EPL Talk » Stoke City

Aaron Ramsey and Arsenal Victimized by “Getting Stuck In”

Eric Altshule — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:17:23 +0000

Ryan Shawcross had no intention of turning Aaron Ramsey‘s leg into putty when he went into his tackle yesterday. Martin Taylor had no interest in seeing Eduardo’s leg shattered in two when he went studs up against him two years ago. Dan Smith took no delight in the crunching sound of Abou Diaby’s ankle being fractured and dislocated when he went in late against him two years before that. To assume otherwise would be to accuse them of being sociopathic maniacs. I am sure they are not.

However, what I am sure of is that all those injuries are the result of a particularly pernicious facet of English football in general, and playing against Arsenal in particular – the art of “getting stuck in.” This talent, which is occasionally also called “Playing a man’s game,””getting it ‘up em,” and “giving him something to remember with every challenge” is exalted in the English game. To the rest of the world, it is nothing more than one player kicking the crap out of another. With English football’s acceptance of this tactic, it is inevitable that players will occasionally find their lower leg bent where no hinge should exist.

Arsenal is quick team. They like to move the ball quickly. Their interior passing is among the best in the world. Good teams combat that by pressuring Arsenal all over the pitch. If you don’t give an Arsenal player time to see his passing options, Arsenal can turn the ball over and are vulnerable on the break. That type of pressure and counter-attacking guided Chelsea and Manchester United to two comprehensive victories each over Arsenal this season, and those victories were fully deserved.

However, not every team in the league is Manchester United or Chelsea. Some of them are Stoke, Birmingham and Sunderland. They don’t have the quickness or the skill to be pressuring Arsenal from the front and constantly be challenging for the ball. Their managers give their team a slightly different set of instructions. Tackle hard boys! Make Arsenal feel it with every touch! Take fouls if you have to, but force Arsenal to pass the ball prematurely for fear of the hit they know is coming! In short, “get stuck in!” When a Stoke, Birmingham or Sunderland go into a match with that type of attitude, it is inevitable that a Ramsey, Eduardo or Diaby will, on occasion, leave the ground on stretcher.

Sadly, there is almost no chance of avoiding these types of catastrophes under the current English ethic of football. Shawcross got his red card and will be suspended for a few games, but that will not change any team’s strategy. Commentators will talk about how Shawcross is a “great lad” who is “absolutely gutted” and left the pitch in tears, as if anyone is arguing that Shawcross thought the whole thing was funny. Two weeks from now, those same commentators will pontificate about how Arsenal is soft and can be bullied, which is just a sub-rosa way of saying that you can beat Arsenal if you can kick them hard enough. Nobody will bother to opine that kicking a team off the pitch is not an acceptable form of football.

And of course many will say that the fact that three Arsenal players have had their legs shattered over the past four years is just a coincidence.

But it is not a coincidence. What is striking is the similarity of all three breaks. They all happened in the middle of the pitch. They all happened just after the Arsenal player had passed the ball. They all happened after their opponent went flying in and decided to leave his feet rather than give up on a lost challenge. This is all the definition of “getting stuck in.”

Hopefully Aaron Ramsey will fully recover and continue his trajectory as one of the future stars of British football. If he does fully recover, it will take years. A year from now, there is the possibility that he will again be wearing an Arsenal uniform and playing the game. However, four years after his injury, Diaby is just finally beginning to show the potential he had before his fracture, and Eduardo is still struggling two years later to recapture his pre-injury form. With a break like that, both players have had to re-learn how to use their leg. In the process, they tend to pick up a lot of other niggling injuries along the way. Even with their return to first team action, both Diaby and Eduardo seem to have spent as much time on the training table as they have on the pitch.

In the meantime, do not be surprised to see some other player in England, possibly from Arsenal, suffer a similar type of injury. Some player will be carted off. The player who went in late will be gutted. We will all talk about what a sickening scene it was. Until the ethic of “getting stuck in” changes, this is a movie we will see many times again in the future.

