What Crisis?

Peters Crouch and Odemwingie after the latter's equaliser

It is two months ago now that Stoke travelled to Sunderland, hoping for an upturn in form after poor results against Crystal Palace and Chelsea had threatened to derail their season. An unlucky goal conceded allowed Adam Johnson and Sunderland to take the lead and secure the three points that night, and some Stoke supporters feared a tough relegation battle. Three days later and these fears were not dis-swayed after the 'pizzagate' incident resulted in cries of celebration amongst Tony Scholes and co for the arrival of their late-night munchies and cries of anguish from supporters outside hoping for news of a marquee signing who would guarantee the club's survival. This was only two months ago. In the small amount of time since, Stoke have become one of the form teams in the Premier League, currently sitting in 5th in the Form Table. Wins against Manchester United and Arsenal boosted morale against a backdrop of mediocre results against Swansea and Norwich, whilst their only defeat during this period has been against Manchester City, notorious for only being beaten once at home this season, in the league. This upturn in performances and results reached a new height as Stoke secured their first away win since August at Villa Park. They were made to do it the hard way after conceding an early goal, with Geoff Cameron and Ryan Shawcross both questionable in their defensive duties, Cameron not strong in enough to prevent Fabian Delph crossing the ball into the box, whilst Shawcross, at one point so close to Christian Benteke, allowed him to drift into space and score with ease. It was a goal gifted to Aston Villa and it gave them extra impotence in their attacks during the first 15 minutes of the match.

Steven Nzonzi doubling his goal tally for the previous season

Whilst it has been clear in this run of form, it can also be said that for the majority of the season, one of the hallmarks of this Stoke City team is that they do not know when they are 'beaten'. Under Tony Pulis, it would have taken a huge leap of faith to suggest Stoke would have come back from a goal down to take all three points. With the current side, you suspect that they will get back into the game, if not win it. So when Peter Odemwingie ran onto a Peter Crouch flick-on, slotting home coolly to level the score, you knew Stoke could go on to win the game. And so they did, with a goal oozing class in different attacking quarters of the pitch. A long pass from Ryan Shawcross landed on the boot of Marko Arnautovic who backheeled the ball to an onrushing Erik Pieters, who holding off an Aston Villa challenge found Peter Crouch in acres of space who finished the move off with great aplomb. A year ago, the ball to Arnautovic would've been classed as a long ball rather than a long pass, whilst in that same time a winger would not have been flicking a ball onto an onrushing full-back, more conspiring with them to see which one will send a cross in from deep. The biggest improvement though was there for all to see with Stoke's third goal, a move that took 15 passes to complete with a forward-minded Steven Nzonzi finishing across Brad Guzan.. Patience in play was the key to the move, and again something that Tony Pulis would not have condoned in his players, preferring to play more direct. Villa threatened to get back into the game during the second half, but Stoke held firm and the most worrying moment was when Christian Benteke fell to the ground too easily and made frustrated claims for a penalty, only receiving a yellow card for his troubles. The fourth goal for Stoke came in the last minutes of the game and put the gloss on a fine performance with Geoff Cameron bursting through the middle of the field, showing the pace and power that make some consider him a better option in midfield than at right-back, to latch onto a Marko Arnautovic pass in the box to slot home. As away performances go, it was 75 minutes of perfection. The next step is to get to 90 minutes.

Back to the Brit - Battle of the England Unfortunates:

In the Away Corner, Curtis Davies, impressive
upon his Premier League return

Hull City's success this season has been built on a solid defence, and at the heart of that solid defence has been Curtis Davies. Perhaps taking tips from team-mate and former Stoke idol Abdoulaye Faye, Davies has become the player he was tipped to be when he joined Aston Villa in 2007. For a player who was once rated around the £10m mark, his fall from grace was spectacular, culminating in his move to Birmingham for a fraction of that valuation. He rebuilt his reputation in the Midlands however and earnt a move this summer to Hull after six months previously being linked with a move to the Britannia Stadium. Whilst Davies has been the bedrock of Hull's successes this season, their team has a good mix of graft and guile, with workers such as Jake Livermore working well alongside technically better players in Tom Huddlestone. Their flexibility with formations has been key as well, with the ability to set up with both four and five at the back during any point of a game. Right wing-back Ahmed El-Ahmady, who caused Marc Muniesa trouble in the December fixture, is the key player in this system, tucking in when playing against tougher opposition, then being allowed to ramage down the wing when the opposition is easier to tackle. David Meyler is asked to perform as a left wing-back at times, depending on the position which Maynor Figueroa takes up to start with. If this is the case on Saturday, it should be an interesting prospect for Peter Odemwingie in his current form as Meyler made his name as a central midfielder, and his better performances this season have been in the centre of the team alongside Livermore and Huddlestone. The use of wing-backs has an impact at the tip of the team, with Hull's new strikeforce thriving off good delivery. Both Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic are good headers of the ball, yet I'd question whether both are as prolific as the media suggest. At West Bromwich Albion, Long scored 19 goals in 81 appearances for the club which works out at just under a goal every four games. Jelavic's record was marginally better with just over a goal every four games, but if you take out the goals he scored in his early Everton career, ones which may have been when he was at the crest of a wave, his record was just under 1 goal every 5 games. Compare these statistics to Peter Odemwingie who during his three years at West Bromwich Albion averaged just about a goal every 3 games, and Peter Crouch who scores a goal on average just over every 4 games since he joined Stoke, then you wonder if Hull have got the deal people suggest they have.

