‘NATHAN IS NOT OUR FOCUS. WE ARE LOOKING AT LUTON’S TEAM AND WHAT WE DO...’
MICHAEL O’neill is getting ready a return to Stoke City fixtures coming thick and fast after a two-week international break, starting with a trip to Nathan Jones’s Luton Town this weekend.
The manager met with the media yesterday to talk about all that and more.
HAVE INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS COME BACK READY TO GO?
They’re not all back yet because Adam Davies and Jordan Thompson travelled back through the night so they’ll be in later this afternoon. They have to get back from Belfast and London respectively having come back with Northern Ireland and Wales. But the other players who have been on international duty have come back unscathed and we don’t have any concerns about the two aforementioned players because we’ve not had any indication that they have any issues.
It’ll be good to have them back. It’s been a very busy week for them, three games during the international window is excessive, but thankfully they’ve all come back fit and well.
HAS THE TWO WEEKS GONE WELL WITH THE OTHER PLAYERS?
Yes. We gave them a break last week and just trained two or three days because they won’t get a break now until the next international break. The days off are few and far between with midweek games - and the days off have been few and far between since the start of the season and pre-season.
Obviously we had a very short break. Two weeks was the maximum for some of the players and some players only got 10 days so we have to use the international breaks wisely for players who aren’t on duty. We’ve given them a bit of a break and then they’ve been in this week as normal, as they would be normally in any Saturday-saturday game week.
IS IT DIFFICULT TO PREPARE FOR A MATCH WITHOUT A FEW OF YOUR KEY PLAYERS?
It’s always a little bit difficult and you
have to delay some of stuff you’ve done, but we work with the squad as a whole in terms of how we want the team to play.
We’ve done that this week. We’ve had to bring in some of the younger players up from the 23s. It’s given us an opportunity to look at those. But we’ve been consistent in the work we’ve done - particularly since the start of the season and particularly since the end of last season - playing three at the back.
Players know what’s expected of them.
We’ve got some good work done today and obviously a bit more tomorrow before playing the game on Saturday.
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF HOW LUTON HAVE STARTED?
They’ve done well. They’ve had a good start to the season. They’ve got an energetic, youthful team. Obviously Nathan (Jones) has gone back there and will have a point to prove as well. It’ll be a tough game but we haven’t had any games to date which have been straightforward. It’s a typical Championship game away from home. Our away form has been good. We have to try to maintain that and do everything possible to pick up three points.
DO YOU REALLY THINK NATHAN JONES HAS A POINT TO PROVE?
I think any manager would do, I
don’t think it’s just specific to this situation.
When you take on a club you’ve been at previously, regardless of how that period has gone, you want to do well and show how your team is.
But that’s in the past, Nathan’s gone back to a club he knows well. We aren’t really focusing on that, we’re just focusing on how his team plays, how Luton are and what we have to do in the game.
ARE YOU EXPECTING A HIGH-ENERGY GAME?
I think any game in the Championship is high energy. The difficult at the minute is getting the intensity or whether the game has the intensity
that it may when you have the home supporters in.
But we have to be ready for that. We had to deal with a fast start away at Preston, which we did although it wasn’t easy and I thought in the first 15 minutes we could have been better. We have to make sure we’re ready in this game.
I think it’s been a little bit difficult for teams at the start of games because obviously there’s not the initial surge you would get from the crowd. You have to find your own intensity and energy in your performance. We’ll aim to do that again on Saturday.
IS THERE A CONCERN ABOUT PLAYERS GOING AWAY ON INTERNATIONAL TRIPS AT THE MOMENT GIVEN THE WAY OF THE WORLD?
I think it is to be honest - but how can you worry about something that’s our of your control? There’s no point dwelling on it.
Players have to go away and play international football and the associations have to try to make the situation as safe as possible.
It’s a difficult situation for everyone concerned. I know how difficult it is in an international environment to do that.
Thankfully the players who have come back are injury free and hopefully they’re Covid-free as well. The process is not ideal but it’s how we operate at this minute in time.
DOES JACK BUTLAND’S FUTURE LIE AT STOKE OR AWAY?
