This weekend saw a Premier League record broken with a whopping 29 goals being scored on a six game Saturday. Yet only slightly more than a third of these goals were scored by traditional centre forwards, this seems to point to a general trend of moving away from the use of a traditional centre forward. Liverpool have totally given up with the use of a centre forward, and Arsenal are having great success, as we saw this weekend, with moving Alexis Sanchez into the role dubbed the ‘false nine’.
Of the 434 goals scored so far this season, only 131 have been scored by those traditionally considered to be a centre forward, meaning almost 70% of Premier League goals are scored by players other than a traditional centre forward. Great, nice stat, so what? Well with Divock Origi scoring for Liverpool today Stoke became the side with the joint least goals from a striker, 2 level with Liverpool. The main issue here is that Stoke, unlike nearest low striker scorers Arsenal (3 all from Giroud) and Liverpool (2 all from Origi), have started a recognised striker for a majority of our matches.
Stoke suffered yet another defeat to the hands of Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon to the tune of a 3-1 loss. Charlie Adam’s penalty did give Stoke the lead midway through the first half, however Theo Walcott’s equaliser came swiftly afterwards and second half strikes from Mesut Ozil and Alex Iwobi doomed Stoke to yet another pointless trip to North London. Stoke had periods, especially during the first half, where they were displaying their best chance of nicking something from the Gunners in their own back yard for the first time in the Premier League, but Arsenal’s quality in abundance ended up to be too much for the Potters.
Mark Hughes was forced into a singular change from the side that beat Burnley the previous weekend: Jon Walters picked up a thigh strain in training, so there was a reshuffle to the attacking trident with Joe Allen filling in with Xherdan Shaqiri behind Marko Arnautovic who led the line. The space on the bench was filled by youngster Julien Ngoy, reclaiming his seat from the Watford victory after missing out last match. Once again, the bench contained no recognised defensive options, with the likes of Geoff Cameron, Ryan Shawcross and Phil Bardsley still unavailable.
The Potters take a trip to the Capital and face off with the Gunners at the ever fruitless Emirates Stadium. This is the only ground that Stoke have never managed to claim a point at in the Premier League, with our last win away at Arsenal coming in 1981/82 season. However Mark Hughes will be hopeful as Stoke recently put to bed a much worse record at Old Trafford earlier this year.
Both teams enter the match in scintillating form. Stoke have only lost 1 game in 9 (W5, D3) and Arsenal are on a 13 game unbeaten run. The match promises to be an interesting clash as Stokies will be hoping Mark Hughes continues to use the 343 that has looked so effective over the past few weeks.
Stoke City are in a glorious place right now: sitting comfortably in the top half of the Premier League and agonisingly close to some of England’s top football clubs. They’re capable of scoring terrific goals, assured in defence and winning games in a professional, yet entertaining, manner. Players are being rewarded for playing impressively, however team performances haven’t dipped when fringe players have been introduced due to injury, suspension or as a reward for their patience. The club has found multiple ways of changing up its play style and a clearer long-term plan seems to be in place in order to help the club grow and achieve. Putting it simply: Mark Hughes hasn’t had the credit he’s deserved over the last couple of months.
Stoke had a horrific start to the season: earning just one point from fifteen, conceding goals left, right and centre and looked uninspiring and inept. However, the win against Burnley last weekend means that Mark Hughes’ Stoke City have only lost once in their last nine Premier League games, picking up all five of their wins during that period. During this time, they have conceded just five goals and scored thirteen. This remarkable run of form means that Stoke have nineteen points and sit comfortably in ninth position, just two points away from Manchester United in sixth place. Before this run, the Stoke manager had a proportion of fans calling for his head and understandably so with the club looking doomed to a relegation battle – for a short time after the embarrassing Crystal Palace game, I was one of them. However, if we look at the two periods in isolation, the last nine games have resulted in Stoke being one of the most in form teams in Europe (spread across a season, that’s title winning form). It could be argued that Stoke should be winning against the kinds of opposition they have been facing recently; although don’t forget that Stoke have come unstuck many a time against similar opponents in recent years. Mark Hughes should be as highly praised right now as heavily scrutinised he was months ago.
Stoke have a generational issue within their fan base, the older generation hold an idea how the club belongs more to them than it does to anyone else, there I said it. This issue has reared its head again in the discussion over tonight’s FA Cup 3rd round draw and who fans want to see drawn out of the red velvet bag to face the Potters. But this is not the first time that it has been prevalent this season.