Ryan Shawcross attempting to better Phil Jones
in the 'weird face whilst winning the ball' competition

Whilst Curtis Davies has come back to his best after a seasons in the wilderness, Ryan Shawcross will be looking at the season just passed as an opportunity missed rather than an opportunity not given. There has been criticism in Roy Hodgson's direction at times this season for not travelling up to the Britannia Stadium often enough to judge Shawcross himself, and the added incentive of playing well in the hopes of making an international appearance could have spurred Ryan on further. However, too many times this season I feel that he has been so close, yet so far from the perfect defensive performance.

Last week was a prime example in that he made an early mistake by letting Benteke gain space for his goal, but afterwards the Villa strikeforce did not have a sniff at goal. As Stoke City supporters, these mistakes can be forgiven because we won the game, the mistake did not cost the team any points. If Shawcross had made that mistake against Uruguay playing for England though, who would have the same faith in England that they could recover from being a goal down? This is just one example, but look back across the season and Ryan has been at fault for a fair share of goals, whilst still contributing to solid defensive performances. If he cuts out his own individual errors, makes the right decision more often than not, then I would hope that Roy Hodgson's satnav finds its way to the Britannia Stadium, especially with the quality of football on show at present.

Away from the Brit - UEFA Nations League:

San Marino, could they win a league format? I'd doubt it!

On Wednesday, UEFA announced a replacement for the current international friendlies system: games at the same time, in a league format, that give smaller countries a second chance to qualify for UEFA competitions. Doesn't some of this sound like they are just replacing meaningless friendlies with slightly meaningful friendlies? By 2018 when these plans are expected to be initiated, will Wayne Rooney (an expected future England captain) be looking forward to a fixture in the Nations League perhaps facing a Switzerland or Austria, or would he have preferred to be playing Argentina in a glamour friendly? Save Wayne Rooney, would anyone choose Switzerland or Austria over Argentina? The incentive for competing in the League of Nations is qualification for the European Championships, outside of the normal qualifying process, yet you wonder again why this would matter to England? Yes in 2008 they failed to qualify, but that year had there been a League of Nations they would have failed to qualify that way as well! For England, I fear that this is just a replacement of the word 'friendly' and it has been changed to 'prearranged match with little to no glamour', and that the only thing preventing England from putting second-string teams out will be pride.

England U21s now, potential stars of the future?

What if England as a nation though could put more than pride at stake though? If these matches were used to give caps to young players, it could be seen as a way of promoting youth to the main England team in time for major tournaments. For example, if England were to treat squad selection as Great Britain had to for the Olympics, by only selecting three over-23 year olds, then the rest of the squad were under 23, it would be a great opportunity for younger players to be given their first chances. If this system were to run from next season, it would give Jack Butland a chance to get a consistent run for England and to show Roy Hodgson that he would be a capable challenger to Joe Hart, whilst it would also showcase Will Hughes's ability on a bigger stage after several years of playing in the Championship. However, if England were to select players from any age range, I believe that we would learn nothing, whilst even if we won the league system, we would gain nothing. Yet if we failed with a squad of largely U21s, morale would be low for a time perhaps, but it would show that we are putting more faith into youth than what it appears we do at present.

Quick Snippet - Is it a bird, is it a plane? Oh wait, it's a plane...

Wrong One - Moyes Out: the banner proclaims

A number of Manchester United fans have clamoured together enough funds to charter a plane to fly over Old Trafford with a banner proclaiming 'Wrong One - Moyes Out'. Two things entered my mind here. First of all, the truck driver with a 'Hughes Out' sign before the Stoke City manager had even signed on the dotted line must be relieved that someone has outdone him after recent results for Stoke, yet the other thought revolved around the words. As the words are supposedly a reply to the banner hung at Old Trafford saying 'The Chosen One' as a nod to Sir Alex Ferguson's parting words at the end of last season, you would have thought the banner would say 'Chosen Wrong - Moyes Out'. If you're going to club together to charter a plane to send a message, at least send out the right message!

