No, when we went direct at the end Stoke looked comfortable to head the ball out.
I wish we had the mentality of United. When they need a goal late on they don't just hoof and hope, they wait patiently, build and attack and then strike. Usually score as well.
Let's not be too hard on the team after this. They worked hard. Stoke weren't just negative, they were super negative for the entire game. They do it when they go away to somewhere like Villa but the problem with facing a team of our stature is that they will show even less ambition. They had absolutely zero desire to score a goal today.
Our attacking play wasn't outstanding, but we were stopped by a fantastic Begovic save. Ade should have scored his header, and if Sandro showed more composure we could have been in there too. When a team defends with that level of men behind the ball, there are never going to be too many clear cut chances. We had to take one of them when they came.
Also thought Siggy on for Defoe would have been a good sub, but the crowd would have not have liked it, turned the atmosphere bad and therefore it was probably more trouble than it was worth.
Defoe needs dropping. Has been brick for the past few games.
We battered them but missed a bit of luck to get the breakthrough.
We completely dominated them. Bale made 18 fudging crosses in one game!
haha
I think Ade has been worse. Utter fudgein brick and HE should be dropped. In fact Defoes effectiveness has been radically reduced by Ade's re-introduction back into the line up. I was an advocate of the 4411 but I thought Ade would perform.
I don't disagree but unfortunately we do struggle to get the first goal in home games. we have to improve in that respect, no question.
We battered them but missed a bit of luck to get the breakthrough.
We completely dominated them. Bale made 18 fudging crosses in one game!
I think we are improving on that score...I also think the patience we show in the first half is somewhat deliberate. 80% of teams will come to frustrate us. Therefore if we give them too many openings first half our task is a lot harder to win the game if we concede, having to score 2 goals instead of 1. Today I thought it was noticeable that Caulker tried to join in with more attacks in the second half than the first, and there was a period in the second half where we did look really threatening.
But I do agree, we do need to improve on breaking the Stoke's down. That will come with signings and improving the quality of the squad. I just think the reality is no matter how well prepared the team is, there is always a chance they will fail to score against a team that has zero ambition. Sometimes there is nothing you can do.
Hahahahahahaha good one. Oh you were serious??!AVB is tactically clueless. I have said it since day 1. Every point we have is despite AVB, and not because of him.