With the game against Liverpool being less than 48 hours ago, Aston Villa face another challenge in their erratic league campaign. Whilst the weekend may well be viewed as a point gained rather than two lost, despite the fact that it was Liverpool who scored the late equaliser, there is little time to dwell on past games.

Villa face Stoke City, with the club from the Potteries known as something of a bogey team for the team from B6. Stoke have come under much criticism by fans and media pundits alike, often suggesting that Tony Pulis’ footballing style is less, how can I say, “beautiful” than some of the clubs that have been praised for their attitude to how they play football.

Stoke, however, should be credited with adopting a tactic that, whilst less than pretty, actually works. Stoke’s aim when they were first promoted to the Premier League a mere four years ago was to survive, and then become a stable Premier League club. To that end they have fulfilled their own expectations, even if their style isn’t that of a Swansea City or a Norwich.

Are fans right or justified in their criticism of Stoke though? Whilst Pulis’ football may well be more functional than fancy, it does the job. Modern viewers of the game are somewhat spoiled by the idea that football should be “entertainment”, that it should be a spectacle to be enjoyed in the first instance, as though the premise of scoring goals is something of a secondary concern.

The premise of football, as if it isn’t obvious, is to win games. This fascination with tika-taka football, invariably picked up from watching the very best teams in the world, lies with a desire for fans of lesser teams to emulate said football.

Many clubs have tried to do so. Swansea City, without a doubt the surprise package of the year, with Brendan Rodgers a strong candidate for the Manager of the Year accolade, have stuck to a passing philosophy to great effect.

Initially seen as the proverbial whipping boys of the league, the unwanted moniker given to the team that comes up via the Championship play-offs, Rodgers ethos has worked well, largely because of the lack of anything to lose. Since Swansea were expected to be beaten by more established teams, so they can attack knowing that, if all else failed, at least they gave it a good go.

Another club, Wigan Athletic, recent linked with Villa via their manager, Roberto Martinez, have also tried to adopt the same philosophy as Swansea. Martinez, himself a former Swansea manager, can be credited for laying the foundations for Rodgers tenure at the club, although it is arguable that his Wigan team, expected to be something of an evolution of Swansea, are actually something of a pale imitation.

You see, for all of Martinez’s reputation and vaunting for his positive approach to football, Wigan are, at the time of writing, second bottom of the league. They have scored less goals than any other team in the league, even rock bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers, being one of only two teams in the league to average less than a single goal scored per game. The other club with a less than one goal scored average per game? Stoke City.

Surely this statistic proves that the fallacy that Wigan are an attacking team is, at best, flawed and, at worst, a downright lie. Would you call a team that wins every game 1-0 “attacking” and full of flair? Well Wigan aren’t even managing one goal a game, never mind one goal wins.

Wigan are, in my opinion, a pointless team that deserves to go down because they don’t actually play good football, they merely profess to play to entertain and, last time I checked, points were rewarded for goals, not attitude, partly why Stoke are further up the league than Wigan at present.

Their football may look attractive, but if it doesn’t mean progression, and Wigan are more likely to go down this season than any recent one, then it’s a shameless fallacy based solely of style over substance.

The point being made here is that whilst many fans, Villa or not, have vocally backed the idea of evolving a team to play attractive football as priority one. Stoke City, seen as poor relatives in entertainment stakes compared to Wigan, competed in the Europa League this season. Wigan, by the same token, are battling to avoid relegation.

Villa fans haven’t been immune to this strange attraction to the attractive style of play pedalled by Wigan and Swansea. Martinez, himself a regularly suggested candidate for the Villa role, as well as being Villa’s initial choice before the hiring of Alex McLeish, may well have style points over the man who took the job, but he also has more chance of going down.

Say what you want about admiring Wigan, but if I had to choose to have our points balance now or Wigan’s I know who I would choose and, in reality, I think you know who you’d choose too, and it wouldn’t be Wigan.

Villa fans will, invariably, point to the fact that Wigan are smaller than Villa and thus are more susceptible to relegation than a club the size of the one from B6, but how come Stoke City broke the mould?

Surely, in the realms of both football success, and financial success, developing a strategy to win games is of paramount importance, moreso than the concept of just playing attractive football. Swansea City and Norwich will face the difficult “second season” test that being a non-promoted team inflicts, but Stoke City have passed that test with flying colours.

Looking back at the “attractive football” myth, it was regularly pedalled by supporters of Gerard Houllier. Whilst Houllier invariably showed signs of signing more cultured players compared to his predecessor, Martin O’Neill, the fact remains that Houllier was only safe from relegation two games from the end of the season. O’Neill, on the other hand, took three sequential sixth placed finishes.

Getting back to the Stoke game, take a moment to look at how Stoke have progressed. Whilst Villa haven’t had to gain promotion like Stoke did, their resurrection from their current state to a new one will be of a similar challenge. If Villa can learn one tactic as a starting point, it is to become hard to beat. Many who supported the appointment of McLeish suggested that his defensive leanings would solidify the club’s defence, whereas reality has actually showed the reverse.

McLeish, whilst not operating in as much of a defensive manner as many suggest, does leave massive gaps in between midfield and the attacking players, resulting in the proverbial “hoof ball”, which doesn’t exactly act as positive marketing for the club.

As a fan, I don’t care how Villa win games. Technically, the football under O’Neill was far from world class, but it worked. O’Neill has proven, yet again, with his appointment at Sunderland that he can take under-achieving teams and make them work. Ironically, if Villa needed any kind of saviour to come in after O’Neill, it would have been O’Neill – a man motivator who has his team running through brick walls for him.

If someone was to say to me tomorrow “Villa will play long balls but will win every game left in the season”, would you take it? I would, not because I love long ball football, but because I love winning. Give me a league title if it means twenty goals bouncing in off the backside of Emile Heskey over Wigan’s plight any day. Give me Stoke’s placement in the interim, even if it means Delap style throw-ins, if it means avoiding Wigan’s plight.

I honestly don’t care about style at present, merely substance. Those who criticise Stoke City, especially if they manage to take something out of today’s game, will invariably suggest the club peddle anti-football, and should be banished from the league immediately in favour of more Wigan Athletics.

Me? I’d rather be Stoke and winning that Wigan and losing. Football means nothing if you can’t win games and, as Wigan are finding out, sticking to an ethos that doesn’t actually yield results is actually far more idiotic than Pulis’ plans at Stoke.

Criticise Stoke all you want but, for what it’s worth, they are a hard to beat team. Will Villa beat them later today? Fingers crossed, but I wouldn’t be surprised with a draw either.

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