Fulham v Manchester City: An opinion

Here is my opinion of yesterday's match, plus my player rankings which can be viewed here. I would be very interested to hear your views - whether or not you agree with me! As usual, I'll post a round-up of how the media saw the match tomorrow morning.


"I don't know whether to be disappointed that we threw away two points or elated that we've gained a point when we were down."

That's how Lawrie Sanchez summed up the feelings of most fans after a pulsating, yet ultimately disappointing, match. To coin a cliché this was most definitely a game for the neutral as it had everything: goals, superb passing and even some handbags to keep everyone entertained.

For me, however, Hameur Bouazza was the outstanding man of the match. His attitude was fantastic: back defending one minute, supporting the midfield the next and then being a menace to the City backline. A superb all-round display. He was also the architect of the first goal. A move he started by tackling back in defence, then running the length of the pitch to supply a pinpoint cross for Simon Davies to head home. A sweet, flowing move that the visitors didn't even see coming. His first goal - and our second - was a belter. You will struggle to see a better taken free-kick this season. It was a rocket of a shot that bent to the left at the very last second to deceive the agile Kasper Schmeichel who was amusingly serenaded with: 'You're not as good as your dad'.

Seol Hi-Kyeon was also absolutely sensational. Any lingering disappointment I felt at seeing Rosenior depart was swept away when I saw what the big Korean can do. He's clearly a superb addition to the squad and his header to set up Murphy for our equaliser emphasised this point.

Overall, therefore, there were more positives than negatives to take from the game. Yes I know we let City back into the match but it could have been a lot, lot worse. To give him his due, Sanchez has got a knack of making the right substitutions at the right time to get results. I love the way - to coin yet another footballing cliché - that this team doesn't know when it's beaten.

The drive and commitment to haul themselves back into games is awe-inspiring and we could have easily grabbed all three points late on when Danny Murphy blazed over the bar. We are also a fantastic attacking force these days and goals can come from anywhere. Eight players - Healy, Dempsey, Smertin, Davies, Bouazza, McBride, Kamara and Murphy - have got themselves onto the score sheet this season. Putting three past a City side that have only conceded twice in the league all season is no mean feat and must not be underestimated.

Our defence, on the other hand, is another matter entirely. Where has the awesome Antti Niemi from last year gone? I appreciate he had injury problems at the start of the season but he still looks a shadow of his former self. His handling is unconvincing, his punching weak, he's allowing shots to squirm away from him, and perhaps most worrying of all, he doesn't seem to have the confidence of his back four. Considering the way that Niemi is playing at the moment I would prefer to see Tony Warner between the posts. He has more of a presence in the goal and is arguably a better shop-stopper (as his tremendous display at Arsenal proved) . Obviously his Achilles heel is his stupid errors, but Niemi has shown he is more than capable of making those himself.

However, our Finnish stopper shouldn't take all the blame. In my opinion there is one other major culprit in our defensive line-up: Chris Baird. Now, part of me feels bad singling out someone who has only played a handful of games but I can't see any reason why he should be in the team ahead of Moritz Volz. His insistence on standing off opposing players just doesn't work and was ruthlessly exploited by Martin Petrov yesterday who not only turned him inside out but made him look like a mediocre Championship player and not an international captain. I can understand his confidence is probably low at the moment - particularly having scored an own goal for Northern Ireland - but it's the team that are paying the price for his mistakes.

Sanchez said in his pre-match press conference on Friday that the squad needs to be isolated from error-prone players and Baird definitely falls into this category at the moment. A spell on the sidelines to get his head and game back together is needed. Volz must be brought in for the Carling Cup match on Wednesday, and if he delivers, should retain his place for next weekend's visit to Stamford Bridge.