The Premiership Will Hold No Fear For Burnley Fans

Paul Bestall — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:10:11 +0000

So less than 24 hours after Promotion to the Premiership and the usual round of tired cliches and articles about “brave little Burnley” are beginning to pop up on-line and in the press. Do they never learn, Do they know the football history attached to this club? Burnley fans will probably laugh in the face of these doom mongers and pessimists, they’re just glad that they still have a club to support and after you’ve faced that, you can cope with anything.

Back in the 1986-1987 season, The Football League had finally bowed to pressure and allowed relegation to the Football Conference for the first time. Previously, the side that finished last had to seek re-election from the rest of the League, a ludicrous situation, similar to asking turkeys to vote for Christmas. The only amazing thing about that was that some clubs were actually removed from the League, giants such as Barrow, Workington and New Brighton.

Burnley went in to the final game of the season knowing that they could face relegation to the Conference if results went against them. As it was both Lincoln and Torquay failed to win and Burnley finished 3rd bottom, a lowest low for a side that had reached the Quarter Finals of the European Cup back in 1960-1961. This is a side that had won the First Division twice as well as the FA Cup and almost won the double in 1962, finishing runners up in the League and the F.A. Cup and only left the First Division back in 1976, ironically relegated with Sheffield United.

To face that possibility that a side that had played European Football could really find themselves out of the league within a generation must have been terrifying for the fans of the Clarets. To face that fact and to overcome it puts the fans of Burnley in an ideal position to deal with Premiership football and the pressures that come with it. They’re not scared of anything that the top tier can throw at them, after the rollercoaster history they’ve had in the last 25 years alone, next season will be a delight for Clarets fans.

This is a side that have been at the top end of English football before, in fact in the 1960’s, they were one of the big English teams, challenging for trophies and finishing in the top 10 5 times under the legendary Burnley manager Harry Potts. Oddly from 1967 until 1970 they finished 14th every season, back when the top division had 22 clubs.

Of course, next season will be a massive challenge for Burnley, but no more so than the one faced by Hull City and Stoke City this season and their exploits in this season’s Carling and F.A. Cup competitions will stand them in good stead. They have nothing to fear with promotion, the manager Owen Coyle has been earning plaudits all season with the expansive football his side plays and they’ll be looking forward to bloodying the noses of more estabilished Premiership sides next season.

By winning the Championship Play Off Final through Wade Elliott’s super strike, Burnley have become the 42nd side to play at least a season in the in Premiership now. As a founding member of the Football League, some would say it’s been overdue to see them return to the top flight after an absence of 32 years, but they’ve not gained promotion through sympathy, they’ve played their way up.

This is a side with history, both good and bad behind it, and they’ll be relishing next season more than most fans. The fact that they can play a bit too, will make it an interesting season at Turf Moor and good luck to them.

Liam Lawrence’s Timely Goals

Ethan Armstrong — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:01:19 +0000

Yes, yes: Football is a team sport and all that… but lately it feels like Liam Lawrence is keeping Stoke City clear of the drop all by himself. Two dazzling goals to secure key points for his side will standout as the highlights of Stoke’s late climb from the danger zone.

The first was a deft piece of in-the-box maneuvering 15 minutes from time in a tense match against Blackburn Rovers. Lawrence connected with James Beattie’s flick on. His first touch scooped the ball to the left, putting him inside the full back. His second touch was a left-footed strike past Paul Robinson. Britannia Stadium erupted after 75 minutes of deadlock.

In Stoke’s 2-1 victory over Hull on Saturday, Lawrence had a hand in the first goal, taking a 41st minute corner to create the chance for Ricardo Fuller, but it was his second, stunning goal that clinched another year in the Premiership for the Potters.

