The Spanish side are third in La Liga but they are in for a culture shock when they come up against Tony Pulis' Stoke City
It is probably the nearest we will get to seeing whether Andy Gray had a point when he suggested a year or so ago that Barcelona and Lionel Messi would struggle on a cold night at the Britannia Stadium. Third in La Liga and twice runners-up in the Champions League, Valencia arrived in the Potteries on Wednesday (words that most football fans never thought they would read in the same sentence) for a Europa League tie with Stoke that represents a major clash of cultures.
Although Valencia are not in the same class as Barcelona, and comparisons between Pablo Piatti, the diminutive Argentina left-winger in their squad, and Messi come to an end when both players step on the pitch, there is still much to be admired about Unai Emery's stylish team and their brand of pass-them-to-death football. Indeed, of the 32 clubs in the group stage of the Champions League this season only Barcelona and Manchester United had more possession than Valencia, who dropped into the Europa League after finishing behind Chelsea and Bayer Leverkusen.
Stoke's remarkable success under Tony Pulis over the past six seasons has been built on more direct methods and, although the manager has brought in talented individuals over time, the basic principles remain the same. This season Stoke have had less possession than any other Premier League team (39.38%), made fewer passes than anyone else (7,282 ? 1,000 passes fewer than Blackburn, the next lowest) and played a higher percentage of long balls (20.4%) than the rest of the top flight.
Yet those figures have proved to be a strength rather than a weakness in the Premier League and, judging by the way that Stoke have adapted so well to returning to European football after a 37-year absence ? their only defeat in 10 matches was in Besiktas, in December, when they had already qualified for the knock-out stage ? it would be understandable if Valencia felt a little anxious ahead of the first leg of their last-32 tie tonight.
"I don't think they will have played against a side like ours," said Peter Crouch, who has an impressive record of 24 goals in 52 European matches. "We are physical and use that to our advantage and that is maybe something that they wouldn't have come across in Spain. We will use anything in our power to try to make them uncomfortable."
Not that Valencia are likely to be caught by surprise by Stoke's tactics. Emery, who has impressively rebuilt the Valencia side after losing the world-class trio of David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata for a combined total of �74m during the last 18 months, is meticulous with his preparation.
He always requests a DVD on upcoming opponents and edits it himself before presenting it to the players. He also provides each member of the team with a USB stick containing information on the player he will be directly up against. In other words Rory Delap's long throws, Matthew Etherington's crosses from the left and Robert Huth's threat on set pieces will be as ingrained in Valencia minds as Messi's sinuous runs for Barcelona.
Pulis has also done his homework. He has tapped into the knowledge of Rafael Ben�tez, the former Valencia and Liverpool manager, and travelled to Spain on Sunday to watch the 2002 and 2004 La Liga Champions defeat Sporting Gij�n 4-0. "They're a good side," said Pulis, whose team have lost their last four Premier League matches. "The important thing is we're very patient and don't get chasing the ball. They played Chelsea and they had 72-73% possession at Stamford Bridge. They played Barcelona the other week, drew 1-1 and were unlucky not to beat them. That's testament to what they've got."
Intriguingly Valencia will play Barcelona again on Sunday, at the Camp Nou, on the same day that Stoke have their own seismic shift to contend with, as the Premier League club prepare to be brought back to earth with a bump. Sandwiched between the first leg against Valencia and next Thursday's trip to the Mestalla is a fifth-round FA Cup tie at Broadfield Stadium, home of League Two Crawley Town, where the capacity is just under 5,000.
For the moment, however, Pulis is thinking only about the visit of Valencia and the prospect of a special occasion under the lights when Stoke hope to make a little history. "I just think it's a great game for this city, which had been deprived of Premiership football for so long. To get Premiership football has been fantastic. Now we're playing one of the great teams of Europe in a night game at the Britannia ? it's the icing on the cake for everybody."
Stoke (4-4-1-1, probable): Begovic; Huth, Woodgate, Shawcross, Wilson; Pennant, Delap, Whelan, Etherington; Walters; Crouch
Valencia (4-4-2, probable): Guaita; Barrag�n, Rami, Ricardo Costa, Mathieu; Ever Banega, Albelda, Feghouli, Piatti; Aduriz, Soldado
Referee P Rasmussen (Denmark)
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/feb/15/valencia-stoke-city-culture-shock
No comments:
Post a Comment