Stoke got it right to nullify the wings and try and counter. Is odd that with Kev, Yaya and Ferny in the midfield, most of passes from them, the majority went back to the back four. The game was crying out for Silva to move and create space in the Stoke midfield from as early as the 10th minute.
would have feared Stoke more if Crouch had played. He's a bit of a bogey player aganist us, so knowing he wasnt playing just told me that Stoke came for a draw and hope to sneak a goal. And for the majority of the game, we created knowing threatening through the middle until Dave came on.