Mancini and the long ball

[blues2win]

Stop moaning about it Mancini FFS. Yesterday he complained that in the second half Everton used long ball, long ball, long ball. He made the same complaint about Blackburn's tactics in the second half against us. Get over it Bobby. Stoke have taken note. They will play a hard physical game trying in particular to kick Silva out of the game. And yes they will play long ball, long ball, long ball especially since they have seen that you look rattled by this approach.

To counter Stoke the players need to be told that they're a much better group who can keep the ball and leave Stoke chasing shadows all afternoon. The last thing they need is negative vibes and built in excuses. We had enough of that stuff recently about how tired they were.

Stay positive and we can deal with Spurs on Tuesday and Stoke on Saturday. Forza Mancini!

[Dameerto]

Longballs didnt beat us anyway, they scored from a corner, then their second came from passing it around (on the ground) in midfield before running down their right and getting a cross in for a headed goal.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Of course Stoke will use the long ball to Jones and if he has a good game it will be very hard for us.At his best Jones is awesome in the air and if he gets onto balls and they can then fight for the ball high up we will be under a lot of pressure. Mancini has to send out a team to expect and cope with this.Not react to it later and say they just played long ball etc etc.

Arsenal were the perfect team for Stoke to practice against today .We play football through the middle like they do and to be honest Stoke dealt with them with ease. I never thought Arsenal looked like scoring at all and although Stoke didn't try that hard,with too many players to get forward they have a method using Jones,Walters and Pennant which works for them.

No easy game for sure but if we get it right,play with quality,take chances and have a strong attitude we will be fine.

[Original Dub]

I take it Mancini was at the Stoke game today? I mean its only expected given the game next sat?

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I take it Mancini was at the Stoke game today? I mean its only expected given the game next sat?

I was surprised not to see cameras on him but i am sure he will have been there.

[Ted Hughes]

I take it Mancini was at the Stoke game today? I mean its only expected given the game next sat?

I was surprised not to see cameras on him but i am sure he will have been there.

We know what Stoke will do so I imagine Bob does.

We should tell Lescott to concentrate on stopping Jones getting a clean head on the ball & organise the rest of the defence to pick up the 2nd ball. No doubt Vinny will be stood watching him head it instead.

The unfortunate thing about having wusses like ~Balotelli & Dzeko is that, in the old days, we could tell Joe Royle, Kiddo, or more recently Wanchope or the Goat to do the same with Huth & they would do. Give that Job to either of our nice boys & he'll eat them alive.

[blues2win]

We really need a firm referee to stop Stoke hacking Silva out of the game. They will do everything to stop him playing because if he does get going he's far better than anything they have on their side.

Stoke will miss Huth if he's out which is clearly a possibility judging by Pulis's post match comments.

I'd definitely play AJ because we do need width playing at Wembley. The question is whether Micah and Tevez should play. I'd say yes if they're deemed absolutely match fit, no otherwise. Tevez will really help in winning the ball back in dangerous positions and he hasn't forgotten how to bang them in, I'm sure. If Balotelli starts there's a danger that Stoke will try to get him sent off by exploiting his short fuse. Micah brings his athleticism and sheer physical strength which is a big asset against Stoke.