Fulham @ Stoke City

I think Roy was just giving Dempsey a rest. He proved today that's he's our most influential player.

I'm not sure how much of our first half was because we were playing poorly or because Stoke was playing well. Their pressurizing was insane; no one but Schwarzer got more than a second on the ball. Granted, we didn't play well in the first half, but I'm willing to give a lot of credit on the overall performance to Stoke.

 

OK, I've been very complacent for the past year, and Stoke are thugs, but it's time to rant:

I think Dempsey was simply being rested as well, but GERA CAN'T PLAY ON THE FUCKING LEFT!! How many times did this happen last season? Gera is a fine, servicable player, just not when he's out left. He's like George Costanza: 'can't go left.'

And AJ can go back to the bench - is it coincidence he comes back against Chelsea and the squad looks half the side it did before his return? I think not. When your best attributes are pace and drawing penalities, and when you lose a step and the refs stop giving you the benefit of the doubt on fouls, it's time to be an impact sub. (and yes, I choose to ignore the more rational argument that he's still returning from injury b/c he can return from injury with the fucking reserves)

Murphy is class, and I hope it's just a bad spell for him, but he is on the wrong side of 30...

And without both Dempsey and Duff on the field, Fulham's offense harkens back to the impotence of seasons past.

Feel free to flame on b/c yesterday's loss pissed me off to no end.

COYW