Well, he’s under contract to us. He’s entered the last year of his contract. Whether something happens or not before tomorrow’s deadline, I suppose, we’ll have to wait and see. If that situation arises we’ll address it at that moment in time. We’re prepared for eventualities like that. We’ve obviously done our work to try to preempt what may or may not happen and what you will do in a certain situation.
But until that situation arises we’ll go with what we have.
Jack’s a Stoke City player. He’s not in the team at this minute in time and he has a challenge on his hands to get the jersey back from Adam Davies, who’s done extremely well.
PROJECT BIG PICTURE HAS BEEN KNOCKED ON THE HEAD - BUT DO YOU FEEL IT’S A GOOD THING TO HAVE THE DEBATE HOW WE STRUCTURE THE GAME?
I think it’s necessary. It’s very difficult to comment because I only see in the media regarding other clubs and the situation at other clubs.
I can only comment about our situation here at Stoke. Without supporters at the ground, obviously, clubs will struggle because they have financial overheads that are difficult to meet. Any open discussion is good for the game.
I don’t have an opinion on whether the opportunity that was presented it the right or wrong thing because I don’t know it in enough detail.
And in all honesty, it’s not a decision for me! My job is to make sure I pick the right team on Saturday, pick the right system and hopefully win the game.
But I think it’s good that we’re looking at ways to make sure the teams, particularly in the EFL, can go forward and be sustainable going forward.
HOW IS RYAN SHAWCROSS?
Ryan’s worked through the break really. He’s still a way from coming back into the team.
He still has to get back to the point where he’s training with the squad and then playing minutes with the under-23s. He has to build up his minutes. I think the international period always gives you a chance to clear up where players are, but Ryan’s still a few weeks away from being under consideration.
We’ve had him back on numerous occasions and he’s broken down again and we don’t want that situation for him or the club.
We have to make sure that when he does come back that it’s for a longer period than it’s been in the past.
ARE YOU PREPARED FOR LUTON’S DIAMOND SYSTEM?
We played against Luton when they played with a diamond under Graeme Jones. They haven’t played with that system to date in the games we’ve watched.
But our focus is on ourselves as
much as anything. We won’t pick a team necessarily based on what Luton do, we’ll pick a team based on ourselves.
We’ve lost one game this season of eight and we finished the season unbeaten in four. Over the piece I think our form has been relatively good.
There are areas of the team which we are constantly looking to improve and Saturday gives us an opportunity to go and play against a team who have started the season well but one we know we are more than capable of winning. Whatever system we pick it’s like anything: it’s the right system if you win and the wrong system if you lose. Ultimately I think we talk too much about systems. I don’t think we have changed the personnel much so we have flexibility in our group of players.
For example, we have Morgan Fox, pictured, who is able to play as a left wing-back or a left centre-back, Josh Tymon being able to pay as an insideleft midfielder or left wing-back. There are things that I think sometimes dwell a little too much on. We’ve conceded very few goals. We know we can be a little bit more potent in attack and we’ll look at ways to continue to improve in that area.
DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA WHAT YOUR BEST STARTING XI IS AT THE MOMENT?
We weren’t really experimenting in any of the teams. We were using the cup games to get minutes into players. We have to be mindful about the demands on players with a lot of midweek games as well.
I don’t think necessarily you’ll always have a best XI as such. I think that’s something that’s in the past, really. You’ll have a squad of players who can all be utilised. When we change the team I don’t think we weaken it necessarily by bringing, for example, James Mcclean in for Josh Tymon. I don’t think that’s a sign of weakening the team, I think it’s a sign that we possibly need a different type of player and possibly a freshness in the team as well.
We have a big squad of players so it would be foolhardy of me not to utilise it.
Equally if we want consistency in performance we have to have consistency in the work we do on the training pitch to make sure we get it.
YOU MUST BE AWARE THAT STOKE FANS WANT TO BEAT LUTON IN PARTICULAR?
I think they want to win every game. I don’t see anything in that to be honest. We played Millwall at the start of the season so I assume that was a similar situation with the manager. I’m not looking at it based on that. I’m looking at the level of the opposition, how they play, how the manager likes to set up his team and the challenges of the game.
The other bit, for me, is not really relevant in how I prepare the team and I would assume that supporters want to win every game.