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.
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