Stoke City vs Crystal Palace - Post Match Thoughts

As eye-opening home games go, this was certainly one. The performance was not one to wow, especially in the first half, but overall we are left with food for thought. Defensively, we are more open than we have been in recent years, Shawcross and Huth the main culprits in adjusting to the 'play out from the back' style we're enforcing. While Ryan's character is not under question after recovering in the second half to keep a clean sheet and score a goal, the indecisiveness regarding what to do with a ball in play needs to rectified fast. Any more lapses from the spine of our team and we could start shipping goals when the likes of Manchester City role into town with multi-million pound strike forces.

What also caught my attention, which is not hard to notice, is that the formation we are playing at present does not suit a team lacking pace or clinical finishers. In our first game, we played on the break for large parts and tried to build attacks on the break when winning possession from Liverpool. This was understandable as Brendan Rodgers's side are pass masters in this league and to try to take them on and play them off the park would have been foolish. Against Palace though, elements of breaking when winning possession remained. As a tactic, it's worthwhile to implement, but unless we have pace in the forward lines, we can't exploit the space we create on the break. It's like knowing you need a brick to break a window and using a rolled up piece of paper because its the only thing you've got. Don't use it, try and find a brick! In our squad, we have got pacey players in Jermaine Pennant, Michael Kightly and Cameron Jerome, whilst Brek Shea is known to be an explosive player. When all players are fit, and assuming that we do not sign a new forward this summer, then I'd start Walters through the centre, and have Pennant/Kightly and Shea/Etherington flanking him. Jerome would be on the bench, but across the last two seasons we have seen how good he is from the bench when we need a goal. 

As for Jones and Crouch, as I said last week, we need a player that combines their strengths and doesn't have their weaknesses in play. It's disheartening to all of us to see no solid links to new players, bar a reported sighting of Oussama Assaidi at the Brit yesterday ahead of a move from Liverpool. Forgive me if this move does not fill me with confidence if we are considering this move, as he only made four league appearances last season and twelve in all competitions, scoring no goals. John Guidetti is the latest forward to be linked with a move and the only thing against him is a lack of experience in the Premier League. However, if one man is in a position to know if he could make it in our league, then it's Mark Hughes. After so many false dawns, I don't think I'm wrong in looking at what we have, rather than imagining a squad influxes with potential new signings. We might have four months with the squad we've got, so the management, and fans alike, would be wise to getting to grips with this fact and getting the best out of them. 

Whilst the few boos at half time did the job yesterday to motivate the players to perform better, if the fans have one job in the opening weeks, it's to encourage the players and reinforce the belief they need to play the ball around. Booing too often will place more pressure on the players and result in mistakes, ones that we cannot afford to make. It is why I implore the fans who attend the matches this season to employ patience in their method of supporting the team, and not rip into poor performances without positively reinforcing what they are trying to do.

Capital One Cup Preview:

If ever there is a chance to give a few players a run out, this is the game. All players are fit from pre season and it will give a few players who haven't been in the first two starting 18s a chance to impress. The one who I leave out is Andy Wilkinson, although that is for the one simple reason that he has been on the bench, and closer to the team as a result than Ryan Shotton. The rest of the team brings players in who have not had a chance yet, whilst resting those who may need a game off. The inclusion of Brek Shea is dependant on if he is available after coming through the U21s game tomorrow, or if Mark Hughes decides to save him for West Ham at the weekend. If Shea is unavailable, I would start Jermaine Pennant, thus giving as many players as possible in our squad some game time in the early weeks of the season.

