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.