Mark Hughes half time changes

[Bridge]

On Saturday our formation was 433 and I think Stoke were playing more or less the same system. In the first half we were the better team and more on top. Stoke defended very well and kept their back line in shape which made it hard for us to score…set piece aside.

 

Can anyone tell me what Mark Hughes did at half time to make it much harder for us? I tend to watch more what we do in terms of shape subs etc. because I know our players and what they can do. Ronald mentions this after the game that they changed things and you could see we struggled much more in the second half. But can anyone refine what Hughes did ?

[Chez]

he brought Diouf on to play alongside Crouch. They were effectively playing a 4-2-4 formation which for a period caused us a few problems. More bodies, more pace. As simple as that really.

[Mowgli]

On Saturday our formation was 433 and I think Stoke were playing more or less the same system. In the first half we were the better team and more on top. Stoke defended very well and kept their back line in shape which made it hard for us to score…set piece aside.

 

Can anyone tell me what Mark Hughes did at half time to make it much harder for us? I tend to watch more what we do in terms of shape subs etc. because I know our players and what they can do. Ronald mentions this after the game that they changed things and you could see we struggled much more in the second half. But can anyone refine what Hughes did ?

 

Is that you Poch?

[Trumush]

Is that you Poch?

 

Priceless !!!!

[Bearsy]

he took Charlie Adam off

[Lighthouse]

I wouldn't say Stoke were all that much better second half we were just worse. We gave the ball away needlessly on several occasions and Pelle missed two decent headed chances which were both easier than the one Diouf missed at the far post.

[Torrent Of Abuse]

Is that you Poch?

He'll give you a straight answer to that question - but only in May.

[S-Clarke]

They didn't create anything of note, we lost a bit of control in the 2nd half, but they still didn't cause us any headaches generally speaking. Crouch was their outlet for 60 mins or so, and we quite often just stood off and allowed him to win the first ball - with Crouch it's very often all about the 2nd ball in the build up process. That's what we seemed to focus on at points in that first half.

 

It'll be interesting to see how they go on Wednesday. I think we'll probably see Diouf up top, he's not the most refined player, but he has pace which will undoubtedly open the game up more.

[richardc]

I thought they closed us down a lot quicker and more persistently and like at Spurs we struggle when that happens - it pushed us into making unforced errors by giving the ball away or getting court in possession

[The9]

I thought it was very surprising that they brought Mame Biram Diouf on and didn't try a single through ball in the entire second half.

 

Wanyama coming on was a decent response to that possibility, Gardos coming on was pre-emptive to them hoiking it at Crouch and the centre backs in injury time. We finished the match with 2 defensive midfielders, 3 centre backs and two full backs and STILL looked more likely to score than Stoke.

[Smirking_Saint]

Nothing groundbreaking really, he took off adam and walters and added some more pace into his attack. It gave them more options upfront and effectively pushed us back a bit, and made us think twice about camping so far forward

 

As others have said though, despite effectively playing with 4 attackers they didnt really look particularly threatening

[Badger]

He'll give you a straight answer to that question - but only in May.

 

and then it will be in Spanish

[Goatboy]

he took Charlie Adam off

This.

Clogger Adam was in a different class to the other midfielders on display.

Unfortunately for Stoke it was a few levels below everybody else.

Edited 27 October, 2014 by Goatboy

[T.REX]

I thought they closed us down a lot quicker and more persistently and like at Spurs we struggle when that happens - it pushed us into making unforced errors by giving the ball away or getting court in possession

 

This is how i saw it. First half it seemed like they were just going to defend deep and try to counter attack. Second half brought on Diouf; upped the intensity, pressed higher up the pitch a lot more. Made it difficult because it meant we couldn't get into a passing rhythm and if we tried to knock it long they won header after header, though Pelle did have some success when he dropped deep to lay it off.