Whilst looking at the starting eleven, it would be worth looking at the youth/development squad and seeing if there are any players who could make an impression against Walsall. Alex Grant was signed this summer after most recently being contracted to Portsmouth and could be an option if we wish to rest a defender at any point, the same could be said for Jordan Keane who travelled with the squad on the US tour. If we wish to look at players who have been impressing however, Derice Richards would be worth considering for a spot on the bench after performing well to earn a place in the U21 squad for the early parts of this season. Then there are the likes of Michael Clarkson and Lucas Dawson who have been close to the squad under Tony Pulis, close enough to travel to Valencia as part of a weakened side, yet not enough to earn their first competitive action for the Potters. All are options for the bench, yet it all depends on how serious we are taking the cup competition. Do we use it as an opportunity to bleed through youth, or do we go strong and take no chances of slipping up so early in the competition? It's an interesting dilemma for Mark Hughes, especially considering the large emphasis supporters have made on pushing youth through from the academy.

Away from the Brit - Dinamo who?

Waiting to be served at a bar on Thursday night, I turned my head and saw a football match on, Tottenham Hotspur played first, then Swansea. Only by looking up the match result would I know that Tottenham had played Dinamo Tbilisi and Swansea played Petrolul Ploiești. These two matches reminded me of two years ago when Stoke City went and played the 'mighty' FC Thun of Switzerland, with Danny Pugh being the only scorer in a 1-0 win. In hindsight, it showed that we had problems at the time that a Swiss team held us back that it took a 4-1 win at the Brit to secure the tie.

It's worth looking at the other matches in this early play-off round, which included teams such as Apollon Limassol, Qarabağ, Chornomorets Odesa and Žalgiris Vilnius, whilst FC Thun lost away 1-0 to an FK Partizan side of Serbia, whose squad contains one Eric Djemba-Djemba. I know football is a world-wide sport and that no team should be denied access to play at the top tables of the game, but I do think that seeding teams would make the competitions slightly more competitive. For example, if teams who play in the top five or six leagues in Europe only join the competition in the group stage, it would be more worthwhile than a one-off game that for the players might be no more than a competitive friendly. Instead of FIFA (and in this case UEFA) wasting time on moving World Cups that shouldn't be moved or planning continent-wide tournaments, perhaps they should be trying to make the competitions they endorse more competitive.

Quick Snippets:

If they had not being playing Stoke, I would feel sorry for Crystal Palace for being the only promoted team not to win yet. Although I was unable to attend the game, I hear credit is due to the Crystal Palace fans who applauded on the 14th minute for Greg Bradshaw. Being respectful to the home support is never easy so full praise is due to those who respected a fellow Potter's passing.

Also, as I would like to congratulate Cardiff City for making the Premier League more competitive than ever. A team, who I will admit I backed to be thrashed by four or five before kick-off stunned football by beating last season's runners-up Manchester City 3-2. Watching the game, I felt it should have been a 3-1 result though because seeing six minutes of added time must've sent the Cardiff defence into shock! Where did that much added time come from?!

Liverpool vs Stoke - Post Match Thoughts

When Jon Walters stepped up to take the point-saving penalty in the 89th minute, for the first time since I began watching football, I had to turn my head. Whilst he had got back onto the scoring streak from the spot towards the end of last season, those important misses against Chelsea and Fulham still lurked at the back of my mind. Like it would have been to a lot of Stoke supporters, it came as no surprise when Liverpool debutant Simon Mignolet stole Asmir Begovic's thunder and made a double save from the spot, and Kenwyne Jones's follow-up to keep the three points at Anfield. Did we deserve a point though? I think the difficulty in answering this comes from what we have become used to and what we have just seen. Under Tony Pulis, if we had performed as we did today and come away with nothing, the loss would have been raw and painful as we would have believed that we played well enough away from home to warrant something. So does the change in manager mean we should feel any less disappointed not to grab a point? I don't think so. I felt that we showed attacking intent during the whole 90 minutes, although Liverpool did an excellent job of quelling our short passing moves and forcing us to pass at a tempo that some of our players don't look ready for just yet. Such instances of over-playing in the first half concerned me as we were attempting it in our own half, trying to play our way out of the half and force our way forward. Whilst admirable, I do believe that it is a risky way to play when the style of play is so new. Despite the plaudits that Liverpool have received in the last few hours for getting the three points, I do believe they will struggle during the season with the same problem that has plagued them in recent times: a lack of ruthlessness. Whilst Asmir Begovic did brilliant to keep Stoke in the game, after watching an equally capable goalkeeper in Michel Vorm concede four against third-favourites Manchester United, the two performances show where Liverpool lack, and where Stoke benefited today.

