Stoke post match thread

The match had 0-0written all over it from the start. Crap team display, no urgency and the crowd totally flat. For those who say rest your strongest players this is what you end up with when you do that.
 
A frustrating night but looking at the fixtures realistically catching Chelsea was always going to be a tall order.

Easy to blame the manager but the side was more than strong enough to win this game. Sadly a number of players fell below there best all on the same evening.

Blame cannot be pinpointed to any individual though as it was a team failure tonight.

Blaming Clichy for our failings going forward is completely unfair as clearly the more creative players have also failed that were asking questions of his attacking play.

We have been on a good run, played some great football and as bad as tonight was we still only drew the game. Since the Everton game that is still an excellent set of results.

Onwards and upwards and a real focus on the cups where our most realistic chance of collecting trophies are.
 
Cheadle_hulmeBlue said:
oh my god. a decent post with lots of common sense. +1. 0-0 against a very well organized team and some on here are having a meltdown.
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No meltdown but stoke are shite and we have broke many a team using the same tactics down and won, we could have had 4 goals in the second half, but that stemmed from substitutions made, Pep picked the wrong team for me.
Against a team with 8 behind the ball we need pace and skill to get behind them, leaving sterling and silva out stiffled our chances, and this isn't a one off this season, we have dropped points against poor sides at home all season.
The result isn't earth staggeringly bad as some make out, but it's frustating all the same.
 
Cheadle_hulmeBlue said:
oh my god. a decent post with lots of common sense. +1. 0-0 against a very well organized team and some on here are having a meltdown.
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In isolation yes these results do happen - but there is no denying that our home form has cost us dearly this season. We have the best record in the league away from home, so there is definitely an underlying issue that Pep needs to resolve.

Four extremely poor draws against Everton, Boro, Southampton & Stoke.
 
Asa's Heart said:
What an absolute tosser you are. You sound like an entitled Rag! This is a fella that we got for a bargain price. He has helped win two titles for us and a number of other trophies and been an absolute professional throughout. Not a minutes problem at any point. He wasn't the worst player on the pitch tonight. I am beginning to really despair at some of our so called fans. Give your head a wobble fella. Get a grip and listen to yourself.
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So by your logic, because someone used to be good, he can't ever be deemed crap. He's crap now and not a full back you can rely on to either defend or attack for a team with any ambition. People are frustrated with us having to rely on him because he's pretty much lost most of the qualities he had which were why we brought him in. Fact is that we need four new full backs if we want to compete in all competitions, and play the way Pep has played with his previous teams. This season we are in transition and i'll be happy with a semi final and top four. Pep has inherited a lot of dead wood who can't all be cleared out overnight
 
Akiva said:
How do you know that was the reason we drew?

We had our chances to put the game to bed and didn't take them, that's all there is to it.
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I know because we played better when Silva alone came on and if they had both started we would have played better in the first half and created more chances, like we have in the past run of wins.
 
People acting like KDB, Sane, Aguero wasn't enough to beat fucking Stoke are mad.

We had chances and didn't take them. Meanwhile Stoke came and played for the point. Our wasteful finishing and their bus parking made for a frustrating game.
 
For those slagging off Clichy can you honestly say he was responsible in not being able to beat Stoke
 
Another match with 12 shots and only 1 on target. When you end up in these dogfights you just have to take your chances when they arrive. I don't know how you become more clinical but it's an absolute imperative.

The pace just wasn't there tonight and Stoke were definitely setup to nullify us. We've really put tremendous pressure on teams from the kick off in the last few months but tonight we couldn't stretch them and create as many clear opportunities. Still created enough to win, just too many bad nights at once. My biggest concern was that Sane looked much slower than he has all season, struggled to glide past them the way he has been. I have no problem with Raz getting a rest as he's looked like he needed one but we may also need one for Sane soon and we'll have the same crew out for blood on the manager again.
 
madden150 said:
Gods sake Pep, massive error resting Sterling and Silva, their professional athletes and Sterlings practically still a kid. All momentum from good run of games lost by that poor team selection and a tough March to follow, so frustrating!!!!
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I'd rather Sterling and Silva be fresh for two upcoming fixtures where we have a realistic chance of winning the competition than a game where we can't.
 
It's still in our hands and at least a three point lead over 5th.

No one to blame but ourselves if we cannot finish top four.

Chelsea was always a pipe dream of sorts.
 
madden150 said:
I know because we played better when Silva alone came on and if they had both started we would have played better in the first half and created more chances, like we have in the past run of wins.
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Silva missed an open net.

You don't know how we'd have played if they both started, but we had more than enough to see off Stoke and we didn't. That's undeniable.
 
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