Mark Hughes has assembled a talented squad and the quality of football should remain high. There’s a danger of Stoke becoming the new darlings of hipsters
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 7th (NB: this is not necessarily Paul Doyle’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 9th
Odds to win the league (via Oddschecker): 1,000-1
For his next trick, Mark Hughes will step down and entrust the Stoke City reins to Arsène Wenger. Or maybe not, but we can’t rule it out completely because the Welshman is working some kind of magic at the Britannia Stadium, where seats risk being ripped out before the new season and replaced by bean bags. For there is a real danger of Stoke becoming the new darlings of hipsters.
That must be quite a culture shock for locals who, for most of the time since their club’s return to the top flight a decade ago, have prided themselves on their team’s ability to defy and offend bien pensant types. It must also amaze all the people who, when they heard talk of Stoke being given a makeover two years ago, couldn’t help but picture Lemmy in lipstick. Oh my, Delilah! But Hughes has made it work and now, even though they will not challenge for the title nor dice with relegation, Stoke are going to be one of the most interesting sides to look at this season.
They have already been one of the most interesting recruiters of the summer. Going from Barcelona to Stoke used to be seen as akin to regressing from man to chimp, but now it seems a sensible and exciting evolution. After luring Marc Muniesa in 2013 and, most of all, Bojan Krkic last summer, Stoke have signed Ibrahim Afellay and Moha El Ouriachi ahead of this campaign. Bojan was wonderful until he was struck down by knee ligament damage in January – his imminent return is another reason to watch Stoke keenly this season – and if either of the latest arrivals from Camp Nou have a similar impact, then Hughes will have pulled off another masterstroke.
There are doubts about both players of course – El Ouriachi is only 19 and Afellay, now 29, has struggled for years to fulfil his potential, but both clearly have rare talent and could embellish Stoke’s creativity from out wide. That is an area where the side still need to improve if they are to better last season’s Premier League goal tally of 48, which was higher than they ever achieved under Tony Pulis. Marko Arnautovic, at times brilliant, was inconsistent last season and their most regularly dangerous winger, Victor Moses, has returned to Chelsea after a quietly excellent season on loan.
The loss of Moses has not attracted as much commentary as the departures of Asmir Begovic and Steven N’Zonzi but could prove problematic if Afellay or Moha flop. But there is a still a fair chance Hughes will capture another uplifting signing before the transfer window closes, having not abandoned hope of prising Andriy Yarmolenko from Dynamo Kiev.
The wingers will have a decent array of strikers to serve. Mame Birame Diouf scored 12 league goals last season and seemed to improve as the campaign progressed, his movement becoming more elusive and his finishing surer. Peter Crouch, Jon Walters (who often wreaked havoc from wide, as, indeed, did Diouf, especially when counterattacking away) and maybe even Peter Odemwingie are still potent centre-forwards and Joselu, a 25-year-old former Real Madrid reserve, signed this summer from Hannover for £5.75m, offers a different option and is another intriguing recruit.
But in midfield N’Zonzi needs to be replaced. The Frenchman earned a transfer to Sevilla with performances at Stoke that made him a strong all-round influence, negating opponents’ attacks and orchestrating his own team’s, being an influential conduit in a side who, shredding the stereotype, averaged the same amount of possession as Swansea City last season.
Marko van Ginkel, on loan from Chelsea, has been given N’Zonzi’s old jersey but although the Dutchman is highly talented, asking him to emulate N’Zonzi after two injury-hampered years is a tall order. Again, it would not be surprising if Hughes sought to strengthen his options. He’s got Charlie Adam and Stephen Ireland, of course, but what a thrill it would be if Xherdan Shaqiri had a change of heart and decided to join the Stoke style revolution after all. Or perhaps Hughes could attract someone else similar. With Krkic close to regaining full fitness, just think what frolics could be had!
Brendan Rodgers might not relish a return to the Britannia so soon after the 6-1 annihilation there on the final day of last season, but it might actually be a blessing to visit Stoke on the first day before they are fully assembled and really into their stride.
Begovic will not be badly missed if Jack Butland does as well as expected, and Shay Given could serve as a reliable stand-in at times, though whether he is still of the required standard to keep goal for months in the event of injury to Butland is questionable.
At least Stoke’s defence will likely be even more solid than last season, when frequent injuries, even to the previously indomitable Ryan Shawcross, regularly forced Hughes to improvise at the back, which made achieving the sixth best defensive record in the league all the more impressive. That also showed, of course, that while introducing more flair, Hughes has not discarded the qualities that enabled Stoke to establish themselves in the top flight under Pulis. Glen Johnson needs to embrace those qualities if he is to prove a useful acquisition.
After the fiasco at Queens Park Rangers, Hughes has restored his managerial reputation by revamping Stoke without spending fortunes and guiding them to two successive top-half finishes. If he were to make it three in a row, that would be the first time for Stoke since 1937. That season is also remembered fondly for attacking fiestas – including a 10-3 win over West Bromwich Albion, which is still a club record – and a record home attendance of 51,380 – for a visit by Arsenal, who, it seems, Stoke have always relished hosting.
Arsenal may not perform as badly at the Britannia this season as they did when losing 3-2 last term, but they are unlikely to enjoy their trip there, and nor will any other opponent. Hipsters, on the other hand, could be in for a treat.
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