The one goal of the game came from a bit of slack defending from the usually dependable Robert Huth. When the ball arrived at Sturridge's feet, Huth was left isolated and appeared stuck in two minds over whether to rush the ball or try and block a shot on goal. By doing neither, even allowing the ball through his legs, Begovic had no chance to save the shot. Shawcross perhaps could have helped his team-mate a bit by being closer to the ball, but fair credit to Liverpool in crafting a good move and taking advantage of the space we left them.

So what can we take out of the game for next week against Crystal Palace? First of all, our midfield will be able to cope with a shorter passing game against lesser opposition than Liverpool. I think next Saturday will be a good chance for our players to flex their muscles and show the league that they can play on the ground and pass it around. What also became clear is that we need pace more than ever if we are to play against teams who are superior to us on the ball. When we did have a chance to break and give ourselves a breather from defending wave after wave of Liverpool attacks, the forward outlets of Walters, Crouch and Etherington were not quick enough by a long mile. Both Mame Biram Diouf and Junior Hoilett, players we have been linked with in the past few weeks, would offer us pace up front, although perhaps looking at what we already have would be a better option.

Jermaine Pennant looked okay when he came on, but a lack of opportunities meant that he didn't have a chance to make a big impact on the game. However, he would offer more going forward than Walters selfless efforts on the wing. I'm also a big fan of Michael Kightly, so to see him not involved in the match-day eighteen disappointed me as he seems a capable player, although he needs his manager to back him. I hope that being dropped for the first game doesn't knock his confidence too hard as I do believe he could score some vital goals for Stoke if given the opportunity. Once back from injury, I believe Brek Shea could also be a vital player for us with him being able to offer strength and pace down both wings and once again, score a few goals. As for the central strikers, I'm not sure Jones or Crouch suit our current style of play. Crouch has always thrived off partnerships, his most famous - and the fantasy of a lot of Stoke supporters - being with Jermain Defoe. When isolated up front though, he struggles to hold the ball on his own until reinforcements arrive. Kenwyne Jones on the other hand has the strength to hold on to the ball and occasionally has a good flick-on in him, but his link play on the ground is unimpressive. In Mame Biram Diouf, I think the management, and supporters alike, are hoping that they have a merger of Crouch and Jones, a player who can flick the ball on and pass it off, compete in the air and not be knocked off the ball after only taking a few touches. If we fail to reinforce the front-line, we are going to have to tailor our play to one of the two current forwards, or perhaps risk playing Cameron Jerome or Jon Walters as lone front-men, and hope that the little bit of pace they both have over Crouch and Jones would be enough to threaten opposition back-lines more regularly.

Away from the Brit - First Impressions:

As much as I would have preferred a rough start to the season for Aston Villa, just to keep them in check with us after our opening loss, I have to praise them for their opening win against Arsenal. I'd predicted before the match that it would be a 2-1 win for the Gunners and when Olivier Giroud scored I thought the game was going to plan. It was only after a Benteke double and a third by Luna that I reevaluated how this result would play out, positioning a better team than us, in Arsenal, now below us in the table after the opening fixtures. Although the table does not reveal much after just one game, and with some teams having not kicked off yet, little glories like having conceded fewer goals than the once-invincibles do make a supporter feel good at the end of Match of the Day. It also highlights the problems that some teams have, with Arsenal's failure to strengthen coming to the fore after only signing Yaya Sanogo this summer for no fee. Ideally, they could do with strengthening the defence and the front-line, and as much as I would dislike it, I wouldn't rule out a bid for our own Asmir Begovic after Wojciech Szczesny did not inspire confidence in his team once again. If they do not buy at least one player before the televised match against Fulham, you cannot rule out a repeat of this result.

