A different approach

Tony Pulis`s side is definitely a pain in the ass when you`re facing them. When you look at them first you might think that they`re more like a wrestling team due their sizes and it probably feels like that when you are playing against them. Rooney once said that Barcelona would really find it much more difficult against Stoke and I think he is right. They are really physical and they are not shamed about showing and using it.

One of the interesting things that Stoke has is their backs are really centre derived and though they don`t have the technique or ability or willing to go forward in the sense of widening the area that`s being used, they play extremely well. That being said, they heavily rely on Etherington and Pennant`s individual abilities, them carrying the ball into the opposition area. The other interesting thing is although they don`t have so much pacy players they look like a counter-attack team on numeruos occasions. And their strongest point would be their stamina and concentration. They never let go the game and always want to win because public is very critical of them and they obviously want to prove a point which is "We also play football".

Let`s not forget that Stoke was promoted to Premier League just four years ago and by the pundits they were favourites to move down. But when looked now, they are really tough to beat and even last year they reached to FA cup finals which they eventually lost to Manchester City. Tony Pulis, in this regard, has really to be applauded but also the financial backing by the chairman was also important in this success. By the results they`ve had so far it can be concluded that the players have obviously more confidence in their game as they`re also competing in Europa League now they are more motivated. A top 10 finish seems really not so far away from Stoke but if they advance further in Europe and a possible to injury to one of Etherington and Pennant or both maybe Stoke would find it very hard to compete. Still, they`ve been really fantastic so far and they definitely need a praise and are worth to look.