Back to Black

Peter Odemwingie bringing smiles to the Britannia Stadium

It has been heralded this week as the start of the 'new' Stoke City. With two out of three of the Potter's goals at the weekend coming from flowing passing moves, supporters are finally seeing the dawn of a new era in the history of Stoke City Football Club. What caught the eye of the neutral was that Stoke had slices of luck during the game, not unearned luck, but slices that have perhaps not been evident enough at other times in the season so far. To go a goal behind against West Ham United is always a challenge as Sam Allardyce is a similar manager to Tony Pulis in that they both focus on defensive play first, then attack as the game demands it. With the score at 0-1, whilst there were no nervous noises from supporters, they could have been forgiven for expecting a repeat of the results against Southampton and Swansea at home this season, gaining a draw in a situation when a win would be better. Consider the two points dropped in both of those fixtures, and the gap to 9th position in the league now would only be 5 points compared to the 9 at present, whilst Southampton in 8th would not be unreachable being only 6 points ahead. It is a sign that this season has been good, but it could have been so much more. West Ham's goal at the weekend epitomised this, with Asmir Begovic coming to claim a ball into the box when all he had to do was stay on his line and wait for the header to come his way. His jump for the ball sums up Stoke's season: so close, yet so far.

Marko Arnautovic celebrates his first Britannia Stadium goal

Whilst Stoke's chances of reaching 9th or 8th in the league table are slim to none, 10th is still a realistic target and can be achieved with wins like the one against West Ham. The key to the comeback was simple: attacking. Whilst West Ham had a penalty claim from a debatable Marc Muniesa handball, they posed little threat after their goal, with Stoke creating the better opportunities in the game. Stephen Ireland had spurned two good chances of equalising for the Potters when from a corner, Peter Odemwingie grabbed a goal, without realising it after standing on the goal-line as Peter Crouch shot goalwards not once, but twice, burying the second effort off Odemwingie's shoulder. If players have any say in claiming a goal, then Odemwingie would hopefully allow Crouch to take the goal because it was all of his working, though if it remains in Odemwingie's name then it is no harm to have a goalscorer scoring a brace in a game. Stoke took the lead just after half time and again this is where luck shone on the Potters, with a nice passing move leading the ball to Marko Arnuatovic's feet just outside the centre of the penalty box, who cut inside his marker, the ball rebounding off a West Ham player back into his path and a sliced finish drifted past Adrian and into the net. You suspect if the chance had fallen to Jon Walters, the chance would have been thwarted, but Marko had the guile to push forward with the ball, try his luck, and it worked. A lesson to all the Stoke players: buy a ticket for the raffle as you never know if you might win! The third goal sums this ideology up as well, with three Stoke players countering on the West Ham defence, Stephen Ireland on the ball, sends a ball wide to Peter Odemwingie, wider than he would have preferred it you suspect, but the finish into the far corner of the net was sublime. No other forward at the club would have taken that chance and finished it as Odemwingie did so he deserves all of the plaudits he receives for the finish. The ball into his feet though was poor, yet he made a shot work with it though. He took a chance on the first time shot rather than risking a touch to cut inside and shoot. He gambled and it paid off. This was a day for the Potters to gain a bit of good fortune, now they need to grasp this luck and push on with it.

Away from the Brit - Heroes amongst Villains:

