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Post by jarvinski on May 15, 2011 18:38:57 GMT
The last 5 weeks we've played some great stuff, mastered wembley in the semi, but something went completely wrong yesterday, only sorro jp and wilky came out of it with any real credit, could anybody have seen a performance like that coming
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2011 18:43:16 GMT
Injuries took their toll imo, also man city did a number on us in every department, all over the pitch they had too much for us, yeterday their individuals became a team! imho all our players still come out with credit, theyve been a credit to stoke city
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Post by Lakeland Potter on May 15, 2011 18:50:30 GMT
I think if Ethers had been fully fit it would have helped, as we play far better with two fit wingers. Our bad form between New Year and the West Ham away game in early March was when we never seemed to have both wingers fit at the same time. I think other players were jaded as well. It was unfortunate that things came to a head at Wembley but I DON'T think it was a case of our players "freezing" or letting the occasion get to them.
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Post by robwahlmann on May 15, 2011 18:52:33 GMT
Only an offside goal separated the teams after 90 minutes though!
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Post by stokelad84 on May 15, 2011 18:53:35 GMT
Much bigger occasion.
Remember they have players who have played in World Cups, so they were more used to the pressure.
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Post by Dallas Cowboy on May 15, 2011 18:55:42 GMT
Mancini did his homework and talent prevailed.
And we didn't get to stay at The Grove.
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Post by DaleDoback on May 15, 2011 19:03:28 GMT
We have a small squad who cost the same as tevez - and we were forced to play injured players . Simple
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Post by Dallas Cowboy on May 15, 2011 19:05:25 GMT
Forced?
We chose to play injured players.
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Post by Mama's Mama on May 15, 2011 19:07:10 GMT
What were our alternatives Dallas?
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Post by seddonstandviewer on May 15, 2011 19:07:49 GMT
Forced? We chose to play injured players. Bit of a Hobson's choice though, wasn't it?
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2011 19:10:13 GMT
Did we freeze? A little maybe. Or were Citeh just better than us for 90 mins? I'd say so.
Someone else said they out-Stoked us and that's pretty fair. Our players got muscled off the ball a few times and that doesn't happen too often.
They also played some decent stuff and got behind us a lot more than Arsenal did the other week.
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Post by uknorse on May 15, 2011 19:11:22 GMT
it happens, its done now, all the "wot ifs and if onlys" wont change it....im proud of everyone of our players. im gutted we didnt win it, absolutely gutted, but no way should anyone start to aportion blame....all the reasons mentioned above were factors, smaller squad, calabre of player, injuries, etc etc, just wasnt our day.....
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Post by AlbertTatlock on May 15, 2011 19:13:06 GMT
Injuries took their toll imo, also man city did a number on us in every department, all over the pitch they had too much for us, yeterday their individuals became a team! imho all our players still come out with credit, theyve been a credit to stoke city Pretyy much spot on as I saw it. No use looking for excuses we lost to a team that were better on the day. Gouranga.
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Post by Dallas Cowboy on May 15, 2011 19:15:45 GMT
What were our alternatives Dallas? I would have started with the team that played Arsenal off the park and brought Etherington on as a sub after 60 minutes or so.
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Post by dbpotters on May 15, 2011 19:19:04 GMT
What were our alternatives Dallas? I would have started with the team that played Arsenal off the park and brought Etherington on as a sub after 60 minutes or so. thats the reason we 'froze' we put to much effort in against them gooner twats but id still take beating the arse and properly ending their season over winning the final next year but hey thats just my opinion
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Post by AlbertTatlock on May 15, 2011 19:19:42 GMT
What were our alternatives Dallas? I would have started with the team that played Arsenal off the park and brought Etherington on as a sub after 60 minutes or so. I don't entirely disagree but the appearance of Matty gave the crowd a massive lift and it could have paid dividends if it had come off, unfortunately it didn't but hindsight is a wonderful gift isn't it. Gouranga.
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Post by etonrifle on May 15, 2011 19:23:17 GMT
They were down our throats from kick off and didnt let s get any momentum going they did a job on us end of. Dont think its fair saying we froze or didnt turn up etc we were second best to what should go on to be a very good team. JP was heroic long may he remain here.
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Post by Dallas Cowboy on May 15, 2011 19:23:51 GMT
but id still take beating the arse... Me too. There was something particularly satisfying about that comprehensive win.
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Post by Spiros on May 15, 2011 19:25:55 GMT
With Etherington looking far from match fit they seemed to think that to stop us they had to stop Pennant.... By any means!
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Post by dbpotters on May 15, 2011 19:30:19 GMT
but id still take beating the arse... Me too. There was something particularly satisfying about that comprehensive win. i just fuckin hate dislike them ;D
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Post by fentonstokie1 on May 15, 2011 19:33:51 GMT
They knew our system depended on two functioning wingers to provide our frontmen, one of them wasn't fit they did a job on the other one. With hindsight perhaps we should have started with Kenwynne up front, Walters on the left and extra player in midfield and kept Matty for the 2nd half.
