Last Season: 9thPre-Season Prediction: 9th - Hughes may fall into the same trap as Pulis in being stuck in the middle-of-the-pack. Astute summer signings will cement their place as one of the leading chasers.
Last summer was a tumultuous period for Stoke City supporters. The departure of the popular Tony Pulis after a period of stagnant safety led to the arrival of the unconvincing Mark Hughes. Supporters were left in doubt as to the impact Hughes could have but he proved them wrong after an astounding season lifted the Potters up to 9th in the League. In particular, a strong end to the season saw Hughes' men lose just three of their final fifteen games to end the season full of confidence. The question now is whether Hughes can show signs of progression or whether he will go down the Pulis road of stagnation.
Stoke's summer signings have proved to be some of the most unusual and interesting in the League this year with a complete mixture of talent. Football Manager enthusiasts will be salivating at the sight of former Barcelona wonderkid Bojan Krkic on a wet and windy Wednesday night at Stoke whilst former Manchester United reject Mame Biram Diouf also joins the ranks after a successful spell in Germany. The experienced pair of Steve Sidwell and Phil Bardsley have been brought in to strengthen an already healthy unit of players whilst Dionatan Teixiera arrives as another back-up defender.
After losing virtually none of their main players over the summer, the Potters look very healthy heading into the new season. Their squad depth is fairly good, especially in defence with a brilliant back four of Pieters, Shawcross, Huth and Bardsley with the likes of Muniesa and Shotton in reserves. To be honest, for a club of their stature and finances they have a near perfect squad and do not necessarily need to strengthen any depth anywhere over the park. If they were to sign anyone else now it would only be to replace someone departing although that all seems rather unlikely with the Premier League beginning tomorrow.
Despite a strong end to last season, friendly results have not been overly ideal. Stoke have seen out a number of mediocre ties including just one win in seven including, perhaps more worryingly, just two clean sheets. It is not necessarily worth reading two much into this though as a lot of these matches have been about establishing a new system offensively, revolving around Diouf leading the line with a creative trio of Bojan, Arnautovic and Odemwingie playing behind. A particular highlight has been the form of Bojan who has scored three times in pre-season, much to the delight of Hughes.
Somethings tells me that Stoke are going to be one of the easier teams to predict this year simply because we know what to expect. Stoke are a resilient side defensively and will be hard to break down often playing on the counter attack. The summer additions should improve them on the whole, particularly offensively where there has been an injection of flair and diversity. The key for Hughes will be to ensure that his side show progression, with perhaps the first objective being to turn goal difference from negative to positive, as well as gaining more than the 50 points garnered last season.
Key Man: Asmir Begovic - Undoubtedly the star of this side, Stoke have done well to keep hold of their talisman goalkeeper. They have perhaps been lucky that the top sides all seemingly have top quality goalkeepers in place otherwise Begovic would almost certainly have been linked with a move away from the Britannia. He had a solid debut World Cup with Bosnia and looks to have carried that form into pre-season. With an organised defence in front of him, Begovic could have less to do this year but can always be relied on to perform when needed.
One to Watch: Marko Arnautovic - The Austrian was the star signing of Mark Hughes' first season in charge and will now be looking to take his game to the next level. Arnautovic showed flashes of brilliance on the left-wing in his debut season but should be aiming to produce this on a more consistent basis. For a player of his quality, just four goals in the League will be a massive disappointment, especially considering only two came from open play. If he can link up well with his new attacking partners, Bojan and Diouf, then expect him to start flying up both the assists and the goalscoring charts.
Best Summer Signing: Bojan Krkic - I really want Bojan to be a success in the Premier League. When I first saw he had signed I was sceptical. After his initial rise to prominence, the Barcelona starlet had disappeared off of the footballing radar before popping up at Stoke and now seeks to rekindle his career on the grand stage. The Spaniard will be hoping to recover from a largely disappointing season at Ajax last year and if his pre-season form is anything to go by then he looks to be on the right path. Despite his undoubted ability, questions still need to be asked as to how he will cope with the physicality of the Premier League being a fairly slight lad. However, he still has time on his side and may well just got and set the League alight.
