THE WAY I SEE IT Hopefully we start to see a team taking shape again
A FEW little things stood out for me in Stoke City’s big win on Wednesday night, as well as just getting the result over the line.
Firstly, you saw Daniel Iversen’s goal-kicks, particularly in the second half, aimed towards the deep right wing where Stoke knew it was going and could crowd around to keep hold of the ball.
There was no messing about as we had seen in previous weeks and, when you’re defending as far back as Stoke were as the game went on, it was important to get into the attacking half when you had the chance. It was a small tweak but an important part of a bigger plan.
Secondly, Stoke were – as the QPR manager Marti Cifuentes spoke about after the game – far more narrow and compact than they had been.
Steven Schumacher went with eight players down the centre of the pitch.
Three at the back, Wouter Burger and Lewis Baker more or less sitting and Luke Cundle and Bae Junho with advanced roles to support Niall Ennis.
It was making a statement. If you like a passing game, you’re not going to pass through the middle of us. Players stuck to it rigidly.
Jordan Thompson and Junior Tchamadeu had a big task up and down the flanks on their own and, against QPR’S 4-2-1-3 with two wide and one in the middle up front, the only problem I foresaw was that Stoke could be outnumbered in the wide areas with a winger and full-back against our wing-back.
Initially, they found space behind Thompson in a nervy opening spell but both he and Tchamadeu stuck to their tasks really well after that. If crosses did come in, they were from in front of the defender – and we were compact in front of the three centre-backs so that no gaps appeared.
QPR had one shot saved by Iversen and hit the side netting in that first half but Stoke made life hard for the opposition and, thanks to another significant change, could still create chances of their own while staying patient.
So yes, thirdly, I was pleased to see the impact made by Ennis.
In this new signing, Stoke have got a centre-forward who is willing and able to make forward runs behind defenders, behind their two centre-backs.
A couple of times he was dragged into wider areas when he needed to stay central but when he was in the middle, we could play it around that area and look quite threatening.
We need to do it more when we can get players in to support him. We can play into them. Hopefully that will come as we settle down over the next few weeks.
Ennis can turn with and without the ball, in and outside the penalty area, you can hit it into him or he can make short, darting runs – small movements over five or 10 yards – to play down the side of defenders.
That is such an important area of the game that Stoke have been missing for large parts of this season and two of the big parts of attacking play - the ability to go over or through teams, as well as going around.
Still, our old friend Asmir Begovic didn’t want to be beaten. He’s 36 now but still agile – but he couldn’t do a lot about the goal when it came from a corner.
You should always have players attacking those key areas near, middle and back whether it’s in open play or at a set piece and we saw why here.
Luke Mcnally’s skiddy header fell into that place where Burger was alert and finished well. It was a well-achieved goal, a well-earned lead and an efficient first-half.
I was wondering how Stoke were going to set about with that advantage.
Were they going to be nervous? Were they going to press high and hard and keep the crowd fired up? I was a little bit concerned about letting QPR have too much possession.
I had expected Stoke to come out firing on all cylinders and try to win the ball back high and early – but we didn’t go hunting either in the attacking third or mid-third. What we did do was keep our compactness. We withdrew to the back third and started to do our defending from there.
QPR had possession in wide areas and when the ball did come in, because we were so compact, we won it. There was a lack of space for QPR to manoeuvre. There was only one moment when QPR got to the by-line on our right, delivered to the six-yard box and we cleared.
Players including the substitutes carried out instruction.
Wesley isn’t going to run behind but he put himself about, chased, harried and held up the ball at times. Ben Pearson and Josh Laurent sat in and made it tight and Lynden Gooch added new energy on the right. I liked one little move from a throw near the dug-out when you could see Schumacher urging Gooch to pull wide on the far side.
Lewis Baker then quickly whipped it across, Gooch advanced and fizzed a shot not too far over.
There was more of a purpose to everything we did and it’ll be interesting to see what Schumacher does with selection against a team in Coventry who are in the top six.
What does he do with structure? Personnel might change but hopefully we can start to see a team taking shape again.