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The Season Ahead Part Fifteen : Stoke City
Published by Ian John on September 17, 2009
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Prospects for 2009 :
The men from the potteries were largely expected to have a dogfight on their hands to avoid relegation this season, so manager Tony Pulis will be heartened by his sides performances which have seen them take seven points from their first five games to leave them an impressive 8th in the table. It may well be tough to continue in that vein all season long but the signs are there that despite being many critics choice for the drop, Pulis’s men have the quality and fighting spirit to avoid relegation once again.
2009 is a big season for :
Robert Huth arrived from Middlesbrough and the big German centre back will be hoping to prove himself at Premier League level after a rotten spell with injuries. The former Chelsea player has undoubted quality but has struggled for form and fitness over the past few years. Singled out by manager for his commanding performance in the unlucky 2-1 home defeat to Chelsea at the weekend, Huth will need to produce many more performances of that quality to help Stoke stave off the threat of relegation.
Guaranteed to irritate in 2009 :
Stoke’s fans are a little fanatical at times and they are also not backwards in coming forwards in their defence of their team, but then again, what team in the Premiership can say any different? I don’t think Stoke fans really annoy anybody that much, although Arsene Wenger may wish to argue differently considering their love for their sides physical approach against teams like the Gunners. Still that says more about Arsenal’s bleatings than any weakness on Stoke’s part. Until the day they outlaw strength, power and physicality in the game then Stoke have every right to play that way.
Things they’ll moan about in 2009 :
One of the most common moans physical teams have is that other teams get plenty of free kicks against them unjustly. This is, of course, patently nonsense. Physical strong teams often commit more fouls than teams who like to pass the ball and move it, rather than lump it into the box and beat other teams into submission by battling their way to victory. You give away a lot of free kicks not because it is unjust, but because you foul more.
Song that sums up their chances in 2009 : “Fight for your right” by The Beastie Boys
No doubt they’ll upset the football purists at times and it is hard to imagine Arsene Wenger having Tony Pulis and Rory Delap atop his Christmas card list, but Pulis’s men will survive for another season in the Premiership. Their decent start, allied to a fierce will to win, bravery, strength and power not to mention an often overlooked quality about their all round play, especially their defending, will see them finish in the lower to middle half of the table. They’ll upset a few purists who will moan that if football was meant to be played in the clouds, God would have put grass in the sky, but until they ban this kind of play, good luck to them I say. Football is a beautiful game because of the contrast of styles more so than because of any one particular style of play.
Image Courtesy of ***Stewie D*** at Flickr.com
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Nabyl Charania on Thu, 17th Sep 2009 10:45 am
Stoke are a hard working, physical squad, and it would be good to not only see them stay up but snatch some victories against tougher sides. They were unlucky not to get away with some points against Chelsea last weekend.
Ian John on Fri, 18th Sep 2009 9:56 am
Yep, they may not be friends of the football purists, but there’s no law against the physical game and being adept at set pieces. It’s up to the so called ‘better’ teams to exploit their weaknesses rather than moan about them being a physical side.