by Mike Forrest
What a breath of fresh air Stoke City and Tony Pulis were to the Premiership. Passionate, Fearless, Combative; the list of adjectives to describe how fierce Stoke were, is endless. Normally promoted teams are targeted as an “easy” 3 points by other clubs but not Stoke. Their fiery performances resulted them finishing 12th in their debut Premier League Season, a more than respectable achievement. They followed up their first seasons’ success with 11th and 13th placed finishes along with a cup final, this season European football and are an course for another comfortable mid table finish. Not bad for a club and manager only in their 4th season of Premier League football.
However it has not been all clear sailing for Pulis’ Stoke. They quickly found themselves in choppy waters and under criticism for their style, if you can call it that, of play. Under Pulis leadership, Stoke have embodied the ethos of a traditional English club. My qualm is not that this traditional English type of play consisting of full blooded tackles, 100% commitment and aggression is quickly becoming obsolete, but that Pulis has taken it too far too often.
Pulis “tactics” are primal. Defenders absolutely welly it forward. The forwards knock it on or play it out to the wingers before scrambling into the box and trying to connect to the ensuing cross. The team is sent out by Pulis pumped up with passion and gusto and inevitably this must find some form of release. I wouldn’t be surprised if before every Premier League game, Pulis showed his squad a video of a helpless, cute kitten being brutally murdered with the upcoming oppositions crest subtly super imposed into the background of the image. Robert Huth assaulting Matthew Upson last season, Andy Wilkinson absolutely clattering into Moussa Dembele, the list of examples of Stokes “passion” is a long one.
Yet just because I disagree with Pulis’ methods, doesn’t mean he is wrong. He has found a method that works for him and for Stoke, and that has to be recognised. He has consolidated Stoke into a Premier League team and that is no mean feat. My bone of contention is that surely there will come a time when the Stoke fans will want more? When the paying fans will want more than primal, visceral tactics deployed by Pulis? The Stoke fans are a mightily vociferious bunch, making the Britannia Stadium a feared place. Surely they deserve a better brand of football, they deserve to be entertained. When the most entertaining part of a football match is a throw in, you know you must be going wrong somewhere.
By no means am I saying that Pulis is a bad manager. I do think that his methods are outdated.
Stoke and Pulis cannot stand still. They need to progress instead of regress. Too many times when Stoke are going through a bad patch of form he blames the referees or the FA or luck or whoever he can justify as a scapegoat. He blames anyone but himself. He has threatened to send dvds to Mike Riley or the Premier League showing how Stoke have apparently been wronged, numerous times. Yeah right, Pulis. Might as well send them E.T. on dvd, it would be far more educational that his moaning, whingeing, “woe is me” tripe. If he took a look at how he approaches the game he might learn something. Pulis’ has to add another dimension to his arsenal, he cannot solely rely on his hoofball tactic and he needs something extra. Not only to improve himself as a manager and his team but also for the sake of the fans. Another gripe of mine with Pulis is the way he treated the fans against Valencia in the Europa League this season. Sending a reserve side, and only 15 players, out to Valencia when Stoke still had a decent chance of qualifying was disgraceful. Disgraceful to English football, but more importantly it was disgraceful and reeked of utter contempt for the 5,000 or so Stoke fans that loyally made their way to Spain. They deserved better.
Not only does Pulis need to improve his managerial ability on the pitch but he also needs to improve his transfer record. His Premier League transfer record reads more like a criminal record with the amount of expensive flops on there. In Peter Coates, Pulis has a chairman that will back him in the transfer market. He needs to take advantage of this. If Pulis can overcome his fetish for beastly 6 foot plus football players and actually add a bit of flair and panache whilst also retaining his primitive virtues; the commitment, the desire, the hunger etc, then Stoke and their fans will really be a force to be reckoned with.
By no means am I saying that Pulis is a bad manager. I do think that his methods are outdated. I recognise that this is a paradoxical thing of me to say as his methods, at the moment, are still proving successful. But in a world where people want to be entertained and where passing, elegant, seductive football is the new craving among football fans, how long will it be before Stoke fans become unhappy with Pulis? Next season will be Stokes 5th consecutive season and will have established themselves as Premier League regulars. They have the financial clout, the facilities and the fans to become a real Premier League force and Pulis needs to utilise this. Expand or die is an adage that rings true for Stoke. Pulis though has offered nothing to suggest that he is capable of expansion and I expect in time that his Stoke will die but who knows, it might be for the greater good of Stoke City and its’ fans?
Decent write-up there, and although (from a Stoke fans point of view) I don’t agree with some of the things you say, you do hit some pretty valid points I think.
You’ll find that the point of view from most Stoke fans is that we’re not that excited by the throw-ins, and they’re often a hindrance as the refs will often give an opposing free-kick if we try and attack the first ball. There are plenty of teams in the league, including the likes of Arsenal, that use this weapon too. And also other teams that score more frequently from it than us.
I would also have to disagree with the aggressive tag as well. We have had a much better disciplinary record than a lot of teams over the last couple of years and until Huth’s red versus Sunderland this season we didn’t have a red card in 38 games, 13 better than any other club in the league. I am however aware of Huth’s penalty box hugging, which does overstep the boundaries somewhat. But I wouldn’t label it as aggressive. Maybe he’s just a little affectionate…
Onto the style of play though, and I’m not sure I can argue with your comments there too much. Pulis’ tactics have got us into the Premier League and have kept us there; but yes, it is time to move on. We have proven that we can play the passing game and don’t need to resort to lumping it up to the “big two”.
At 14:00 there is often a collective groan when the team news filters through the pubs and you hear that Jones and Crouch are up front together. Both players are very capable of using their feet (they are strikers after all!), but it does tend to be the long ball up to them. It is frustrating, as we have a good central midfielder as well, that can use both feet and spread the ball playing at left back (Marc Wilson). Him partnering up with his fellow countryman, Whelan, would be nice to see. Or even Arismendi, who Pulis wants to send out on loan instead of play. He was our best player versus Valencia, so why not play him versus Prem teams?
Maybe one day Pulis will finally drop Delap, stick Marc in midfield and buy a left back. Maybe one day he’ll buy a player that will run down the middle of the pitch and feed the ball through to our strikers or have the balls to take on players. We can live in hope; but I am worried and almost resigned to the fact that we’ll be living with Pulis-Ball for a bit longer.
I hope you don’t think I’m having a go there, as I do agree with some of the things you say; but there is some I don’t agree with too. Can’t please them all, huh?
Keep writing!
Cheers for the reply!
I have a tendency in my writing to lean heavily on hyperbolé. I have gone to the most extreme, stereotypical, clichéd points to try and convey how Stoke play and whilst it has grains of truth it really isn’t the whole story.
Stoke are like any team. They can take their style of play too far. Pulis likes to hoof and tackle, somedays that goes too far. Similarly Wenger likes his teams to pass, move and whinge at the referee, that too can go too far.
I have a begrudging respect for Pulis and the success he has had at Stoke, on his way to leading you to Wembley again as I firmly believe ye will beat Liverpool. But as I said, if he could combine more flair with the tenacity ye already possess then I have no doubt that Stoke would be top 10, top 8 contenders easily enough.
Cheers and good luck for the rest of the season!