Stoke, Stoke, Stoke, where to begin. Some believe they have a unique style of football; however this is not the case. As a junior football referee I can tell you, that any team lacking technical ability plays in an entirely similar way.
In laymen terms, they hoof the ball forward and hope the big tall centre forward will capitalise on defenders mistakes, or uncertainty. Yes it works, but is it really what we want to be seeing in the Premier League?
My friends and I have even grew so accustom to their scenario we have invented the term ‘Stoke ball’ when people decide to play in a similar fashion, whether it be on FIFA, our 7-a-side league, or perhaps even on Football Manager.
Of course a lot of people in England prefer to see a more physical side to the game, when players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres, or other flair type players come around, they get barrages of abuse, “Get up you girl!” “Smash him!” “Sort your hair out!” Maybe some people prefer to see an ugly side of football, all strength and power, no skill. If that is your way, then I would tell you about a sport called Rugby, and tell you to go and watch it.
That is what separates football from rugby; technical ability is at the heart of the game and it is why football will always be the superior sport both in terms of participation and spectators. Stoke have of course been labelled a rugby team, and I could not agree more, I support Arsenal in one game a year, when they play Stoke, it is everything that I like about our beautiful sport versus everything I dislike about our beautiful sport.
I even struggle to watch them on TV; it actually infuriates me the way they decide to hoof the ball from back to front. Yes, this is acceptable in Sunday league football, perhaps even non-league, but as far as the Premier League is concerned, they are supposed to be one of the top 20 teams out of the thousands in this country; they should be able to entertain their fans in a more enjoyable fashion.
Saying that however, any of you who have ever been to Stoke will know their fans are more suited for living in Babylon than they ever were for living in the 21st Century. However maybe this is just my Spanish DNA that makes me prefer the short-passing and high technical ability side of the game to the rough brute style nature of football.
Be that as it may, Stoke are now competing in their 4th successive Premier League, an achievement that cannot be easily overlooked. Over the past half decade only themselves and Wigan, who are both small clubs in terms of History and fan base, have established themselves as regular Premier League clubs.
Even this season as Wigan will inevitably be fighting for survival, there is never any talk of Stoke being relegated and there has not been since their arrival in the Premier League, Tony Pulis deserves great credit for this achievement, people often overlook his achievements due to their style of football, I may on occasion do this myself, nevertheless he deserves all the plaudits that come his way.
Anyhow, my last word on the matter will be that a couple of seasons ago, Pulis brought in players like Tuncay Sanli and Eidur Gudjohnsen in an attempt to change their brand of football, he was however, unsuccessful. He was forced to revert back to his usual controversial brand of football in order to steer Stoke clear of being drawn into a relegation battle, since then he has made no further attempts to change his style.
I do respect Tony Pulis for the job he has done, but I do hope he tries to make them play a more attractive side of football, because right now he just buys any player who is over 6’3 and it becomes more comical to watch them on each occasion.
By Luke Jospeh @LukeJoseph1
