Potters provided plenty of positives in final matches
THERE were big lessons for Stoke City to takeaway from their last three games of the season. In fact, make that four because I have that draw at Sheffield Wednesday down as a pivotal match too.
At Hillsborough we bedded things in. Had we folded under pressure there it would not have been a clever situation. We set our stall out, were difficult to beat and grasped what we needed to do on the pitch as the game went on. We stopped gaps appearing. We showed character and spirit and you make your own luck, even if it feels like sometimes it’s with you and sometimes it isn’t.
Then what I kept repeating against Plymouth, against Southampton and against Bristol City was the word balance – and as Steven Schumacher kept the same XI together you could see understanding and partnerships too. We had the same intention from game to game with pressing, work rate off the ball and togetherness. We wanted to win the ball early.
That system and the personnel in it suited Luke Cundle down to the ground. When you give a clever player freedom and he gives you his heart and energy, it can really work. He was forever finding spaces in the opposition half with his work rate and awareness. He was difficult to pin down.
The team that ended the season had a midfield three that worked well together; a sitting player, one to link the play and one with a free role. The three ahead could work off that platform and link with each other. They all made each other look better.
Jordan Thompson and Josh Laurent worked in tandem and Bae Junho and Million Manhoef were going wide or breaking infield to support Cundle and Tyrese Campbell. The mixture of play was there to keep a side like Bristol City with trouble trying to second guess what was going to happen and the understanding was there from having a third game together.
We have kept saying in here about the importance of partnerships developing. You could see Enda Stevens linking with Junho, Ki-jana Hoever linking with Manhoef. There was fluency and movement became second nature. Players knew what to do and when to do it. Cundle finding space meant that forward passes were on and we didn’t have to go sideways or backwards. Junho and Manhoef kept moving to move defenders around for themselves or their teammates to exploit holes.
I enjoyed watching it and well done to Campbell for leading the line in these important games. I do, however, think it’s the right decision to let him leave. We want someone who can offer more in that number 9 role.
If Campbell wants to fulfil his potential, I want to see him develop more awareness and make more runs in behind. He has to commit to improving that if he wants to become a better player. He has to develop an understanding of his early positioning and how to make that vital movement to get around back lines and down the side of centre-backs, spinning off for diagonal passes. These are things to work on as a lone striker or in a pair.
The key to the wide players and the attacking midfielder being able to work space over 46 games in a season is having a front player who can continually break that back line, a Jamie Vardy-type player who always thinks about dashing free of the centre-halves. It’s a must.
You want someone who has the desire and ability to accelerate into space – and someone who the rest of the team will know will do that. The pass and the run have to come together else you end up going sideways and missing the chance.
When you get quick and clever play with one and two touches around the area you still need the main striker to join in, to be able to pin a defender and spin – but his main asset has to be to get behind a defence with his runs. It’s a two-part mission for that front player. It stretches teams lengthways and you can do damage with one neat pass rather than needing to make 7,000.
So well done Stoke on the last few weeks and I’m looking forward to seeing how the recruitment goes this summer to come out firing with the same kind of blueprint at the start of next season.
This, again, is my problem with the loan system. We had just started to get to know our strongest XI when we had to send four back to their own clubs. If we want the club to go somewhere then we have to have our own players. Let’s get that right this time.