Asmir Begovic hails Mark Hughes for the Potters' silky style after West Ham draw
ASMIR BEGOVIC knows what it is like to play under a manager vilified for his long-ball tactics.
The Stoke goalkeeper also knows how it feels when that boss is suddenly shown the door.
And he can confirm that a parting of the ways can be the best solution for all concerned.
It happened at Stoke to Tony Pulis two years ago and seems certain to happen to Sam Allardyce at West Ham this summer.
The Potters are a top-10 side under Mark Hughes, who has just been rewarded with a new contract.
And they are certainly easier in the eye than they once were. Which is what every West Ham fan craves above all - or so they keep saying.
Begovic, a Potter since 2010, said: "I think we have progressed. The manager has taken the team to a higher level and hopefully if we do the right things in the summer we can do it again next year.
"Obviously people prefer to watch a certain brand of football - keep it on the ground and everything like that. But it's doing it with a purpose.
“I think we have progressed. The manager has taken the team to a higher level and hopefully if we do the right things in the summer we can do it again next year”Asmir Begovic
"We are playing a different way now, trying to play more attacking football and get better results. It's a results business. If you win games, it doesn't matter the style you play.
"We played a different style before which worked for us then. It's no better or worse, just different.
"When you've played for a while under a certain manager you get used to certain ways.
"Credit to the manager, he has come in and from the first day he wanted to do some different things but he also didn't take away from our strengths from before.
"He's not tried to come in and rip everything apart and start from scratch. He has tried to build from the solid base that we had. He's done well."
West Ham were booed off the park after this one - yet again - and it seems inevitable that Allardyce will walk away at the end of the season when his contract expires.
Any successor will have to try to appease the fans with some sophisticated football - while in all probability Allardyce will get another Premier League post and do well in it.
He knows this as well as anyone of course but publicly at least he is still planning for a future in east London, even though last week he admitted he didn't know if he would still be there.
"Next season the players will be better, they will be more experienced, they will be more able to cope than they have this season," he said.
This game pretty much summed up their whole season.
The Hammers began in confident style and took a deserved lead through Aaron Cresswell's super free-kick from 25 yards.
But then they faded badly and only poor finishing and a dollop of good fortune prevented Stoke from levelling before the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Charlie Adam and Jonathan Walters missed chances, substitute Mame Biram Diouf saw a header hit a post before Marko Arnautovic, having seen two earlier efforts ruled out for offside, swept home a last-gasp leveller.
The Austrian said: "Some people have told me that the second was close, and I suppose that is slightly disappointing because if it had counted, then we could have carried on from that momentum and maybe score a potential winner.
"But at the same time, in a way, the decisions helped with our momentum because we were determined to get what was eventually a deserved result for us."
West Ham (4-3-1-2): Adrian 6; Jenkinson 5, Reid 7, Collins 6, Cresswell 7; SONG 7 (Nolan 58, 5), Noble 6, Kouyate 6; Downing 5; Sakho 6 (Cole 59, 5), Valencia 5 (Amalfitano 68, 5). Subs: Jaaskelainen, Jarvis, Nene, O'Brien.
Up next: Manchester City (a) Premier League, Sunday
Stoke (4-2-3-1): Begovic 6; Cameron 6, Shawcross 6, Wollscheid 6, Wilson 6 (Pieters 49, 6); N'Zonzi 7, Whelan 6 (Ireland 57, 7); ARNAUTOVIC 8, Adam 6, Moses 7 (Diouf 44, 6); Walters 6. Subs: Butland, Bardsley, Sidwell, Crouch.
Up next: Southampton (h) Premier League, Saturday
Referee: Roger East 6
Star player: Marko Arnautovic - Persistence paid off
Star shocker: Carl Jenkinson - Shaky at the back
Match rating: 1
Olivier Giroud: We've remembered how to win ugly to keep the pressure on Chelsea
Olivier Giroud says Arsenal are sitting pretty as Chelsea's main title rivals because they have finally remembered how to win ugly.
The Gunners have strung together an eight-match winning run in the league to take a grip on second place and give themselves a sniff of catching Jose Mourinho's leaders.