With 72 minutes gone, Fuller found Lawrence out wide right. With a defender in front of him and 25 yards to goal, many would have expected Lawrence to try to beat the defender to create a cross or at least run in and seek a more reasonable distance (and angle) to goal. But Lawrence saw his shot and launched it. The ball sailed into the left side of the net past Boaz Myhill. Stoke supporters checked their programmes to make sure Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard hadn’t snuck into the starting eleven.

The goal gave Stoke a two-nil lead, but it would later prove to be the match-winner after Andy Dawson took one back for Hull with a closing moments free-kick.

If your only knowledge of Stoke was these two fantastic goals, you might assume Liam Lawrence has been banging them in all year. But these beauties were his second and third goals of the season. Before the Rovers match on 18 April, Lawrence hadn’t scored since Stoke’s first home match, a 3-2 win over Villa on 23 August when Lawrence converted a penalty.

Lawrence was voted Stoke City Player of the Year in 2007/2008 when his 14 league goals helped with Stoke’s promotion campaign. Known as a scoring midfielder, his play was inspiring and influential. But in the Premier League the goals had not been coming for the 26-year-old midfielder. In fact, he only scored three during his last stint in the Prem as well when he came up with Sunderland in 2005/2006.

But Lawrence makes a good argument for quality over quantity. Or rather, timeliness over quantity.

Stoke have had decent form all season, but the lower half of the league table has been congested with many sides who had a good view at both relegation and safety as the season wound down. Liam’s lone goal in the match against Blackburn gave Stoke supporters hope they would pull above danger. But Stoke couldn’t cement their position in the subsequent losses against Fulham and West Ham.

Now, with his scorcher against Hull, Lawrence has given his club a sure place in the next EPL season.

Between scoring 15 goals in a season and getting relegated or scoring two pivotal goals to keep your club alive, there isn’t a striker in the world who would have trouble choosing which he’d prefer.

Lawrence’s scoring has been sparse. But the quality is boundless when he finds his moments.

Should Tony Pulis Be Manager Of The Year?

Josh Pedley — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:18:57 +0000

Stoke City’s victory at home to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday all but confirmed their place in the Premier League for a second season. After being written off by the media from the start and with bookmakers Paddy Power paying out on their relegation back in September, this is as an amazing achievement for Tony Pulis and his players. Yet they still don’t receive the credit they deserve.

Stoke came up with the reputation as a physical, long ball team and there is no doubt that they are capable of playing in such a style. But to suggest that is all they are would be to tarnish one of the great stories of this Premier League campaign.

Their survival has been based around their excellent home form. They have been formidable at the Britannia, taking the scalps of Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City and holding title-chasing Liverpool to a 0-0 draw. However with just one victory on the road, which came last month away at West Brom, it has been vital that they have made the Britannia Stadium such a difficult ground to play at.

The ground’s location leaves it open to the elements and with 3 of the 4 corners not being filled in, the wind swirls through the ground making life hell for teams not used to the conditions. The home fans also play a huge part in the Britannia effect. The club has a hugely passionate following and the voracious roar created on match day is as intimating as you will find on these shores.

Of the 3 promoted teams it is Stoke and West Brom that have drawn the most comparison, due mainly to the difference in approach of the two managers, and the fact that both clubs have spent the best part of the season towards the bottom of the table.

It has often been portrayed as a battle between right (West Brom) and wrong (Stoke) and it’s admirable that Tony Mowbray wants his team to play in an attractive way. But this is a results business and it is a manager’s job to do the best for his club.

On Sunday Mowbray again talked up his side’s ability, despite having just been beaten 4-2 by Manchester City and rock bottom with just 24 points. He said: “We’re an easy target for people to say, ‘You’re doing it wrong’, but I disagree. We’re just a few ingredients away from being a very good Premier League team. We miss too many chances; we give too many soft goals away. Give us Rio Ferdinand at the back and Fernando Torres up front and I would suggest we would be top 10.”

