here we go again

I love writing about Fulham, because I had (maybe) two readers who care (barely). Anyway.

Saturday the Cottagers took on the new and exciting Manchester City in a match that was sure to be a good test. Fulham scored early on a Simon Davies (good hair) header/deflection, and then immediately got to losing the lead. Chris "LOOK I'M FUCKING OVERMATCHED OUT HERE" Baird was to blame for backing off Larry (not his real first name) Petrov's toe poke nutmeg goal. The ball got through 2 defenders before hopping up and over Anti "just put on Kasey Keller already" Neimi's arm and into the back of the net. This was just the start of Petrov's run of terror, which was only fitting since I dropped him from my truly horrible fantasy team just last week.

Everything that happened after this was a blur - Bouazza (who looks like a character from a Disney film about escaped zoo animals) hit a fantastic knuckling bullet of a free kick to beat the City wall and goaltender Casper (real name) Schmichael, City came roaring back a minute later and scored... so now we're at 2-2. Then City scored again (3-2) and Fulhum subbed on Danny Murphy and The Korean Ki-hyeon (last name also works as a nickname), and Murphy promptly introduced himself to his new team and fans by scoring. 3-3. Another tie. Here we are in 17th place, one above relegation.

On the plus side, this team seems to have quite a bit of spark, a real attacking flair, and although the results don't show it, the defense seems to be a lot more sturdy than last year. I think Bocangra and Konchesky's side is pretty sure, I'm not sure about the other. On the negative side, the endless parade of ties are what got Fulham into the relegation battle last year, and I'm already nervous. Looking ahead at the schedule (Chelsea next week...) and the rest of the table makes me think there just aren't any easy points out there for the taking.

SO... yeah. Dempsey didn't do anything the week, by the way. He looks about like he always does - in the mix, lacking on the defensive end. Then again, he's a forward now. I guess.

I need to order a jersey.