Peter Crouch on the ball against Aston Villa

Aston Villa are the Jekyll and Hyde team of the season. One week you have the Hyde side, capable of losing by two goals to West Ham and looking incapable of victory at Villa Park, then a few results on and a Dr Jekyll of a performance beats Chelsea with some ease. Which is the true Aston Villa, and most importantly which one will turn up to play Stoke on Sunday afternoon? Their front-line has the ability to frighten most defences in the league, when Christian Benteke is on form then there is very little you can do to stop him, whilst Andreas Weimann, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Marc Albrighton and even Grant Holt can cause a team damage if called upon. Where the team fails at times is supplying these forwards with opportunities. Ashley Westwood and Fabian Delph are classed as the hub of Villa's midfield, but I'm not sure I'd take either of them over a Charlie Adam or even their recent midfielder, Stephen Ireland, when creativity is an issue. Both of those players can create something for themselves or for others whilst Delph and Westwood appear more destructive than creative players by nature, this comment taking into account Delph's goal against Chelsea via a Cruyff flick. Their defence is, in my opinion at least, still one of the weakest in the division, just outside of the bottom teams, this is also taking into account that they have conceded 6 less goals than Stoke have this season. Leandro Bacuna, Matt Lowton, Nathan Baker, Ciaran Clark, Ron Vlaar, Joe Bennett, Ryan Bertrand, whilst all big parts of the current Villa team, they do not exude class. An example of this will come next weekend, where Curtis Davies will arrive at the Britannia Stadium, amid recent shouts for a late call-up for the England World Cup squad. Whilst he will not get the call-up, his supporters (not necessarily just Hull supporters) will be calling for his inclusion. The same can be said of Stoke and Ryan Shawcross as we push for him to be given his second chance in the England squad after his 20 minute nightmare against Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Villa on the other hand have four English players in their crop of defenders, yet none of them are seen as part of England's long term, or short-term future, with none of them even involved in recent U21 fixtures. Baker and Bennett received 3 U21 caps before 2013, Bertrand has played twice for the England senior team but both were whilst he was in favour at Chelsea, whilst Lowton has fallen out of favour with Paul Lambert and as a result has lost form from last season when he was tipped to emulate Kyle Walker and break into the senior England squad. All of these players have been tipped, but none of them have pushed on. Now is the time to face this group of players, whilst they are underachieving to what is their supposed potential.

Christian Benteke and Ashley Westwood, a bad day at the office?

Whilst it may be a good time for Stoke to go to Villa and try and attack their young backline, the one problem Stoke have is a lack of bodies. To add to the suspensions of Jon Walters and Charlie Adam is an ineligibility of Stephen Ireland after performing admirably last week against West Ham. You have to question the logic of not fighting against the clause preventing Stoke's new Irishman from playing against Villa that was in the deal to bring Ireland to the Britannia permanently in January. Nevertheless, with Ireland eligible, I would push the point from last week that Brek Shea should be given an opportunity on the bench, at least. Last week's bench against West Ham consisted of three defenders, one central midfielder, one winger and a forward. The balance should at the very least consist of only two defenders, and Shea was overlooked in favour of Ryan Shotton. If Stoke are a goal down and need to change things, what options did we have after Guidetti and Etherington? Wilson Palacios? Putting Shotton into an advanced position as Tony Pulis did? Whilst Brek Shea has not proven himself greatly at Barnsley, it is unusual to say the least not to include him in a squad that is struggling for depth, so if Oussama Assaidi is declared unfit for tomorrow's fixture tomorrow, I would call for his inclusion, at least on the bench. From the start, if Stoke do not have Oussama Assaidi available after his recent injury problems, I would start Matthew Etherington in favour of John Guidetti. Not only does Etherington have better defensive capabilities but it would also allow an attack-minded substitution, a Plan B, if things do not go right from the start of the game. By starting Guidetti, you start with Plan B, and have few alternatives if things go badly as the game progresses. This would also allow Marko Arnautovic to play with a free role, having the option to link up with all three attacking players (Etherington, Crouch and Odemwingie), rather than being linked up with. If this quadrangle of players can get at Villa's back four, Glenn Whelan and Steven Nzonzi are well versed in taking control of a game in these situations, making simple passes and keeping Stoke's attacks flowing short and smoothly, and as such a positive result would not be out of the question.

Beyond the Brit - Champions League (Part 2):

Bruised and battered, and they haven't played Bayern Munich yet!

Out of the two Champions League ties this week, the Manchester United tie caught my eye more, not for the football glamour by any means (Drogba's return to Stamford Bridge winning out easily there!) but due to the 'importance' of winning this match to the United players. It was a phrase that kept recurring throughout the match coverage, 'they must win this', 'the pressure will be on if they don't', and so on. Shouldn't the pressure have been on in September when they lost their first fixture of the season against Liverpool? Shouldn't it have been on when they lost the Manchester Derby, the home fixtures against 'lesser' teams, losing to Stoke away after spending £30m+ on Juan Mata, and most recently after losing convincingly to Liverpool at Old Trafford. Yes this was a high pressure game, but the amount of hype surrounding it, you'd've thought that if United had won the game, they had qualified for next year's competition! Instead they now face the current Champions of Germany, Europe and the Club World Cup: Bayern Munich. After watching Bayern score at the Emirates recently, then defend a lead effectively at the Allianz Arena, I do not give much hope to United considering their fluctuating form this season. All that can be said is that stranger things have happened in football than United beating Bayern, but it doesn't happen that often!

Drogba's return to Chelsea did not have a
goalscoring impact for his current club.

