This weekend sees us back in the Bet365 Stadium hosting Liverpool, who sit in 3rd.
We’ve been in shocking form lately, three losses on the trot and one win in six. Tuesday night’s match against Burnley was another kick in the teeth for many. With fans now demanding three points this weekend, a fixture many wouldn’t expect a win from. We now lie in 12th place, one point from the ‘dependable’ 9th finish, Southampton now sit there with two games in hand. We’re twelve points from Mark Hughes’ target of 7th, following two dismal cup runs. Now we’re closer to the relegation zone, only eight points ahead of 18th placed Swansea. A lot of questions are being asked about Hughes he’s ability to take the club further.
My name is Henri Keuter. I’m 16 years old, and I live in a tiny village called Urk. Right now I’m living a great life. Visiting the Britannia at least once a year. But you’re probably wondering; Why Stoke? Most of the people in the Netherlands actually support a Dutch club like AJAX,PSV or even Feyenoord… This is my story of how i became a Potter.
How I became a football fan
I was born on the 14th of march 2001. My dad is a huge football supporter. Visiting his favourite club PSV almost every week. Sometimes he managed to get an extra ticket for the next game and then he would take me with him. If he couldn’t take me with him i would watch other games on TV. Mostly English clubs like arsenal in the invincibles season. I loved English football more then the Eredivisie. But I never really had a favourite team.
Following our dismal 2-0 defeat at the King Power Stadium. We now head to Burnley to try and salvage points from Sean Dyche. We’ve had six defeats on the road in the last eight games, but Burnley haven’t won a game in the last seven league fixtures.
A win for Burnley will put them within a point of us, and Southampton will pass us into 9th. The Clarets have reported no further injuries ahead of the game, meaning Gudmundsson is still out, whilst, Defour could appear from the bench.
Dyche has said “My lads know they still have a challenge ahead. There are no done deals in the Premier League”. He knows that they’re not safe yet and still need to fight for every point to make sure they avoid relegation.
Poor performance once again, however some stinking performances stood out more than others…
Lee Grant – 7
Left with little chance of saving both the N’Didi and Vardy strikes. Some good reflexes in making some close range saves and did well to push a couple of long range efforts around the post, distribution wasn’t too bad. Definitely made up for his shocker from the Chelsea game.
Glen Johnson – 4
Not sure were to start with this, was torn apart by Gray, couldn’t find a man when trying to help out with an attack, pathetic defending for Vardy’s goal, stared at the ball and allowed Vardy to get goal side. Terrible, Hughes certainly needs to look into our full back situation (We’ll get to Pieters)
Ryan Shawcross – 6
Picked up a stupid yellow card going in dangerously late on Gray, done the basics alright with his clearances,blocks and interceptions but struggled to deal with the pace Leicester have.
Bruno Martins Indi – 7
The better of the back four once again, very good on the ball and some solid defending at times to prevent things for getting even worse. Again, struggled to deal with the pace of Leicester although did deal with it better than his defensive partner. Not so dominant in the air, got beat a few times up there.
Eric Pieters – 5
Two Pathetic attempts at a headed cleared that should’ve ended in a Leicester goals in the first half, struggled with the basics, Mahrez caused numerous issues for him and got caught out of position a few too many times. Eric Pieters continues to add to his consistently poor performances.
Marko Arnautovic – 7
Looked our biggest threat throughout, put one on a plate for Crouch who put it wide. Shafted out of a goal with a bizarre offside decision.
Glenn Whelan – 6
Gave the ball away which ended up with Leicester’s first and provided little protection to the back four, another painful performance to watch from Whelan. Shows how much we need Cameron, the two are multiple levels apart.
Joe Allen – 7
Slow to close down N’Didi who unleashed one in the top corner. Did graft well and made some important tackles, pretty good on the ball but struggled to make any significant impact.
Ramadan Sobhi – 7
Created a couple chances and looked threatening at times with some lovely runs. Remained positive all game.
Johnathan Walters – 6
Used his strength and held the ball up well, like others, made no impact in the time he had.
Saido Berahino – 4
Grafted but did nothing. Made no impact at all. Had a shot that was the easiest save Schmeichel made all day.
Mame Diouf – 5
Subbed on as per usual, ran around for 20 minutes. Other than a lovely ball in that Crouch should’ve buried, did nothing.
Peter Crouch – 4
Should’ve scored twice with Diouf and Arnie putting it on a plate for him and had a header from a corner saved easily.
Charlie Adam – 5
Came on for 20 minutes, had the right idea in putting the ball into the box although due to his lack of technical ability he couldn’t actually pick out a teammate.
