Stoke City danger man is ‘close to impossible to stop’ admits Championship defender Stoke City winger Million Manhoef has got defenders panicking in the Championship.
Kyle Bartley, swapping his boots for a pundit’s cap while he recovers from injury, admits it is easier said than done for Championship defenders to stop Million Manhoef.
West Bromwich Albion centre-half Bartley has gone up against Manhoef twice since the winger moved to Stoke City from Vitesse Arnhem in January. Manhoef scored against Albion in April and then set up a goal for Lewis Koumas in August.
It was no surprise that Manhoef was picked out as the danger man when Bartley was in the Sky Sports studio covering Stoke’s win over Derby County on Saturday.
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The highlights package might show the danger of Manhoef cutting in from the right onto his left foot and it is no secret that opponents try to send him wide – but Bartley said: “It’s easier said than done. We’ve seen the likes of Salah and Mahrez do it in the Premier League for years and no matter what you do they seem to find a way. When it’s the left foot, too, it always looks that little bit better, that bit classier.
“Watching this lad before we played Stoke it was, ‘Try to push him outside, try to get him on his right foot and we’ll deal with the cross,’ but if they can get the ball to him and he can line up someone one v one, it’s close to impossible to stop.”
Former Stoke boss Gary Rowett, next to Bartley on the sofa, suggested that Manhoef had a composure that makes him stand out in the Championship.
He said: “I really, really like him. He’s got that explosive ability you’re looking for in a wide player. He drifts inside into good areas, he’s got extra composure and quality. He wants to get into that little inside channel and he’s good at just feeding those runs in behind.
“It’s all about having the quality and vision to take defenders out of the game. As a defender you want to force him wide, you don’t want to let him come inside. As soon as you give him that inside space he is deadly because he’s got the composure that not a lot of players at this level have.”
Fellow pundit Steven Schumacher, another former Stoke boss and in charge when Manhoef was signed, praised his work ethic between matches too.
He said: “When I went to the club in December it was one of the first conversations I had with Jared (Dublin) in the recruitment department. I wanted a wide player who could play on that right side and cut in, create and score similar to what I had at Argyle with Morgan Whittaker. When he showed me the clips and the games of Million at Vitesse, it reminded me a lot about him. He had the type of passes I was looking for, someone with the vision and creative ability to make chances.
“He’s been a brilliant signing for Stoke. He’s a great lad and he works really hard on his game. He does all his extras after training and he’s had a great start to his Stoke career.”
