A busy window has seen ten key acquisitions arrive at the Britannia. But do Stoke City have what it takes to qualify for European football? Outside90’s Tom Batten elaborates.
It is a wonderful time to be a Stoke fan. The Potters have almost signed a new first XI and have regained most of the first team members from their modest 2014-15 campaign. After some very smart business, Stoke City broke their record transfer fee when they signed Xherdan Shaqiri for £12 million from Inter Milan.
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes is developing ‘a great project’ and is seemingly using the footballing knowledge obtained from his playing days at Barcelona to create a tiki-taka style of play in the Premier League. In doing so the former Manchester City boss also signed four former Barcelona starlets who all faced trouble with injury or rejection at La Blaugrana.
Over the past two seasons, Hughes has not had the financial backing to buy first team players who had great skill but nonetheless implemented his tactics with mild success as Stoke secured back-to-back 9th finishes.
Now, with increased spending on some incredibly talented players, the Welshman can challenge for Europa League and potentially Champions League in the future.
It is not just the big clubs making the big buys, however. Premier League clubs now have more money and thus, can afford better players. So what exactly differentiates Stoke City from the rest of the mid-table teams?
It must be the fact that Stoke City now play the most entertaining football that they have in years. With a style similar to Barcelona, Stoke are emulating the nimbleness of Barcelona’s attack while keeping a strong, tall team. Robust defenders are needed in the Premier League with the likes of Diego Costa and Christian Benteke to deal with. Stoke City have a mixture of physical players and technical maestros. For many, it is a welcome change from Tony Pulis era.
Some people think that the Potters will struggle against the top teams and won’t make the top seven. But to judge this, we need to look at the teams that Stoke City will be competing with.
Liverpool is one team that is in contention for the top four. Stoke were only defeated 1-0 by the Reds on the opening day with a Coutinho stunner spoiling the day. Stoke City fans, while disappointed with the result should be proud of their side’s competitive performance.
The Potters went from one strength to another the following week when they travelled away to White Hart Lane. Regardless of playing second fiddle in the first half, Stoke City clawed their way back into the game with help from super-sub Stephen Ireland. The impressive second half was capped off by a Mame Diouf header. If Stoke can compete against teams who qualify for Europe now, then there is no reason why they can’t qualify for European football themselves.
Some may argue there have only been two games, but it is two commendable performances.
Despite their own impressive signings, Stoke City can’t compete with signings of Roberto Firmino, Christian Benteke and Toby Alderweireld. However, early Premier League action suggests that they do not need to if they want to compete on the pitch. These players are at the top of their game and were playing great football when they were signed by their respective clubs.
Instead the Potters can only sign ‘Barcelona rejects’ and the like. This is in no way a criticism of the transfers that they made, it is just a declaration that bigger clubs have more money to spend.
To qualify for European football Stoke City would have to finish in 6th, three places above where they finished last season – this remains a tough task.
The new signings are yet to experience the Premier League and some may not live up to the hype, such as Shaqiri. The Swiss international has been at Bayern and Inter, some of the best clubs in the world so expectations are high.
Some of these transfers are recent acquisitions and would not have had enough time to adjust. Also, Stoke City aren’t Barcelona. Mark Hughes has tactics that would work perfectly for Barça but it is not certain whether big bodied players such as Peter Crouch and Mame Biram Diouf will interfere with the tiki-taka play.
The two forwards excel at heading a football but whether they can keep up with the lively new arrivals is a whole different ball game.
Should Stoke click however, it remains a definite possibility that they could be the next of the mid-table teams to join the top brigade vying for European football.
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Even a middle table finish is very optimistic. I think Stoke City should now be focusing on avoiding relegation, after 4 games and only managing to accumulate two points. Their high profile signings, Shaqiri and Afellay, really need to stand up, or else this season could prove to be one to forget for Stoke fans, as they may well wave goodbye to the Premier League at the end of the season, after a seven year stint in England’s top tier of football.
Shaqiri and Afellay are not doing too bad, there has only been four games and there are 34 to go. A mid table finish is obviously realistic for a team of Stoke’s stature. Just look at the starts to the season for such teams as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea and you will realise that Stoke is not doing too badly.
Shaqiri and Afellay are not doing too bad, there has only been four games and there are 34 to go. A mid table finish is obviously realistic for a team of Stoke’s stature. Just look at the starts to the season for such teams as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea and you will realise that Stoke is not doing too badly.