Chelsea on the other hand looked convincing winners over a fairly strong Galatasaray side which included well known names such as Felipe Melo, Wesley Sneijder and of course Didier Drogba. It was surprising to see how little effort Drogba put into the game at times, a game where I thought he would be busting a gut to prove that he could still do a job against any team in Europe. Instead he looked laboured, chasing after balls for a moment before stopping in his tracks to watch his runner speed ahead of him. This attitude could be translated to the whole team at times, but considering the strength of their team, plus Roberto Mancini who does not allow slackers into his team, it was surprisingly easy for Chelsea to master this task. A tie against Paris St. Germain should not be overly daunting for Chelsea, with the Parisians still a growing team who are more likely to pull up trees in the years to come rather than at this current moment. With names like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Javier Pastore, Lucas Moura, there is enough talent in their team for this to be a tasty tie. All that needs to be added is bring on April and these mouth-watering fixtures for the neutral!

Quick Snippet - Warrior:

Understated promotion, but will their first Stoke kit follow suit?

The big news commercially for Stoke City this week has been the change of kit sponsor from Adidas to Warrior. During the past four seasons, I have to say I've enjoyed the kits that Adidas have made, but there was an element of laziness with some of their most recent incarnations, with elements in Stoke kits being too notable in opposition kits bearing the Adidas logo. Looking ahead to Warrior though, they have already made a statement this year with Liverpool's kits, their away kits being fiery to say the least. Whilst their promo for the Stoke website was understated, it seems unlikely that Warrior's first Stoke City kit will be just as simple, and to an extent, this can only be good for those who buy a new kit each season. Bring on the Warrior era!

Stop, Hammer Time!

Jon Walters the recipient of Stoke's latest red card

When it comes to red cards, Stoke City supporters have seen their fair share of them. The two this season prior to Jonathan Walters's career first were debatable, both in the game against Newcastle United on Boxing Day, whilst in the five previous seasons Stoke had tallied 20 red cards at an average of 4 per season. If this statistic remains true, then Stoke are due another red card this season, considering this does not include retrospective red cards such as the ones that afflicted Charlie Adam last week. To discuss Jon Walter's red card, it is best to sum up his, and Stoke's, game up first of all. Stoke had three gilt-edged chances in the first quarter of the game, falling to Peter Crouch, Marko Arnautovic and Jon Walters. The chances that fell to Crouch and Walters, when watching their execution of each shot, you suspect that if a more clinical striker had been given those chances, they would have been buried. The first chance which fell to Crouch was a neat through ball, which to complete the move and score the goal only required a shot low and accurate either side of John Ruddy, his shot however was directly at the goalkeeper. Marko Arnautovic, whilst capable of the magnificent, failed to bring a shot down well and skied his shot when just a little bit more composure could have forced through a better chance. Jon Walters had the trickiest chance in one respect, that he had to curl the shot away from the goalkeeper to get it into to the far corner, where instead he chose to try and shoot more centrally, and the tame shot was an easy save.

Ryan Shawcross failed to pick up his zonal area and lost the ball and man

What I hadn't realised before this game was the change in defensive tactics, perhaps the same ones which had caused some defensive frailties at times throughout this season. For Norwich's goal, it was the first time it had become clear to this supporter that Stoke had switched to zonal marking when defending set-pieces. Whilst there are some advantages to this style of defending, it has its limitations. Players have to take responsibility for their zone - something Ryan Shawcross did not do for Bradley Johnson's goal. Man-to-man marking would have allowed Shawcross to 'hold' onto Johnson until the ball was played, then track his run as well as the ball. With zonal marking, the focus on Shawcross's mind was obviously covering a post as he took a step back, feeling the ball was out of his area, until he saw the ball floating towards Johnson and by the time he had corrected his footwork it was too late for him to win the header. This may just be one mistake that has been the result of a change of defensive organisation, but with zonal marking, history suggests that others may come. For Stoke's equaliser, it was a blatant foul on John Guidetti, who celebrated the winning of the penalty perhaps a bit too vociferously, before Jon Walters dispatched it with little fuss. Only minutes later though Walters turned from the hero of the match to the villain, according to the media at least. After just winning a header, Walters went in for a tackle, challenging for the ball against Alexander Tettey and Walters was fractionally late, colliding with Tettey's knee. Whilst no Stoke supporter can claim that Jon Walters is an angel on the pitch, his eight yellow cards this season suggest that perhaps a red card has been coming for the much-maligned Irishman. Whilst unfortunate that the red was given for a 50-50 challenge, Walters at least can make use of the enforced break and hopefully return to the side with fresh legs ahead of games against Chelsea and Newcastle.

Back to the Brit - Rusty Irons?