A week after demolishing Liverpool 4-1 with some sparkling football, Arsenal showed a different side to their game as they ground out a 1-0 win against a dogged Burnley thanks to Aaron Ramsey's 12th-minute strike.
Giroud said: "You can't play your best football every game.
"We tried to be focused on not conceding and it's one more clean sheet.
"As long as we were winning the game, I don't think we were in too much danger. We were really pleased.
"It was a tough game for us and we were a bit lucky. We did well to score early in the game because it was pretty hard for us.
“You can't play your best football every game. We tried to be focused on not conceding and it's one more clean sheet”Olivier Giroud
"Burnley play with a lot of determination and it was a big fight. It was a big win for us."
Frenchman Giroud had scored 10 goals in 10 matches but hardly made an impact against the Clarets.
He managed just one shot on goal before being replaced by Danny Welbeck late on.
But he doesn't mind as long as the team are winning.
The Turf Moor victory meant it was the first time the Gunners have won eight in a row since the vintage 'Invincibles' team of 2003-04.
One more - ironically against Chelsea a week on Sunday - will set a new club record.
Giroud said: "It's really good for us and I'm really proud to take part in this performance but we don't want to stop here.
"We want to carry on and keep this good run going until the end."
Even Arsenal's winner was hardly a thing of beauty. A sloppy pass from the back by Burnley captain Jason Shackell gave the ball away and the Gunners pounced.
Alexis Sanchez saw a shot blocked before Mesut Ozil's follow-up drive was saved by Tom Heaton but Ramsey was on hand to sweep the ball into the roof of the net for his ninth goal of the season.
After that, Arsenal looked more concerned with protecting their lead and goalkeeper David Ospina was the busier of the two keepers.
He dived to push away Kieran Tripper's free-kick and then held Danny Ings's acrobatic effort after Scott Arfield's chipped through-ball.
Boss Arsene Wenger said: "Sometimes you cannot always win 3-1 or 4-1 or 5-1. In the season as well you have to be capable as well to win 1-0 and I am glad we can do that as well.
"We are already in a position that nobody believed possible one month ago for us so we just focus on ourselves and see where we stand at the end of the season.
"I would just remind you that we won a championship without losing a game. We are the only one who has done that. Nobody else has done that.
"We prepare always but people forget that we had big players out for four months and at some stages six or seven players from the squad completely out so that made a big difference."
For Burnley, there was a sense of what might have been.
Victory would have lifted them to a season-high placing of 16th but they lacked a cutting edge in the final third.
Striker Ashley Barnes said: "It just wouldn't fall. We had a couple of those occasions. It was taking that extra touch and losing it and then they keep the ball for fun. We found that difficult.
"I think we were unlucky. If a couple of those just bobble to you or we make the right decisions in the final third then maybe we go on and get a point.
"We take everything we can from these games. People don't expect us to win but look at the Man City game, we turned them over.
"If we could have got something it would have been a bonus but we get cracking again next week at Everton."
Burnley (4-4-2): Heaton 7, Trippier 6, Shackell 5, Duff 6, MEE 7; Boyd 6, Arfield 6, Jones 7 (Taylor, 90), Barnes 6; Ings 6, Vokes 6. Subs: Gilks, Keane, Ward, Kightly, Jutkiewicz, Ulvestad.
Up next: Reading, FA Cup, Saturday.
Arsenal (4-1-4-1): Ospina 7; Bellerin 5, Koscielny 7, Mertesacker 7, Monreal 6; COQUELIN 8; Ozil 6, Ramsey 6, Cazorla 6, Sanchez 6 (Chambers 90); Giroud 5 (Welbeck 82). Subs: Szczesny, Gibbs, Rosicky, Walcott, Flamini.
Up next: Everton (a), Premier League, Saturday.
Referee: Mike Dean 7
Your turn: Which Spain star equalised for Arsenal the last time they visited Burnley, in a 1-1 draw in December 2009?
STAR PLAYER: Francis Coquelin - Dominant
STAR SHOCKER: Jason Shackell - costly error
MATCH RATING: 2
Jamie Vardy wins Leicester's Grand National sweepstake to top dream day
LEICESTER match-winner Jamie Vardy doesn't need telling that every cloud has a silver lining.