He may be right, yet the same could be said for pretty much every team down at the bottom of the league. If Newcastle had a defender in the class of Ferdinand, or if Torres led the line for Middlesbrough instead of the hopeless Afonso Alves, then I’m sure both teams would be nowhere near the bottom three.

The fact is that Mowbray has deluded himself by thinking that because you can pass a team off the park in the Championship, you are equally capable of doing so in the Premier League. It was obvious as early as October when his side got beat 4-0 away at Old Trafford to Manchester United and 3-0 at home to Hull City in consecutive weeks that this approach would not work.

As the season has progressed Stoke’s style of play has evolved. Where there was previously no place for a talented passer of the ball like Glenn Whelan, Pulis has found a way to incorporate the Irishman in the centre of midfield without losing the competitive edge that has been so important and the inspired signings of Mathew Etherington and James Beattie have added a new dimension to a team previously labeled one-dimensional.

Tony Mowbray has shown enough promise to suggest he will develop into a good manager and the fact that his team will be relegated this season should not be used as evidence that he will not. After all, both Rafa Benetiz and Juande Ramos were relegated at the start of their managerial career.

However, as Pulis has shown, adaptability is just as important as style when competing at the highest level and keeping Stoke up should make him a major candidate for manager of the year. He won’t win it and he probably won’t care. It’s reward enough that his team will live to fight another year in the top tier of English football.

Bolton Wanderers Push For Two Tier Premiership

Paul Bestall — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:20:38 +0000

Well interesting news has appeared this morning as Bolton chairman, Phil Gartside’s has put forward a proposal to increase the Premiership to two leagues of 18 teams with 14 clubs from the Championship and Rangers and Celtic. The proposal is to be put before the Premier League at their meeting this Thursday and it raises some interesting points. Gartside cites a wider audience with the addition of Scottish clubs, fresher players as 4 games a season would be cut from the league campaign and the old chestnut of benefiting the England national side. You know, the reason that the Premiership was set up for in the first place. The amount of International trophies that England have won since 1992 is simply staggering isn’t it?

Firstly, the addition of Rangers and Celtic to the Premier League has long been mooted as a situation of when rather than how but to get there they need the permission of the Scottish FA, The Football League, The Premier League and the biggest obstacle, UEFA. Now UEFA, when they’re not attacking the Premier League in thinly veiled xenophobic attacks, claim that no club should be able to play in a league outside their own country. That would be fine if the precedent wasn’t already in place.

With Platini being a Frenchmen, you’d think he’d know that his arguement is flawed, or can he not remember where Monaco is? What about Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham, Colwyn Bay, Newport County and Methyr Tydfil, all members of the English pyramid system but all Welsh clubs. Technically, Barcelona, Espanyol and Valencia play in the Spanish League but are based in Catalonia and Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao represent the Basque region. UEFA may push the point but they’re argument is already flawed by the teams mentioned above.

To get the motion passed, 14 clubs need to vote in agreement on the proposal, which is where I think the issue may fall down. Can we honestly see The Premierships big four, plus Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City voting for less money? Whilst the games would reduce, so would the money, but then again, for teams that drop out of the Premiership or face the real possibility of relegation, would you rather get £30 million a year than the current two year parachute payments of £11.5 million that clubs currently get.

The other worrying issue is how would the remaining 14 places be decided? Would it be a straight situation of the top 14 sides out of the Championship? What if some of the larger sides miss out due to league position when the cut off is made. If it happened tomorrow there would be some famous names missing out again, but then again what about Leicester City and Leeds United?

When the Premier League began, way back in the 1992-1993 season, Notts County and Luton Town, both missed out due to relegation but had resigned their memberships from the Football League in 1991 when the plan was concluded. Ironically, neither has ever returned to the top tier since, Luton Town in fact have just been relegated out of the Football League, due to a draconian points deduction that didn’t penalise the perpetrators, just the club.