Erik Pieters winning the ball off Kevin Nolan

If you look at current form alone, there is not much between Stoke and West Ham except for a few wins in favour of the Hammers. Kevin Nolan has finally come to the fore of the West Ham team, playing as well as most neutrals know him to, whilst Carlton Cole has upped his game to cover for Andy Carroll during his recent suspension. Their defence is strong again with James Tomkins and James Collins available after recent injuries, meaning that fragile partnerships that plagued their poor January form have disappeared. This is a West Ham team that is at its strongest, or as close to it as they'll get with ten games remaining this season. After his early substitution into the team against Everton in the Irons last outing, it would not be a surprise to see Andy Carroll start at the Britannia, to use his great aerial ability in both boxes. This is key for Stoke: stopping Carroll. If he is ruffled, he is not a great player in terms of finesse. The moves he starts for Kevin Nolan usually come from flicked-on headers and as such, if the Stoke defence can marginalise the number of balls he wins in the air, Stoke will have a better chance of halting West Ham. Whilst the first point of contact, Carroll's header, is a key phase of defensive play to watch for, it is equally important for the Stoke defence to watch for runners, with Nolan the most likely to benefit from any scraps that Carroll provides. That does not limit Mark Noble and any of Mohammed Diame, Matthew Taylor or Antonio Nocerino from joining in the attacking moves, but the chances of their involvement causing trouble is small by comparison. This then leaves the wide areas as the most potent areas of the West Ham attack, with Stewart Downing and Matt Jarvis performing at a solid, though far from spectacular level. If the wide areas can be controlled, then attacking support for Carroll and Nolan will be limited.

Could Brek Shea be involved against the Hammers after returning
from a loan spell at Barnsley amid controversy?

Most of the Stoke team will pick itself this week due to injuries and suspensions. Stephen Ireland will most likely be the one to benefit from Jon Walters's absence, though after his good cameo against the Canaries, John Guidetti could earn a chance if Mark Hughes decides to try a shape closer to 4-4-2 rather than 4-3-3. From here, the starting eleven should be the same as last week, with Robert Huth seemingly out for the rest of the season now. On the bench is where problems lie, with a lack of depth causing questions over who to include. Despite the cloud he has returned under, I would select Brek Shea for bench duty against West Ham, as a substitute in case things go wrong and more firepower is needed. The alternative to Brek is if Oussama Assaidi is fit enough to make a comeback from injury after three games out, though the priority there should be if he is not 100% fit, save him for the battles ahead. At present though I would go for Brek as despite the mess he found himself in at Barnsley for swearing at a supporter, he does have some talent, he just needs a chance to show it. He would not be pushing so hard for a place in the USA National Team if he did not have the ability, he just needs a stage to show it. Hopefully, he can prove some of his doubters wrong when he next gets his chance to impress.

Away from the Brit - Champions League:

A set-piece that could just as easily have been a well-choreographed
dance move, based on Schweinsteiger's moves

With Arsenal being 2-0 down on aggregate on Tuesday night, I sat poised for a terrific cup tie, a match that would typify the saying "do or die". By the end, I felt like doing nothing! As a neutral, you want a good cup tie, but as a Stoke supporter, it is not surprising to want to see Arsenal get knocked out in style! When looking at the team that started the match, you wonder if Arsene Wenger was in these two states of mind as well, wondering whether to go for it or not. What his team sheet suggested did not match his team's play, with Bayern not troubled for the entirety of the match. Arsenal's goal came from a bit of refereeing luck, a foul on Phillip Lahm going unpunished despite the offender Lukas Podolski looking over his shoulder in amazement before dispatching the ball into the net. Besides this moment of controversy, I cannot remember another moment of note in Arsenal's forward play, only rare ventures forward from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who was deployed far too deep to have any meaningful impact on the game. Why Mathieu Flamini failed to start the match amazes me. Even if you are chasing a tie, you still have to treat the second leg as if you are at half time, and in my opinion, Wenger failed to do that.

Lionel Messi, a man out of form, yet still as deadly as any other footballer

On Wednesday night, Manuel Pellegrini's side will be hoping to complete their own impossible task of winning by two or more goals at the Nou Camp. Both sides have had poor results in recent games, with Barcelona losing to Real Valladolid and Manchester City losing to Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup. Whilst Barcelona lost using a full strength side, Manchester City had made changes to the team that had gone a goal down to Sunderland the week before in their Capital One Cup Final victory. So based on this information, you could make a fair argument that Manchester City are the form team out of the two heading into this match. What this doesn't take into account is the formidable nature of the Nou Camp, a place where only one team has won in 7 seasons and that was Bayern Munich last year en route to a treble of trophies. History may not count for anything in football, but it is a good way of estimating the challenge ahead for the Citizens. Here's hoping that for the neutral, it is a more entertaining fixture as another night of cagey football will potentially destroy whatever appeal Europe's top competition still has to those whose teams are in a lower echelon of their respective leagues.

