Stoke: never has there been a bigger cack hole. Never has a side produced such an affront to football. Never has one set of supporters been so blind to what they watch week in, week out. I sat on the bus back to the train station with the misguided fools yesterday and honestly pitied them.
Yes, they were in the next round of the FA Cup and we were out on our arse and it should have been me looking for some comfort as another chance of a major honour slipped by and the silverware year-ometre edged nearer to six without a prize. But it was they who need the sympathy.
This rain-sodden, hapless mass babbled excitedly about the next round and even Wembley. Who are they kidding? If a moronic bunch of no-marks such as these ever muscle their way to lifting the great old cup I shall be on a Swiss-bound plane to Dignitas.
Tony Pulis is a stalwart type who likes to defend his abominable approach to the Beautiful Game by trotting out his ‘we are playing to our strengths’ line. Fair enough, many would say. Not me. At some point Pulis and his ilk need to at least try to play the game, surely? Otherwise, what is the point? The day we stop striving to improve as individuals and collectively is a bleak day indeed. But it is a day that comes around all to often at the soulless, half-empty monstrosity that is the Britannia Stadium. God, that was depressing yesterday — except for Harry’s Bar in the town centre with Strongbow at £1.50 a pint!
Many would argue that we were the architects of our own downfall because of side AW picked, but if we blame his selection, we blame him and if we blame him we lose sight of the his overall brilliance. Lose faith in AW and we might as well employ Pulis and his mindless musclemen. We must keep faith in AW — after all in AW we trust, right?
Anyway, enough of my bleating and we must turn our attention to this morning’s papers. The Daily Mail finds AW talking about the busy fixture list. Wenger admitted: ‘Physically, Stoke were stronger. We were always exposed to a fight and some players were a bit young to cope with it. We didn’t want to go out of the Cup.
‘But if you look at our schedule, it’s simple to see that you cannot always play with the same 11. If you change it and you don’t win, it’s your fault.Stoke were sharp, physical and always dangerous in the air. We weakened as the game went on and they got stronger and stronger in the one-against-ones. It was a game that was more physical than technical.’
More from AW in the Mirror: “It is important to focus on the Premier League because we are in an interesting position and we have some very important games coming up.
“We picked a team to try to win but we had 10 injuries so it was always going to be difficult. It is too simplistic to say the Cup comes second because we wanted to win the game and didn’t want to go out….but if you look at our schedule it is obvious we know we can not play the same team every game.
“I can only stand up now and hold my hands up and say that is the team I picked and we lost the game.
“Sol Campbell did very well and was surprisingly fit for a guy who hasn’t played for so long. he tired at the end but that is natural, and he did very well,” he said.
“Today it was overall an encouraging performance from Sol, certainly what we have seen today is that he is motivated. He works very hard in training and for me he has been rewarded for the commitment he puts in in training.”
And in the Sun: “I’ve got no regrets about the selection. I didn’t have much choice as – apart from Gallas – Sagna, Vermaelen and Clichy could not play. They will be back for Aston Villa in midweek and might have missed that if they’d played against Stoke – apart from Gallas. If you look at our schedule, you can’t always play the same eleven.”
That’s do you for today, folks, and if anyone wants my ticket for the league game up there in a few weeks apply within.
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