What would happen if clubs resigned their membership from the Football League, only to finish outside the 14 team cut off. Or worryingly, would the Premier League court the 14 biggest clubs not in the Premiership to make up the new league? What would happen to the Football League and the Football Conference? Why only have Rangers and Celtic, when you could argue Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen could therotically add more to the mix than Burnley?

That would be a worrying event, which could lead to a dangerous precedent. Why not simply block clubs from promotion if they weren’t “big” enough? If they didn’t sell enough merchandise or their viewing figures deemed not large enough. Would the Premier League finally become the monster that some people always feared it would and simply banish relegation from it and have caveats for promotion. When I first read about the proposal this morning, I was sure it would fail. Now, I’m not so sure, in football, nothing surprises me when money is involved.

Rafa Benitez Fallout and Wenger’s Reaction to Fourth Nil Draw

Johnathan Starling — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:04:28 +0000

The two big stories this weekend not related to Manchester United’s getting the first leg of the quadruple would have to be events that transpired at the Riverside and at the Emirates Stadium.

We’ll start with Liverpool because after such a great result midweek against Real Madrid, their loss at the Riverside defied belief. And the papers were quick to fill column inches with their own post match thoughts. Sam Wallace compares the Liverpool situation to that of Nigel Clough’s power struggle at Derby County. Personally I don’t see that much of a comparison as Rafa and Hicks for the moment appear to have formed a loose partnership. Piers Morgan heads down the character assassination route calling Rafa the most arrogant manager in the history of the Premier League. That’s just harsh. Patrick Barclay sneaks the line in his column about Rick Parry that Rafa is the one who has to answer for the results, not Parry himself. Don’t expect that anytime soon. This Independent column pretty much states what Rafa is confirming Sunday, the title race is all over.

It’s almost become a recording at the Emirates, a Premier League nil draw. The results are something that just baffle any mind and after the result against Roma midweek, you would think confidence would have reigned supreme against Fulham. However after Saturday’s result, all Wenger could come up with is “Maybe is is partly psychological. We are getting in good positions but not taking the chances.”

Maybe? Is that the best you could come up with? At this point it is completely psychological. When week in and week out your side can’t finish in front of goal, it becomes a mental thing. Wenger can praise your keeper all you want, and keep the faith in Arsenal’s stars, but you simply have to motivate your players to get goals. That is simply something Wenger hasn’t been able to do. Maybe Theo Walcott’s return to training can be the boost that Arsenal sorely need.

Other Stories
The other big result this weekend was Aston Villa blowing a two goal lead to Stoke City at home. That didn’t stop Tony Pulis hoping pre-match that Villa finished in the top four. Post match it was Martin O’Neill not happy at the arrogant and over confident nature Villa had after going two goals up.

In other Villa news, Martin O’Neill has responded to disgruntled Villa fans who decided to fly out to Moscow just to see the Aston Villa ‘c’ side lose to CSKA Moscow. His offer, dinner with himself and the players. I guess that works, but I was thinking more a reimbursement check for expenses after having to endure that game.

The cracks are starting to show at the KC Stadium. After Geovanni’s ridiculous antics after being subbed, Phil Brown gave him the verbal hair dryer treatment. I expect that one to get much more heated before it cools off.

Speaking of hair dryer treatments, Rio Ferdinand is still sacred of Sir Alex’s.

Tony Mowbray continues to say he will not stand down from his footballing philosophy. That’s even after another defeat.

Bolton fans probably aren’t happy after Gary Megson has agreed to a new rolling contract at the Reebok Stadium.

Florent Malouda says the lack of first team action could cause him to consider his Chelsea future. I say take a hike. You were a good player for France, but the English game is not your brand of football.

And finally, if the News of the World is to be believed (and I normally don’t unless they have the video to prove it), Manchester United is going to throw 200,000 a week at Cristiano Ronaldo to stay.

Just one more thing before I go. Has anyone noticed how many clubs are now within three points of the drop?

