by Zzonked Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:24 am
I was feeling bad before the game so I got myself wired on loads of supplements and brain shit so as a result I was very attentive and analytical during the game. It's likely that no one cares and it is all wrong anyway but here is some of what I thought.
Mark Hughes set the team very similar to the way he did in the famous 3-2 v QPR. Stoke absolutely stacked the middle of the park, made 3 tight banks of 2 standing in front of each other. This made Jovetic very ineffective because all his little flicks and one twos were quickly cleared. It made passing through the middle in general impossible, which meant our tempo went to AIDs. The football was slow as fuck. It didn't help that Toure was a total passenger and didn't work at all. Fernando was good defensively but misplaced too many passes, Fernandinho came on and did exactly the same thing but with worse defense. Worst 3 players by far.
They were vulnerable out wide though and kind of invited pressure out there. Sagna looks good defensively, but he is nowhere near as good as Zabaleta at getting forward. If Zabaleta had played it probably would have made it a lot easier. Kolarov needed to do more. Navas came on and absolutely molested the right and side of the pitch for about 15 minutes before Hughes brought on a left sided player which made it a lot harder down that side.
Stoke strategy was obviously to sit back hard and then score from a set piece or a counter. It obviously worked and they were incisive about it. Almost exactly like the QPR game except better.
Diouf's goal is just AIDs. It isn't that spectacular, it's just a total shitfest of defending. It's like that one that Jermaine Beckford scored v Chelsea. The only minor bit of talent he had is strength in the beginning, but even then the first mistake is Kolarov not just full on rugby tackling him. Really brah, you gotta do those it's fucking obvious. Fernandinho then does the most HIV positive attempt at a one on one tackle I've ever seen, he basically just lets him take a big heavy touch and jog past. I actually thought it was Kompany at first and I was confused, because he may be bad in some areas, but not one on ones. Hart is then beat at his near post, but I'll only fault him slightly because these things happen sometimes. I would expect better, but not every time that's a save.
I aint even mad tho, losing at this stage of the season never bothers me. Only hurts when it's in the middle/end.
Johnson was fine tonight. Moreno got caught out a few times and the one time he used his pace effectively, he ignored the simple pass across the goal to the hungry Studge and cut it back into bodies. He might be fine in the long run, but at least be consistent.
