The Bony Conundrum
Hailed as the answer to Stoke’s long running striker issue, Wilfried Bony has failed to truly have any drastic effect upon the side. Despite being a degree coincidental, Bony has not been present for when Stoke have scored in their last two games, an unwanted stat that is extremely concerning. The United match saw Bony fail to even register a shot on target, and what was more concerning was that he had two good chances, where he simply took an air shot. All is not lost though as the upcoming fixtures will see Bony hopefully facing sides where he will have more effect.
The one silver lining from Bony’s performance last Sunday was the Ivorian’s hold up play. A majority of the passes Bony received were long balls, most of which he managed to bring into his control with strength and skill. Unfortunately, with the deep line Hughes set, Bony spent most of the game isolated, the effect of which was for Bony to drift wide seeking out team mates (as seen in the lack of central passes in the map below, shown by the orange box).