Fulham Continue To Progress Under Hodgson

Paul Bestall — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:45:46 +0000

Why doesn’t Roy Hodgson get the credit he deserves in the United Kingdom? As I’ve mentioned before, In Scandinavia and Italy, he’s held in high regard, in Britain people point to his sacking at Blackburn Rovers back in1997. With 33 points gained so far this season, Fulham are one win away from emulating their points total for last season already.Hodgson is a class act, he knows his football, his list of contacts stretches world wide.

Fulham, under Hodgson, have begun to repair the damage that Lawrie Sanchez’s reign presided over, as Hodgson has looked to ship out some of the deadwood that arrived during the former Northern Ireland managers spell. Sanchez’s problem seemed to be his obsession with signing players he’d worked with at Northern Ireland, tallied with a depressing addiction to long ball football and a high defensive line, whilst using defenders not blessed with pace.

This season, after keeping them up by the skin or their teeth last year, has seen Hodgson add to the canny signings he made in the transfer window of 2008. Capturing the new strike force of Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora in the summer has been key to allowing Hodgson to implement his footballing philosophy on the Cottagers. Johnson with his pace and eye for key combined with Zamora’s strength and ability to hold the ball up has given them a new dimension, it allows Fulham to break and bring more players in to attacking positions. With Danny Murphy and Simon Davies resurgent this year, their seems to be no worrying about a relegation scrap, simply looking to finish as high as possible in the Premiership. They could even possible match or surpass their best Premiership finish of 9th, which was earned under Chris Coleman in 2004.

With the tightness of the Premierships bottom 14 sides, 7th is not beyond Hodgson and his Fulham side, they showed just how much better they are than the bottom side West Bromich on Sunday with an impressive footballing display. 2-0 frankly flattered West Brom, they were never in the game, Danny Murphy imperious in a midfield display that harked back to his days for Liverpool and England. An F.A. Cup Quarter Final against Manchester United awaits in March. The transfer of Jimmy Bullard now looks a masterstroke.

Yet there is still room for improvement. Whilst their home record is currently the 2nd best in the Premiership, they share an unenviable record with Stoke City in not achieving an away win this season with only 6 draws and 3 goals scored in 13 matches away from Craven Cottage. A decent away record could have seen them challenging Everton and Arsenal for a UEFA cup spot. That said though, they’ve earned impressive draws at Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa, if Hodgson can nick a couple of away wins towards the back end of the season at say Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City and Newcastle who knows where they could end up.

Hodgson knows his team need strengthening in the summer, a striker to compliment Zamora and Johnson is paramount, when fit and available, they’ve started every single game and more midfield depth to cover his first choice combination of Murphy, Davies, Dempsey and Gera. The return to form of Ethuhu and the loan signing of Olivier Dacourt shows where Hodgson needs to add options. The back four could also do with more depth, as the back four seems to pick itself currently.

Allied with another expansion of the stadium, it seems 4000 seats are to be added, a top ten finish can give them something to build on. The board of Fulham keep increasing the capacity where they can as they try to push it up to 30,000. The Hammersmith End is ripe for increased capacity and will add vital revenue to the clubs coffers.

Fulham can be pleased with their progression this season, but Hodgson and the fans know they need to start winning games away from Craven Cottage for real progress to be made.

Stoke City Benefit From The Chest of Johnson

Johnathan Starling — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:51:19 +0000

Stoke City or Portsmouth Fans Didn't See Much Football Today

For seventy minutes at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke City and Portsmouth football clubs were getting very close to contending for my ‘worst match ever watched’ title. The last twenty minutes redeemed it.

When it’s all said and done we will remember one thing from today’s match between Stoke City and Portsmouth, the penalty that should have never been given.

