Personally I was quite happy with the performance last night; we created far more chances than in previous games and although I don't fully agree with Mancini that we 'dominated' the game, I did think we were the better team in regular time.
When I saw the line up I was more than happy. Having Richards at right back gave the defence more height and moving Kompany to the midfield was a good move because it gave us some height to compete for second balls. Barry and Kompany did quite well in this respect. The only problem with playing Kompany in midfield is that is touch isn't perfect and his passing, whilst more ambitious than De Jong's, is often suspect.
Speaking of De Jong, I was happy to see him left out. He's been one of our best performers this season but would have been useless in this game. He's great at breaking up play, especially when the other team counter attack, but seeing as Stoke hoof the ball long 90% of the time De Jong wouldn't have had too much impact on the game.
I thought the defence dealt very well with Stoke's threat. Lescott, Richards and Kompany when he dropped back, won most headers and Onuoha swept up very well. Onuoha and Lescott was a typical centre half pairing, one ball winner and one quick sweeper. It'd be great to see this on a regular basis, but given that Kompany has been superb in defence this season I'd have Kompany and Onuoha in the middle and Lescott at left back. With Micah at right back that's a huge defence.
In the midfield like I said I thought Kompany was a much better choice of defensive midfielder than De Jong. I thought Barry put in a more all round performance, getting forward as well as retaining his defensive duties. Ireland had another poor game; he tried a few flicks and killer balls but you can just tell his confidence is at an all time low. He often picks up the ball and turns back to our goal whereas a fully confident Ireland of last season would have the confidence to turn towards the opposition goal and make something happen. We looked better balanced when Shauny came on and Zabba moved inside.
Zabaleta in midfield was a good idea for two main reasons; firstly he started the defending much further up the pitch than SWP would have, secondly, we all know he's liable to giving away fouls and I'd rather he gave them away on the half way line than 20 yards out. I also like him playing more centrally because he has the energy to get up and down, obviously he doesn't have the creativity of Ireland but he's still useful in the middle. Bellamy seems to be another one who suffers when short of confidence, he didn't seem as keen to run at the opposition and didn't look to enthusiastic when he scored either, but that might have just been from where I was sitting.
I thought Adebayor played well, yes it annoys the hell out of me when he spends more time out of the box than in it when we're attacking but a decent performance nonetheless. I don't mind him coming short for the ball, or even drifting out wide, but once he's laid the ball off he should be driving into the box looking to get on the end of either a cross or a pass, but he seems to hover near the edge of the box. That said, he jumped for, and won, a fair few headers last night and lead the line well. I've not seen the sending off on TV but from my view it looked like he was putting his arm out to hold the defender off and got his face instead of his chest, i.e. an accident. My mate (rag) watched the highlights on ITV and he said he didn't think it looked deliberate either, that Shawcross was pulling his shirt and Ade sort of stuck his arm out as if to say 'get off me'. Knowing the FA he'll get a 4 match ban then.
Now to the worst bit of last night. Lots of people have mentioned it before, a lot recently, but something clicked in my mind last night. I think Given is a great keeper and a fantastic shot stopper and I love the guy, he's saved us lots of points this season. However, I believe that it is more important for a Premiership keeper to be dominant on crosses than it is for him to be a good shot stopper. There are far more teams in the Premiership that either cross the ball, or hoof it long, into the box than there are that try and pass the ball into the net. Ideally it'd be great to have Given in goal against the likes of Arsenal, and in European games, but to have a more aerially dominant keeper for the majority of the Premiership games. I hate saying it because Given's a top keeper but it's clear now that this is the reason the likes of United, Chelsea, Arsenal didn't sign him when we did. However, for those of you who are saying we should get Joe Hart back, you seem to have forgotten that he never came for crosses either. That was our biggest criticism of the lad. Having said that, he's young, still learning, and crucially, very tall, so hopefully he'll learn to be better aerially in the next few seasons then he'll be perfect for our number one.
When I saw the line up I was more than happy. Having Richards at right back gave the defence more height and moving Kompany to the midfield was a good move because it gave us some height to compete for second balls. Barry and Kompany did quite well in this respect. The only problem with playing Kompany in midfield is that is touch isn't perfect and his passing, whilst more ambitious than De Jong's, is often suspect.
Speaking of De Jong, I was happy to see him left out. He's been one of our best performers this season but would have been useless in this game. He's great at breaking up play, especially when the other team counter attack, but seeing as Stoke hoof the ball long 90% of the time De Jong wouldn't have had too much impact on the game.
I thought the defence dealt very well with Stoke's threat. Lescott, Richards and Kompany when he dropped back, won most headers and Onuoha swept up very well. Onuoha and Lescott was a typical centre half pairing, one ball winner and one quick sweeper. It'd be great to see this on a regular basis, but given that Kompany has been superb in defence this season I'd have Kompany and Onuoha in the middle and Lescott at left back. With Micah at right back that's a huge defence.
In the midfield like I said I thought Kompany was a much better choice of defensive midfielder than De Jong. I thought Barry put in a more all round performance, getting forward as well as retaining his defensive duties. Ireland had another poor game; he tried a few flicks and killer balls but you can just tell his confidence is at an all time low. He often picks up the ball and turns back to our goal whereas a fully confident Ireland of last season would have the confidence to turn towards the opposition goal and make something happen. We looked better balanced when Shauny came on and Zabba moved inside.
Zabaleta in midfield was a good idea for two main reasons; firstly he started the defending much further up the pitch than SWP would have, secondly, we all know he's liable to giving away fouls and I'd rather he gave them away on the half way line than 20 yards out. I also like him playing more centrally because he has the energy to get up and down, obviously he doesn't have the creativity of Ireland but he's still useful in the middle. Bellamy seems to be another one who suffers when short of confidence, he didn't seem as keen to run at the opposition and didn't look to enthusiastic when he scored either, but that might have just been from where I was sitting.
I thought Adebayor played well, yes it annoys the hell out of me when he spends more time out of the box than in it when we're attacking but a decent performance nonetheless. I don't mind him coming short for the ball, or even drifting out wide, but once he's laid the ball off he should be driving into the box looking to get on the end of either a cross or a pass, but he seems to hover near the edge of the box. That said, he jumped for, and won, a fair few headers last night and lead the line well. I've not seen the sending off on TV but from my view it looked like he was putting his arm out to hold the defender off and got his face instead of his chest, i.e. an accident. My mate (rag) watched the highlights on ITV and he said he didn't think it looked deliberate either, that Shawcross was pulling his shirt and Ade sort of stuck his arm out as if to say 'get off me'. Knowing the FA he'll get a 4 match ban then.
Now to the worst bit of last night. Lots of people have mentioned it before, a lot recently, but something clicked in my mind last night. I think Given is a great keeper and a fantastic shot stopper and I love the guy, he's saved us lots of points this season. However, I believe that it is more important for a Premiership keeper to be dominant on crosses than it is for him to be a good shot stopper. There are far more teams in the Premiership that either cross the ball, or hoof it long, into the box than there are that try and pass the ball into the net. Ideally it'd be great to have Given in goal against the likes of Arsenal, and in European games, but to have a more aerially dominant keeper for the majority of the Premiership games. I hate saying it because Given's a top keeper but it's clear now that this is the reason the likes of United, Chelsea, Arsenal didn't sign him when we did. However, for those of you who are saying we should get Joe Hart back, you seem to have forgotten that he never came for crosses either. That was our biggest criticism of the lad. Having said that, he's young, still learning, and crucially, very tall, so hopefully he'll learn to be better aerially in the next few seasons then he'll be perfect for our number one.