Earlier this year, and I apologise for making anyone think about this game again, after the Crystal Palace drubbing I appeared on a fan reaction video saying that it was probably the worst Stoke performance I had ever seen. I still stand by this comment as I have never felt so disappointed and angered by a Stoke performance. But some outright rejected my argument, questioning whether or not I had watched matches that were played before the date of my birth.
Stoke will hold their place in the top half of the Premier League table once again this weekend after the 2-0 triumph over Burnley on Saturday afternoon at the bet365 Stadium. It could be argued that Stoke played their best football of the season during the first half of this match, in which both Jon Walters and Marc Muniesa both hit spectacular volleys to allow Stoke to kill the game in the second half. Despite the match statistics suggesting the game was an even contest, it was the home side who had by far the better chances and made the win look comfortable against a Burnley side which only benefited from brief spells of dominance.
Glenn Whelan and Joe Allen were both available for selection after their respective injury and ban, giving Mark Hughes a massive selection dilemma heading into a game off the back of a solid away win against Watford. Hughes opted, rather surprisingly to most, to name an unchanged side and leave both of his returning midfield warriors on the bench. They were included on the bench, meaning youngsters Julien Ngoy and Thibaud Verlinden missed out on the 18 man squad after being included last week.
Burnley started the game by forcing Stoke to play a high tempo game, they were pressing from the front and forced the Potters in a couple of mistakes early on and carved a couple of half chances, one of which forcing an intelligent clawed save from Lee Grant. The majority of their chances were rules out for offside though, being caught three times in the first five minutes. Once Stoke settled into the game, they were the ones creating the scoring opportunities and no one came closer than Bruno Martins Indi: an excellent corner from Xherdan Shaqiri found the head of the Dutchman but his bullet header crashed into the foot of the near post, denying him his first well deserved Stoke City goal. Giannelli Imbula picked up the rebound of that strike, but his bending effort whipped past the post and away to safety for Burnley.
It wasn’t much later that Stoke found the breakthrough: a wonderful one touch move involving a one-two with Mame Diouf and Shaqiri and a great cross from the Senegal international into Jon Walters who took the cross on the volley and chipped Paul Robinson with a delicate effort that nestled into the far post and to give Stoke the lead. You could feel the relief around the stadium when the ball found the net after concerns that Walters was trying to find a teammate at the far post, however, on closer inspection his body language suggests that the chip was intentional. Fifteen minutes later, Stoke doubled their lead courtesy of Marc Muniesa: the Spanish centre half jinked past three onrushing Burnley players and a quick counter attacking move ended with Arnautovic cutting back to Muniesa, who had continued his run from the back, and the sweet left footed volley that followed flew past Robinson for 2-0. After over three years at Stoke, Marc Muniesa had his first Premier League goal and his face echoed his obvious delight; but the magnificent way he took the move from start to finish would suggest to the untrained eye he’s a seasoned centre-forward. Half time followed shortly afterwards and put an end to some of the best football that Mark Hughes’ Stoke have played all season, epitomised by an imposing string of passes sprinkled with flair and ole’s from the crowd.
The second half was a much duller affair as Stoke were obviously looking to see out their two goal lead for the remainder of the game. This allowed Burnley a little more time on the ball and create a few more chances. Most notable of which was a shot from Ben Mee, who had a shot from outside the box and stung the hands of Lee Grant, but he was able to comfortably tip over the bar. In the midst of all the chances, Scott Arfield appeared to elbow Martins Indi in the face, leaving the Stoke defender in a heap on the ground; analysis after the game suggests that Bruno could be out of a couple of game with a fractured cheekbone, perhaps the Burnley man should have seen a red card for his actions. Stoke had a chance of their own: Joe Allen, who come on as a substitute, was found completely open by Arnautovic in the box. The Welshman took his shot first time and had the entire goal to aim at, sadly he found the body of Robinson and the chance to seal the game for good went begging. The game’s final chance fell to Burnley’s Gray, he had a shot from just inside the box and it was going on target, until Grant was there once again to deny Burnley with a terrific save.
Stoke have now only lost one game in their last nine and have completed their recovery from rock bottom of the table to securing top half status heading out of a matchday weekend. It was a period which Stoke fans identified as one of opportunity and reclaim the many points that were lost in the opening winless run. At full time yesterday, Stoke were one point away from West Brom in sixth place and have only conceded five goals in the last eight games; quite unbelievable when Stoke were conceding four goals a game three months ago. Now comes an incredibly tough Christmas period, with away fixtures such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all coming up in December. Some may see now that Stoke have tallied a fair number of points in the last few games, they can afford to suffer in the next few matches with little consequences. But Stoke are playing some of the best football, particularly defensively, in the Mark Hughes era and it should be seen as a prime opportunity to claim some major victories against some established clubs and really send out a statement to the rest of the league that Stoke are fighting for European football. For now, it’s worth reflecting on a period in which Potters fans expect their team to come unstuck against these less established sides and recognising that their team has now found a way of scoring thrilling goals, defending tirelessly and, most crucially, winning football matches under and circumstances.
