Played three, won two, lost one. Considering the loss was against a Liverpool side that today beat last season's champions, I don't think Mark Hughes will be losing sleep over those three points lost. Especially when we have gained six after crucial wins from Crystal Palace and West Ham United.
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| The winning goal, what a beauty! |
In the five years Stoke City have been a Premier League Football Club, we have not been adventurous away from home, notable for sending a reserve team to play at the Mestalla in our most prestigious Europa League game in 2012 against Valencia. This lack adventure by our previous manager was also compounded by heavy losses on the road in our first four seasons in the top division, including a 4-0 loss to Sunderland, two 5-0 losses, one each to Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United, plus a 8-0 loss to Chelsea that will haunt Asmir Begovic still when thinking of his Stoke City debut. It is fair to say that those supporters who I admire the most, the away supporters, have had a fair share of bad games to endure across the last five years. Whilst this is not an article aimed at criticizing Tony Pulis's record at Stoke City, the change of style that Mark Hughes has implemented since taking over at the Britannia Stadium was clear to see in this dominant away performance.
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| Jones taking a shot against West Ham |
Where we have failed in the first two games, we shone against the Hammers, dropping Peter Crouch for Kenwyne Jones being a decisive factor. Whilst he did not get on the score-sheet, his presence up front allowed the side to impose themselves onto West Ham, compared to Crouch whose preferred method of playing involves bringing the ball down and spraying it around. Jones compared to Crouch is harder to bully on the field, hard for experienced defenders such as James Collins to shake off the ball, yet he still has a good knack for moving the ball into open space at the right time to offer players an opportunity to score. This shows in the improved number of shots we took during the game, based on the two games we have played at West Ham since they gained promotion. Last season, we had 12 shots compared to the 15 we had in yesterday's encounter. Crucially though, we restricted West Ham yesterday to 9 shots, none of them on target. Considering last season 'The Hammers' had 16 shots and 11 of them were on target, I believe Stoke's defensive unit deserve credit for keeping West Ham so quiet. What Kenwyne excels at as well, although it is disputed by some supporters, is his ability to hold onto the ball and win the ball back. Crouch lacks mobility on the ground, looking isolated up front and does little to involve himself in play when the ball is not in his team's possession. Jones on the other hand chases the ball - crucially, more frequently than Crouch does - to the extent that at one point in yesterday's game he chased a ball back to the full back position and won a throw-in for Stoke. Little things such as this helped Stoke to dominate the game, explaining our advantage in possession (54%) compared to last season (46%).
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| Whelan in action against Walsall |
As a team we improved when the two substitutions were made. Glenn Whelan impressed in midweek against Walsall and was unlucky to be dropped for the game, but his presence calmed the team down when West Ham were just starting to try and put a bit of pressure on the Stoke defence. At the same time, Jermaine Pennant came on, and the two of them were involved in the goal. Whelan, fouled by Mohamed Diame, won the free kick from with Pennant dispatched with aplomb, curling it over the wall and into the top right corner. Arguably one of the best free kicks you will see this season with the short distance from the point of kick and the goal line.
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| Pace, but threat? |
The only change I would have liked Mark Hughes to make would have been to bring Oussama Assaidi on for his league debut after playing 45 minutes against Walsall. Like a few Stoke supporters, I am still iffy about what Assaidi can offer the team, but what is undeniable is that he has tricky footwork that can beat a man, and he has raw pace. If he can shoot and score is a question left to another day, but at the end of the game, a goal up against a team pushing for an equaliser, I would have liked Assaidi come on just to pressure Guy Demel and/or Joey O'Brien for the remaining minutes of the game. After a two week break from league football, perhaps we will have a new chance to see what Assaidi has to offer against Manchester City.
Away from the Brit - Rule Britannia?
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| One goal wonder? Or could it be two in two? |
Watching England play has become a bit more of a chore than a way of enjoying football. I do love my country and I love the idea that a player such as Ryan Shawcross, or Rickie Lambert even can play for their country after impressive league performances. The standard of some of the performances in recent internationals though have been poor. Sloppy goals have been conceded, Big-Time Charlies playing instead of Reliable Robins, they're just a bunch of common reasons why people don't tune in to watch England play anymore.
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| From Everton to England in three games |
Besides my love of football and that I watch it whenever I can, the main reason I watch the internationals is to see how the team is shaping up. I like it when younger players such as Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, Phil Jones and in the case of this call-up, Ross Barkley and Andros Townsend get a call-up. Players such as Jermain Defoe are clinical finishers but can't play forever, whilst Frank Lampard and Steven Gerard can't cling onto the world-class midfield tag they were dubbed with for much longer. Games like this will give players hungry for international caps a chance to impress and perhaps stake a claim to be on the plane for Brazil, that is assuming we progress through the qualifiers. That is the optimist in me anyway saying this. For example, if Andy Carroll goes to Brazil over Rickie Lambert, just because he is a bigger name, then I think that would devalue the national team's reputation further than it already has been. Granted, both Lambert and Carroll have another 8-9 months to prove who is the better target man, but considering his rags to riches story, I do hope Lambert gets a shot at firing England to glory, now, and hopefully in several months time in Rio de Janeiro.
Quick Snippets:
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| He got his 'dream move', lucky for the rest of us. |
At last he has gone! Gareth Bale to Real Madrid has been one of the longest sagas since Fabregas to Barcelona, and to be honest, my relief comes out of boredom. After reading about it every day for weeks and weeks, I'm just glad that perhaps the media will change the track a bit now and let us enjoy some football rather than pestering managers about specific players and their futures. It is where I agree with Roberto Martinez that the transfer window should close before the start of the season as it bothers me that with 26 hours until the British transfer window shuts, Stoke could still lose Asmir Begovic to potential bidders.
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| Another dream move? |
There is one thing though: at least players who move are getting their dream move. In Bale's statement after moving he uses the words: "I can honestly say, this is my dream come true." These words follow on from Willian's transfer to Chelsea where he said that "it's been a dream of mine to come and play here." I wonder if I go and wish for a surprise call-up for Stoke City, I might get it? That'd be a dream come true. These dreams are just ambitions realised, plus pockets lined with money.
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