Quick Snippet - Manaus:

The Amazonia Arena in Manaus opened on Sunday

The arena for England's opening Group Game at the 2014 World Cup has been officially opened and inaugurated. Despite some kinks to still work out according to spectators on Sunday, such as poor toilet facilities and tickets being offered for non-existing seats, the stadium is ready. And with only three months until the first match, time is of the essence, and fast to make sure those small kinks are ironed out.

Hush Little Arsenal

Jonny on the spot, and a celebration to match

One player scored a goal to win the game on Saturday, but a team earned that win through sheer determination to better an Arsenal side lacking any fight or desire to banish their Britannia Stadium hoo-doo. From the first whistle to the last, as Arsenal players fell to the ground, looking for soft decisions from an ever unreliable Mike Jones, Stoke showed a fight and desire to gain three invaluable points at home. One of the key battles was midfield, with Steven Nzonzi returning to the Potters midfield, forcing Charlie Adam to move further forward in the team and support Peter Crouch. His inclusion came due to the surprise exclusion of Peter Odemwingie, an injury preventing him from getting a taste of victory over another Top 7 side at the Britannia.

Erik Pieters holding off Santi Cazorla as Marko Arnautovic plays the ball

In Odemwingie's absence, Marko Arnautovic, an enigma this season, shone. If there is one area I feel Arnautovic lets himself down, it is in getting goals. He has the talent for scoring, and in his early weeks at Stoke, upon reflection you suspect that all parties would say that he was trying a bit too hard to impress. Since being dropped and having a watching brief in favour of Oussama Assaidi, Arnautovic has quietly gone about his job when chosen, and his stats are showing that he is a quite a complete player, excluding goals. With 5 assists this season (6 in all competitions) he is our creator in chief, with Peter Crouch and Charlie Adam on 4 and 3 assists respectively. Marko has shown that when our squad is at full strength, he is worthy of a place in the starting eleven. An example of what he brings to the team was shown in the last two games. Against Manchester City, it was his absence that deprived Stoke of any late attacking intent, his presence in attack a determiner of whether Stoke can or cannot score a goal. Once he was substituted, followed by Manchester City's winner, Stoke looked like a python without any venom. That venom was on show against Arsenal, and although he had no hand in the goal, he was a thorn in Arsenal's side all match. What impresses me most about him is the intelligence he has on the pitch in forward positions, where now that he has settled into the club and is not overly eager to impress, he has an awareness of what his team mates can do, and such whether he should dribble, pass, or hold up the ball when attacking. A notable moment in the second half saw Arnautovic receive the ball and with the choice of passing the ball immediately or waiting for a good run, and so he waited until Erik Pieters was ready to collect the ball ahead of play. Small cogs in a machine, but considering the stigma Marko as attached to him at times is 'greedy', I believe that he is now showing his true potential to the club.

Seeing Red - What constitutes a red card offence?


Any controversy from Charlie Adam's post-game suspension does not stem from the quality of the offence, at least with this onlooker. At first glance I thought that Olivier Giroud had fallen over and was making the most of any contact, as he had done for the majority of the game up until that point. At a second look, there is contact between Adam's boot and Giroud's leg, though the contact is minimal. I.e. it was not a stamp. In my view, a stamp implies full intent to put a foot through an object with the intent to damage it. The video footage alone suggests that Charlie Adam did not have the time to make a deliberate decision to injure his opponent. Where he is looking also lends a clue to intent, with Adam not looking at Giroud on the floor upon contact, believing that he has jumped over the man on the floor. Therefore the decision should have been classed as an accidental collision, in this viewer's opinion. But, to strengthen the argument, let's look at a similar case.

The main difference between Yaya Toure and Charlie Adams' cases is the position of the football upon contact. When Adam connected with Giroud, the ball had been cleared and Adam's role in that phase of play had ended. This was an off-the-ball incident. With Yaya Toure, the ball was still in play in that Toure still had a slim chance of winning the ball and making contact. After both rising up for a header, the ball was bouncing as Toure raised his foot into the air to try and latch onto the ball which had passed him by, his foot connecting with van Wolfswinkel not far from where it left the ground. Both cases are identical in that the player did not mean to make contact with the other player so the word deliberate (as in a deliberate action to stamp or slash a player's leg) has to take a specific meaning. Out of the two offences, Toure's was the worse due to the ball still being in play and his action having the deliberate intent to kick (the football, not the player) whereas Adam was trying to jump over Giroud and mistimed his landing. If you look at both cases, neither deserved retrospective action as both were accidental contacts within the game, yet the FA has decided that there is a difference. If you are a referee and reading this and can understand the FA's decisions on both cases, feel free to contradict the points made here, otherwise there is a strong case to be made that Stoke have been victimised, not so long after Alan Hansen referred to Stoke City as 'bullies'.

