A top start, but we also need to see great middle and end this time
ONE of the interesting things about this season for Stoke City has been watching how the team has evolved, the subtle or not too subtle changes to get the best out of the players Michael O’neill has in his squad.
It started with a switch to the back three and a 3-5-2 and that’s where we saw Nick Powell used up front against Hull in the last-butone home game.
You could see the thinking – the manager said he wanted Powell to try to link midfield and front line – but an out-and-out striker isn’t his role for me, he’s better when he’s more withdrawn rather than with his back up on a centre-half.
We still had good strength and forced Hull sideways, but we couldn’t really get Mario Vrancic into the game and to take advantage going forward we needed Powell to come a little deeper, a tweak that O’neill made in the second half.
Straightaway we looked much better, more balanced, more controlled and dangerous in possession.
Romaine Sawyers controlled the midfield and was two or three moves ahead of everyone else, Powell was making space, Vrancic was creative in the final third and Clucas had balance with his left foot and breaking forward as well.
So that’s how we started at Preston too – when we should have been out of sight – and back at HQ against West Bromwich Albion.
West Brom played a 3-4-3 too, but their wider attackers played infield to match up our back three.
At the other end you could see Valerien Ismael wanted to get his two wider centre-halves – Conor Townsend and Semi Ajayi – to join in attacks.
Jacob Brown had the energy to burst between all three as he pressed, but instead I wanted him to stick on the middle man Kyle
Bartley. Suck one of the others into the action and get ready to pinch and counter.
I actually thought that Powell and Vrancic could have played a little deeper and overloaded the midfield to make it four with Joe Allen and Jordan Thompson on Jake Livermore and Alex Mowatt. That would be a useful tactic to consider.
But that’s nit-picking, really, because I am still on a high with the overall performance and result.
When O’neill changed it and sent on Steven Fletcher and Sam Surridge, dropping Powell in with Thompson and Allen, it clicked again.
The new front pair worked well together, Powell was linking with midfield and ran from deep to meet the neat pass from Tommy Smith to score the winner.
It was an all-round champions performance. We had a bit of everything.
We played with lots of intensity. We didn’t give West Brom any time to settle on the ball.
It warmed the heart going into the international break and to know that we’ve got a full squad of youth and experience and the youth is driving to be number one in the team. Younger players with ability after experienced players’ positions. The way it should be.
To have nearly 23,000 fans to witness that performance must make everyone excited.
And so we should be. We’re almost a quarter of the way into the season and we’ve given ourselves a solid platform.
If I go back to the 2019/20 season, after 10 games – just to remind us of what a mess we were in – the teams that finished first and second, Leeds and West Brom, had 20 and 19 points and were in second and third places respectively.
Of the teams that ended up in the play-offs, Brentford had 12 points and were in 14th, Fulham had 18 in fifth, Cardiff had 16 in 10th and Swansea had 21 in first. Stoke had two in 24th and O’neill was in Belfast quietly preparing for the next international fixtures.
Leeds wound up finishing with 93, West Brom got 83, Fulham had 81, finished fourth and won the play-offs. Stoke worked their way up to 56 points and 15th, which shows just how well O’neill did and what progress we are making.
Looking at 2020/21 after 11 games, Norwich had 21 points in third, Watford 21 in second, Brentford had 16 in 11th, Swansea had 19 in sixth, Barnsley 13 in 16th, Bournemouth 20 in fourth. Stoke had 18 in eighth.
Norwich ended up with 97 in first, Watford 91 in second, Brentford in third had 87 points. Stoke ended up with 60 in 14th.
Fast forward to today and Bournemouth are top with 25, West Brom have 22 in second and Stoke are in fourth with 21. If they can repeat what they’ve done so far then, quick maths, we’re on course for 84 points after 44 games.
You can be aware of how we dropped last season, from eighth to 15th, but with that performance against West Brom and the squad I believe we’re well ahead.
Look at the players in all positions, we can change tactics, change systems, there’s a good balance. The expectation level is 80 points or more.
That is also a warning because to reach that level you have to keep going. It’s a great start, but you need a great middle and a great end.
But this looks like a team playing with no fear. We’ve learned, we’ll hopefully keep learning and I’m looking forward to what happens next.