Just minutes after the incidental one-two Niko Kranjcar played with David Nugent to put Portsmouth ahead, Michael Jones calls a ridiculous penalty on Glen Johnson. Sol Campbell’s flick on put Johnson just out of position, but when he went to control the hand was never used, only the chest. The eyes deceived Jones and Stoke City were level, for all the wrong reasons.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear, this game deserved to end level. However in the events leading up to the goal, Portsmouth were edging their way into the ascendancy. Pompey were the ones who looked like they were going to steal three points. Only Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United have gotten the max at the loud and vocal Britannia.

How Portsmouth allowed Danny Pugh to get in that much space after Stoke went level is just beyond me. Even more so, how did James Beattie head that slow bouncing shot in? While I think Portsmouth were in the ascendancy in the build up to their first goal, they allowed one bad call to nearly give Stoke City another three points at home. Portsmouth in the end, were lucky to get a share of the spoils thanks to a poor Hermann Hreidarsson shot that ended up deflected in by Ryan Shawcross.

Michael Jones called an extremely soft game, one that a Premier League referee should not call. He left a card too many in his pocket, but didn’t leave the whistle down when he should have done so.

Other Thoughts From Today
I do feel sorry for Aston Villa. They deserved something from their game with Chelsea. If Arsenal wasn’t doing everything in their power to not climb into fourth, Aston Villa’s home form would be a worrying sight heading down the stretch.

For being unbeaten in twelve, would you want six of those to be draws? Would you want the last three to be nil draws? Then again when looking at the lineup, the only two names that struck fear were Andrei Arshavin and Robin Van Persie. Arshavin I feel was subbed off too soon (maybe over cautious by Wenger after what happened to Eduardo on Monday), Robin Van Persie was kept in check all afternoon.

Bolton will have a few weeks to breathe away from the relegation zone after getting two quick goals in the first half, putting West Ham away. West Ham though looked like they could have went a month without getting an equalizer.

So Manchester United have finally given up a goal in the league. However with Edwin Van der Sar not in goal, how soon will we grow old of hearing about ‘Van der Sar’s streak’ instead of the one Manchester United had for so long? Cristiano Ronaldo’s free kick that proved the difference was simply sensational.

In This Year’s Relegation Battle, No One Is Safe

Dave Warner — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:30:50 +0000

The beauty of the Premier League is that there are always three distinct races within the table, and after 23 rounds of this Premier League season, none of those races are decided.

In the race for first place, only two points separate top-of-the-table Manchester United from Liverpool and Chelsea, while Aston Villa is only three points off the lead. Villa, however, is five points ahead of a struggling Arsenal side in the battle for the fourth place and the final Champions League bid. Only a late goal by Robin Van Persie at Goodison park kept Arsenal five points ahead of Everton for the UEFA Cu… *ahem* Europa League bid.

The real story, however, is the relegation battle, and it would appear this battle is currently being fought by everyone else in the league.

Only five points separates 11th place from 18th place, and the bottom eight clubs are within three points of each other. One win could lift any of the current cellar dwellers three places out of the drop zone, and a couple of losses could put anyone in bottom half of the table in jeopardy.

Even 1oth-place Hull City, the early season Cinderellas, are only 6 points clear and not out of the woods yet. Perhaps this is why Phil Brown made his team sit outside during halftime at Manchester City. He knows as well as anyone that a few more 4-0 halves could put his club right next to West Brom and Stoke City, Hull’s promotion partners, in the drop zone.

Manchester City, meanwhile, is only a point ahead of Hull, and it only took them three wins out of four to get there from 17th place. Plus, if West Ham is unable to find a buyer and goes into administration, 10 points will be deducted from their total, putting them only one point clear of the drop. So that’s as many as 13 clubs out of 2o in danger of being relegated this year.

The end result is that half this weekend’s matches are relegation six-pointers:

Middlesbrough v. Blackburn
Bolton v. Tottenham Hotspur
Fulham v. Portsmouth
Hull v. West Brom
Newcastle v. Sunderland

This probably won’t be the last time this season that we see five relegation six-pointers in one weekend. If Man City slips or if West Ham goes into administration, we could easily see six relegation six-pointers in one weekend.

