Stoke City physical stats ‘through the roof’ under Narcis Pelach as ref rattled
Talking points as Stoke City go into the international break on the back of a hard-fought draw with Swansea City.
Stoke City go into the international break on the back of a hard-fought draw at Swansea. Here are the talking points from South Wales.
Even an organised defence needs a good keeper
Viktor Johansson is finding his stride as a Stoke player. We have banged on for years about the importance of the club having a keeper of their own to rely on and it’s reassuring to have someone in there who can save shots. There weren’t moments here when you thought he might be beaten, which is a case in point.
READ MORE: Narcis Pelach’s Stoke City ‘love’ verdict as team starts to emerge from squad
READ MORE: Stoke City player ratings vs Swansea as Viktor Johansson helps secure draw
He’s got an aura, which is useful in his position, he’s agile and he’s brave. He’s already made his Sweden debut since joining from Rotherham in the summer and he’s going to be very popular with club and country.
Stoke putting in the hard yards
Stoke’s physical stats in the first half against Portsmouth in mid-week were apparently the highest output since relegation six years ago. No mean feat then to end this game in the ascendancy and they had good chances to claim the win in the closing stages.
“I think in the last 15, Tom Cannon and Million (Manhoef) had chances and there were maybe not chances but situations that lead into a chance and we didn’t choose the last pass well,” said Pelach.
“But look, it is what it is. We have to be demanding the next day that we improve but the effort the other day in terms of our numbers against Portsmouth, our physical effort, were up there with the best over the last six years in the Championship in one half. To ask for this after three days again is very positive. It says that the players want to give everything.
”We have to assess today and see what happened but again I saw a lot of sprints to put pressure on the ball against a very, very good team. Matt Grimes is such a good player. He dictates the game and plays very well. It’s difficult to do it against them and I know from playing against him with Huddersfield and Norwich that it’s tough. To see a good battle, two teams trying to get a win. I think it was nice to see.”
An identity starting to develop
Identity was the buzz word when Narcis Pelach was unveiled as head coach less than three weeks ago but it’s a difficult word to define in this context. The point that Pelach has made more than once is that he wants to see the team performing consistently even if he has to make changes, like Eric Bocat coming in here for Enda Stevens, who is being wrapped in cotton wool a little.
So it says a lot that Pelach answered a question about Johansson’s performance by saying: “We have a good keeper. All the defenders and strikers with the press were on the line for him too so it helped us to get a point. I’m happy because tactically we didn’t have any problem.
“Everything we prepared was there. We didn’t have to change anything. Then when we brought the subs onto the pitch they had a very good body language, a lot of effort to represent the club in the best way we can, which is important for us. It’s not about Million or not about Ben Wilmot or not about Sam Gallagher, it’s about the team, it’s about Stoke. It doesn’t matter who plays, the team is there.”
But key players have to be treated carefully
Sam Gallagher put in another big shift before he hobbled off with five minutes to go and will be assessed by the medics with hope that it was either cramp or a minor injury. Enda Stevens was rested entirely after his influential performance on the previous Wednesday.
Coach Alex Morris had said before the game: “We’re mindful that Enda hasn’t had many minutes this season. Wednesday was his first league start and we have to be mindful of him turning over two games in a three or four-day period.”
Stoke have been dogged by injuries to key players too often over the last six years and they have to be sensible as well as lucky.
