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Alvaro Arbeloa made a losing start to his Fulham career as his side were beaten 2-0 by Norwich in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Motspur Park.
The Spaniard was brought in to replace Marco Silva earlier this summer, with his only previous senior managerial experience coming in a tumultuous six-month spell at Real Madrid last season.
But he has faltered off the line with Fulham, tasting defeat in his first outing as Championship side Norwich visited south-west London and recorded their fifth victory of the summer.
Anis Ben Slimane was the Canaries’ first goalscorer, slotting past Bernd Leno with just under 20 minutes played before centre-back Harry Darling nodded home from a corner in the second half.
Fulham enjoyed chances through Kevin and Tom Cairney, with Ryan Sessegnon and first-team debutant Farhaan Ali Wahid also forcing the Norwich keeper into saves, but ultimately the Cottagers were unable to find a way through the Canaries, who finished ninth in the Championship last season.
Arbeloa saw 22 players in action during the match, naming a unique squad in either half. He appears to have set his side up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, a system he only used occasionally at Real Madrid, where he tended to prefer a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.
Young talent Josh King was in from the off after spending time with England in the United States at their pre-World Cup camp in Florida. Also involved in the opening period were first-team regulars Kenny Tete, Calvin Bassey, Harrison Reed, Sasa Lukic, Alex Iwobi, and Kevin, who was booked before being withdrawn.
Running out in the second half were Emile Smith Rowe, Joachim Andersen, Tom Cairney and Jorge Cuenca. Highly rated youngster Macaulay Zepa featured for the first time since signing his first professional deal earlier this month, snubbing interest from Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest to remain in west London.
The 18-year-old striker Jonah Kusi-Asare also featured after his loan from Bayern Munich was turned permanent in June.
Saudi side Al Ahli are up next for Fulham, with that match set to take place during a warm-weather training camp in Portugal, before completing pre-season by hosting VfB Stuttgart at Craven Cottage.