That's the funny thing Dani, pretty much every cross and throw in Stoke had was claimed by Valencia's GK, i can see alot of PL clubs looking at him simply for that reason......

Oh and Valencia actually caused Stoke problems with crosses and Corners for a spell of the game

As for possession ESPN says it was 50 % each

che wrote:

Nes-T33 wrote:Jonas was top scorer in the brasileirao last season..3M,what a steal.

1.25 mil actually, and that's american dollars so in a non-silly currency probably something like two cows and a snickers bar

I see.

50-50...wow.

I am thinking Valencia sat off and sat deep so they could defend long balls and not get caught with them over the top?

No point pressing if they going to launch it if you press or not.

not really, it's just that most of our attacks came through quick plays so we gave away the ball far more often than we usually do... though stoke always politely gave it right back

Doesn't count.

It wasnt a rainy or cold day. So yeah, Valencia hasn't proved a schizer.

Valencia were far superior

Credit to them, aside from the first 3 minutes they werent really shocked or anything by Stoke

I had hoped for much more of a shock and awe effect, and a quick goal to really stun Valencia...I figured if Stoke could get that, Valencia would start to wonder what theyd got themselves in to and retreat into their shell so to speak

but they weathered the early storm, and crouch and walters were both very poor

Also it was not cold, and the rain stopped before kickoff...Don't be deceived

Brittania

When people referred to the cold night at the Britannia it wasn't really about Stokes home record it was the culture shock and different styles of play.

Cant say I have watched many of their European games so I dont know how they have played. But I wouldn't have thought allot of the underhand tactics they use in the league would of been used in European games, they just wouldn't get away with it.

eg, having to use a wider pitch making their long throws and set piece play less affective.

Foreign officials would never allow them to get away with some of the fouls they tend to make.

Yeh it was comical looking at the difference in pitch size today lol...

I noticed that. I thought pitches have regulated sizes, how does the EPL allow them to change it?

che wrote:though stoke always politely gave it right back

Stoke are humble and respectful

The problem with stoke is that they have been using teh same startign 11 in every single competition. They have no depth.

The players are not used to travelling either.

For once i am not worried about going to stok away

but the pitch will be 2x2.5 smaller when we go there? right :vagi:

Stoke got Stoked.

From About.com's World Soccer page, certainly not the end all of official rules, but a quality explanation:

http://worldsoccer.about.com/od/soccer101/a/101_Field.htm wrote:There are very few fixed dimensions for soccer fields, even at the highest level. The sport’s world governing body, FIFA, only stipulates that for professional 11-versus-11 competition, they must be between 100 yards and 130 yards and the width between 50 and 100 yards. For years, English fields were known to be on the smaller side, making the game more physical while fields in South American stadiums tend to sprawl out and offer players more space and time on the ball. Still, some elements remain constant on full-size fields throughout the world.

Stoke tend to have a smaller field to cater to their physical, tight defensive style. Competitions with standard pitch sizes really show the extent that teams can tailor their home pitch to suit their style.

football has won today

FFS that was not the stoke any of us played.

That Stoke was not even interested, Valencia would crying on the pitch for some space to pass the ball if that was the Stoke they were playing against.

Valencia got that goal from a wonder strike, That is the only way you get the goal against them.

Why the hell did Jones not play, Crouch always play with a front man, Walters was shit and uninterested.

If only Stoke would have scored first, We would have seen 180 mins of defending over two legs.

Anyways congrats to Valencia, They did the job.

And by the way. Piatti was raped lol..Poor guy. They were gonna do that obviously. Glad to see Valencia tried to give them some of their own stuff after getting that 1 goal.

haha valencia made stoke look ordinary^^

plus this was without their most potent players

piatti was fine for me, dribbled past a lot of guys constantly created good chances.. jonas too

loved the stoke play acting though

stokecelona?

Please do not think that we expected Stoke to beat Valencia 3-0 or something.

Stoke is ordinary, ffs they are 13th in the league.

What's fun is the style football they play, The fun is only for neutrals though. Clearly yesterday they didn't turn up. English just dont turn up for Big games now days. :C

Valencia had pretty comfortable game yesterday, which is not what you expect or get when you play Stoke on a Thursday night.

oh please despite the gap in technical quality , and without the reverse jinxes n all a lot of people thought stoke would be too much for valencia especially given that they had a 100 percent record in europe at the brittania

hopefully esteemed feminists like andy gray dont make comments like cold wet night anytime soon

I see you like killing the fun

it could ve been a different game though if stoke had scored in the first 10 - 15 mins.

My friends couldn't stop cursing at Stoke, called them Animals all game .

Poor Valencians were in a culture shock

stoke were very tame compared to their usual selves

Deceived by STOKE, cold night at Britannia stadium was epic .. now ://

Chievo Verona ,The Stoke City of Serie A would've done much better