Stoke City v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[bob]

Oh and it's largely been ignored given the result but fuck me what a diving header from Downing that was. Not sure if I've ever seen a better one.

It was fantastic.

Although a small part of me wonders if he was trying to duck out of the way of the ball.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I'm still scratching my head as to how we lost that.
I fucking hate Stoke and I hope they get relegated.

[eastie]

Thank god keV mac didn't get the job or we would have been in real trouble!

[Morten]

On the home page KMac talks about us playing "wonderful football" and "a pretty good performance" - does that not say it all ?

[Morten]

And he also says "some of the training has been outstanding". I wonder what they trained.

[NeilH]

I console myself after that defeat by knowing that this morning I did not wake up in Stoke. However, what really worried me is the seeming lack of fitness from some of our player. Both Petrov and Dunne looked like they were going to keel over at some point. Its got to be a concern to the club about this level of fitness, especially with the new fangled Bodymoor opening.

[citizenDJ]

Indeed. I'me very surprised, and more than a little disappointed, about Dunne this season. I suspect he will need to somewhat improve when Houllier arrives, or he'll be replaced (quite comfortably) by Cuellar.
I also wouldn't be surprised (or too disappointed, either) to see Friedal replaced sooner rather than later, too. I know he pulls out some great stops occasionally, but he just doesn't seem quite as 'at the races' with crosses, kicking etc at the moment.

As others have alluded to, I honestly shudder to think where Kevin MacDonald would have taken us if appointed.

[PaulTheVillan]

Gabby looks over weight.

Why we tried to play anything in the air is just beyond me. They won so many headers.

NRC had a good game. His passing was good too. I feel we give the ball away too much and we're never first to the second ball.

What really starts to piss me off is Gabbys piss poor movement.

When we're on the break down the wings with Downing or Albrighton, he always slows down, goes behind the defender and towards the back post. Even Joachim had the brains to run infront of the defender and to the near post to get the ball into his feet.

[Matt C]

We need to get better at keeping the ball, its as simple as that for me. That 35-odd minute spell in the first half when we dominated was based purely on us keeping possession and keeping the passing on the deck - Stoke couldn't live with it. In the second half we gave away possession increasingly cheaply and withdrew deeper and deeper, inviting Stoke to launch long balls into the box - eventually they're going to get a break and so they did. Very very frustrating as the game was ours for the taking.

[Dr Butler]

Sorry but Villa did well most of the night. Collins struggled a bit, and Dunney still looks a bit short of fitness.

Reo Coker worked like a dog and did well, Petrov ok, but at 60 miins I would have had Ireland on for Albrighton to makea  genuine 5 man midfield. Tactical deficiency cost us as much as anything. Hopefully Houllier can help with that.

After sleeping on it, I think this is a fairer reflection of the game last night, the thing that got me about the game is the amount of free-kicks that Stoke "won"  you know when you are going to Stoke that it will be physical and bombardment of your 18 yard area.
Altogether over the whole match Villa deserved to win but if you do not take your chances then you ultimately pay.

Collins penalty ?.....probably, but what about the deliberate trip on Petrov in the box from a corner ?

Bring on the hoardes of Bolton.....well all 120 of them.

UTV
The Doc

[kipeye]

I don't think the ref could have given a penalty as the ball was not in play. he would have been obliged to send the player off though.

[Dave P]

Crap teams without a win all season look for us at home in their fixture list.  A bit of balls from the oppo and we rarely cope with it and it's been the same for years.

[Dr Butler]

I don't think the ref could have given a penalty as the ball was not in play. he would have been obliged to send the player off though.

Oh right, but on the all seeing SKY coverage(Gray and the monkey man) they said it should and could of been a pen....

[Monty]

I agree with Ozz and the Doc. There are people blaming Petrov, people blaming Dunne, people blaming Friedel, people blaming K Mac. The fact is that, by and large, 1-11 played well yesterday. Luke Young played excellently, NRC continues to prove me wrong (long may it continue), Downing had his best game for us yet, Albrighton clearly terrified them shitless and Gabby showed us why we missed him. Some of the criticism here is frankly wrong - apparently Petrov and Collins are our worst passers of the ball, according to some - and we just have to accept that what we did to Everton has happened to us.

Also, fucking Stoke. Fuck them. Some of the 'tackles', the elbowy antics on balls into the box which exceed even the likes of Everton, aided and abetted by weak refereeing - it all allows them to play the kind of anti-football which means England will never win the World Cup.

[myf]

I agree with Ozz and the Doc. There are people blaming Petrov, people blaming Dunne, people blaming Friedel, people blaming K Mac. The fact is that, by and large, 1-11 played well yesterday. Luke Young played excellently, NRC continues to prove me wrong (long may it continue), Downing had his best game for us yet, Albrighton clearly terrified them shitless and Gabby showed us why we missed him. Some of the criticism here is frankly wrong - apparently Petrov and Collins are our worst passers of the ball, according to some - and we just have to accept that what we did to Everton has happened to us.

Also, fucking Stoke. Fuck them. Some of the 'tackles', the elbowy antics on balls into the box which exceed even the likes of Everton, aided and abetted by weak refereeing - it all allows them to play the kind of anti-football which means England will never win the World Cup.

I agree with this.  Bit of an OTT reaction from a lot on here.  With the exception of Milner this is the same team which had a never say die attitude under MON and were usually able to cope with the "battling" sides.  We've got a soft underbelly at the moment which comes from a lack of leadership on and off the field IMO.

Gerard needs to look at the captaincy and teach the players to kill teams off.

I'm feckin sick of hanging on to 1-0 leads.