Stoke City need new tactics and new players (From Northwich Guardian)

Fortune will favour the brave

10:41am Thursday 22nd January 2009

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AFTER a flurry of activitiy at the start of the window brought in two great signings, it’s all quiet on the Britannia front.

Judging by the craziness of the last night of the August transfer window, this is just a temporary lull. No-one wants to throw money around unless they have to.

Our last minute purchases in the summer have been disappointments, Tom Soares showing his talents in one or two games and Michael Tonge struggling to even make the starting 11.

To be honest the link with Brazilian striker Fred was a good laugh but I can’t see it happening. He looks like the South American equivalent of Sammy Bangoura, likely to go off in a huff at a moment’s notice.

The fact his own club are complaining publicly about his attitude is going to ring alarm bells with Tony Pulis, who was in charge when Bangoura’s stay away antics reached their height.

So who might he go for?

Our problem away from home is simple. Not enough people going forward.

Ian Probert

Marlon Harewood seems an unlikely move to me, if only because once Mama is fit we will have him, Dave Kitson and James Beattie. All big, strong lads who are good in the air.

Surely if Stoke need another striker we need a different option, someone able to come off the bench and inject some pace into a game. Frankly I don’t see us being linked with anyone in that mould apart from Fred, but maybe Pulis will pull another rabbit out of his hat.

A greater concern for me is the lack of new midfield talent or any sense that we will adapt our game, particularly away from home.

West Brom’s form has picked up partly because they have adopted a more direct style, less obsessed with passing it sideways.

Our problem away from home is simple. Not enough people going forward.

We play a four man defence and two holding midfielders, who are apparently told not to push forward when we are attacking. Add the goalie and seven of our team is essentially defensive minded.

You can’t tell me that Andy Griffin, Danny Higginbotham or any other full back we’ve played is going to bomb forward to support the team when we attack.

So that leaves two strikers and two wide players to create and score goals. The opposition only need to detail their own defenders to mark one each and that leaves us struggling.

That’s why Ricardo Fuller makes such a difference to the team – he’s not easy to mark and creates space for other players.

It also explains why Matthew Etherington made such an impact.

But we can’t afford to just rely on these two, we need a midfield player prepared to make runs into the penalty area and exploit the extra space.

So far we have managed just seven goals in 11 away matches. Is it any wonder that we can’t win games, even with the heroic defensive efforts against Liverpool and Chelsea.

We need to win at least six of the remaining 16 fixtures. We won’t do that by sitting back and hoping other teams make mistakes.

Never has the phrase ‘fortune favours the brave’ been so true as it is for Stoke City’s prospects this season.