David Moyes's first two competitive results will inspire confidence amongst Manchester United fans, with two and three goals victories not to be sniffed at. However, their forthcoming run of fixtures which includes Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City is not to be envied. Whilst it was an emphatic win, I think everyone is agreed that the true tests lie in these fixtures, and if they come through them with a respectable number of points, the third favourites to win the league will have set quite a marker for other title rivals to match. Whilst the lack of celebrations from Wayne Rooney for the third and fourth goals were entertaining, what interested me most was that Adnan Januzaj failed to make the bench for this game, as well as Jesse Lingard, both who had impressed during pre-season. If they fail to make the bench for the upcoming games, I would like to think Mark Hughes would consider using his connections at Old Trafford to bring one in on loan, considering creativity is desperately needed out wide, yet both can play centrally.

Quick Snippet:

Wilson Palacios must be thinking that he is the unluckiest footballer around at the moment. After two seasons of sitting on the bench, or in the stands, he was selected to start against Liverpool and had to pull out feeling stomach cramps. After further examination, he has had surgery to rectify the problem, reported to have been appendicitis. Here's hoping that he gets fit again soon and becomes the midfield enforcer we've been wanting since he joined us in 2011.

The Countdown Begins

So preseason is over and it's only a week to go before the big kick-off. As a supporter, I go into the season with mixed feelings both on and off the pitch. Results appear to be good since Mark Hughes arrived at the Britannia, with a record of three wins (Dallas, Philadelphia and Wrexham), one draw (Genoa) and a loss in his first game (Houston). Compare this to our last preseason and the results have markedly improved, despite playing less games. However, as we all know the proof in the pudding is in the eating. Whilst we have played more attractive football in the warm-up games, the final scores have not altered drastically with two 1-0s and a 2-0, as well as a 0-0 in today's final game against Genoa. Whilst in all of these matches we seem to have been in the game, the failure to be ruthless in front of goal will cost us if we fail to improve once the season starts. I do believe though that now that preseason is over, the players will be inclined to risk everything to touch a ball into the net, compared to in the last few weeks when a bad landing could curtail their entire season. Time will tell if Sparky can get our forwards firing, and there's no tougher place than Anfield. More on that though in a moment.

Off the field, whilst I have been highly appreciative of our club offering free travel to all away games in the league this season, my pleasure came at a cost. Having sat in The Seddon Stand for past two seasons, enjoying the ride however bumpy it was, I've had to take a break from my season ticket. Whilst it will give me the opportunity to travel to away games and odd Premier League home games, I will miss going to 'Fortress Britannia' and feeling a part of it. If you've got a season ticket and you're reading this, enjoy the ride! In the meantime, I'll be waiting for my first away game in the coming weeks/months.

Formation Focus:

Like every supporter, I have players I like, and players that I don't. I think we all agree that the entire squad is made up of a great bunch of lads that create an unrivalled team spirit, but it doesn't mean we want to see some of them playing every week. One name that I've selected in my team for Liverpool will most likely cause controversy: Ryan Shotton. I felt sorry for him during his initial inclusion in the team as he was forced to play as a striker until reinforcements came in during the Summer 2011 window. After that, he was largely played out of position on the right wing, and despite putting in some good performances initially, we all knew he wasn't a winger. As it was often referred to, 'Shotton Roulette' wasn't reliable when trying to whip a cross into the box. At the end of last season, at times I felt that when the performances were at their worst, Shotton appeared to be the only player trying to dig the team out of the rut that they were in. By the final game of last season, he appeared to have beaten Wilko to the right back spot and made it his own. For the majority of preseason though, Geoff Cameron has been played there, which most likely will leave Shotton settling for a place on the bench against Liverpool. If he were to be included though, I believe he would be a better attacking outlet than either Geoff or Andy due to his pace and that he his fairly effective when making overlapping runs past his winger. That same pace will also give him a greater chance of recovering defensively if caught on the break against the likes of Raheem Sterling whose pace and dribbling skills could cause our team a bag full of problems.

