Comments on: Stoke City’s style of football – right or wrong?

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 04:27:01 +0000

Reading this article, I whole-heartily agree. Who cares what style a team plays so long as they’re producing the results that they are? I live in the United States and am fortunate enough to be exposed to a lot of different sports, sports teams, and the different approaches that these teams play their respective sports. For instance in ice hockey, the New Jersey Devils are often heavily criticized for playing a very low-scoring, defensive, style of game compared to many other teams in the National Hockey League. But guess what? They produce, consistently, amazing results year in and year out. Who cares if the Devils play a boring style? Winning is all that matters, at the end of the day.

I think it’s the same story with Stoke. If the Premier League were composed of teams all playing a form of total-football or tiki-taka, both technical styles that rely heavily upon teams having world-class players, then I that would mean that success in the League would only be reserved for an elite few clubs like Man Utd and Chelsea simply because only such teams have the financial means to afford the talent. Essentially, it would be like Barcelona and Real Madrid all over again.

This is why I like Stoke City as a club. They know they won’t be able to compete with bigger clubs like Man City playing the same way they do. Instead, with the limited amount of talent that they have, they produced a unique approach to playing football that gives them a chance regardless of talent level.

By: James Bayley

James Bayley — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:06:19 +0000

Thanks for your comments. I wrote the article on Stoke style of play – right or wong? because I did’nt believe there is right or wrong way to play football and was sick of the anti-Stoke bandwagon. Stoke have not been given the praise they deserve staying in the PL.

By: Richard Allen

Richard Allen — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:43:37 +0000

A great article, very engaging. Few months back I read a piece from the Mirror which was criticising Stoke’s direct style and saying they anti football, I’m no Stoke fan but I was angry by the mainstream media criticism of Stoke, who aren’t the most entertaining team to watch in the PL but they the most effective. This article is the first in while to praise Stoke’s direct style instead of jumping onto the anti-Stoke bandwagon. Well written.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:28:10 +0000

By: Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:22:19 +0000

Fantastic article, its unique in the respect that it does not criticise Stoke direct style of play, like most of the mainstream articles in the media do. I’m no Stoke fan but I have the highest respect for Tony Pulis’ hard working team, who remind me of how football used to be played in the seventies when men were men and not overpaid footballes.

The article is interesting read which really praises Stoke’s style instead of the stereotypical critic who label Stoke as the “rugby” team. One the best articles I have read on Stoke.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:03:35 +0000

good article, i don’t think stoke will evolve under pulis though, it would have taken a holloway type to transform them

By: John

John — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 15:55:24 +0000

Fantastic and interesting read, one the best Stoke aticles Ive read, Im season ticket holder at Stoke for over 25 years and seen all styles down the Brit. As Stoke fans sing; “We play how we want!” We may not play fancy tip tap football like Arsenal but we do what we do effectively and kept us in the top fight for while now and doesnt look to change. We need to evolve and change to make the step foward as the article rightly states but it hits the nail on the head and gets to the point. Excellent piece from Stoke fans perspective that is.