KZNSeagull
Well-known member
I missed the first 20 minutes or so as the local station had to finish the Chelsea match first and they couldn't possibly put the match on another channel, so cannot comment on that but, I would say the following (bare in mind that the only other game I have seen this season is the Bournemouth match at home):
First half I thought Albion looked a bit slow and unsure.
Second half I thought they were very good. Played the ball really nicely and tried hard to break down an extremely stubborn defence, one that even top Premiership teams struggle against, especially when Stoke are at home. They created a few decent chances towards the end and were only lacking the clinical final ball, one that I would not expect League 1 players to make every time anyway (if they could, they would not be League 1 players). The confidence the side showed in playing their way out of trouble was excellent.
There is no shame in losing to a Prem team away from home. What the second half showed is that the team did not panic, carried on playing the way they wanted to play and they held there own. That is a huge positive. Gus will analyse why they struggled to break Stoke down and use it as a massive learning experience for the players to take forward into the rest of the season. They should learn a lot from this game that they can use positively for the rest of the season.
I could see that they have improved massively from the Bournemouth game. I see no reason why they cannot continue to improve, learn from their mistakes against a better team and carry on in the league as they have been.
First half I thought Albion looked a bit slow and unsure.
Second half I thought they were very good. Played the ball really nicely and tried hard to break down an extremely stubborn defence, one that even top Premiership teams struggle against, especially when Stoke are at home. They created a few decent chances towards the end and were only lacking the clinical final ball, one that I would not expect League 1 players to make every time anyway (if they could, they would not be League 1 players). The confidence the side showed in playing their way out of trouble was excellent.
There is no shame in losing to a Prem team away from home. What the second half showed is that the team did not panic, carried on playing the way they wanted to play and they held there own. That is a huge positive. Gus will analyse why they struggled to break Stoke down and use it as a massive learning experience for the players to take forward into the rest of the season. They should learn a lot from this game that they can use positively for the rest of the season.
I could see that they have improved massively from the Bournemouth game. I see no reason why they cannot continue to improve, learn from their mistakes against a better team and carry on in the league as they have been.
