To
see ourselves as others see us...
Igor
with some
Stoke City fans' views of Saturday's game
It's
always nice to see football supporters who can
appreciate both teams on the pitch. Here is a collection
of comments taken from the Stoke City Oatcake
website.
So, hats off to the Stoke City fans - although
not all their remarks were as generous.
Given
that our own supporters often prefer to make negative
comments regarding the team they purport to support,
perhaps one or two might like to look on the
positive
side of the team’s achievements thus far,
highlighted by this collection of observations.
"Burnley are a good side but we could have drawn
the game with better finishing, although Chadwick
and May are two very good players and also their
left winger was very impressive. I can see Burnley
being up there at the end of the season."
............
"MOTM
was Luke Chadwick: bundles of energy, not a
little skill and good awareness of what’s
going on around him."
............
"It seemed obvious to me that it was the fault
of that formation (5-2-3 or whatever it is) that
we
went 2 down. It probably works against poor teams,
but Burnley had a strong side out and they were
effectively playing 4-5-1, so it's no wonder our
midfield got overrun."
............
"Burnley are a club with no more resources than
us, and they showed us today that there is another
way. If they can produce an effective and competent
footballing side, then so should we be able to."
............
"At one end Burnley were carving us open at will,
and at the other we rarely looked liked we knew
where their goal was."
............
"But
when you see a Burnley team, assembled on even
more of a shoestring than us, dismantle us
so comprehensively,
and completely expose our shortcomings, you have
to ask certain questions."
............
"Burnley
to their credit played some good stuff, and really
made us look very ordinary (bl00dy useless)
for long spells. Totally dominated the first half,
and plenty of nice short passing moves to link
a very advanced midfield with the sole striker,
Facey. Even late second half after we'd run out
of puff and thrown another Large Lump up front,
they really cut us to bits with the ruled out effort
and a couple of strikes by Branch which should
have seen us finished (great save, big Ed). Chadwick
- very ugly but a very good footballer."
............
"The
plain and simple truth is they were far superior
to us in every department. Their midfield was superb,
and that set out the tactics for the game. Yes,
we did hoof the ball forward all the time - but
that was because we couldn't play through midfield,
because
they controlled it!"
............
"We
were simply second best, and Burnley did to us
today exactly what we did to Derby."
............
"Burnley
carved us open with neat passing, while we constantly
attempted to hump hopeful balls forward
to get the three forwards into the game. Burnley
played the far better football today, and the male
model Luke Chadwick pretty much ran the show."
............
"Our
players tried today and were found wanting in
the skills department, compared to Burnley who,
on today's performance, were a very good side.
It wouldn't have made a scrap of difference which
system we played today, we didn't have players
on the park who were as good as theirs. Full stop!"
............
"Burnley
were excellent today, and gave us a good lesson
in how to play nice, simple and creative
footie whilst having the strength to stand up to
our battering rams. They wouldn't have been flattered
by 2 or 3 more, and with only 1 guy up top full
time and others joining. Didn't make 4-5-1 look
negative at all, did they?
Totally OUTPLAYED, IMHO."
............
"Burnley's tactics reminded me of Macari's when
he used to set out to take the lead and then hold
on to what he had gained. It should also be said
that for 30 minutes Burnley were very, very good.
You know you're in trouble when the opposition
look as though they've got more players than you.
I rated that the best early performance by a visiting
side for a long time."
Igor Wowk
September 2003