May the momentum roll on, I could get used to this.
Performances
Lee Grant: 7 – not exactly busy, but excellent when required.
Glen Johnson: 6 – wasted at centre back, but kept a clean sheet.
Bruno Martins Indi: 8 – my man of the match, once again fantastic at the back.
Marc Muniesa: 8 – great, aggressive defending and a well deserved goal to boot.
Mame Diouf: 7 – tireless work ethic and added some silky play too.
Charlie Adam: 5 – one of those games for him, but did perform in flashes.
Giannelli Imbula: 7 – another confident display and constantly getting the ball forward.
Erik Pieters: 7 – might have found his place as a wing back.
Xherdan Shaqiri: 7 – won’t grab headlines but showed his quality once more.
Jon Walters: 7 – wonderfully taken goal and played some neat stuff.
Marko Arnautovic: 7 – set up a LOT of chances but overdue a goal.
Joe Allen (30 mins): 6 – helped to settle the game down, missed a sitter.
Peter Crouch (20 mins): 6 – hold up play good again, probably just doing his job.
Glenn Whelan (5 mins) – not enough time for impact.
With Stoke coming up against Burnley tomorrow we sat down and had a chat with Tony from Up the Clarets.
Burnley have been on fire at home this season, much like ourselves back in our first few years, so I’m glad that this weekend’s match is at the bet365, what’s been the reason for such a sharp contrast in form home and away?
Stoke City returned to winning ways at Vicarage Road on Sunday lunchtime as they fought their way to a solid 1-0 victory against Watford. It turned out to be a comfortable victory in the end for the Potters thanks to a Heurelho Gomes own goal, despite almost half the starting XI missing the previous game against Bournemouth. The game itself was a stop-start affair thanks to the 38 fouls that were committed in the match, with an inevitable sending off Watford’s Miguel Britos.
Stoke had a number of enforced changes to make in this match: both Phil Bardsley and Ryan Shawcross were victims of injury and Joe Allen was suspended after he was awarded his fifth yellow card of the season last time out. In came Glen Johnson – his first start for Stoke since getting injured prior to his England call-up – Marc Muniesa and Giannelli Imbula – both suffering from a lack of game time in recent weeks. As well as these changes, Hughes decided to experiment further with the exclusion of Wilfried Bony – with only two goals all season – and Bojan – after a disappointing display in the last game – and the inclusion of Jonathan Walters and Mame Diouf. Hughes also admitted post-match that he had switched up his formation to the 3-5-2 that featured heavily throughout pre season; however post match analysis suggests that play didn’t deviate too far from the more familiar 4-2-3-1 formation.
It’s always a lot easier to write about a win than a loss, but when that win included so many fantastic performances that job becomes harder once again. None shone through more than Imbula, who was selected as man of the match by Sky Sports. Before getting into the record signings’ performance, special mentions have to go to Bruno Martins Indi who dictated the defensive side of the game and Mame Biram Diouf who put his body on the line on countless occasions.
Back to the main man, who finally did not need to award himself the man of the match award as he received the official Premier League random coloured cuboid. Imbula put in one of the most commanding holding midfield performance of any player to have occupied that role this season. After the Bournemouth performance, where Stoke were punished for leaving the midfield much too open, Imbula partnered well with Adam to cover this region.
Before I start let’s just establish some ground rules. Just because I criticise the manager and suggest that he may no longer be the best man for the job does not mean I do not support the club. Obviously we have been much worse in the past but this is totally irrelevant to the discussion at hand, and my demand for more comes from the care I hold. Further to this when a player is criticised it is done so for their current performances and their history with the club should not have a drastic effect on the debate. Okay, agreed? Good. Let’s get into it then, the performance against Bournemouth shows serious failings within the management of Stoke City. This is for a number of reasons that will be covered in this blog post.
Glenn Whelan
One of the major talking points after the match this weekend has turned to the importance of the Irishman within our squad. This derives from the lack of a holding midfield presence within the side, and is not actually Stoke missing the underperforming Glenn Whelan, but Mark Hughes neglecting the importance of this role.
