The Opposition View: Stoke City
Jack May speaks to the 'Every Step Along The Way' podcast (questions answered before deadline day's conclusion)
Return of the Mach. (The Schumach) (er). Get it?
Yeah, sorry…
Anyway, he’s back. Tomorrow afternoon our former leading man brings his fellow 23/24 relegation battlers to Home Park for what’s sure to be a rather feisty affair.
So in honour of his big return I chatted with the guys from Every Step Along The Way to discuss all things Schuey (obviously), all things Cundle (obviously), and where we should be looking to exploit in order to pinch all 3 points on another sunny Saturday afternoon (hopefully).
How would you sum your start to the season so far? 3 wins from 5 (two in the Carabao Cup) including a 5-0 thrashing of Middlesborough on Tuesday, and yet you find yourselves sat in 17th. Bit of a weird one.
That’s Stoke all over, consistently inconsistent! We are still wheeling and dealing and without our main summer target of a centre forward(although that will hopefully change by 11pm) but have brought in half a dozen 17/18 year old lads from the academy and they’ve all settled right in and not looked out of place which is the most positive aspect of the season so far. Tendency to get bullied in midfield has led to defeats at Watford and versus West Brom
What’s the aim this term?
I look at the squad and think we should be aiming higher than we are, possibly top 6, but I think progression is the minimum aim. We’ve been 14-16th for 6 years running since relegation so just a bit of hope last September would be lovely !
Overall, are you feeling positive about the season ahead?
Yeah it’s very un-Stoke like to go with young, technical footballers and I think, even if results are amazing at times, we should hopefully be entertained and we can grow and improve as time goes on
What’s the fans’ view on your manager - and, of course, our former manager - Steven Schumacher? He obviously helped steer you to safety at the back end of last season, winning the final 3 games in the process. Are the fans happy with him at the helm?
Yeah, Schumachers barmy army rings from the stands quite loudly so if you want a barometer for his popularity then that’s the best we’ve got. The usual trigger happy people want him out after every defeat but that would be the case no matter who the manager was
What did you make of Luke Cundle on loan last season? The way which Schumacher hijacked his loan spell caused a bit of consternation among Argyle fans?
He was very quiet and anonymous for the majority of his time and then the rest of the squad sort of worked out how to play with him for the final month and the results, and goals, followed. The added aspect of us sort of stealing him from you was that you then went and did the same with Alfie Devine from our rivals Port Vale. They then got relegated, a situation put down to a lack of creativity - whoops!
How was your pre season?
Started pretty well and allowed the younger lads to shine. As the opposition hit better we struggled to create the same chances and highlighted just where we still needed to bring people in
Any exciting incomings and/ or disappointing outgoings?
Lewis Koumas has joined from Liverpool and there is no way that lad is a teenager on his first loan. On his full pro debut last week against West Brom cheers scored and hit the post twice then scored and assisted again in midweek playing on the right. Looks a real talent and can see why Klopp said he was the best finisher at Liverpool, including the first team
Where do you think you can cause us some problems on Saturday?
The aforementioned Koumas. If we play him down the middle he makes the runs and we just have to find him. Your central defenders are likely to be in for a tiring afternoon trying to contain him
What about weak areas? Anywhere we could get the upper hand on you?
Full backs havent started the season well defensively. Whereas Bocat at LB is very good going forward and you can excuse the mistakes at the back(he’s also lightning quick so can make up for this errors), Tchamadeu at RB hasn’t kicked in yet as hoped and looks suspect to the ball into the back post
What’s your view on an away day in Plymouth right now? Must win? Should win? Would take a draw?
I’d hope to get a win as you seem to be finding your feet under Wayne Rooney and if Whitaker leaves then we might just be playing you at the right time. On the other hand any draw away is never a devastating result in this division
Score prediction?
2-0 Stoke win, Koumas and Burger