingham Forest in 2023.

While his first season saw him start just 20 times, he has been a revelation this season, finally realising his full potential as a right-back at 28 years of age.

And he’s been one of the best in that position in the league this season having helped to keep the joint-most clean sheets (10) with Liverpool.

CCB: Joachim Andersen

Having moved to Fulham on loan for the 2020-21 season, Andersen was contracted at Lyon at the time but wanted first-team football.

He was starting games for Denmark at this point and was an experienced figure in this side. With 33 starts, he was a key figure and captained the team for the majority of those games.

After that, he immediately joined Crystal Palace where he found his feet and his reputation grew as his performance level began to rise.

In 2024, he made a return to Fulham which was seen as a great deal for the London club having developed into one of the better centre-backs outside of the traditional top six clubs.

He has had his injury issues but he has formed a strong partnership with Calvin Bassey and is a key figure at the club once again.

LCB: Tosin Adarabioyo

In what was his first full season in the top flight, Tosin had moved from Manchester City after a few EFL loans and was ready to step up into the first team.

At 23, he was vastly inexperienced at this level having only made eight appearances for City but he made 33 starts that season.

After that, he remained a permanent fixture in Fulham’s side across their Championship campaign and then two seasons after in the Premier League before he ran down his deal to force a move away.

He had plenty of top clubs admiring him in England and abroad but he opted for Chelsea where he has grown into a senior role for Enzo Maresca’s young squad, playing 21 times across all competitions, starting just nine times in the league.

RWB: Bobby Decordova-Reid

Initially, Decordova-Reid moved to Fulham on loan the previous season where he was a key figure, developing himself as a utility player as he was fielded across the board with 42 appearances.

Parker then used him in the right wing-back role with differing results but he was still one of their better performers with five goals and two assists.

After that, he remained a loyal servant for the club and enjoyed a strong Championship campaign, before starting 29 games in the Premier League after their promotion.

He then had a lesser role the year after before opting to join Leicester City in 2024 where he has only started four games up to this point.

CM: Mario Lemina

Lemina was only on loan for the season at that time from Southampton, enjoying a chance to start every week at 27.

The high point was netting the winner at Anfield as Liverpool embarked on their worst home run for decades but he was far from the player he is now.

The last few years have been his best, enjoying plenty of starts at Wolves and Nice after leaving Southampton and he currently finds himself in Turkey with Galatasaray, gunning for the Turkish League title, having just signed from Wolves in the January window.

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CM: Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa

Starting 29 times that season in midfield, the Cameroon international was 25 at the time and already had a full season in the Premier League two years prior but it wasn’t quite the right fit for him – especially in a 3-4-3 midfield.

After their relegation, he headed to Napoli on loan before joining in a permanent deal.

That’s where he found his feet and realised his true potential. He ended up playing a key role in midfield as they won the title in the 2022-23 season and was one of the best midfielders in the league in Serie A that season.

His performances in the Champions League caught the eye too and four years on, he’s still a key starter under Antonio Conte gunning for another title.

LWB: Antonee Robinson

The ex-Everton academy graduate saw a slow start to his career, having spent time on loan in the EFL at Wigan and Bolton.

He never an appearance for the Toffees before being sold in 2020 to Fulham, making this his first full season in the Premier League.

Playing his first full season at 23 proved difficult and he managed no goal contributions across the season, proving he was far from the player he is now.

He has remained at the club ever since and has grown year by year into one of the leading left-backs in the Premier League.

This season he has 10 assists to add to the six from the year before and his energy, work rate and ability to find a teammate in and around the box is now of a high level  – he was just lacking that experience in 2021.

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CAM: Ruben Loftus-Cheek

This was a real coup at the time for Fulham; Loftus-Cheek had shone under Maurizio Sarri a few years earlier but an ACL injury suffered in a charity match in 2019 ruled him out for over a year, halting his career progress.

The move to Fulham was to reignite his career but Parker failed to get the best out of him, playing him more in an attacking midfield role rather than a box-to-box position while he also struggled after such a lengthy layoff.

He then eventually found his feet under Thomas Tuchel, but left for pastures new at AC Milan.

CAM: Adeola Lookman

The Adeola Lookman we know now and the one who started for Fulham in 2021 might as well be from different worlds.

At the time, he was on loan from RB Leipzig and was one of Parker’s brightest sparks with four goals and four assists across the season.

However, he was still inexperienced at this level and that showed with his infamous botched Panenka against West Ham in November 202.

However, since joining Atalanta in 2022, he has thrived and is currently in his prime, having netted a hat trick in the final of the Europa League last season which helped him capture the African Footballer of the Year award.

And a big move beckons in the near future. He’s come a long way.

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ST: Aleksandr Mitrovic

What made this season so shocking is that Mitrovic was just about to explode in the seasons to come, but he wasn’t quite there at this point.

He managed just four goals during this season and struggled due to the poor structure behind him as they created the sixth-least expected goals that season.

The following year in the Championship saw him net a record 43 goals before netting 14 in the Premier League.

That earned him a big-money move to Saudi Arabia to join Al-Hilal who dominated the Saudi Pro League thanks to his goals, netting 40 in 44 games before continuing that form this season, with 20 in 24.