Stoke City (Home).

[Zoo]

I missed any, and all, action from today, as been busy since the word go.

 

In a nutshell:

 

- We couldn't break down Stoke because whenever we got within a mile of their penalty box they hacked us down.

- We didn't have a problem in defence because Stoke were being what Stoke do best and that is being shite.

- We got one break which was in the shape of a 60 or 70 yard run from Kevin Mirallas which he finished brilliantly to give us the lead.

 

It was a boring game so you're probably glad you missed it DK, the only thing to take away from the game is that we grafted out a well earned 1-0 win.

[Romey 1878]

As I expected it wasn't a great game to watch. It was extremely boring in fact. We didn't play particularly but we were the better side by some distance and controlled the majority of the game without Stoke managing to cause us too many problems. The only real negative I could see was that I felt we allowed Stoke too much space when they did have the ball; we stood off too much.

 

At the start of the game I thought we struggled to adapt to the new formation; particularly the defence. I thought they looked rather shaky. Jags got the easier ride of the three, but the two side centre backs (Distin and Heitinga) took their time getting used to the system and having to mop things up out wide without having a left-back and right-back to help them out. The attacking players got to grips with the change of formation rather quicker and we created quite a few chances. Although, our good attacking play came in fits and starts. Even so, we should have had the game more than sown up by half time. But we only went in at half time one up. But what a goal it was! And a breakaway goal too . Mirallas got a bit of luck at the beginning but he showed pure quality with the run at goal with the ball at his feet; running straight at the defender and then twisting one way to wrong foot him and then kept his cool to finish excellently. That goal makes me wish we'd always leave him on the half-way line when we're defending a corner or free-kick; having that in our arsenal would be invaluable.

 

I didn't think we ever really pushed ourselves in the second half. We seemed content to just defend whatever Stoke threw at us. And for the most part we stood up well to it and got the three points.

 

I'd prefer us to go back to a more rigid formation when we play Spurs because I think they would exploit us badly. I also hope we play a lot better and don't allow them as much time on the ball because they have much, much better players than Stoke who will have a field day if they get time on the ball.

 

Lastly; Stoke are fucking shit.

 

 

Howard - Made a superb save at 0-0 and I think he made one other great save later on too. Other than those two saves I don't think he had much to do.

 

 

Heitinga - I can't tell you how happy I was that he wasn't playing in midfield! Like I said earlier; it took some time to settle into the change of formation with the protection of a right back but he was generally solid and played well.

 

Jagielka - He had the easier job of the three centre-backs because it wasn't really much of a change for him being the central of the three defenders. He had a great game though and won a phenomenal amount of headers.

 

Distin - Pretty much the same as Heitinga. But, he annoyed me when he'd go marauding forward and then give the ball away meaning he was completely out of position and put pressure on Jagielka and Heitinga who would find themselves outnumbered.

 

 

Coleman - Where you'd have thought the change of formation would mean he would attack more (and Baines) it actually seemed to stifle Coleman (and Baines). It was like he didn't know whether to go forward or hang back and help the defence out. However, he got the hang of it pretty quickly and he was a constant threat. He caused Stoke so many problems with his direct running. He's not like Mirallas where he'll worry you with his skill but he made Stoke shit themselves every time he got the ball because he ran directly at them, and run at them with pace, making them have to retreat as they were defending against him which puts them in an awkward position because they're on the backfoot, and any change in direction by Coleman pretty much beat them every time. And, like against City, he was always our out ball when we needed to get away from our own penalty area. My MOTM.

 

Mirallas - He would have been my MOTM but I thought he was too in and out of the game to give him my vote. But, when he was in the game he was absolutely brilliant. He had one superb spell in the game. It started with his goal which was just Mirallas all over. Showed brilliant pace to race away into their half, skill to make their defender look even more of a donkey, and then absolute coolness to slot the ball home. Some players would have bottled it after the run but not him. Then I think in the very next phase of play he could have made it two nil but his shot went just wide. And then he had some fun in the corner by taking the piss out of a Stoke player. I love him. I hope he's OK for the Spurs game because we'll need him for that one.

 

Osman - He had an OK game. I thought he slowed the play down a bit too much at times but he stuck to his task.

 

Gibson - I don't think he closed down space as well as he should have but his passing range was on show and it helped us a lot.

 

Baines - Like Coleman he seemed stifled by the formation. He didn't know whether to stick or twist. But, unlike Coleman, I don't think he ever came to terms with things and had a below par game.

 

 

Anichebe - He was OK. He showed glimpses of how he played against City but he also showed glimpses of the laziness that has annoyed so many of us for so long.

 

Jelavic - Should have done better with the header he had in the first half from Baines' cross, IMO, and did well with another header in the second half. But, I thought he was a bit sulky yesterday and I hope that disappears quickly.

[chicagoblue]

Agree with most all of the above except for Distin. Thought he played really well and used the empty space to keep trying to probe at Stoke. If he'd just sat back in the three we would have been far too static. While he's obviously not a midfielder passer, in the first have especially he kept picking the ball up and running towards the left channel, forcing Stoke to come deal with it. That opened up the space and started a good number of our attacks. Also thought he worked really well with Jags to bottle Crouch.