Stoke post match nitpicking

A point gained rather than 2 lost for me. It's such a difficult place to get a result and the home support was simply magnificent,unlike most grounds the noise comes from all sides of the ground and is easily the most intimidating ground I've visited this season
Another tactically naive master class from Mancini Kidd and the odious Platt. Yet again as soon as I heard the team I knew we'd struggle
Does Balotelli have something on Mancini worthy of blackmail? Couldnt believe we started with numbnuts and Dzeko,yaya in defensive mid and silva not rested.The game where Kolorov actually should have played,we play Clichy and the ideal game for de jong hes on the bench,the mind boggles with it at times.You have to earn the right to play at places like stoke and Everton,with the terrible line up we were never going to do that.
Pleased with the point,we certainly didn't deserve any more

We have had our differences Pplf but in this case I agree, the wrong team was fielded at Stoke.NDJ should have been on and Aguerro, and Silva needs a rest.
Stoke were very,very physical and NDJ should have been in there,they really hammered Silva.By the end of the season he is going to be all burnt out,and in this case it will be Bobby's fault.
The title is looking far more distant than ever,unless the rags slip up,because we are not looking good enough nowadays-and I hate to say that

i tried to 2nd guess who bobby would pick and kolarov was a defo for me.

if you are gonna play with dzeko up front (and balotelli to a lesser extent) you would want the LB to put in dangerous crosses rather than the odd hit and hope.

we had absolutely no width and the game was crying out for a winger. with richards playing CB, we had nobody at all on the flanks looking dangerous.

You have got to put out a physical team that really wants it at places such as stoke so, for me, milner and NDJ would have been no brainer choices.

Towards the end of the match, most of the players looked like they had given up.

Stoke's pitch is narrow, so width is always an issue there, I agree for once that Kolarov should have had a crack, but if we didn't get round the back to supply good balls, or support our forwards too often, then, what's the point?
Maybe it is a point gained, but if it's supposed to be a Cup Final every match, we should play like it matters

You could see where Stoke had narrowed the pitch after their European games,but another contributing factor is Howard Webb.If we do not get him again this season I for one will be very happy.He did not give our lads any protection at all,and David Silva and Balotelli were kicked all over the place.
Also Pullis has gone way down on my estimation,if he condones tactics like these

coolenglishbob wrote:You could see where Stoke had narrowed the pitch after their European games,but another contributing factor is Howard Webb.If we do not get him again this season I for one will be very happy.He did not give our lads any protection at all,and David Silva and Balotelli were kicked all over the place.
Also Pullis has gone way down on my estimation,if he condones tactics like these

You can't blame Stoke for playing the way they do. They have no flair players, that's why he adopts the whole big punt up the park tactics to that lanky cunt Crouch. Give him his due - one of the goals of the season.....but apart from that - they are shit, just that we were fucking awful tactically again, but still got a draw.

I do however think that Howard Webb is the biggest CUNT on the planet. How he could have possibly allowed Wilkinson, Shawcross and Whitehead to get away with what they did is beyond me. Best ref in the PL? It ain't the best ref in Tameside.

We went to Stoke and they dragged us in to playing their type of football, which makes me think maybe we're just not there yet - a better side would go to the Britannia and dictate the style of play.

Dzeko and Balotelli were well below average, Tevez was brought on too late for me.

David Silva needs taking out of the side for at least one game, at the moment he is a passenger. I would rather have a fully fit David Silva for 6 or 7 games, than a half fit off form David Silva for 8.

Yaya Toure needs pushing up with two of Barry, Milner or De Jong behind him. His performances are much more average when he occupies the DM spot, get him pushed up and involved with our attacking play, enough of this tippy tappy bollocks on the edge of the penalty area.

We didn't ask enough questions of Stoke's defence - a defence that we have had the better of at home already this season, which is the real shame. I too saw the team we fielded (can't argue with Aguero being injured), but no Milner, De Jong, or Kolarov was a bit strange. Poor team selection is costing us away from home, usually Mancini recognises his errors quite quickly during games, but yesterday he made changes far too late for me.

At the start of the match, a point was simply not good enough, but we were fortunate to get one in the end.

If we win all our remaining games, we are in with a good shout. Big ask, but we can do it.

If ever there was a game that needed De Jong at DM, Milner and Kolarov on the flanks and Yaya pushing up, this was it.

And where were they? Every single one in the wrong place, and 75% of them not even on the green bit that matters. Marvellous.

And I said that Silva should be rested for this game as he was going to get hurt. And lo and behold, he got hurt.

If a noddy like me can see this, why the hell can't Bobby?

We could've been the first team outside the top 5 to win there this season and we blew it by playing a fragile team and adopting the clogger style of play. It was never going to end well and we were lucky to get anything at all.

Home game next and we MUST rest Silva. We need him fit against Arsenal, give him a break from Sunderland.

Didn't see the game or any highlights (tbh, i'm still guessing the team here), so i can't really comment.

However, what i have noticed is we all seem to be saying the same thing over and over again, yet Mancini and Co can't see the same things.

First and foremost, why the fuck is Balotelli playing? you must be right PPLF, he has to be blackmailing him.

This game was crying out for Kolarov, Milner and NDJ, yet they somehow can't see it.

Surely we should be trying to give Tevez more time on the pitch game by game, but yesterday he got less than the previous game.......he should have got ATLEAST 30mins.

And i'm personally sick to fuckin death of saying, Yaya Toure is wasted as a defensive midfielder.........fuck off 30yrds further up the pitch and don't come within that same yardage of the CBs.

Apparently Aguero and Kompany will be fit for the next game, so leo, i will agree for once and relent, Silva has to be rested at home with the Arsenal game in mind....but he won't be .

Point gained?......not imo fellas irrrespective of who Mancini puts out we should still be winning. As Bewar3 says, these games are cup finals that we can't afford anything less than 3pts in. I readily accept it was always going to be a tough game, but imo it's still 2pts dropped. The Rags must be pissing themselves at our inability to win away.

Seems to me the problem of underestimating teams is still a big issue.If you look at Mancinis reaction afterwards it's as if he's surprised that Stoke would be physical and not let us play.Perhaps this is where the arsehole platt should be earning his money instead of tugging his forelock.
This is what I think we should of played
Hart
Zabaleta. Richards. Toure. Kolorov
De Jong Barry
Milner yaya Nasri
Dzeko
And I think that set up would have been competitive.
If we can see it clearly then so can Brian Marwood and it would be interesting to see what is in the match reports and conclusions he sends to the owners after each game

It's gonna be even more interesting to find out what he says in his meeting with the owners at the end of the season IF we don't win the PL.

That's a decent team Paul (although i'd still have started with Silva, resting him at home), with Tevez on after 60 mins....depends on the score who for, not rocket science. I'd have started:

............Hart

Zab, Micah, Kolo, Kola,

...........NDJ

Milner, Yaya, Silva, Nasri

..........Dzeko

PPLF, maybe he thought they'd be the team that turned up at ours before Christmas, who just stood there and let us play around them. Which is stupid of him, considering all he'd need to do is look at the stats and see that they've robbed points from United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs already there this season.

Idiotic management. Someone's not doing their job properly there. And I doubt it's Kidd.

leo,

might be worth gettin rid of the small Arsenal comment at the bottom of your threads, we're moving slowly towards it i feel

What Arsenal comment? I've no idea what you're talking about...