When the team sheet was announced I have to admit that I was amongst a large number of Stoke fans who were cautiously optimistic for our chances in this match. Unlike the Liverpool game, you could argue that this was an incredibly strong side we put out. Every player on our side is playing in a position that they’re either a natural at or as in Cameron’s case, has an entire season’s experience playing there.
So what went wrong? How did a team with such quality, with such experience, crumble so badly at the hands of a very good and young Spurs side?
Before the game, on my Twitter, I predicted a 4-1 win for Spurs. I don’t call myself the pessimistic Stokie for nothing. But never did I think that my prediction would be too generous to us. Conceding 4 goals in two games straight is embarrassing and there are some serious issues with our team…. Let’s take a look at them.
Issue 1: The Players are on holiday
I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again, every single player on that pitch (With the exception of Shay Given, who was left helpless by our defence, and Afellay who was the only outfield player to maintain some dignity) was playing as if their heads are on the beach. The team have nothing left to fight for and it has been showing for the past three or four weeks now.
I know this blog is for anything Stoke, so now; I want to share my experiences of what it is like to be a Stoke fan in a place of so few. I am from New York City, a place known for its hustle and bustle, its exciting lifestyle, and its skyscrapers. Yet, I am fascinated by a place known for its pottery, and its football. Yes, I am talking about Stoke-on-Trent, the home of Stoke City, the club that I support.
First, let me give some background on how I became a Stoke fan. I have been a fan of football since the age of 7, but I was not a fan of any specific team; I was just learning the game and finding a league to follow. I settled on the Barclays Premier League as I had heard it was the best league in the world (and still is). I wasn’t a fan of any team, but my dad is a huge fan of Bolton (our first opponents in the BPL) and so we went to a bar in August of 2008 and we watched the game. Even though we lost 3-1, I loved the way Stoke fought against Bolton and the heart they showed. I have been a diehard fan ever since.
Warning! For those of you with a more negative, pessimistic or realist view on football, this post contains unhealthy amounts of optimism.
I want to address an issue, the European dream is not dead. There, I said it. Obviously I am not suggesting that it will be easily achieved, but much like Mark Hughes, I still have hope that it is possible. Firstly we acquire a certain set of conditions that will make qualification more likely, and as devastating as it is to say this, we need Man United to win the FA Cup. Should United win the cup then European qualification will move to 7th place, as the system in which we qualified (where the loser can take the qualification spot if the winner has already acquired European qualification) was scrapped last season.
There is also another situation in which if Liverpool win the Europa League, then they will automatically qualify for the champion’s league, which I am led to believe will create another Europa League place, provided they finish outside of the top 4 and in a position which would normally provide Europa League qualification on league position.
Once upon a time in 2011, our favourite mop-haired Turk, Tuncay, posted a compilation video of his best goals on Facebook Manager of the time, Tony Pulis, was quoted to saying that he would not ban the squad from using social media accounts in the wake of the controversy. The rumours were that Tuncay had posted the video in an attempt to engineer a move away from the Potteries. Since then both parties have left the club and social media has not been banned. Instead the presence of social media within the Stoke City squad has only increased.
Robert Huth was one of the early adopters of social media, and barring one controversial mishap (#CONC), his presence on Twitter was a delight to Stoke fans. It was an era in which the only pictures we would see from professional football players were of Theo Walcott and co. in various states of undress after winning at the Emirates. The Arsenal squad, certainly in England, were the leading light for connecting with their fans on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and the like. Back then us Stokies responded with snide comments and disdain. Now it just looks like we were a tad jealous.
Signings have not only rebranded the football on the pitch, but just as much off it too. The Spanish trio, Shaqiri and Arnautovic are all avid users of social networking. Bojan, Joselu and Muniesa offer us pictures of themselves in fancy dress, selfies with fans and encouraging words pre and post kickoff. Shaqiri is a big fan of a pre-match blue steel selfie and Arnautovic offers us an insight into a seemingly sulky Austrian. Many of the highlights still come from the German who opted to leave us for league leaders Leicester. Huth and Jon Walters show their dressing room ‘rivalry’ hasn’t ceased to exist since he made his move. New boy Imbula hasn’t quite got the hang of it just yet. You can see the examples below…
It’s not all doom and gloom after a dreadful defensive display at Anfield, many fans feel that our season is over and some have decided to reflect on it as a negative one (you know who you are). But once the anger of a disheartening performance settles down this season can be judged as a continuation of the fantastic work done by Mark Hughes and the Club as a whole.
It is worth bearing in mind that some of the best performances at Anfield came from players settling into the team in their first season. Shaqiri’s dead ball delivery caused problems all game, and Imbula was back to his usual ways of bombing runs through the centre of the pitch. The Premier League is notoriously difficult to settle into, and our two record signings are yet to complete a full season. Both have struggled with the inconsistency associated with new signings in the league, but after a full pre-season both should be ready for a push to Europe and Silverware next season.
Obviously the most significant achievement is the superb league cup run. Despite not being able to make the final it was our first appearance in semi’s since our victory in 1972, and our first win at Anfield in many years. The cup run yielded some memorable performances whether it being the emergence of Afellay’s true quality in the quarter final against Sheffield Wednesday or Diouf’s heroic extra time performance at right back against Chelsea. The cup run was a clear statement to Hughes’ intention to turn Stoke into a silverware winning side, and hopefully next year will be the time he achieves just that.
A look into why Gianelli is the Creme de la Creme in the middle of the park.
If there’s one thing I don’t want to do to Gianelli Imbula, I don’t want to compare his arrival to the departure of Steven N’Zonzi. Last year’s Player of the Season was an ever-present part of a very successful Stoke team and took off for sunny Spain and Champions League football just as he was becoming one of the club’s finest midfielders. But obviously this left a big hole in the Starting XI and various combinations of the remaining midfielders, plus new recruit Ibrahim Afellay, were tasked to replicate the defensive dominance and forward-thinking flair that flowed through the heart of the team last year. Many Stoke fans were left wanting more from the engine room of the team, despite late success of the Whelan/Afellay partnership, and looked to the possibility of a fresh face during the January Transfer Window. Mark Hughes answered this call, and replied with Imbula at the cost of £18.3m.
Many eyebrows were raised at the cost of Imbula, after breaking their long standing transfer record by signing Xherdan Shaqiri in the Summer, it wasn’t expected for the club to break this again, let alone smash it by 150% of the £12m Shaqiri cost. However, Hughes was singing the praises of the French U21 international, as were various media sources (most pointedly the French after Imbula had a good spell in the Marseille team) and this looked to be, as it turned out, a massive coup for the Potters. As with any player entering the Premier League for the first time, it was expected for the player to request time to adapt to the pace and physicality of the team.
The recent news that Stoke will be spending £4.5 million on the football pitches, which include synthetic pitches for the first team to train on, and a new underground heating system for the Brit is great news. But the improvements to the club seem to be only on the football side of things.
It’s easy to say that the majority of Stoke fans want the corners of the stadium to be filled in, so that we can allow more fans to watch and to have a greater atmosphere, which as of late has been dropping off. If you take the recent win over Aston Villa, we were 2-0 up and yet the crowd was silent apart from the odd Delilah coming from small parts of the ground.
