Jack Butland – 6
Was hardly called into action all game apart from some aerial collections that he wasn’t bothered too much by, stood no chance with their goal. Had a little moment completely out of character when messing up a simple gathering of the ball and conceded a corner.
Geoff Cameron – 6
Made some good progress down the right but some poor crossing let him down. Lost Rodriguez for their goal, definitely need an out and out right wing-back in the next few days.
Following a colourless season last year, being handed a tough start to the 2017/18 campaign and having spent the least amount of money in the Premier League: many fans and pundits outside of Stoke-on-Trent have tipped the Potters to struggle this season. Robbie Savage is one of those pundits: predicting that Premier League clubs will overtake Stoke in his column in The Mirror. Having played the game and spent his time following his playing days as a pundit, Robbie probably knows a hell of a lot more on the workings of football than I do. However, I can’t help but feel that some of Savage’s views are a little short-sighted when it comes to his disapproval of Stoke City’s ambition and that the clubs’s hierarchy are doing a better job than he, and other media outlets, are making out.
It’s fair to say that, on the whole, spending by Premier League clubs have inflated to ludicrous levels. Big money spent by Europe’s elite is compounding with the Premier League’s riches and transfer fees are inflating more than ever, leaving transfer records smashed day after day. Having only bought one player permanently for a transfer fee (£7m for Bruno Martins Indi), Stoke are one of the few exceptions to the rule and Savage says that Mark Hughes should feel frustrated that his squad hasn’t benefitted from similar levels of spending. He says that Saido Berahino and Peter Crouch will not be enough to bring in the amount of goals needed to survive in the Premier League and that Stoke will pay the price for not investing in a proven hitman.
Jack Butland – 9 – MOTM
A top class performance showing everyone exactly why he is England’s number one. Hard to believe how quick he was of his line and diving in front of everything making himself big and strong. Was a little fortunate to get away with one near post save that slipped away from him but other than that a faultless performance.
Mame Diouf – 6
Decided to give Diouf a low rating as he came far too close to losing the game for us. Should have gave away a penalty for a silly challenge on Bellerin then was also lucky not to give away another late in the second half. He did make good progress down the wing but lacked the final ball, committed himself in challenges far too much, goes to show that we must sign an actual right wing-back and not use a player we signed as a striker.
Jack Butland – 6
Couldn’t really fault him for the goal but not really called into any big action apart from this, done all the basics well as you would expect.
Mame Diouf – 6
Put in a good enough shift for a striker in right wing-back. Was good going forward and used the space he had well, although crossing could’ve been better with very few balls reaching a Stoke man.
It’s back, it’s been a long summer but the Premier League finally gets underway. The opening weekend sees us going up against Everton at Goodison Park.
Everton were active during the summer in regards to transfers. Their star man Lukaku was sold to Manchester United for £90 million and Gerard Deulofeu returned to Barcalona for £10.5 million. Losing these two attacking players shouldn’t hinder Everton too much, in the long-run, as the return of Wayne Rooney and purchase of Dutch legend, Davy Klassen should provide an opportunity for Everton to change to a new tactic and style.
Lukaku scored 25 goals for Everton last season, with Ross Barkley coming in second with only 5. The loss of his services will be felt during the first weeks of the season. Meaning Stoke should capitalize on a loss of fluidity for Everton. However, the recent signing of Jordan Pickford, from Sunderland for £30 million, will provide Everton with the chance to concede less goals than in the previous campaign.
In this weekend’s news, Stoke City have been tipped to complete the capture of powerful forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. He looks to be the one chosen to attempt to fill the void left by Marko Arnautovic, who left for West Ham earlier this Summer. Replacing a £25m player with someone who would arrive on a free transfer seems underwhelming; but I’ve had the pleasure of watching Choupo-Moting play live during his final season at Schalke and I think that there’s potential for Stoke fans to find themselves a new hero. In a world where the most expensive footballer has just been sold for £200m, could Stoke have solved a host of problems within the forward line with a free transfer? It could prove to be a very smart piece of business in a world of footballing madness.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is a 28 year old Cameroonian international who most recently played for Schalke. He’s spent his entire playing career in Germany and has never moved permanently for a transfer fee in his career. His professional career has included graduating from the Hamburger SV youth system, a loan spell at FC Nuremberg, spending three years at Mainz before completing his most recent spell at Schalke. Choupo-Moting has been known to play at striker and, most recently, on the left wing; he has scored 45 goals and notched 22 assists in 204 Bundesliga appearances. He’s also represented Cameroon 43 times, scoring 13 goals in the process and appearing in two World Cups.
As we all know, The Stoke City Transfer policy at the moment seems to be a bit of a shambles. Not only have we let the passion go out of the club (see my previous blog on my thoughts of that) but all we have signed is an ageing midfielder and an un-experienced left back that nobody knows if he can challenge Eric for the first team (God I hope he can).
Now, I have heard some people moaning on the BearPit page that Mark Hughes doesn’t know what he is doing, or that Coates is a tight ass and doesn’t want to splash the cash. One thing that I haven’t heard is that Tony Scholes who is basically the man to bring in the players doesn’t have the skills to do so. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts of that in the comments.
Today’s the day Arnautovic has left and there is a worry that he is taking with him most of the attacking force that Stoke had, but now is the time for the board to show faith in youth and spend the money from this transfer wisely.
The fee that Stoke are receiving for the Austrian is best spent elsewhere. Stoke will most likely have the whole 24 million figure to be able to spend, as there is no need to pay off Arnie’s contract due to his transfer request, yet still this figure is not a large enough sum to be able to truly replace Arnautovic.
In the current bloated transfer market, where Championship players are commanding double figure fees, it is unlikely Stoke will only be able to use the money for the Arnie deal in finding his replacement. Yes, there have been rumours of a deal around 18 million Euros for Gremio’s Luan, but this is still a risk as there is no guarantee the Brazilian settles into the Premier league quickly.
Well we’re back. It may not be competitive but Stoke are back on the pitch for preseason.
The lads have headed to Switzerland for a training camp ahead of the 17/18 season. Fans will be watching the preseason closely after what was a disappointing end to last season. With new arrivals and players leaving, Mark Hughes needs to build a squad that’s able to compete for a Europa League spot and make sure our pre-season effectively finishes before the season starts, and not one month in.
We are facing Neuchatel Xamax at the Tissot Arena, for those not being able to travel, Stoke will be live streaming the game on their website.
After 271 appearances, 62 goals, 27 assists, one red card, two own goals (both in the same game), an FA Cup final, a European tour, a few broken records, two managers, 20,000 minutes, so many fond memories and almost seven years: Jon Walters has called an end to his Stoke City career. Whether you thought he was a striker or a winger, you thought he had it all or was lacking that ‘something’, you wanted to see him add to his 102 consecutive Premier League starts or just wanted to give the poor man a break; no one can deny that Jon has been an integral part in Stoke’s most successful spell ever. Now named by many Potters as a club legend, Walters had that something which fans resonated with, whether it be micro-scale looking at the football pitch or macro-scale looking at Stoke’s journey: he was there. He was always there.
Walters was signed in the Summer of 2010 by then Stoke manager Tony Pulis from Ipswich Town for £2.75m – which would rise to just over £3m. Jon’s time at the Town ended sourly, after his desire to leave saw him dropped from the team, stripped of the captaincy and told by then manager Roy Keane that he wouldn’t play again for the club. Stoke fended off interest from QPR to bring Walters into the Premier League, with Pulis “looking to bring in more goals, Jon certainly fits the bill”. He was signed alongside club-record signing Kenwyne Jones, Jermaine Pennant, Marc Wilson, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Carlo Nash and Florent Cuvelier.