Mark Hughes – 0
Got the formation and tactics wrong. No game plan and couldn’t motivate the players. Manager rating will be a regular thing from now on just so I can express my frustration at Hughes still being employed.
Anyway, tell us what you agreed but more interestingly disagree with! If there is anything else you’d like to see dropped into this blog, again, be sure to let me know!
After the International Break, we are back in action against current Premier League Champions, Leicester City, at the King Power Stadium.
The previous fixture was on the 17th December 2016, and ended 2-2. A Bojan penalty and an Allen tap in put the Potters ahead. But Vardy’s earlier red card did not prevent the visitors from mounting a comeback and salvaging a point. Some argue that the dip in form during this game set the pre-tense for the next two games, which were defeats two Chelsea and Liverpool, with Stoke conceding eight goals during those two games.
Since that game, Leicester has go through a difficult period, on and off the pitch. Only picking up one win the following eight games. Then a decision that shocked the footballing world. Claudio was sacked as manager. Pick your side, do whatever. But since the change in management, the Foxes have pulled them out of the relegation zone by starting an unbeaten run under the leadership of Craig Shakespeare.
A couple of weekends ago I had the absolute pleasure of going to Germany, where I visited some German clubs and watched some Bundesliga football. I was there to see Schalke beat Ausburg 3-0 at the Veltins Arena, I saw Bayer Leverkusen draw 1-1 with Werder Bremen at the BayArena and I also took a tour of Borussia Dortmund’s magnificent 81,000+ seater stadium: Signal Iduna Park. It’s an experience I will treasure for the remainder of my days and I would recommend to absolutely anybody who has even the remotest of interest in football to take the trip. I don’t want to sound pretentious or attempt to portray myself as an expert in foreign football, I’m far from it, But, during my short experience, I think the typical English matchday experience could benefit from taking inspiration from our German counterparts.
I’ve always been told how “foreign football is so much cheaper” compared to what English fans pay to see their teams; however when booking the tickets for the two matches I went to, I paid around £35 for each ticket (both games I was central along the touchline, right at the back) which falls around the average cost for a ticket in England. However it turns out that, at its cheapest, you can attend most German football matches for just over a tenner; quite remarkable when the typical cheapest ticket in England hovers around £30. If you’re lucky enough to book your tickets early, willing to watch from a slightly less favourable position and be within a safe standing zone (which I will get onto later), a day out to the football needn’t be as expensive as you’d think. Furthermore, German season tickets are remarkably cheap; for example: you can be part of Dortmund’s world famous “Yellow Wall” for as cheap as €130.50. For a club of their magnitude: that’s incredible value. Most clubs follow suit, such as Schalke who were offering season tickets from as cheap as €200. The club make up for this in other ways, such as charging €90 euros for a jersey; but when you think of the money that bolsters the top leagues these days, especially the Premier League, you have to wonder why other clubs aren’t following suit and rewarding the loyal.
Recently many fans have begun to turn on certain players, demanding they be replaced. But this fails to recognise that Stoke have transitioned as a club and the current crop of players are not as replaceable as the former individuals who made up the side.
In our most recent history the side has been made up of players who were somewhat easily replaced. Take for example Liam Lawrence, a key player in gaining Stoke’s promotion and securing our position in the league. But when he began to fall out with management and disrupt the harmony of the side he was swiftly replaced with Jermain Pennant, and Stoke were none the worse for the ordeal. Yet the current squad are of such a high quality of player that they will not be replaced with such ease.
Good performance but a bad result, we can take positives from that but certain players really do need looked at…
Lee Grant – 5
Horrific goalkeeping for first goal, although this didn’t put him down and made some good saves from Alonso and Pedro in particular. Butland shouldn’t have a problem walking into the starting 11, hopefully for Leicester. Take nothing away from Grant, who up to today was our most consistent performer his season.
Phil Bardsley – 4
Picked up two stupid yellow cards, one for a needless and high challenge, the other for a dangerous late challenge. Went missing at times and struggled to cope with Pedro. No question Johnson is the superior fullback.
League leaders, Chelsea, will make their way north this weekend when they match up against Stoke City.
After a Kante strike to bring Manchester United crashing out of the FA Cup earlier in the week, Conte will be focusing all his attention to increasing the gap at the top of league, with the Semi-Final fixture against 2nd placed Tottenham being five weeks away.
Chelsea will be looking to set the top fours’ pace this weekend as they play before all league rivals, with 5th placed Arsenal holding the Saturday lunchtime slot.
