ANDRE IS UP FOR BIG SCRAP
WORLD CUP and Premier League winner Andre Schurrle believes that maintaining Fulham’s elite status will be like collecting another trophy.
He confessed that scrapping against the drop after helping Germany triumph in the 2014 World Cup and assisting Chelsea to the title 12 months later is navigating new territory for him – one he has a growing dislike for.
“Yes, staying up, 100 per cent, it would be one of the biggest achievements,” he said. “We are deep, deep, deep in trouble and we need to get the momentum back and win games.”
Fulham, who are still awaiting their first away win in the league this season and remain rooted in the bottom three, went from the sublime to the ridiculous.
A brilliantly-executed strike from Schurrle should have been the launchpad for a rare away success.
But Fulham self-destructed by conceding two own goals in quick succession, Joe Bryan and Denis Odoi both diverting the ball into their own net.
“It was a great start for us,” added Schurrle. “It was exactly how we wanted qualities into the team and try to score a bit more and hopefully we don’t score any own goals and win some games.
“I’ve never been involved in something like this. It’s unbelievable and that’s what I always said.
“When you are down there everything goes against you and that’s where we are at now. It’s very hard to take.”
Worried Fulham owner Shahid Khan has every right to demand better for his £105m summer investment in the transfer market.
He also can question boss Claudio Ranieri’s decision to start with Luciano Vietto and Tom Cairney on the bench because once they were released, they were Fulham’s best hope to earn a point, or even three, as the Cottagers dominated.
Schurrle accepts that the club need to recapture the spirit which inspired a successful promotion campaign last season.
He said: “It’s not easy to build this team spirit that you need to win games like these, when the weather is s**t and everything goes against you.
“But there are still a few months to go and we will not give up.”