He picked 'Many Clouds' in the Grand National sweepstake before kick off and then helped his Premier League outsiders romp home with a crucial late winner.
The former part-timer came off the pitch with the roar of the crowd ringing in his ears and the sound of cash tinkling in his pocket.
Just minutes after his stoppage time winner, Vardy made his way to the dressing room to be told he'd bagged the cash in the dressing room sweep just for good measure.
Vardy said: "I'm not particularly a racing fan but I've just won the sweepstake so I'm buzzing. It's been a pretty decent day.
"Winning that was nice but make no mistake three points were the main thing."
Vardy's cool and classy finish gave bottom side Leicester back to back wins and gives them a fighting chance of staging a last-gasp escape.
“I'm not particularly a racing fan but I've just won the sweepstake so I'm buzzing. It's been a pretty decent day”Leicester
That looked unlikely when West Brom twice took the lead through goals from Darren Fletcher and Craig Gardner.
But they couldn't shrug Leicester off and Nigel Pearson's battlers managed to get level twice through David Nugent and Robert Huth.
West Brom really should have killed them off long before Vardy cashed in on Gareth McAuley's dallying and streaked away to snatch the win.
The striker insists the feeling in the dressing room is that Leicester can get out of trouble.
Vardy added: "We feel like we belong here. We've never been battered and we've always given a good account of ourselves."
West Brom have been 'almost' safe for a while now - and maybe that's the problem.
They have tailed off markedly in recent weeks and need to get out of the losing habit quickly because they could still get dragged into danger.
Former England defender Joleon Lescott admitted the worsening situation is not lost on the players
Lescott said: "Every game's a cup final now. That's the way we've been thinking but it's probably hitting home now that we're in the mix."
Brassed-off Baggies boss Tony Pulis has told his men from day one that they need to get over the line before anything else.
Pulis said: "We are hoping and praying we get a few breaks.
"Goodness knows how many points we will need. We just need as many points and a better goal difference.
"I'm not sure any of the players thought they were safe but if they have, they have a rude awakening."
WEST BROM (4-4-2): Myhill 6; Dawson 5, McAuley 5, Lescott 5, Brunt 6; MORRISON 7 (Sessegnon 85), Fletcher 7, Yacob 6, Gardner 7 (Olsson 73), Ideye 5 (Anichebe 60, 5), Berahino 6. Subs: Rose, Wisdom, Baird, McManaman.
Up next: Crystal Palace (a), Premier League, Saturday
LEICESTER (4-4-2): Schmeichel 6; De Laet 5 (Wasilewski 45, 6), Morgan 7, Huth 7, Schlupp 7; James 6 (King 60, 6), Albrighton 6, Vardy 8, CAMBIASSO 8; Nugent 7, Ulloa 6 (Mahrez 64, 6). Subs: Schwarzer, Konchesky, Drinkwater, Kramaric.
Up next: Swansea (h), Premier League, Saturday
Referee: Martin Atkinson 9
Your turn: Who scored a hat-trick the last time Leicester won at Albion, 4-1 in the Championship in March 2008?
STAR MAN: ESTEBAN CAMBIASSO - quick thinker
STAR SHOCKER: GARETH McAULEY - off colour
MATCH RATING: 4
| 1 | Chelsea | 31 | 38 | 73 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 32 | 31 | 66 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 32 | 29 | 65 |
| 4 | Man City | 32 | 31 | 61 |
| 5 | Southampton | 32 | 22 | 56 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 31 | 9 | 54 |
| 7 | Tottenham | 32 | 4 | 54 |
| 8 | Swansea | 32 | -2 | 47 |
| 9 | West Ham | 32 | 2 | 43 |
| 10 | Stoke | 32 | -4 | 43 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 32 | -1 | 42 |
| 12 | Everton | 32 | -3 | 38 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 31 | -16 | 35 |
| 14 | West Brom | 32 | -16 | 33 |
| 15 | Aston Villa | 33 | -21 | 32 |
| 16 | Sunderland | 32 | -23 | 29 |
| 17 | Hull | 32 | -16 | 28 |
| 18 | QPR | 33 | -21 | 26 |
| 19 | Burnley | 32 | -24 | 26 |
| 20 | Leicester | 31 | -19 | 25 |
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário