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Post by PotterLog on Aug 4, 2013 19:54:03 GMT
From the two games streamed from America I'd do everything I could to squeeze Muniesa in the side. Pieters as a winger is an option I guess but I'd like to see him in midfield. His passing was excellent, he's tough, can tackle and more importantly he could read the game. The best DM's in the world intercept more than they tackle nowadays. I'd like to see him being given a go there. God, haven't we had enough of signing players and playing them in strange positions they're not used to...?
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Post by bayernoatcake on Aug 4, 2013 19:58:00 GMT
From the two games streamed from America I'd do everything I could to squeeze Muniesa in the side. Pieters as a winger is an option I guess but I'd like to see him in midfield. His passing was excellent, he's tough, can tackle and more importantly he could read the game. The best DM's in the world intercept more than they tackle nowadays. I'd like to see him being given a go there. God, haven't we had enough of signing players and playing them in strange positions they're not used to...? He's played there before a few times and barring N'Zonzi I reckon has the best attributes in the side to play in midfield. He just needs to play because I think he's the best footballer we have (going out on a limb). Will he replace Huth this season? Probably not. Will he become our first choice left back? He has a chance but Pieters will start there. The midfield still looks dodgy to me and we need someone in there and he has to play, so get him in midfield Yozzer!
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Post by PotterLog on Aug 4, 2013 20:05:01 GMT
God, haven't we had enough of signing players and playing them in strange positions they're not used to...? He's played there before a few times and barring N'Zonzi I reckon has the best attributes in the side to play in midfield. He just needs to play because I think he's the best footballer we have (going out on a limb). Will he replace Huth this season? Probably not. Will he become our first choice left back? He has a chance but Pieters will start there. The midfield still looks dodgy to me and we need someone in there and he has to play, so get him in midfield Yozzer! Sorry, I misread you, thought you were talking about Pieters. Muniesa makes a bit more sense, although I have tentative high hopes for Zonz and Palacios there.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Aug 4, 2013 20:14:37 GMT
He's played there before a few times and barring N'Zonzi I reckon has the best attributes in the side to play in midfield. He just needs to play because I think he's the best footballer we have (going out on a limb). Will he replace Huth this season? Probably not. Will he become our first choice left back? He has a chance but Pieters will start there. The midfield still looks dodgy to me and we need someone in there and he has to play, so get him in midfield Yozzer! Sorry, I misread you, thought you were talking about Pieters. Muniesa makes a bit more sense, although I have tentative high hopes for Zonz and Palacios there. N'Zonzi lost me in Philly. And Palacios sounds very promising but until he can play well in consecutive Prem games then I aren't going to get too excited but really hope he can.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2013 20:56:47 GMT
To me this is just the rank negativity that infests this board re- surfacing all over again. Today was a pre season friendly against non league opposition - that's one way of looking at it.
Another as I said earlier - Wrexham are nobodies fools - and were fit and well organised - we made plenty of chances and looked totally comfortable throughout. With three distinct teams we put on the pitch sucessively, we were never in trouble really and but for poor choices could've easily had five or six goals.
No, we aren't the finished article - a couple of signings will come in but -I for one am totally happy to beleive we can piss on liverpools chips once again at Anfield in two weeks time - as someone said - time will tell - but Im pretty sure sure - we are coming along nicely
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Post by stokeyandproud on Aug 4, 2013 22:28:49 GMT
Brilliant post mate...It sums up what I have being trying to say but far better... The defence are not footballers, they are defenders..They can head and kick the ball very, very well. If we let the midfield push up a little, the defence will lose there protection and may concede more this season. The wingers cqnt get past the full back and cross the ball as they have no pace. The forwards are too old, too lazy, have no brains or just not natural goal scorers. Im am not slagging the players but the league does not lie. A last point on Pieters...You dont get a dutch international for 3m unless he aint that great!! I will no doubt get lots of insults on this but I think these are nothing more than facts. As much as i hate to admit it. I think hughes is gonna struggle to play the type of football he knows most fans are hoping for with this current squad. Im a big believer in the odd player reacting to a change in manager but not a whole squad changing a whole system and learning a different style of play inbetween seasons. Most of the above is bang on. Tp had us set up to play a certain way and expectation outgrew the capability of his system and the players we have. If we are gonna play tippy tappy we will concede loads. I pray we keep the hardcore defense and add a couple of players to create more in the final third. I want to hear the lads on motd saying that the brit is a fortress and we are tough to beat again, as that was dropping of majorly last season.I am hoping hughes is playing his cards close to his chest and there is a couple of signings in the pipeline. I do fear though that he may have in the back of his mind that if he starts making major changes and spending a few mil people will just think he hasnt learned from his qpr disaster. Lets face it, he has a lot to prove after qpr and if im being honest i reckon he sees us as a stepping stone to rebuild his rep and maybe a second crack at a "bigger" job cant see him doing 5 or 6 years. I will see where we are 10 games in and see whether hughes has something most of us still doubt he has or if we will all be proved wrong. goo on Stoke!
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Post by scfcbiancorossi on Aug 4, 2013 22:41:54 GMT
To me this is just the rank negativity that infests this board re- surfacing all over again. Today was a pre season friendly against non league opposition - that's one way of looking at it. Another as I said earlier - Wrexham are nobodies fools - and were fit and well organised - we made plenty of chances and looked totally comfortable throughout. With three distinct teams we put on the pitch sucessively, we were never in trouble really and but for poor choices could've easily had five or six goals. No, we aren't the finished article - a couple of signings will come in but -I for one am totally happy to beleive we can piss on liverpools chips once again at Anfield in two weeks time - as someone said - time will tell - but Im pretty sure sure - we are coming along nicely No offence Tone but are you schizophrenic?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2013 6:09:09 GMT
He's played there before a few times and barring N'Zonzi I reckon has the best attributes in the side to play in midfield. He just needs to play because I think he's the best footballer we have (going out on a limb). Will he replace Huth this season? Probably not. Will he become our first choice left back? He has a chance but Pieters will start there. The midfield still looks dodgy to me and we need someone in there and he has to play, so get him in midfield Yozzer! Thanks very much for everyone that took the time to post their detailed match and player reports. Took me an hour or so to go through them all - loads of detail. Don't live in the UK so the Oatie is the only way. Surely, MH's first job at Stoke has been the re-levelling of the playing field. If you listened or read the Jerome IV on Radio Stoke, he pointed to a lack of fairness in the way the match day team sheet was put together. Under Mark so far, we have seen the immediate plugging of the holes (Muniesa, Pieters) and the dropping of the previous teamsheet bias in order to re-motivate the squad. He's simply re-energising our players with a pardon, a clean sheet and a crack at the starting XI. Initially I thought it was aimed at the fans, but in reality it's actually aimed at our squad.
Pennant's re-signing is a prime example of this clean sheet method in action, and for me, represents great management. The USA trip and last night's game have given MH the opportunity to have a real good look at the squad. Any transfer dealings we now make, will be based on MH's experience. Once again Stoke will be dealing late, but this time it will not be because we are trying to pinch someone. There will not be any more Michael Owen's under MH. I really think that Bayern's post sums everything up. Under TP we didn't have a midfield, just a first line of defence. Why do you think N'Zonzi handed in a TR under Tony? I find it interesting also to read about MH getting annoyed in the technical area - that's not like Hughes at all. Bayern's suggestion of Muniesa in midfield is not as daft as it sounds either, in fact it's an absolute key point for anyone reading between the lines. I'm now not so sure that wingers are our issue either. In fact I don't think our key strikers are the issue either. We should keep both KJ and PC with SJW coming off the bench. Let's lose Jerome and sign a red hot young talent. To me it sounds like we need a confident attacking midfielder (a la Modric) and also a midfield playmaker (sorry, but that's not Charlie Adam either). Crouch, Jones and Walters are simply the nib of the pen. But these guys need to be supplied with ink (sorry for the wanky pen metaphor...). Seriously, if anything scares me about next season it's the fact that we all want better football, yet our midfield has been the "sick old man of the Premiership" for 5 years. We could never pass the ball well because of the way TP stood in the technical area, dominating his players, barking his 120 decibel shite. Watching a Pulis side was like watching a side who played football with a ticking time bomb. Sort the midfield out and you sort Stoke out. That's MH's challenge. Somedays you just can't get rid of a bomb.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Aug 5, 2013 11:44:17 GMT
He's played there before a few times and barring N'Zonzi I reckon has the best attributes in the side to play in midfield. He just needs to play because I think he's the best footballer we have (going out on a limb). Will he replace Huth this season? Probably not. Will he become our first choice left back? He has a chance but Pieters will start there. The midfield still looks dodgy to me and we need someone in there and he has to play, so get him in midfield Yozzer! Thanks very much for everyone that took the time to post their detailed match and player reports. Took me an hour or so to go through them all - loads of detail. Don't live in the UK so the Oatie is the only way. Surely, MH's first job at Stoke has been the re-levelling of the playing field. If you listened or read the Jerome IV on Radio Stoke, he pointed to a lack of fairness in the way the match day team sheet was put together. Under Mark so far, we have seen the immediate plugging of the holes (Muniesa, Pieters) and the dropping of the previous teamsheet bias in order to re-motivate the squad. He's simply re-energising our players with a pardon, a clean sheet and a crack at the starting XI. Initially I thought it was aimed at the fans, but in reality it's actually aimed at our squad.
Pennant's re-signing is a prime example of this clean sheet method in action, and for me, represents great management. The USA trip and last night's game have given MH the opportunity to have a real good look at the squad. Any transfer dealings we now make, will be based on MH's experience. Once again Stoke will be dealing late, but this time it will not be because we are trying to pinch someone. There will not be any more Michael Owen's under MH. I really think that Bayern's post sums everything up. Under TP we didn't have a midfield, just a first line of defence. Why do you think N'Zonzi handed in a TR under Tony? I find it interesting also to read about MH getting annoyed in the technical area - that's not like Hughes at all. Bayern's suggestion of Muniesa in midfield is not as daft as it sounds either, in fact it's an absolute key point for anyone reading between the lines. I'm now not so sure that wingers are our issue either. In fact I don't think our key strikers are the issue either. We should keep both KJ and PC with SJW coming off the bench. Let's lose Jerome and sign a red hot young talent. To me it sounds like we need a confident attacking midfielder (a la Modric) and also a midfield playmaker (sorry, but that's not Charlie Adam either). Crouch, Jones and Walters are simply the nib of the pen. But these guys need to be supplied with ink (sorry for the wanky pen metaphor...). Seriously, if anything scares me about next season it's the fact that we all want better football, yet our midfield has been the "sick old man of the Premiership" for 5 years. We could never pass the ball well because of the way TP stood in the technical area, dominating his players, barking his 120 decibel shite. Watching a Pulis side was like watching a side who played football with a ticking time bomb. Sort the midfield out and you sort Stoke out. That's MH's challenge. Somedays you just can't get rid of a bomb. I've only seen the lad in two friendlies but he has impressed me immensely and he's not a natural central midfielder but when You list what he's good at and it's not too much of a stretch to see why he might be good in there. And You need a calming influence in there and with his upbringing I think he'd provide that.
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Post by thevoid on Aug 5, 2013 12:01:41 GMT
I know it was only Wrexham, but it was refreshing to see Stoke passing the ball crisply.
I think I saw Ryan hoof it out of defence once all game.
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