da betobet： Since they were first promoted to the Premier League in 2008, Stoke City have hardly been the most popular side to grace the English top flight.
da imperador bet： It seems wrong to want an underdog side like Stoke to fail at nearly every given occasion, but because of the Rugby-like antics inspired by Tony Pulis, hate for the Potters has become the exception to the rule.
Now, under the management of Mark Hughes, Stoke City are looking to rebrand themselves in a more favourable light within the football community. Whilst the days of seemingly employing Rory Delap exclusively for his long throw-in abilities are on the decline, the question remains: have Stoke City really changed that much under Hughes?
As a player, Mark Hughes was known for his tough tackling and no nonsense attitude. In that respect he would seem the perfect man to pick up from where Tony Pulis left off at Stoke. His Premier League record produced teams that didn’t exactly set the world alight or show much creativity in the attacking areas. Blackburn, Fulham, QPR and even Hughes’ Manchester City side were hardly expansive in their approach and didn’t put too heavy and emphasis on possession.
Fast-forward to 2014, and a whole host of TV and radio pundits seem to be purring over Hughes’ so-called transformation of Stoke and the way they approach their matches. The fact that the Potters are still very much a physical side is scarcely noted.
Hughes may have the likes of Bojan and Marko Arnautovic at his disposal, but the latter hardly gets a place in Sparky’s starting XI, and the former only really stands out because of the company he is in. Yes, Bojan is a technically gifted player for sure, but most sides in the Premier League have at least one player in the ‘Bojan mould’.
Stoke are still not a pretty sight with the ball at their feet and often revert to just lumping it forward. On several occasions this season, Hughes has deployed both Geoff Cameron and Erik Pieters at full-back, who aren’t exactly Roberto Carlos-esque in their style of play, whilst the 6’4 Steven N’Zonzi has been holding the defensive-mid position. Admittedly some of these moves have been made out of necessity rather than choice, but these types of players simply do no favours for Stoke’s image problems.
The story in attack has also not changed dramatically under Mark Hughes this season. For all the sensation that currently surrounds Bojan at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke’s main line of attack still largely involves pumping long balls up to Peter Crouch, with the ever-persistent Jonathan Walters ready to latch onto any knock-down that comes his way. Whilst this system may be effective, it is definitely not pretty.
In comparison with another so-called long-ball side, West Ham United have dramatically changed under Sam Allardyce this campaign. Big Sam used to rely solely on the Carroll-Nolan axis last season, but with the additions of Enner Valencia, Diafra Sakho, Mauro Zarate and Alex Song to the Hammers’ squad, West Ham have managed to completely revitalise their style of play. Allardyce now sees his team reside in fourth place in the Premier League, whilst Stoke City remain very much a mid-table side.
It would be unfair to completely disregard Mark Hughes’ spell at Stoke however, as with more goals scored this season than in previous years, there are at least some signs that a better footballing philosophy is trying to be reached at the Britannia Stadium.
But as the Potters still clearly favour physical players with a direct approach, claims that Stoke City are starting to emulate the tiki-taka possession play of Barcelona remain very wide of the mark.
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