Following Jol's lunch time press conference: Aaron Hughes is out of tomorrow’s game and next week’s Internationals with a recurrence of his injury in training on Thursday. Scotty Parker is out for 2 weeks following his injury against Cardiff, which he was apparently carrying before that game. And then we have Stekelenburg and Briggs still out, along with the ‘phantom’ Dejagah. From a season ago when Jol didn’t know what his best forward formation was, he currently has that indecision at the back, the centre and the forward line. At the back his expressed fear of risking Hangeland and Amorebieta together was more than realised in the Cardiff game. Yet Amore is good - strong, quick and excellent distribution - so I would (repeating my preference of last week) start with the back four that ended the game against Everton: ..Riether…Senderos..Hangeland ..Amorebieta.. So far as the midfield is concerned, as well as losing the right wing (Dejagah) we seem to have lost the left side also (Kaca is just so out of place defensively and being asked to play more centrally has not suited him). But we do need pace as well as defensive skills on the wide. At central midfield, with Parker out, regrettably, there is no choice but to play Sidwell. So I’d go for three across the middle: ………Zverotic……Sidwell……..Richardson.. Up front Berba is the dilema. He is just so out of form - his ball control and passing has been uncharactistically bad this season. And I think he knows it. So much so that he has stayed behind after normal training for extra practice a couple of times this week. Like Jol, I’d give him at least one more game and start with: …………..Kasami…………Berbatov.. ……………………Bent………… And ………Stockdale…….in goal to make up my starting eleven. I believe that’s a strong team defensively and one that has pace going forward. On the bench, Kara and Bryan .. ah, best left unsaid since I will never second guess Jol’s substitutions.
For me would be …...........……Stockdale……......... ..Riether…Senderos...Hangeland....Amorebieta.. ………Sidwell……..Kara......Sverotic/Boateng.... ........ Berba......Kasami.... ..............Bent....... Kara can distribute the ball taking cover from Sidwell and Sverotic/Boateng Otherwise I might go for a 3 CB scheme, a bt heavy but can control the midfield and allow Riether and Richardson to move up more. …...........……Stockdale……......... ....…Senderos...Hangeland....Amorebieta.. …Riether…Sidwell…..Kara.....Boateng/Zverotic....Richardson .............Kasami...... ..............Bent.......
I'd go with C58 line up but I'd go old school 4 4 2 with Kasami in the middle and Zverotic on the left. I'm so bloody nervous! Desperate for the win.
There's an awful lot of "hopefully" things at the beginning of today's internal video interview but, as always, Jol doesn't duck the awkward questions. Only kind of new news is that Taarabt is clearly still not fit (begs the question why not?) and Bryan is - so in for Parker?. [video=youtube;Dc_8MzqDS68]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc_8MzqDS68&feature=player_embedded[/video]
That's a good point. Why is he not fit after - what - 8 or 10 weeks. Mind you wasn't he the player Harry had to keep fining for not turning up to training, constantly being unfit, etc?
Will Jol have fixed our problem with defending set pieces, because this is one of Stokes strong points. It wouldn't be great if we dominated possession and then let in a sloppy goal. We did that against WBA. WE need to get our own set pieces better, corners have been poor, they have a good goalkeeper in Begovic, who I hope won't be on the top of his game. To me most of our players seem to be unfit, even Riether seems to be struggling for fitness, towards the end of games they seem to lose energy. Having seen Stoke play against Man City and Norwich, it seems they like to press the player with the ball, this will cause us problems, as we seem to struggle when pressed on the ball and I hope there will not be a repeat of numerous passes to Stockdale to lump it up front. We need to match them in closing down and getting the ball from them in midfield and attacking them quickly before they can settle back down in defense, with Parker out, I'd go with Sidwell, Kasami and Boateng, Ruiz in the hole with Bent and Berbatov up front in a 4-3-1-2 (ie no wingers) use Riether and Richardson (I'd prefer Amorebieta) as traditional fullback only attacking when they can. Key man tomorrow Kasami he needs to help both Midfield and Ruiz link the front two.
He said he came in, and then was injured, so presumably still recovering from the injury. Or it could be Jol's fault, whichever. I'm backing the boys to get 3 points tomorrow. If we do, it'll be like winning the Champion's League! COYW!
Games do not get much bigger than this for our boys. I agree with the back 4 line , Riether, senders , hangeland and Amorebieta. The idea of zverotic on the right and Richardson on the left of midfield 3 with Karagounis in the middle sounds very balanced, perhaps stronger defensively, but Richardson can get forward as can zverotic. I can see Ruiz starting after scoring last week with berbatov and bent up front, however, I could see berbatov playing up front with Ruiz and Kasami behind him. Jol needs a huge performance from his players as do us fans. I hope the crowd gets really behind the team and we can be celebrating a good day for a change. Coyw
Bright start. Gentleman Jim is spitting feathers every time Stoke go down. It seems they've gone from playing hard to being complete pansies!
Really happy for the players and big Martin jol. Did not sound like the best of performances but 3 valuable points none the less.
At least we played bettter in the second half. Well, no we didn't. At least not until Derek Boateng came on. And nobody can complain about how the fans got behind the team in that final half hour. So grateful for the 3 points, so that's all I'm going to say (for now). COYW
Quality commentary from Gentleman Jim as usual, when Pieters grabbed Kasami with both arms then got a little finger flick on the head and went down like the titanic "my 83 year old mother could hit harder than Kasami did!" Sounds like there could have been 2 pens a piece in the first half. Can't wait to see MOTD tonight. COYW
From my point of view and those around me another dismal diaplay, Stoke having no luck although they had what 60% of the play 3 points gained ,great,but the fact remains there is no tactical structure within the team.
I agree rosc. 3 points don't hide the fact that that was a very dismal display. I feel that that game was a fact of stoke losing it more than the fact of us winning it. Very lucky not to concede a penalty senderos is a person who I was cover my face when he's chasing someone. Lets hope that Jol sees what the fans do instead of just seeing the 3 points.
We were awful. The football was nothing to write home about. I still think Jol could go...don't think he will however. Bent a quality finish. Kasami by far the MOTM. Oh and by the way there is nothing to watch in terms of highlights - apart from Bent's goal...we mustered 2 shots. Stoke dominated the game and will feel unlucky to leave with nothing. There are still problems at the back. We did however look a better side when Berbatov went off...it speaks volumes. 3 points against Palace no ifs or buts.
Awful awful performance. There are no tactics, poor team selection. Berba and Ruiz should not be on the bench with their performances. Tactics: why on earth start with Amorebieta on LB against Walters? Zverotic had a good game against Everton and not playing.. Ruiz? I simply can't understand how people can find any positives on his displays... He is a liability. Can't mark, can't keep the ball, can't run, nothing really. Berba? Oh dear... Johnny Walker Jol sort it out and get some balls to drop the flops from the team. Let's not get fooled by the 3 points. There are no tactics and we could have lost. The pressure is not off Jol. He needs to get some points from the next 2 games... There is a 2 week break. Sort it out and stop the excuses!
