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ricardo

Ricardo's report v Stoke

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Very damp and Autumnal today on the ride down to the ground and certainly cold enough for Ricky''s gloves and woolly hat to make their seasonal debuts. Blustery squalls of rain were sweeping across the pitch as City kicked off towards the River End and we endured a long period of City possession before play was finally broken up after what must have been twenty or thirty passes by the home side.Stoke set their game out from the start with everyone behind the ball and only flickered into life once in the opening ten minutes when Krul had to clutch a ball in from the right. Things then opened up for City, as Marco Stiepermann might well have started and ended a scoring move. The pass out to Cantwell was perfect, as was the City youngsters cut back, but the shot from twelve yards was always going over.As things settled down City began to dominate with some lovely one touch football that had the visitors continually on the back foot. Leitner was switching play from side to side and an opening finally came when he found Lewis cutting in from the left for a clear shot at goal. The City fullback hit it sweetly enough but Butland was well positioned to turn the stinging shot over the top for a corner. Stoke were now finding it difficult to clear as the home side swarmed around the box and Lewis was again released on the left only for his well struck low shot to beat Butland and the far post with Pukki just a yard away from contact.With City bossing possession and chances it just seemed a matter of time before the first goal came. Buendia and Pukki were both denied with good defensive blocks and young Cantwell seemed to be all over the place winning the ball a setting things moving forward. Indeed their was much to admire but despite the pressure City just could not nail that all important first goal that their outfield movement had deserved and as so often happens in football the opposition got a goal out of the blue and completely against the run of play.Just after the half hour there seemed little danger from a low cross that came in from the right until Klose''s attempted clearance flew low past Krul into the unguarded net. Bad luck indeed but with plenty of time left the damage didn''t seem terminal. City continued with their patient build up but there were no other decent openings before Mr Coote called a halt to the half.At half time I remarked that this might turn into a bit of a struggle to get anything out of this game and you didn''t need to be clairvoyant to predict that Stoke would keep everyone back and break things up whenever they could. This indeed was the way things turned out as fouls and blocks began to creep into the game every time anyone looked like getting free. It was frustrating the crowd and their were one or to people around me who were crying out for City to go to a longer game.We were almost on the hour mark before Stiepermann had the first shot of the half on target as Butland flung himself to his left to beat away a stinging twenty yarder. This livened the crowd but despite plenty of effort, chances were few and far between. Rhodes and Hernandez came on for Stiepermann and Buendia with twenty minutes left and the little Cuban got immediate joy down the right. Unfortunately despite mounting possession and half chances the Stoke defence always seemed to have a man in the right place.Vrancic came on for the last ten minutes and his delightful free kick beat everybody before drifting out for a goal kick. Then he was felled from behind whilst lining up a shot in the box but Mr Coote turned a blind eye. Stoke might have grabbed a second in a rare break with every home player committed but Ince shot wildy when well placed. Klose went forward as the last of the sand trickled out of the egg timer but neither he nor Rhodes could get in a telling header. There was still time for a Pukki effort to be blocked by the massed ranks of Stoke defenders before the final whistle.A disappointing end to our run but the players must have been somewhat consoled to hear the massed ranks shouting "Yellows, Yellows" after  so unfortunate a defeat.Cantwell my MOM.

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Thanks for the report. We dominated possession, but failed to really create much clear cut chances in the final third. Butland had a rather easy afternoon in the Stoke goal. Which is disappointing considering how Stoke were pinned back for long periods.

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Report bang on from what I saw ricardo.

Cantwell seems to be improving in leaps & bounds (I still can''t cope with his ''do though, bit too girly for me) & I was really impressed with his body strength when holding off several players as he ran towards the right wing (about half way through the 1st half I think).

There was tiredness creeping in I feel; I noticed a few minutes before the goal (nothing to do with the goal though, which was sheer bad luck) that the closing down wasn''t as vigorous as at first. I think Stiepermann & Teemu in particular looked down on energy, possibly the full backs as well. Christoph was heading''slicing a lot up in the air but always managed to salvage the situation. Buendia was getting kicked from pillar to post, probably didn''t help his passing being a touch over elaborate at times.

There was some absolutely stunning football in the first half. We didn''t manage to unlock them but the invention was there - it wasn''t like so many games I''ve seen where we slowly pass the ball backwards & forwards in front of their defence before hoofing it or losing it.

I''m convinced we''re doing it right & just need to keep the concentration & belief going to be genuine top 6 contenders.

Per Ardua Ad Astra!

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Good to hear Cantwell gets your MoM Ricardo. It sounds like he''s growing in confidence with playing time. Good to see Mr. Farke giving youth its chance - what''s he still need to develop in his game in your opinion?

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[quote user="Surfer"]Good to hear Cantwell gets your MoM Ricardo. It sounds like he''s growing in confidence with playing time. Good to see Mr. Farke giving youth its chance - what''s he still need to develop in his game in your opinion?[/quote]A cool head in front of goal. He didn''t have a chance today but missed a couple in recent games when clear on goal. The rest of his game is excellent so I mustn''t be too critical.

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Pretty fair summary.

I have to say I was surprised at just how poor Stoke were. On today''s showing they will be no where near top 6.

I thought we played really well first half, and certainly didn''t deserve to lose but overall despite the possession I''m not sure we created enough good chances to deserve to win.

I think the next step for us to improve is to be able to change pace, keep possession but transition from defence to attack much quicker at times. Certainly improved from last season and although we have improved going forward I still can''t see us winning many games more than 1-0 or 2-1, but all in all very encouraging for rest of season but let''s see if we can keep picking up good points up to Christmas then know if we have a chance of top 6

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Good report Ricardo,  our slow approach play seemed to play straight into Stoke''s hands, we never really looked like breaking them down in the second half. It''s a problem we will find in many a match.  

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Report is correct, though I disagree on the MoM. I''d have given it to Aarons or Zimmermann.

Don''t get me wrong, I like Cantwell, but I don''t see him changing games or frightening defences in the same way as Maddison, Redmond, Huckerby etc have done for us in the past.

This year''s squad is all about the team rather than the individuals, but Saturday''s game demonstrated that we needed a spark or piece of individual brilliance to get a goal and I don''t think we ever saw that. Hernandez gave us something different, but even then, there weren''t many chances created for Pukki or Rhodes.

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