Thought this was very good and shows up our serious plight in a realistic way. After a weekend which saw Fulham drop to the bottom of the Premier League after a 3-0 home defeat, here's some even more bad news: the side who finishes the season with the sole worst defensive record has not stayed up since Crystal Palace in 1990. This is bad news for Rene Meulensteen's side because they have conceded 54 goals, 12 more than nearest rivals Cardiff, having shipped three or more goals on nine occasions. The defence shows no sign of improving, even with the emergence of Dan Burn, who links up with Brede Hangeland to form the tallest centre-back pairing in the league. On the left-hand side, Kieran Richardson is constantly targeted, while Sascha Riether is inconsistent and prone to lapses of concentration. Meulensteen must realise that any chance of Fulham surviving is dependent on striking the right balance in defence. Against Southampton, all their problems were evident, especially in the second half. The movement and interchanging play between Jay Rodriguez, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana is hard to deal with anyway, but Fulham were particularly abject in stopping them. Lambert's goal is typical of Fulham's defensive malaise; the striker moves no more than five yards in the build-up prior to the ball into the box, yet Riether shows both a lack of positional sense and desire to allow Lambert time to sweep the ball into the net. While Fulham did well in the transfer window, signing the talented Greek striker Kostas Mitroglou, as well as Lewis Holtby in midfield - but Fulham will not be able to get out of trouble by simply scoring plenty of goals. Even then, they will have to improve further up the pitch. With Darren Bent starting instead of Mitroglou, Fulham only made 50% of their passes in the Southampton half - the worst performance of the week. It is a curious statistic. While strong defences do not necessarily correlate with successful teams at the top of the table, a bad defence - or, at least, the worst one - results in relegation. The 23-year record does not look in jeopardy currently now four points from safety. That may not seem like a big gap, but this has been a season with teams jostling for position at the bottom, with a win capable of catapulting teams up the table. Not for Fulham. Losses of 4-0, 4-1, 3-0 and 6-0 show why. This latest one shows that while teams around Fulham have started to fix their faults, their problem is gravest of all. It could be terminal.
