Stoke head to Goodison Park on Saturday for the first time since last year’s 4-3 thriller during the Christmas period. In which: Shaqiri got his first (and astounding second) goals for the club, £45m-man-to-be John Stones conceded a last minute penalty to allow Stoke to take home the three points and Joselu shared some of that love with the official that awarded the spot kick… Interesting move to say the least! Much will have changed this season with Everton having a complete rehaul since Roberto Martinez’s departure, but something that hasn’t changed is Stoke’s inconsistent fortunes, conceding four in one and scoring four in the other of their last two games.
Kick Off: Saturday 27/08 @ 15:00
Match Odds (as of 6pm the previous day): H: 8/11 – D: 11/4 – A: 9/2
Stoke in the transfer window is a bit of a double-edged sword. We can sign worldies such as Bojan and Shaqiri and then we can sign players who fail to impress, mostly being Brek Shea and to some extent Joselu. With us being linked to a number of players I intend to use my extensive experience of refreshing twitter and guesswork to try and figure out who we will sign.
There are two positions in which Stoke need improving; in defence and up the top with a prolific striker. Looking at defence first, Phil Jones the gurning Manchester United centre back has been linked with us for a number of days with papers saying a loan deal is in the air. But he seems reluctant to leave the Manchester outfit for the windy realms of the Potteries.
Oh boy oh boy, it’s been a while since we’ve done one of these, and what an amazing one to come back with. Late last night German newspaper Bild broke a story reporting that Stoke have made a bid for promising winger Christian Pulisic. For those that aren’t familiar with the American through Football Manager or watching the Bundesliga let’s look at der BVB’s most exciting talent.
At only 17 Pulisic is one of the hottest, if not the hottest, under 18 talents in Europe. A pacey and talented attacking midfielder who is comfortable across all 3 attacking midfield positions. Pulisic will often be seen dribbling at the defence or breaking in behind, and with an eye for goal he has an astoundingly prolific youth record. In January 2015 Dortmund came calling and the American made his way across the Atlantic to join up with their under 17 squad. He developed over the spring and in the summer of 2015 earned a promotion to the under 19 squad.
A full strength Stoke City blew away Stevenage on Tuesday evening as they won 4-0 at the Lamex Stadium. Peter Crouch managed to bag himself a hat trick, meanwhile Phil Bardsley scored what will be one of the goals of the season to round off an absolute domination from the Potters and sees them into the next round of the EFL Cup.
The consensus on social media was that this game was the perfect opportunity to showcase some of our youth products. However this was not to be the case as the management staff confirmed before the game that there would be minimal changes made from the team that lost 4-1 to Man City the previous weekend. Geoff Cameron and Marc Muniesa came in for Philipp Wollscheid and Erik Pieters in defence, Charlie Adam was introduced into the midfield in place of Giannelli Imbula and both Jon Walters and Peter Crouch played ahead of Bojan and Mame Diouf. No returns from injuries either, as Jack Butland, Glen Johnson and Xherdan Shaqiri all remained back at base rather than making the journey down south.
So finally cup football is back and the Potters have been awarded a trip to Hertfordshire in the Second Round of the newly named EFL Cup (the League Cup to you and me). Stoke will be hoping for another successful cup run, with the hope of bettering last season’s semi-final exit, with hopes to return to Wembley for the first time since 2011. Over 800 Stokies are expected to make the trip down south, and here is our preview for tonight’s game.
The Opposition
Stevenage sit just about as low in the football league as any team can do, 20th in League 2 after 4 games. However this does not mean the game will be a walk over as Stevenage already have taken a large scalp beating Ipswich away 1-0. Their squad features former Stoke player Michael Tonge. The 33 year old was signed by Tony Pulis on deadline day in September 2008, but only went on to make 19 appearances for the Potters, along with several loan trips out to the likes of Preston, Derby and Barnsley. The two sides have never met before, but things look positive for Stoke as Stevenage have never made it past the 2nd round of the League Cup.
Recently there has been a large degree of criticism for our Dutch full back, summarised by Sky Sports awarding Pieters their lowest rating for all players involved on Saturday, a 4 out of 10. This reflects a feeling in the fan base that Pieters is one of our weakest links in the side. However, the statistics show that Erik Pieters is, on the contrary, one of the best players in our side.
In our two opening fixtures Pieters is statistically our best defender, along with Philipp Wollscheid (another player who often is unfairly criticised). Pieters has 4 tackles won, 3 interceptions and 5 successful aerial duels, whilst Pip has 3, 5 and 4 respectively. These are the best figures in the defence with no other defender making more tackles or interceptions, although Shawcross has 7 successful aerial duels.
Looking at the 5 goals that we have conceded so far, the furthest extent that Pieters has been involved is the giving away of the free kick for a foul on Navas for City’s second and getting turned by Friend’s ball to Ramirez for Boro’s opener. Neither of these mistakes have directly led to a goal scoring opportunity, and required other defenders to not fulfil their role to allow the Aguero and Negredo to convert.
This is defensive success is not short lived, as Pieters was without doubt the best defender in the squad last season. Erik made 91 tackles last season the 3rd best in the entire league (a stat I blurted out to a fan behind me when he questioned why Pieters had been given a new 5 year deal), behind only Kante and Gueye. At a time where our defence looked desperately inconsistent, Pieters fought against this tide and became the only Stoke defender to have a full quality season. His consistency and quality was recognised in March last year when his league form was rewarded with a call up to the Dutch national side. And this was nothing less than Pieters deserved from his performances last year.
Onto the next myth of Erik Pieters, that he is in no way creative enough. Well this would initially appear to have some fact, he hardly appears to be the pacey fullback who constantly overlaps his inside forward to deliver balls into the box. However the stats, once again prove this wrong. Last season Johnson, the archetypal pacey full back, had two more assists than Pieters, however this is a misleading statistic, due to the lack of control the ‘assistor’ has over the potential ‘assistees’ finish. A much better indicator is chances created, Pieters created 19 chances whilst Johnson only created 18 (according to Squawka, who define a chance created as “a pass that leads to a shot on goal”). Yes Johnson may have played less football than Pieters but per 90 mins Johnson created 0.74 chances and Pieters 0.55, hardly the vast difference talk on the terrace would suggest.
In fact this season Erik Pieters is currently leading chances created in the entire Stoke squad, with 3 opportunities provided. His next nearest competitor being Marko Arnautovic on 2. Pieters created one of only two clear cut chances for the Potters against Man City. His excellently weighted ball to Phil Bardsley was volleyed straight into Guardiola’s favourite Willy, and this led to Joe Allen’s claim for a clear penalty that was, unfortunately, not given. This suggests that if any criticism of the former PSV player’s creativity has not fallen on deaf ears, with himself and Sparky having focused on adding this element to his game.
Despite not having the best performances to open his 2016-17 season, Pieters is a pivotal part to our side, the most consistent member of the defense in recent times and a man who certainly provides plenty going forward. Most criticism has been unwarranted and I am certain Pieters will show this over and over again this season. If you disagree with me please write to me by scribbling your thoughts onto any piece of paper, screwing them up into a ball and depositing them in the nearest recycling bin; I will try to get back to you as quick as I can!
Stoke fell to the mercy of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City as they were beaten 4-1 in the first game at the bet365 Stadium. A double of doubles from Man City’s Sergio Aguero and Nolito was more than enough to outweigh Bojan’s penalty. Despite the heavy scoreline, Stoke made their mark on the game and, with a little more quality in the final third, could have shocked Pep and his new team. The game was filled with goals, refereeing controversy, and plenty of different reactions from the Stoke faithful.
I’d missed this. The feeling waking up in the morning knowing that Stoke were playing at home, the moment of pulling on a Stoke shirt ready to replicate the players that would be on the pitch later that day, the sight of the Boothen End after emerging from the concrete tunnel with thousands of fans all thinking and hoping for the same thing: a win for Stoke. The Potters lined up with just the one change from last week’s match against Boro: Xherdan Shaqiri couldn’t get over his injury in time, so Bojan shifted to cover the vacant right wing and Joe Allen made his home debut to complete the midfield trident.
Pep Guardiola’s first Premier League away game managing Manchester City falls at the Bet 365 Stadium in the early kick off this Saturday. Off the back of a convincing 5-0 win against Steaua Bucresti in the champions league qualifying round, you would expect The Citizens to be quietly confident going in to the game.
Kick Off 12:30 Saturday 20 Aug
Last Season Stoke City 2 Manchester City 0 (Arnautovic 7’, 15’)
OddsH 4/1 A 4/6 D 11/4
Mark Hughes will be looking to replicate the efficiency of the 2-0 win last season that saw Shaqiri assist Arnautovic twice in the first half. The ‘Alpine Messi’ had one of his best games in a Stoke shirt to date, as he acted figurehead for a truly electric team performance. Things look to be a great deal tougher this time out, though. Manchester City, who were without Sergio Aguero last time round, have a new manager who took all three points from his opening fixture at home to Sunderland. A penalty converted by Aguero and own-goal by Stadium of Light new-boy Paddy McNair saw Guardiola’s side through game week one with a win.
Before I start some may find this article controversial and a degree insulting, but it is something that needs to be addressed. Our home fans have been nothing short of awful for a minimum of 18 months. The ferocious atmosphere that was once associated with the Britannia Stadium is gone. Replaced with a hostile environment where any poor performance will be harshly criticised from the stands, whereas good performances are met with muted appreciation.
Let’s start on positive note, the away fans. The Potters who travel around the country do so in fine voice and represent the club excellently (on a whole). Constant chanting irrelevant of the result, and encouraging players to perform rather than criticising their mistakes is the norm. We travel fantastically, with nearly 3000 fans making the 163 mile trip up north to Middlesbrough last weekend. Clearly this is helped by the free coach travel, and the board have to be commended for keeping to this pledge.
But back to the issue at hand, the awful home “support”. Obviously at times the Brit has been bouncing over these recent 18 months, but these have been an anomaly. We need to be rid of the expectant atmosphere that surrounds the club, and acknowledge that as fans we have a role to play in the team’s performance. Yes we are attempting to progress forward to the European places, but this does not entitle us as fans to sit back and expect the team to create the atmosphere in the ground. Our aims will certainly not be met if fans continue to attack, criticise and demotivate players who they perceive to be performing poorly.
Instead it is more valuable to support a player who is struggling and in a rut. The best example of how supporting a player improves performance is our mercurial winger Marko Arnautovic. Many times we see Arnie beating himself up for making a mistake (figuratively, not literally like Jamie Vardy). And one thing always brings him back into the game, a roar from the crowd, normally causing the Austrian to sprint back down the line to dispossess the full back who tackled him earlier. This treatment should be afforded to all players, as it will certainly improve performance.
I understand that many fans can feel angered at a bad performance, and obviously there is nothing wrong with feeling this but expressing this anger is best left to after the match. Inside the ground we owe support to the players and to encourage them to perform to the best of their abilities.
The other element we need to see return is the ‘The Bear Pit’, a cauldron of loud passionate fans who want nothing more than their team to be victorious. The atmosphere is currently one of quiet expectance, we wait to be entertained and once a goal has been scored the atmosphere picks up only to peter out into near silence once again. In the past we have scared teams into losing even before the match kicks off, yet now we let the away fans dominate and often urge their team to success.
It is undeniable that our home form has dwindled of late, and it has done so at the same time as home support has decreased in volume and quality. The two are clearly related, and it will come at no loss to the fans to attempt and bring back this atmosphere to help improve performances. For the good of the club we need that atmosphere, our title of the loudest fans is in crisis and winning it back should be our main aim this season. So come on let’s turn the bet365 into our new Bear Pit!
So what do you think? Any solutions to the problem? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!
Over the last decade or so what is to be expected from a full back has significantly changed. During the Pulis era the full backs were deployed as out and out defenders; two conventional wingers in the form of Etherington and Pennant meant there wasn’t too much space for a full back to overlap anyway. The conventional role for a full back in the modern game is to hold the defensive line when the team is without possession and to maraud forward, overlapping the winger, when with possession. Pochetinno’s Tottenham are a fantastic example of this system, using the full backs to overlap in attack, Guardiola’s Bayern Munich, and now Manchester City, have the full backs come inside to take up the position of a conventional holding midfielder when with the ball, and some systems, such as Antonio Conte’s Italy, have the wide defenders in an even more attack orientated role as wing backs. Hughes’ system requires the two full backs to adventure forward to help aid attacks similar to Spurs, but at the moment the system is nowhere near as successful as it could be.
The system should work that when Stoke have possession of the ball on the wing, either Pieters or (for last week at least) Bardsley, give Shaq or Arnie another option by overlapping around the opposition full back. This can then create several options for the next phase of the attack. The simplest is for the winger to play the ball through for the full back to run on to and then cross into the box. If the defending full back follows the overlap run, then this opens up a second avenue for success. The defender moving away gives Shaqiri or Arnautovic the space they crave to set in motion their fortes. The cut inside. What they choose to do in this moment is up to them. They will often shape to shoot, perhaps dink the ball into the box or go for a gallivant into the box. Whatever they do, the fact that the full back overlapped can often be the catalyst for chance creation.