Away from the Brit - Sinking Canaries

Ricky van Wolfswinkel, a disappointing figure this season

Discounting Roberto Soldado, the most disappointing foreign striking import this season should go to Ricky van Wolfswinkel. One goal on the opening day of the season and none since is a poor run of form, but is it a sign of a lack of quality? Or, perhaps more accurately, is it a reflection of a poor team? It's a mix. No matter how you try and look at it, going 27 games without a goal is not good, which suggests that perhaps Ricky was a bit overhyped before his arrival in England. You can score in Portugal and Holland of course, but it is not guarantee you can cut the mustard in England. That is not English arrogance either, merely a statement that England, Spain, Germany and Italy are four of the toughest leagues in European football, where goals are no guarantee for a mid-table striker. What may also have affected Norwich is the same problem with afflicted Queen's Park Rangers last season, a clash of character. If you were to ask me to identify Norwich City's football in the last two years, I would have said they held similar traits to Stoke in that they were not afraid of having a battle of a game, yet they had a little bit more attacking intent than what we did. Now though, I cannot identify them. There are too many in the squad who do not seem to be up for a fight, hence why results such as their win over Tottenham Hotspur are not as surprising as some would insist. Tottenham are a team who will allow you to play, to an extent obviously. Norwich can get a result there as technically they have some quality players, but they do not have enough grafters. In the Stoke team, you think of fighters, grafters, however you want to refer to them, the players who will fight for a result and you can name them easily (Whelan, Walters, Shawcross, Wilson and so on), yet look at the Norwich team and I cannot see any of the fight that typified their first seasons in the Premier League. If they are to survive, they will need to find that again, but hopefully not in enough time for the sake of Stoke's survival.

Jonny Howson celebrating scoring against Stoke City in September

What is so strange about Norwich's lack of fight in general this season has been that on their last visit to the Britannia Stadium, they were the team showing the desire to win. Others may disagree, but I still class this as Stoke's worst performance of the season so far as they showed little to no creativity, let alone providing supporters with hope that they would score a goal. Stoke's fortunes have improved recently but to underestimate Norwich this weekend would be to invite another result like the September fixture again. The key, as stated previously, to getting any positive result is to match or better Norwich's desire to win. Whilst they have good players on the ball, just like Arsenal last week, if a fight is on, will they stand up to it or take flight? Stoke need to ask this question, and with the same tactics as last week, minus Charlie Adam and including Peter Odemwingie again, they have enough to get a draw, and hopefully more from East Anglia.

England Expects - Shaw trouble:

Not a surprise inclusion for the Southampton full-back

Luke Shaw seems certain to get his international debut for England on Wednesday, with the media suggesting that it is a straight battle between him and Ashley Cole who goes to Brazil alongside Leighton Baines. Both players have their merits for inclusion in the squad, Shaw appearing to be one of the nations up and coming stars and a place in his first World Cup squad not unwarranted, whilst Cole has been one of the nation's best representatives, on the pitch at least. This selection will spell trouble either way though. and not just because of the disappointment either player will suffer when told they won't be travelling to South America. If Cole is included in the World Cup squad, it will be another sign that youth fails to be given a chance in the England squad, even in a supporting role which Shaw would be providing at such an early stage of his career. If Shaw is included though, it is a gamble compared to taking Cole to the finals. If Baines suffers an injury, Shaw would be a novice in comparison to Cole and could easily be caught cold at the wrong moment. For Roy Hodgson it is an interesting dilemma, and hopefully for England, the answer to this problem will be made easier to solve after 90 minutes against Denmark.

Quick Snippet - Alan Pardew:

Pardew seeing Crimson mist, let alone a bland red version

David Meyler has to be applauded for not overreacting to Alan Pardew's Glaswegian kiss at the weekend. It is an unprecedented situation, even outside of sport, regardless of the amount of contact the headbutt made. Do you hear of rival CEOs meeting up and clashing heads with members of their opposition's company? No. How Pardew has kept his job is miraculous. I repeat, despite their not being much force behind the headbutt, it is something that should not be condoned. Unless Newcastle plan to take action at the end of the season and are just waiting for the FA to make their decision on punishment before making further announcements on what to do about their manager, I can't help but feel that the fine they have given him (£100,000) is not enough, if anything to maintain the integrity their club should have.