The fact that whoever plays at fullback will be able to make overlapping runs is a sign that 'the cage' has been well and truly unlocked and the 4-3-3 shape we are playing in the warm-up games appears promising. I do believe if we are set on this shape, we need goalscorers on the flanks who can float out wide and deliver in or cut inside and score if the opportunity presents itself. I leave out Etherington and Pennant for this very reason. Whilst Etherington can cross a ball in, his pace and dribbling skills are diminishing fast and if he starts next week it will be something that concerns me. Pennant on the other hand, whilst offering a good delivery from out wide, is less of a goalscorer than Kightly. In 58 league games for the club, he has scored the same number of goals (three) as Kightly who has played 36 less times for Stoke. If you believe in statistics, Kightly is the better in a head-to-head on this basis. Regarding the selection of Jon Walters, I believe he could be given a free role to run channels on the left or right, effectively partnering Crouch (or Jones, if he is selected) up front.If Walters runs channels down the right wing to try and better himself against Enrique, Kightly will be on the left wing to receive the ball and he can cut inside to take a shot. On the other hand, if Walters runs down the left channel, that would leave Kightly on the right where he can cross the ball into the box. The two wide forwards would effectively be covering for each other. The key to this would be the full backs attacking displays. We know that Walters has not got the best cross in him - to say the least - so if he has the ball on the right wing, Shotton/Cameron/Wilkinson will need to be up with him to support him and let him make runs into the box. Unlike under Tony Pulis's stewardship of the club, Walters will have to work with the defenders to score goals, rather than preventing them if his role in the team is to be successful.

Away from the Brit - Injury Time:

All three of these players have come under scrutiny in the short time I've been writing this blog, yet no transfer has materialised for any of them as of yet. Strangely enough though, all three have picked up injuries since interest in them picked up, preventing them from playing in their respective tour games. The farce expanded in the last few days when Rooney and Bale were officially called up for friendly games against Scotland and the Republic of Ireland for their respective nations. Whilst I understand that a buying club would not want to purchase a player who may fail a medical, especially with the fees being mentioned, I feel that somewhere this has to stop. Despite the comedy surrounding his latest attempts to engineer a move away from Anfield, it should be said that at least Luis Suarez has been open enough with the supporters to explain why he wants to leave. With Rooney and Bale, we have quotes from 'sources close to the player' who mitigate that they want a move. The media love little tidbit quotes which say a lot with no actual facts contained within them.

An example in point is reports that Ryan Shotton is 'attracting interest' from a 'host of clubs' after Beswick Sports made a statement about his position yesterday. Does this mean Shotton wants to move? Who knows? The player himself hasn't said anything. It's unlikely considering he's playing for his boyhood club and did well at the end of last season. Yet the media pick up on the quotes and make a story out of it. Whilst the convenient injuries Suarez, Bale and Rooney have picked up, I still cannot see them making a move away from their respective clubs. If they stay, at least the league will remain strong and exciting.

Quick Snippet:

The Football League has started and I'm actually excited to see how each league finishes up. Without going into great detail, I'm tipping QPR to finish champions in the SkyBet Championship, largely due to wheeler-dealer Harry Redknapp. He does spend a lot of money wherever he goes, but his transfer track record and his man management style should help QPR stay at the top end of the league throughout the season.

If I were to pick a surprise package in the same league, Yeovil would have to be awarded that. Despite losing their first home game today, Gary Johnson has been an impressive Championship manager, pushing Stoke all the way to promotion not so long ago with Bristol City. To keep a club like Yeovil in the 2nd tier of English football would be a monumental achievement, but I would not be surprised if he did better. Another trip to Wembley for a play-off final could be possible!