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Post by seddonstandviewer on May 15, 2011 19:35:00 GMT
They knew our system depended on two functioning wingers to provide our frontmen, one of them wasn't fit they did a job on the other one. With hindsight perhaps we should have started with Kenwynne up front, Walters on the left and extra player in midfield and kept Matty for the 2nd half. Dangerous game with players who have hamstring injuries in my opinion. Start them, then if they break down you only waste one sub, rather than two.
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Post by Robo10 on May 15, 2011 19:43:03 GMT
You can't put an injured player on the bench, you have to start them or leave them out.
If you bring them on as sub and they break down, thats two subs used - too risky.
If Ethers had come good (as Tevez did) and been influential, it would have been a masterstroke. Fine lines in football.
I'm just proud we got there, weren't embarrassed, could (should) have taken the lead, and the world was talking about Stoke City all last week.
Such a world away from play off defeats to Gillingham and Walsall not very long ago!
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2011 20:03:28 GMT
I dont think we froze at all, just ran out of steam. Weve been playing at full pelt since the quarter finals and this was a game too far. We had injuries hampering our creative players and very little in reserve to alter things. It just highlights our frailties as a squad if we are to compete at the top end of the table (not to mention Europe ). Im sure the boss knows this and will sort it. I dont think for one minute the three year plan included a cup final and Europe, we seem to have arrived there quicker than expected. Give some credit to the multi million pound side though, they were good. Very creative going forward and when they didnt have the ball they turned into `us` working very hard for each other to regain possession. Whenever we got it we couldnt hold it or create anything and gave it back to them. Im sure we can sit down and learn a lot from that game and gain some knowledge that will hold us in good stead for the future. We are on the up, learning as we go.Sometimes we take a knockback but we always dust ourselves down and take two steps forward. We are Stoke, we lost a major scuffle but the battle rages on, we wont lie down and we certainly wont go away. Im proud to have made it. We didnt win but we made it and I thank everyone at Stoke City,staff and fans, for one hell of a ride ;D
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Post by davejohnno1 on May 15, 2011 20:55:58 GMT
We didn't freeze at all. We simply ran out of legs. Tommy aside, we have picked the same team for every game since the Semi-Final and this was simply one game too many.
Our squad was paper thin and whilst they were bringing on World Cup Winner, 5 Times cup winner and god knows what else, we were bringing on Danny Pugh.
At the end of the day, the crucial injuries to Matty (50% fit at best yesterday) and crucially, Ricardo Fuller, are what cost us our genuine chance of winning the FA Cup Final.
Imagine being able to bring Ric on for those last 15 minutes. Man City wouldn't have been so comfortable.
Unfortunately some of the players who have been playing so well ran out of legs, and without their legs, they just aren't the same. Rory, Whelan and Walters had mares really and that gave them the platform they needed to win the game, whilst Ethers played on one leg.
All they needed to do was to stop Pennant and they did that by kicking him out of the game.
We didn't freeze though and we just have to accept the fact that on the day, the better side won.
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Post by apb1 on May 15, 2011 21:00:40 GMT
Johnno is spot on.
We should actually be marvelling that we have done so well in the league with all the injuries and makeshift side.
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2011 21:00:59 GMT
We didn't freeze at all. We simply ran out of legs. Tommy aside, we have picked the same team for every game since the Semi-Final and this was simply one game too many. Our squad was paper thin and whilst they were bringing on World Cup Winner, 5 Times cup winner and god knows what else, we were bringing on Danny Pugh. At the end of the day, the crucial injuries to Matty (50% fit at best yesterday) and crucially, Ricardo Fuller, are what cost us our genuine chance of winning the FA Cup Final. Imagine being able to bring Ric on for those last 15 minutes. Man City wouldn't have been so comfortable. Unfortunately some of the players who have been playing so well ran out of legs, and without their legs, they just aren't the same. Rory, Whelan and Walters had mares really and that gave them the platform they needed to win the game, whilst Ethers played on one leg. All they needed to do was to stop Pennant and they did that by kicking him out of the game. We didn't freeze though and we just have to accept the fact that on the day, the better side won. Agree with all of this. The squad needs to be increased in size and quality with Europe beckoning. One of the problems is we have players suchas Tonge, Soares, Davies on the payroll for another year.
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Post by AlliG on May 15, 2011 21:17:02 GMT
Wouldn't disagree with most of that.
To win, we also required Man City not to be at their best, be over confident or over cautious.
As it was right from the start it was clear that the "real" Man City had turned up. If you have much better players and those players put in a shift and play as a team that team should win. That's what happened yesterday.
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Post by davejohnno1 on May 15, 2011 22:12:25 GMT
I would also like to add that I was one of few who didn't want them to sow up that Champions League spot so quickly.
They came into the final absolutely bouncing on the back of securing 4th place and that didn't help our cause either. Whilst we were busy coping with potential setbacks, they were bobbing along just nicely and all was rosy in their garden.
Fair play to them. They did what we do to so many teams. Exert our strength, stop the opposition from doing what they are good at, and win the game. They were better on the day and with the money spent, so they should be.
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Post by french toast on May 15, 2011 22:15:29 GMT
ethers was a risk so he had to start.
otherwise you have to save a sub incase the sub (ethers) got injured during the final (possible) 60 minutes after he came on.
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