Xherdan Shaqiri epitomizes how Stoke have changed
Against Chelsea on Saturday, Xherdan Shaqiri picked up the ball on Stoke’s right-flank. He proceeded forward and dropped his shoulder, leaving Baba Rahman in his trail. He then puts in a delightful cross which just evades a Stoke attacker and he terrorizes the Chelsea left-back for the rest of the game. At 5’7, Shaqiri is not the generalized idea of a Stoke player, but the clubs philosophy has changed dramatically. Ever since Mark Hughes took the reins, the Britannia Stadium has witnessed some of the most aesthetically pleasing play which was considered unimaginable to them in the days of long-ball football under Tony Pulis. Although effective, it was hardly exciting and with the likes of Shaqiri, Bojan and Ibrahim Afellay, the project is well and truly gathering pace.
Chelsea unlucky in Stoke defeat
For once you could actually feel sorry for the defending champions in their defeat to Stoke, which continued their calamitous start to the title defense which they were expected to mount. The Blues’ first-half performance at the Britannia was scintillating, smooth and quick, reminiscent of the football that characterized the early stages of their title campaign. However, a wastefulness with chances came back to bite them as Stoke scored against the run of play and put them behind in a Premier League game yet again. After the setback, a Chelsea side who were manager-less due to Jose Mourinho’s stadium ban acquitted themselves well and probably should have had a penalty when Loic Remy attempted to the round the goalkeeper and was clipped on the legs, but he did not go to ground and blazed his shot over. They also struck the post and on another day would have secured three points. With winnable games after the international break, it is a chance for the Blues to recover.
Leicester keep up impressive form
Claudio Ranieri’s team keeping marching on and secured yet another win, this time against Watford. Jamie Vardy added to Ngolo Cante’s opener with his 12th goal in the league and his ninth in consecutive games, meaning he can now equal Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record of 10 in 10 games after the international break against Manchester United. The preseason opinions that Ranieri’s calamitous tenure as manager of Greece should never have seen him snapped-up by Leicester are now seeming quite stupid right now, as the Foxes lie in third position just behind Manchester City and Arsenal. It backs up the most basic knowledge about managers in football, that one who had a good spell at his previous job will not necessarily be successful at his new club and vice-versa. If injuries can be avoided, the squad is good enough to stay in the top six.
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