So if you think you can pick which three clubs will fall back into the fizzy drink mixer at season’s end, chances are you’ll be wrong. This battle is as wide open as it’s ever been, and every goal and every victory will matter that much more. It does beg the question, though — would the Premier League still be as exciting if 13 clubs had a shot at the Champions League right now?

Why Stoke City Should Play Their Own Game

Josh Pedley — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:31:39 +0000

Anti-football, 1890’s tactics, cheating, dirty Stokies. That seemed to be the general consensus from the debate on The Times ‘The Game’ blog when Oliver Kay posed the question: Are Stoke City the least popular top-flight club since Wimbledon?

Fans from pretty much all corners had their say and the overwhelming answer seemed to be, yes, Stoke are the least popular side since Wimbledon. In Kay’s piece to start the debate he stated that “Certainly the establishment will shed no tears for Tony Pulis and his players if embarrassment in the FA Cup is followed at the end of the season by relegation from the Barclays Premier League.”

He balanced out his argument by saying that they were not a bunch of thugs but rather “an honest bunch of players trying to make the most of their limited abilities in a league where they would perish if left to get by on technique alone.” Something which I’m sure Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson would dispute after seeing possible leg-breaking challenges on Emmanuel Adebayor during Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat at the Britannia and on Cristiano Ronaldo during United’s 1-0 Boxing Day victory.

First you have to agree that the way Stoke play is not the type of football that people love to watch. They get lots of men behind the ball and look to hit long balls into the channel for Ricardo Fuller to chase. They rely heavily on Rory Delap’s long throw to create goal scoring opportunities and Pulis has signed big strong players to give them a physical presence that very few team’s can match.

They have players who are not afraid to put a tackle in and the claim’s that they are over-aggressive have some truth. Other criticism that has been labeled at them is that they cheat by tactically fouling to break up the opposition’s play and that they time-waste to run down the clock.

All these claims have some truth to them but what a lot of people don’t realise is that these are things that maybe 70-80% of all team’s do. Manchester United and Chelsea often surround the referee to pressure him when making decisions. Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano is a master of the tactical foul, it’s something that foreign team’s have always done and time-wasting is hardly a new phenomenon and referees are wise enough to know when it’s going on.

What Tony Pulis has done, and has had to do, is create a team that is disciplined and plays to a system that may be defensive and may be ruthless but is one that got them in the Premiership and is one that will give them the best chance of staying there.

If you speak to many Stoke fans they will tell you that they believe the media is totally biased against them and that they were prejudged before they even got promoted. As they are an unfashionable club from an unfashionable area with an unfashionable manager. The criticism they received seemed to hurt both the club and its fans earlier in the season and they both became defensive about their style and tried to justify themselves. But why should they?

Unlike Tony Mowbray’s West Brom side who seem determined to win as many plaudits for their style of play as points on the table, Pulis is not here to win fans or praise. He wants to keep his team in the division and it’s his job to do that anyway possible. He has made mistakes in the transfer market, notably the deadline purchases of Michael Tongue and Tom Soares, but they were signings to add bodies to the squad if nothing else. The signings of Matthew Etherington and James Beattie add Premiership quality and experience to the side, as well as a touch of creativity.

The Premier League is so tight this year that no team from Hull in 8th are safe from relegation and Phil Brown’s team are no longer on the run they were had at the start of the season and are slipping fast. The problem that Stoke face is that the likes of Tottenham and Man City have some top class players who will eventually click into gear and pull them to safety. Stoke don’t have that luxury and will have to rely on all the things that people hate to give them the best chance to stay up.

That task starts at Stamford Bridge today against a Chelsea side who, despite being far from their best, are perhaps the team most suited to resist Stoke’s physical approach. But if Pulis stick’s to his guns then there is no reason why they couldn’t cause an upset to further Phil Scolari’s troubles and stick two fingers up to the haters.